The Cost of a Box
Author: Naomitrekkie
Series: The whole Whoniverse, with a focus on Doctor Who
Rating: K+, to be safe
Synopsis: Only the people on the Valiant remembered the Year That Never Was, or were they? One seemingly crazy girl knows more than she should, but at what cost?
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or the Whoniverse (only in my dreams . . . and sometimes in RTD's nightmares).
A/N: If you don't watch SJA or Torchwood, I've explained some stuff at the end. Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed! You guys rock(and the Sycorax do not)!
Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Some Important Details
Martha looked at Jack, who gave her a confused look, as if to say, "I have no clue what she'd talking about."
A few seconds later, Arianna let go of Jack and took a few steps back, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Sorry," she said, getting the chance to think clearly. "You just look like someone I know, well, kinda."
At this, Jack gave her a puzzled look. She decided to explain, having temporarily forgotten about the Master.
"See, my Mum gave me this locket. It's her grandparents, her Mum, and her uncle. She never met him or her gran'dad, but she gave me this locket." She showed it to Jack, taking it off to do so. It was a rather large locket, and on the inside it had extra space, allowing it to hold four different pictures. She pointed out the people to Jack, some of which he recognized, which shocked him.
"Estelle," he said without even realizing it. Arianna's face lit up in amazed recognition, leaving Martha feeling left out.
"Who's Estelle?" Martha asked.
"That's my great gran's name," Arianna answered. Jack showed the locket to Martha, who understood, not needing the explanation he gave anyway.
"She was my wife."
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Sarah Jane arrived back at 13 Bannerman Road and tried to sneak inside without getting noticed by the teens. She just wanted to quickly get inside, see Mr. Smith, then get out, although she did take a second to notice that Luke and Maria were sitting together as they watched the movie. She managed to get in unnoticed and even managed to made it through her conversation with Mr. Smith. It wasn't until she was trying to escape that she wasn't noticed, not that she realized. Maria had been returning from the kitchen to the living room when she spotted her leaving. She silently went up to the attic, deciding to try and figure out what Sarah Jane had been up to.
"Hello, Mr. Smith," she said after closing the attic door. She was trying to keep her conversation from carrying downstairs.
"Hello, Maria."
"You wouldn't happen to be able to tell me what Sarah Jane was up to, would ya?" she asked.
"Sarah Jane did not require me to keep it a secret," he said simply. Maria waited for more, until she figured he wasn't going to say anything else.
"So, what'd she do?"
"She asked me to scan this puzzle box she found." Maria looked around and found the box sitting on Mr. Smith's scanner pad. She walked towards it, looking at it, careful not to touch.
"What'd you find?" she asked in a semi-distracted state.
"It was covered in human and graske DNA."
"Graske? Wasn't that the same species that snatched me from existence?" Maria asked, becoming focused on Mr. Smith and not the box.
"Yes."
"I wonder why a graske would have a puzzle box," she said, thinking aloud. She wondered about it for a few moments, when the attic door opened and a familiar voice spoke.
"Maria, what are you doing?"
"Nothing, Luke. Just had a question for Mr. Smith," she said, deciding it was best not to mention that Sarah Jane had been in for a bit.
"You coming back? We're about to start the next movie."
"Of course," she said, smiling. She pushed the puzzle box out of her mind as she followed Luke back to the living room. She realized she left the popcorn in the kitchen, and Luke went back to get it for her.
"Wat took you so long? Were you and Luke . . . ?" Clyde asked, making kissy faces at her. Maria grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at him. He was sitting awkwardly enough so it knocked him over, causing Rani to break out in a fit of giggles.
Luke came back in with the popcorn a few moments later and asked, "What's so funny?" causing Rani to laugh even harder.
"Oh, you know Clyde," Maria said, shrugging it off. Luke realized she hadn't answered his question, but they sat back down and started the movie, so Luke but it out of his mind.
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Arianna just stared at Jack. She was about to ask what he was talking about, when Jack changed the subject.
"So, enough of family history. I believe you have some information about the Master."
"So you remember too?" she asked, unable to believe it. She hoped Martha had, but she hadn't been expecting that.
"Boy, do I remember. I was on the Valiant."
This caused Arianna to gasp.
"Yes, so what's this about the Master?"
"He's coming back."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"How?" Martha asked.
"I had this box. It protected me from the Master and maybe it's the reason I remember when no one else did, I'm not sure. I got it from a man, a few days before the Master and the Toclafane. Now it's gone. He sent someone to get it and he's coming back!"
She began to panic, but Martha calmed her. Jack was skeptical, having seen the Master die in front of him, but he listened anyway. Even if this was only a false alarm, they could use retcon to make the girl forget the Master.
"Are you sure? How do you know?"
"He said. He told me. He said that it'd protect me, but when it was taken, he'd be back. I never let it out of my sight, never ever. I always kept it with me, even when I wasn't supposed to. I even got in trouble at school 'cause of it. Then, it was gone while I was sleeping. He sent someone to take it."
Arianna was back in a panic, and Martha did her best to try to comfort her. She looked at Jack as she did so, attempting to have a silent conversation with him.
"What do you think?" she mouthed.
Jack shrugged mouthing, "We saw him die."
Martha tried to mouth, "What about the fob watch?" but Jack didn't understand, so Martha pointed to her wrist, where a watch should have gone. It took him a bit, but then he understood. He pointed to his office, and headed in that direction, leaving Martha to deal with Arianna.
"Hey, Arianna, I'm going to be right back, 'K? I'll be just a few minutes," she said.
"Promise?"
"Promise. Now, don't touch anything. There's some pretty dangerous stuff around here."
"OK."
With that, Martha left Arianna on the couch, then headed up to Jack's office.
Inside, Jack was pacing, which made Martha more that slightly nervous.
"I'm guessing you believe her," Martha commented, announcing her presence.
"I'm not sure. All we have is the word of this nine year old, and no solid evidence."
"If she's right, the Master could be anywhere or anyone."
"I know that, but how did he do it? We saw him die!"
"I remember. I was there," she said, irritation seeping into her voice.
"Yes, I remember. How'd he do it?"
"Maybe he's got some his conscious locked up someplace."
"Really, Martha? Harry Potter?" Jack said, giving Martha a look.
"Oi! It could happen."
"Well, maybe. It's possible. The question is, do we do it?"
Silence engulfed them both as Jack waited for Martha's answer.
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Sarah Jane arrived at Pharos, parking far enough away from the place so as to not be seen on the cameras. She went through the motions of breaking in to the place, going through the process exactly as she did before. She chuckled to herself, thinking, These people never learn.
She got in and back out with the telepathic unit, everything going off without a hitch. It was almost too easy, but she didn't allow herself to think about that. She didn't want to jinks anything. She wasn't exactly superstitious, but with aliens, anything could happen.
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The Doctor and John watched as DJ and Rose shopped. The Doctor would never know why he picked Barcelona (the planet), one of the biggest shopping centers this side of the galaxy, but he had, and DJ insisted on going shopping. With Rose on her side, both Doctors were outnumbered, and they both knew it. So there they stood, watching the girls go around, always standing a bit away.
DJ's giggling caught their attention as both women started walking back to them.
"The dogs have no noses!" DJ told them both, getting a laugh from everyone.
"That never gets old," both Doctors said at the same time, causing DJ and Rose to start laughing even harder. It reminded him of Rose and Sarah's laughing fit when they met, and he wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
"So, buy anything?" John asked.
"Yeah!" DJ said, showing off her new charm bracelet, with one charm on it, a little wolf figurine. "Isn't it cool?"
"Very nice," John says.
"I'll say. Is that a wolf?" the Doctor asks.
"They're my favorite animal," DJ says cheerily. The Doctor glances at Rose, who looks around innocently.
"Now then! It's time to be off!" the Doctor announced, causing DJ to giggle.
"Race you!" she yelled as she sprinted off towards the TARDIS. Both Doctors ran after her, and Rose did too, after shaking her head and laughing at them.
They arrived back at the TARDIS and the Doctor was getting ready to take off.
". . . where should we go, hmm?" the Doctor was saying when Rose arrived.
"I know! Frappachappachina, year two million and two!"
"Frappachappachina? What's at Frappachappachina?" the Doctor asked. He knew it was the coffee capital of this universe, but there wasn't anything a six year old would like.
"Only the best quadruple chocolate frappuccino with extra chocolate chips ever!" she cheered. "Dad told me that in two million and two they came out with it in the triple extra large size."
The Doctor looked from John, who shrugged, and Rose, who mouthed, "Decaf." The Doctor nodded, then set the TARDIS coordinates.
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"Do it," Martha said, and Jack picked up the phone.
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Just as the Doctor was about to take off, a phone rang. He looked around and found it was Martha's phone. He answered it, wondering why she would be calling.
"Martha?" he asked into the phone. Across the room, Rose was talking to John.
"Since when does he have a cell phone?"
"Martha gave it to him."
"Doesn't she know the TARDIS has a phone?" John just shrugged. "Some help you are."
On the phone, the Doctor received and answer.
"No, it's Jack. We've sort of . . . got a situation over here."
"What kind of situation?"
"We think, more like, we've heard that the Master's back."
Had the sentence ended any other way, the Doctor might have made a comment about his sources. However, knowing the Master, the Doctor took no chances. It wouldn't be the first time he'd returned from the dead.
"Where are you?"
"In the Hub."
"We'll be right there."
Then the Doctor hung up, before explaining anything more. He quickly changed the coordinates and took off.
To Be Continued . . .
A/N: OK, so I promised some (important) explanations. One is the puzzle box. It was in SJA and protected its owner from the effects of the Trickster and allowed the person holding it to remember the changed events. Two, Estelle Cole is the woman from "Small Worlds," aka the fairy episode, so I didn't make her up (just some of her background).
Hope that helps! PM if you have any questions. Please review! Thanks!
Smiles,
Naomitrekkie :D