I do not own Doctor who but I hope you enjoy this story regardless.
….
The room continued to rattle around them, the occasional part of the console igniting and causing Lynda to flinch.
The whole room suddenly tilted left with a loud clash as if an invisible hand had picked up the ship and thrown it off a wall or something.
Her grip on the console seemed on par with the tightness of her stomach as the machine once again jerked violently.
A hanging wire fell from its perch sparking near her head causing her to move to avoid it.
Unfortunately this meant she had to let go of the console and with the whole room shuddering to a final stop she was thrown forcefully to the floor.
Laying still a moment she spotted Rose out of the corner of her eye leaning heavily against the console. The feeling of the metal grating digging into her back was slowly making itself known as the room seemed to finally settle. She wasn't sure if it was over but the centre column was no longer rising so she hoped that was a good sign.
The sound of running footsteps had her glancing to the other side of the console where she just caught a glimpse of a familiar leather jacket disappearing from view followed by the sound of a door opening.
The Doctor's voice sounded far off as he spoke, "here we are then, London. Earth. The Solar System. We di…" his words becoming inaudible as his voice became more distant presumably as he moved away from the ship.
Lynda fully intended to lie there a bit longer feeling officially worn out when her brain finally caught up with what the Doctor had said and she roughly jerked up.
"Earth?! Had she heard him correctly? He had taken them to earth?" she thought already getting to her feet, fighting off the brief vertigo that greeted her when she did so.
"But the Daleks had bombed earth!" she thought terrified for his safety. The air was barely breathable before the bombs had landed never mind now. There could be radiation, fires… who knows what else.
"Doctor! Wait! You ca…" she yelled running after him only to freeze and trail off whilst standing in the ship's doorway as she looked at the world outside, completely oblivious to the Doctor fainting in the arms of two strangers at that exact moment.
"But…what…?" she stammered out utterly bewildered at the sight before her, taking two baby steps forward as she looked around.
"Did the Doctor get the coordinates wrong? This couldn't be earth… could it?" she thought as she span in a slow circle carefully taking everything in.
It reminded her of when she was younger and studying ancient history at school, the building's style, the whole street matching the images from the virtually restored archives that showed what some of the ruins would look like if they were still around.
But it was not the buildings themselves that held her attention the most. It was not even the lack of any trace of an apocalyptic landscape as one would expect after what the Daleks had done.
No…the thing that held her attention the most…was the sky.
She had never seen it look so beautiful in her entire life.
Craning her neck upwards in awed fascination she missed the looks the two stranger were giving her and barely heard Rose as she appeared in the door frame of the box behind her asking, "what happened is he alright?"
"I don't know, he just keeled over. But who is he? Where's the Doctor?" one of the strangers, the male asked.
"I can't believe it…" Lynda finally found her voice thus interrupting the conversation just as Rose started to reply, "the Doctor…"
"It's blue! It's actually, properly blue!" Lynda babbled waving excitedly at the sky before turning her awed grin to Rose who was looking rather taken aback but Lynda was too excited to care.
"Is she alright?" the male asked Rose, pulling a face as the older woman who bore an uncanny resemblance to Rose snapped "never mind that! What do you mean, that's the Doctor? Doctor who?"
This time the mention of the Doctor finally broke through Lynda's hazy mind, she literally felt as if she was in some weird dream and as a result had been finding it hard to concentrate.
Shaking her head she forced her eyes to focus on the Doctor and immediately crouched at his side, embarrassment at having ignored him and concern for his wellbeing fighting for dominance on her face.
"Do we have anywhere to take him?" Lynda questioned looking up at the group, wanting to hep but unfamiliar with her surroundings.
"My place," was Rose's decisive reply as she crouched down to lift him, taking his arms whilst the male went to take his feet.
Lynda followed anxiously behind them just in front of the woman as they lead the way to the flats.
….
Once there Rose changed the Doctor into some pyjamas in one of the bedrooms alongside the male who had been insistent on being there to help also.
Lynda sat in the living room far too embarrassed to give that sort of help and not wanting to invade the Doctor's privacy.
It was then that the woman from earlier came walking up to her a stethoscope in her hand and said, "no need to be shy, they should be done by now" before confidently heading towards the bedroom.
Getting up slowly Lynda headed after her, passing by the young male on the way before hesitating at the doorway.
Lynda peered through the now open door and after spying the Doctor all tucked up in bed joined the two females just as the older one was handing Rose the stethoscope.
"We can't. They'd lock him up. They'd dissect him. One bottle of his blood could change the future of the human race. No! Shush!" she heard Rose tell the other woman sternly.
Lynda had just perched herself on the end of the bed, being careful not to sit on the Doctor's legs when Rose started to examine his chest.
"Both working" Rose said after a moment of listening to both sides of his chest.
"Both?" Lynda thought baffled but quickly shrugged it off after recalling the Doctor's age and his ship, why should something like this shock her.
"What do you mean both?" the older female asked, clearly Lynda had not been alone in her initial surprise.
"Well he's got two hearts" Rose replied whilst sitting back, her eyes never straying from the Doctor's prone form.
"When do you think he'll wake up?" Lynda asked also surveying the Doctor.
The sudden attention from the two females made her glance towards them nervously; Rose looked ready to speak when the woman interrupted.
"Who are you then? Another one he just picked up?" she questioned whilst gesturing around.
Lynda went to reply but the woman continued on, "I bet you didn't even tell you parents where yo-"
"Mum!" Rose whined at the woman's rant and Lynda's eyes widened as she made the link.
"No wonder they look similar, that's her mother!" Lynda thought looking between the two.
"Don't you mum me, just look at you! You come home pale as a sheet, don't think I can't tell when you're upset, no thanks to him no doubt…" Jackie ranted but didn't get any farther due to Rose's abrupt straightening up.
"Just leave him alone" Rose cried exasperatedly as she left the room leaving her mother to follow after her concernedly.
As Lynda moved from the end of the bed to the spot where the two had just vacated at his side she froze mid step when he breathed out more of that golden energy, watching as it drifted out the window.
Resuming in sitting down after only a brief pause she realised only just as she was settling down that she never did get the answer to her question.
….
Jackie's P.O.V
She sent one last worried look at the front door, her concern for her only child clear on her face.
Mickey had taken Rose out shopping with him and with any luck it might cheer her up. Shopping always made her feel better and Rose and she were very alike in that aspect.
"At least they were…" she thought sadly. Sometimes it felt like she hardly knew her daughter anymore. She could practically feel them drifting further and further apart and not just physically.
She had hoped her daughter would be home for Christmas but now that she was, ironically enough she felt as if they were more distant than ever before.
Shaking her head Jackie inwardly scolded herself, "Just look at me feeling sorry for myself… if Pete could see you now..."
Deciding to end her pity party short she headed to the kitchen to distract herself by turning the kettle on.
"Nothing better than a cuppa of tea" she said to herself before casting a glance at the spare bedroom.
Truth was she was worried about the Doctor. He was a big part of her daughter's life and if anything happened to him she knew Rose would be devastated.
Thoughts of the Doctor then lead to thoughts of that other mystery. Rose hadn't said much if anything about the girl since they had shown up. At first Jackie thought it was because she was too worried about the Doctor but now…it seemed almost as if she was unwilling to acknowledge her presence…
Not wanting to think bad of her daughter Jackie decided she could at least be a little bit hospitable and offer the girl something to drink, Christmas spirit and all that.
Reaching the bedroom she quickly took in the scene. The Doctor was still sound asleep; the girl currently sitting on the edge of the bed by his side, talking to him seemingly completely oblivious to her presence.
"You'll wake up soon right? Then everything will be okay. After all we said "together" and I'm okay so you have to get well...besides who else can answer my questions…if you're afraid of waking because you've changed, don't be. I mean I liked the old you but I'm sure this you is just as nice and…and…it doesn't matter anyways as long as your fine so…you know…just concentrate on getting bett-"
"How is he then?" Jackie interrupted the girl's ramblings as she made herself known. It seemed he'd managed to entice another one, hook line and sinker. Honestly what they saw in him she'd never know…
"H-He seems okay for now…" the female stuttered out her head spinning around quickly in surprise.
The girl's face now had a lovely red hue to it as she blushed but even that did little to hide the sheer exhaustion on her face. The girl's whole posture seemed weary and her eyes clearly held a sorrow to them. All of this combined set Jackie's maternal instincts off and she took pity on the girl who partly reminded her of Rose.
"You look exhausted" Jackie voiced sympathetically as she moved towards the girl.
"Just a little bit tired, I'll be fine" the girl waved off.
"Nonsense," she replied wrapping an arm around her shoulders and giving her a light push in the direction of the door. "What you need is a nice lie down. Tell you what I'll go get a quilt; you can sleep on the couch."
The girl didn't resist much as she was guided out the room but did pause in the doorway and looked over her shoulder, "What about the Doctor?" she questioned.
"I'll keep an eye on him, you just get some rest" Jackie tried reassured her.
At this the girl's shoulders seemed to sag slightly and she obediently headed towards the couch.
"What was your name again?" Jackie finally asked as she got a spare quilt out the cupboard.
"Lynda Moss" she replied sleepily before adding "and thank you Mrs Tyler," as she was curling up on the sofa.
Practically gagging at the title she responded, "just call me Jackie" with a slightly forced smile, "Mrs Tyler" made her sound old.
Lynda just nodded sleepily and any further thought Jackie might have had was disrupted by the sound of someone knocking at the door.
….
Lynda's P.O.V
"Get off the phone," were the frantic words that forcefully tore Lynda from her nap.
She hadn't dreamt but after all that she had been through since the Game Station the sound of panicked shouting triggered her imagination and had her automatically flinching as her eyes snapped open, knocking the quilt off herself in her brief panic.
Her vision was blurred for less than a second before her eyes were able to focus on Rose and the male from earlier as they stalked towards Jackie who was standing next to her by the couch.
"It's only Bev. She says hello" Jackie replied gesturing to the phone.
Lynda stifled a yawn as she moved to sit up, her brain just starting to wake up properly whilst already trying to figure out what all the fuss was about.
"Bev? Yeah. Look, it'll have to wait" Rose spoke as she snatched the phone from her mum before hanging up on the conversation. "Right, it's not safe. We've got to get out. Where can we go?" she continued slightly out of breath.
"My mate Stan, he'll put us up" the male was quick to say.
"You're leaving? But what about the Doctor?" Lynda questioned unsure what was going on.
"He's coming with us" Rose replied as if it was obvious before continuing, "that's only two streets away. What about Mo? Where's she living now?"
"I don't know. Peak District" Jackie replied obviously quite flustered.
"Well, we'll go to cousin Mo's then" Rose decided with a slight nod of her head.
"No, it's Christmas Eve! We're not going anywhere! What're you babbling about?" Jackie cried indignantly stepping away from both Rose and the male before rounding on them once more.
"What's happened to you?" Lynda questioned, finally figuring something must have happened whilst they were out to trigger this sort of behaviour.
"Robot Santas" the male said with a wave of his hand and opened his mouth to say more when Rose interrupted.
"We don't have time to exs-…" she hissed at him before abruptly cutting herself off, staring distractedly at something behind Jackie.
"Where'd you get that tree?" she asked after a troubling pause, pointing to said tree.
Lynda focused on the tree wondering what was wrong with it. She hadn't spared much attention to the flat when she'd first got here being too exhausted as well as concerned for the Doctor. Now that she was truly looking she couldn't see what the big deal was. After all, it was just a decorated tree.
"That's a new tree. Where'd you get it?" Rose persisted clearly thinking something was wrong.
"I thought it was you" Jackie replied.
"How can it be me?" Rose questioned back causing Lynda to scrutinise said tree more carefully now.
"Well, you went shopping. There was a knock at the door just as Lynda went to sleep, and there it was!" Jackie defended herself.
"But…it's just a tree…right?" Lynda spoke trying to diffuse the situation.
All their eyes went straight to the tree however as it began to light up bit by bit whilst an eerie rendition of a well known Christmas carol began to play.
"Oh, you're kidding me" Rose spoke moving Jackie behind her at the same time Lynda stood up from the couch gasping out, "no way!"
Sections of the tree then started to rotate in different directions at a faster and faster pace creating a strong wind which caused all of them to take an instinctive step back.
Just as they did so the tree seemed to advance forward causing them all to step back once more, all of them still staring at it in stunned horror.
It was only when it tore apart Jackie's coffee table that the male exclaimed, "Get out! Go, go! Get out!" whilst grabbing her by the arm and pulling her back behind him and over towards Rose and Jackie.
Lynda watched wide eyed as he picked up a chair holding it out defensively, choosing to ignore his words of advice by not running.
She could hear Rose and Jackie arguing further away from them but most of it was drowned out due to the wind currents which swept around the living room.
The tree approached further and began chewing at the ends of the chair's legs, proving just how feeble a barrier it was.
She flexed her fingers getting ready to pull him out of there if need be.
"Get out of there! Lynda! Mickey!" she heard Jackie shout down the hall.
Grabbing the back of his coat she pulled him back just as the tree ate the end of the chair's legs completely thus causing him to stumble away from it as he tossed the remains of the chair away.
He spun around to face her panting slightly his face expressing his panic; she took that as her cue to run.
Spinning on her heel she quickly found herself entering the bedroom where Rose was currently trying to wake the Doctor.
"No, leave him. Just leave him!" she heard Jackie's voice from the hall.
"Jackie!" she gasped out in alarm, just as the male she now knew as Mickey entered yelling "Get in here!"
Jackie hesitated in the doorway before running in whilst shrieking, Mickey slamming the door behind her.
She was vaguely aware of Mickey trying to set up a barricade, Rose trying to stir the still sleeping Doctor as she looked frantically round the room for something that could be used as a weapon or any kind of defence.
She felt her building hysteria tickle the edges of her mind at being in the familiar situation of being trapped with only one way out.
Last time it had almost been her death. What about this time?
She shook her head swallowing hard, her gaze going from Mickey and Jackie who were struggling to hold the wardrobe in place then to Rose who was putting something in the Doctor's hand.
The Wardrobe's doors suddenly ripped clean off causing both Mickey and Jackie to dive back as the tree cut itself through the doorway and the back of the wardrobe completely tearing it up.
It entered the room and began to advance on them causing Jackie to cry out, "I'm going to get killed by a Christmas tree!"
Lynda chose that moment to move in front of the clearly most terrified person in room as some sort of defence.
Not that it would do much good but maybe, just maybe Jackie could use the precious seconds her death would provide to get out.
After all it couldn't get all of them at once and since the Doctor was far too out of it to even try and escape the only other person who came to her mind to help was Jackie who had shown her some brief kindness earlier.
A whirring noise cut through the air and before she had time to question it the tree abruptly exploded causing her to shield her face.
"Remote control. But who's controlling it?" a very familiar voice spoke and when she lowered her arms her thoughts were confirmed at the sight of the Doctor sitting up in bed holding some sort of sonic device.
Panting heavily due to what had just happened she could only stare dumfounded as the man who had practically been comatose earlier stood up and headed out the ripped up doorframe whilst putting on a dressing gown.
Only when the others began to follow out him did Lynda's feet begin to work and she went to join them in the corridor outside the flats where the others were currently looking over the wall at something below.
Moving for a closer look she followed their gazes to the three Santas that stood at ground level looking up at them, one of them holding a remote.
"That's them. What are they?" Mickey spoke only to be shushed by Rose.
The Doctor simply raised his sonic device at them in an unspoken threat, a tense pause followed before they finally teleported away.
"But their…they just…they've…" Lynda stammered unable to express her shock that they had just left. Maybe it was due to the struggle the Daleks put them through but it almost seemed to anti climatic.
"They've just gone. What kind of rubbish were they? I mean, no offence, but they're not much cop if a sonic screwdriver's going to scare them off" Micky added voicing what she couldn't.
"So it's a screwdriver" a part of her brain registered, cataloguing it away for later.
"Pilot fish" the Doctor spoke up seemingly out of nowhere.
"What?" Rose asked confused.
"They were just pilot fish" he clarified although he said it distractedly as if his thoughts were elsewhere.
Turning to look at him carefully Lynda could see his pupils moving back and forth as if he were connecting the dots to some invisible equation.
"Doctor!" she cried out in concern as he gasped in pain, falling backwards against the window that was behind him.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked as they all moved towards him as his breathing came out in audibly quick gasps.
"You woke me up too soon" he spoke leaning against the window ledge pausing to catch his breath, "I'm still regenerating." Taking one deep breath here he quickly grit out "I'm bursting with energy."
As if to verify his words the golden like wisps came out of his mouth once more.
"You see? The pilot fish could smell it a million miles away. So they eliminate the defence, that's you lot, and they carry me off. They could run their batteries on me for a couple of ow!" his babbling was cut off as he once more lurched forward this time ending up leaning against the balcony wall.
"What's wrong with you?!" Lynda cried placing a hand on his shoulder to try steady him as Micky placed his hand on the Doctor's other shoulder, Jackie crouching down in front of him with Rose at her left.
"My head! I'm having a neuron implosion. I need…" the Doctor started, trailing off as he struggled to breathe.
"What do you need?" Jackie asked.
"I need…" the Doctor tried again but couldn't seem to form the words.
"Say it. Tell me, tell me, tell me" Jackie frantically encouraged.
"I need-…" he began but every time he tried to get the words out Jackie would cut him off her panic causing her mouth to run and her ears to close.
"Painkillers?"
"I need-…"
"Do you need aspirin?"
"I need-…"
"Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I don't know, Pepto-Bismol?"
"I need-.." by this point he was finding it hard to keep up with her but was clearly desperate to have his say.
"Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?"
"I need-…"
"Is it food? Something simple. Bowl of soup. A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?" Jackie's voice became squeaky as her rant came to a brief pause which the Doctor all but jumped on.
"I need you to shut up" he blurted out through clenched teeth, looking her in the eye before lowering his head and breathing quickly.
Lynda tightened her grip thinking he was going to faint, quietly saying "you're okay, we've got you…."
Her voice overshadowed by Jackie's complaining "oh, he hasn't changed that much, has he?"
He suddenly dived back towards the wall spinning at the last second to avoid face planting it instead falling into a crouched position.
Lynda had practically been dragged along but had let go of his shoulder just in time to avoid having her arm ripped off and instead took up a new position to the right of Rose who was now standing next to the Doctor.
"We haven't got much time. If there's pilot fish, then" he tried to explain trailing off as he got distracted, "why's there an apple in my dressing gown?" he questioned pulling out said fruit and looking at it questionably.
"Oh, that's Howard. Sorry" Jackie spoke up making the Doctor look at her confused.
"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?" he question dubiously.
"He gets hungry" Jackie replied.
"What, he gets hungry in his sleep?" the Doctor almost held a note of disbelief in his voice. Lynda on the other had couldn't believe they were even having this conversation.
"Sometimes" Jackie shrugged.
Before the Doctor could reply his knees gave way sending him to the floor, "argh! Brain collapsing. The pilot fish..." he clung onto Rose's arm as he struggled to speak and Lynda felt her heart rate increase at what he said next, "the pilot fish mean that something, something, something is coming."
There was a tense silence then without any fanfare the Doctor slid sideways as he collapsed, Lynda only just managing to hold out her hands to stop his head hitting off the concrete.
...
Lynda now sat wearily on the couch, her eyes taking in the destruction left behind by the tree.
They'd somehow managed to get the Doctor back to bed and Rose was now checking up on him to make sure he was okay.
The adrenaline from the manic tree had driven away any hopes of resuming her sleep but her body still felt more heavy than usual as she fought off yet another yawn.
"Jackie, I'm using the phone line. Is that all right?" Mickey spoke whilst taking a seat at the table with what looked to be a laptop.
"Blimey, that should be in a museum" part of her thought, then again most the things she had seen looked like old artefacts. She had already considered the thought that they were on one of the colonies. It would explain the lack of destruction, the blue sky and the outdated technology.
"Yeah. Keep a count of it. It's thgindim. Christmas day. Any change?" Jackie replied whilst handing Rose a cup of tea.
Lynda frowned at something Jackie had said that didn't make sense; no one else seemed to notice it though so she let it pass as a slip of the tongue.
"He's worse. Just one heart beating." She replied whilst taking a seat, looking glumly into the tea she had accepted off her mum.
The news made Lynda fidget nervously with her sleeves; it was all getting to be too much.
Standing she said, "I'm just going ot eht moorhtab" pausing only at the confused look the others gave her.
"What?" Jackie asked puzzled.
Thinking she'd misheard her Lynda replied "I said I'm just going to the bathroom."
When Jackie began to slowly nod and the others looked away Lynda quickly headed for the bathroom.
Once there she closed the door behind her and headed towards the sink letting out a sigh. She wasn't used to this much drama.
Yes a part of her craved the excitement the rush that was becoming more and more familiar yet she was so confused…she wasn't aware of what was going on half the time, so many unanswered questions and to top it off she still hadn't had time to process what had happened on the Game Station.
The deaths, the Daleks, that light that had engulfed Rose… the girl herself seemed to have no recollection and the only one who did was barely hanging on…
One heart Rose had said…
"It would be enough…enough to keep him going…right?" she thought unwilling to think of the alternative.
Taking in a deep centring breath she wiped her eyes which had started to become wet before heading back out to the lounge, feeling more stable after her slight breather.
…
(Rose's P.O.V)
She sat on the arm rest of the couch absentmindedly twisting her hair through her fingers whilst she concentrated somewhat on watching the news broadcast on television, thinking of anything but the Doctor in order to keep calm.
"It was weird," she mentally decided as she watched the screen. Travelling with him she'd seen mankind make all kind of advancements yet to see them making that inch forward from her own time period…she wasn't sure what to think of it.
Her mum was sitting on the couch seat also watching the news, Mickey was doing something on the laptop and Lynda was in the bathroom.
Lynda…another thing she didn't know what to think about.
"Here we go, pilot fish. Scavengers, like the Doctor said. Harmless. They're tiny. But the point is, the little fish swim alongside the big fish" Mickey spoke up tearing her attention away from the TV as she stood to hover over his shoulder.
"Do you mean like sharks?" she asked watching the animation on the screen part of her attention still on the subject of Lynda.
She barely knew the girl. What she'd seen of her on the Satellite five, the way she acted around the Doctor…the way she smiled at him and was overly nice…for some reason…it bothered her…
"Great big sharks. So, what the Doctor means is, we had them, now we get that" Micky continued explaining it to her and unknowingly keeping her anchored to reality and more importantly the problem at hand.
"Something is coming. How close?" she prioritized the important questions. With the Doctor down she felt vulnerable and limited in what she could do.
What bothered her even more was why the girl was even with them…was she here accidently? Was the Doctor planning on taking her home? Was she staying…?
She seemed likable enough but still…
For some reason, her gut twisted at the thought...
She was here first.
"There's no way of telling, but the pilot fish don't swim far from their daddy" Micky replied grimly.
"So, it's close?" Rose's tone was urgent as she questioned Mickey her thoughts becoming further away from Lynda as she realised how bad the situation could get.
"Funny sort of rocks" her mum spoke interrupting the tense moment, making her look at the TV
"The first photographs," the news reader explained as the image started to come into focus on the screen.
"That's not rocks," she spoke as her previous experience with aliens made her instantly suspicious of the humanoid like "rocks."
"This image is being transmitted via mission control, coming live from the depths of space on Christmas morning," the news reader kept talking as she stepped closer to the screen now scrutinising the image as it became clearer.
When a red eyed creature with a face shaped like a goats skull came into view she instantly knew it was an alien, jumping back after getting a small scare when it growled at the screen.
As the news channels began making a fuss about real proof of aliens she could only think one thing, "Here come the Sharks."
Naturally this revelation had sent Mickey back to his laptop where he furiously began typing; it was not long before he called her back over.
"Rose. Take a look. I've got access to the military. They're tracking a spaceship. It's big, it's fast, and it's coming this way," he explained whilst still typing away.
"Coming for what, though? The Doctor?" she guessed still on the shark theory now even more convinced it was all connected.
"I don't know. Maybe it's coming for all of us" he answered just as the image on the screen changed.
The laptop now showed an image of four aliens, the leader appearing to be addressing them.
"Have you seen them before?" Mickey questioned.
"No" she replied frowning. "This isn't right," she couldn't help but think.
"I don't understand what they're saying. The Tardis translates alien languages inside my head, all the time, wherever I am," she babbled her voice on the edge of breaking. Things just got worse and worse.
"So, why isn't it doing it now?" Mickey questioned clearly not getting it.
But she got it. At least she had an idea, one that hurt to even think about due to the implications if she was right.
"I don't know. Must be the Doctor. Like he's part of the circuit, and he's, he's broken" she all but stammered out.
Then as if there was some malicious god looking to spite them the icing on the cake became apparent as a fourth person entered the living room.
"Era esoht xarocys?" Lynda said in a questioning tone pointing at the computer screen, causing everyone to turn and stare at her.
"Tahw?" Lynda spoke and Rose felt her face drain of colour as she made the connection.
"What's up with her?" Mickey questioned before adding, "Is she an alien?"
"No. She's…she's from the future" she spoke feeling a headache coming on, especially since Lynda was now looking confusedly at them.
"Then why can't we understand her!" her mum exclaimed with her usual brashness.
Mickey got their attention by snapping his finger saying, "Well it's like now, people didn't speak how we do hundreds of years ago, who knows how much our language evolves in a thousand or so years."
"Hang on…" she said realising something else, "if that's true then…maybe it's not just us who can't understand her…maybe she can't understand us…" she trailed off glancing at Lynda.
The girl's look of confusion was slowly changing to one of utter horror, one hand going to her mouth as her hands hid in the sleeves of her jacket.
Rose bit her lip, all current negative feelings towards the girl put on hold as her heart reached out sympathetically.
….
Lynda's P.O.V
Lynda couldn't fathom what was going on but it seemed as if in the few minutes she had been in the bathroom everything had gone topsy turvey.
Upon entering the living room her attention had been caught by the image of what appeared to be four Sycorax on the screen of the retro laptop.
Back home Sycoraxs were merely mentioned in the stories of space pirates, their culture being surrounded in voodoo and black magic made them a perfect tale for a winter's night or a bed time story.
To see a picture of them on the screen was quite an astonishment and she couldn't help but question it, "Are those Sycorax?" falling from her lips.
The instant the words left her mouth she froze in surprise as she became the direct centre of attention of all the occupants in the room.
Feeling mildly unnerved she asked "What?" hoping to get some clarity on the situation.
Her reply was far from expected.
They began babbling with each other in complete and utter nonsensical sentences. She felt herself frown as she tried to make sense of it but the words were complete gibberish.
She felt confused, why were they talking like that? They appeared to understand one another…was it code? But then why didn't they stop when she approached them. Why were they looking with her with such looks and why did they appear unaware that anything was wrong?
She felt her heart rate increase when Jackie exploded at them in the same gibberish.
Jackie Tyler had thus far been kind to her so it seemed illogical for her to suddenly try and mess with her head. Mickey snapping his fingers caught her attention and by the way the other two were paying attention to him she guessed he was explaining something. What made her distinctly unnerved was the way he gestured at her during it.
Were they talking about her?
It was then a frightening thought struck her…what if they couldn't understand her just as she could not them?
The implications of being in a foreign land with no way to communicate were terrifying, perhaps worse than facing a Dalek. At least the danger of a Dalek was straight forward this...a thing like that would be so complicated that it was horrifying to contemplate.
She looked up at each of them. Why were they looking at her like that?! Confusion, horror and sympathy on their faces…why?
She didn't realize her eyes were filling with tears or that she had indeed began to panic until two hands squeezed her own in a gesture so familiar it instantly calmed her.
Taking her eyes away from the hands over her own she looked up to see the owner of said hands to see none over than Jackie Tyler with a motherly smile on her face.
She said something to Rose who then left with Mickey following behind her towards the bedroom and then lead her by the hands to the couch and sat her down on it.
Now that she was sitting she did in fact feel slightly better but the sudden turn of events still filled her up so much she felt ready to combust from the pressure of the intense emotions she carried inside.
It turned out she had dazed out a bit as she only tuned in to the last of what Jackie who was rubbing her hands comfortingly was sayying, "Ereht, ereht, ll'ti eb enif. Uoy tsuj xaler ereh elihw I og put eht lettek no."
The whole thing was gibberish but she still half-heartedly returned the smile Jackie gave her as the woman's actions of comfort were clear even if her words weren't.
The sound of the kettle boiling was the only sound in the flat, the mostly silence allowing her to reflect. She felt helpless; all she had done so far was a total of nothing.
Rose destroyed the Daleks, the Doctor destroyed the tree…she didn't like feeling useless.
Clasping her hands in front of her she leant forward, slightly hunched over as she rested her elbows on her knees whilst she began to brood.
A few hours passed and her thoughts had gone nowhere. Jackie had brought her a cup of tea and after what she presumed to be more words of comfort and then had also left for the bedroom.
Lynda had wanted to check on the Doctor herself but with the three of them in there already she knew she would feel out of place so refrained.
If only she had some answers. Like what was up with the Sycorax? What did they want? Surely nothing good could come of their presence…she needed more information.
As if in answer to her thoughts a commotion outside caught her attention.
Heading to the front door she peered out to see a bunch of people walking down the corridor, some of them still in their pyjamas.
Rose appeared to be questioning a woman who was in the middle of replying when she arrived to investigate.
"Eh t'now netsil. S'eh tsuj gniklaw. Eh t'now pots gniklaw! S'ereht siht tros fo light gniht. Jason? Pots ti thgir won! Esaelp, Jason, tsuj pots" she said the only bit Lynda understood being the apparent name of the man who's attention the woman appeared to be trying to get.
The man seemed to be in some sort of trance, completely oblivious to their presence as he continued walking forward, a light appearing briefly around his head. As she inspected the crowd closer she noticed all the zoned out looking people shared the same light.
Unable to fully understand what was going on she followed Mickey and Rose who went up to the roof, the same place where all of the people were going.
A part of her panicked as they started stepping onto the roof's ledge and she called out "hey wait!" reaching forward to grab one by the elbow to try pull them away only to find they wouldn't budge.
"Lynda?!" she turned at her name to see Mickey and Rose who had apparently been leaving now heading over to her having apparently heard her voice and recognised it.
"Haow! Nac uoy dnatsrednu su won?" he questioningly spoke to her though she had no clue as to what he said.
Tilting her head she frowned sayying, "I can't understand you" finally voicing the newest concern on her mind.
He frowned turning to Rose who said, "Ebyam ehs tsuj sesingocer reh eman?" to which she shrugged.
Taking her arm his voice became stern as he guided her back to the house, "Uoy t'nac tsuj rednaw ffo ekil taht! Yako!"
She looked at him confusedly, blinking twice to which he sighed and Rose sniggered saying, "Uoy dnuos ekil eht Doctor."
"Haey hgual ti pu tub Jackie lliw evah htob era skcen fi ew esool reh."
"Stahw taht naem!" she snapped at him, whatever he said must have offended her in some way. She'd heard Jackies name, perhaps he had insulted her mother thus leaving her annoyed.
Apparently he realised her mood to as he quickly replied, "Gnihton! Yhw t'nod ew kcehc eht swen rof yna ofni no s'tahw gniog no" all but shoving her into the Tyler's apartment so he could get in quickly.
She watched him as he headed straight for the TV, Rose moodily following. As she approached she watched their facial expressions change as they soaked in whatever was on at the moment. She had just reached them and gotten a glimpse of an important looking woman giving some sort of speech when they all appeared stricken by something she had said.
Rose pushed passed her and Lynda followed her with her eyes as she headed for the bedroom and was shocked when the sounds of Rose's crying came from said girl's direction. As Jackie went to comfort Rose she couldn't help but wonder what the woman had said to upset her so much.
All of a sudden both she and Mickey who was still in the room with her were forced to duck as all the windows in the flat shattered, sending glass flying out at them.
….
Sorry it was so long to post but I promise I will post at least once a week, when in the week I do not know but I do know I will post once a week. I think Jackie is a much nicer character than she is given credit it for, I just think she is overly protective of her daughter. Anyways part 2 for this should be posted tomorrow so yey! :)
When they can't understand each other the words are just spelt backwards, encase any of you didn't figure it out.