Triple Threat
Chapter 6
Katti stood up and looked at the others. It took her a few moments to realize her sister hadn't moved yet. She looked down to see Elizabeth had sustained a gash on her forehead from the fall.
"Bella," Katti called as she knelt over their sister. Isabella ran over and began examining the wound.
"This occur during the fall?" Bella asked and Katti nodded. She noticed The Doctor looked at them intrigued and oh how she wanted to jump him but she couldn't think about that. Her sister was hurt.
"I'm fine," they heard Elizabeth whisper as she brushed Bella's hand away from her head. Katti smiled but brushed it away instantly.
She slapped Elizabeth's arm. "What the hell were you thinking, carrying me like that?"
"I was thinking we should give the Doctor his TARDIS back," Elizabeth stated. Then she muttered, "I guess the TARDIS has other ideas though."
"Help me move her to one of the spare rooms," Isabella ordered and they did exactly that.
-x-
TWO WEEKS LATER…
-x-
The Doctor watched as Elizabeth came walking out of her room. He shook his head noting the girl seemed to sleep the same amount he did if not less. He might not be an expert when it came to the human physiology but he was pretty sure that two hours of sleep a night wasn't exactly normal for humans.
"Hey Doctor," she said coming in wearing a pair of his black dress pants he hadn't seen in at least two decades. Her top was a bright red halter top and she was wearing an Edwardian style jacket from his first incarnation. He had to admit, Elizabeth was unique in her clothing choices. She'd get into his closet and pick up random articles of clothing and put them together in ways that looked flattering on her. All of the sisters knew how to accentuate their bodies. Plenty of aliens and humans had inquired after them.
"Hello Elizabeth," he said as she moved to the TARDIS and began working on it.
"Where are we off to this time?" she asked as she slid beneath the floor and he heard banging and clanking. He didn't even worry about it, having learned Elizabeth and Katherine were very good with technology – maybe even better than he was. Since they'd been working on it the TARDIS hadn't had any major problems arrive. The fact it flew smoother due to the number of pilots also helped.
Where it use to be two or three people on her at the most and now there were five pilots helped out a lot.
"Earth, Martha's missing her family," The Doctor said.
"Okay," Elizabeth responded naturally. "Do I have to get off the TARDIS when we land?"
He shook his head confused by the young woman he'd met. "No, if you don't want… but why would you stay on the TARDIS?"
She popped her head up from beneath the surface and looked at him. Her eyes reminded him of someone a lot older than her years… all of the triplets' eyes did this to him. They reminded him of his home where children grew up quickly knowing all of the universe's secrets.
He shook his head. The only thing his people and these children had in common was they were both incredibly smart and had abilities. True, these children seemed to be smarter than the average human. Yes, these kids had abilities similar to time lords. That didn't mean anything… coincidence. There were no other living time lords and these children were too young to have survived the timewar. They didn't even know it was real until they'd met him. Definitely not time-ladies.
"Our time holds no surprises for me anymore," she stated bluntly. "People mugging each other on the street, pick pockets bumping into unsuspecting victims, false fronts on everyone you pass, moving far too fast never taking the time to look at those they pass on the street. That's all our time holds. For us, our technological advancements should make things easier but we still have way too many issues."
The Doctor looked at the girl and wondered what could caused a twenty-one year old to become so jaded while her sisters seemed so full of life and youth.
"You sure do have a negative outlook on things don't you," he stated bluntly and she just shrugged.
"Not exactly negative but real. I know that there is no such thing as fairytales, a prince won't come in and sweep me away to some kingdom where I'll live happily ever after, I know that if a man is holding a gun to my head nobody is going to rush in at the last minute and save my life from the bullet, I know that there are bad people out there… good things happen to bad people every day while bad things happen to good people. It's a fact," Elizabeth said as she ducked under once more.
The Doctor noted the silence that settled and two hours later they arrived in the park. He and Martha left the TARDIS with Isabella and Katherine trailing right behind. Elizabeth stayed on board.
Katherine spun, her little skirt floating upwards slightly and he smiled at her. Her hair was pulled back and it was braided. Her clothing was bright and vivacious in a bright ass purple skirt, light lavender spaghetti strap top, and the same bright purple jacket he'd first met her in.
Isabella was in a dark brown pair of pants, a pale top, and it was quite drab, even for him.
"Ooo, shopping," he instantly heard Katti squeal. He smiled at her childlike enthusiasm that is till she grabbed his hand and began dragging him towards the stores, her sister having linked her other arm.
Martha laughed at the spectacle and followed right behind. They dragged him down the streets to a bunch of stores. Martha excused herself and he felt like a pack mule. Somehow the girls had acquired quite a bit of money when he wasn't looking and now he was being forced to carry all of their purchases.
"Oo, what do you think Doctor?" Katti asked walking out of the dressing room in a one shoulder dress that had a whole in the stomach showing her belly button. It was very short too. Instantly he shook his head at her.
"No," he stated before thinking. He'd been a father once. He didn't want anyone he knew degrading themselves in such a manner. "You are not wearing anything so revealing."
"Ah, come on, it's pretty," she said pouting and he crossed his arms in front of him. Inside he felt himself cringe. He felt very domestic at that moment. "Besides, if you are worried about other men seeing me in it I could wear it only for you."
He shook his head.
"Katti," Bella called, "leave the poor Doctor alone. He's not right for you – no offense."
"None taken," The Doctor stated instantly.
"He's too old for you… besides, you should probably go after someone of our own species. Plus, didn't you say he was in love with some other woman – your favorite companion of his with a flowery name – Lilly, Heather," Bella called as she stepped out in a plain black camisole and a white suit.
"Rose, and yeah, but she's not here so it's all good," Katti said. "Now, if she came back, I would immediately relinquish control but she hasn't so…"
This ramble was interrupted by an explosion that shook everything like an earthquake. He instantly ran out while those two tossed several hundred dollars at the cashier.
In the distance there was smoke and large green flames. As the girls came up behind him he heard muttering.
"Guess this means no more shopping," Bella sighed while he heard a little squeal he recognized.
"This means lots of running, and I just bought these cute little pumps for this occasion," Katti squealed like a child and he couldn't help but chuckle. He glanced back and it was the worse thing he could have done. She tossed five bags in his arms as she pulled a shoe box out of the one and slipped them on.
"I'll take the bags to the TARDIS, see you in ten minutes," Bella said grabbing all of the bags before she started sprinting in the direction of the TARDIS.
"Well, let's go," Katti said pointing towards the flames as she put in an earpiece and tossed one towards him.
"What's this?" The Doctor asked confused.
"I created these to use the TARDIS's natural energy to communicate with the others. We talk to them, they hear us, they talk to us and we hear them," she stated with a smile.
He nodded and placed it in his ears and he heard humming in his head. Then he heard a song begin playing and two voices sang. One he recognized the other he didn't.
"Elizabeth, enough singing. We've got problems," Katti said as she began running towards the fires causing the Doctor to sprint after her. The singing stopped and the music stopped.
"Sorry, what's going on?" Elizabeth asked.
"Check the screen, North by North East – Green Flames, burning fast and burning hard, can you get a scan from there with…" Katti began when she was cut off.
"I can do the scan, just let me get coordinates set into the mainframe," Elizabeth stated and he heard running feet crossing metal.
"What?" The Doctor asked confused. Sometimes, rooming with geniuses just as smart as you are in different fields was very difficult. Now he understood how his companions constantly felt when dealing with him.
"It's a sibling thing," Katti said with a shrug. He just rolled his eyes. The duo sprinted and then Elizabeth came back on the com.
"Okay the results came in. Appears to be Carbon mostly but there are trace amounts of Bromine, Sulfur, Oxygen, Magnesium, Cobalt, and something called Corvoline. I may not be a chemist or anything but I'm pretty sure Corvoline isn't on the Earth periodic table of elements," Elizabeth stated confused and the Doctor stopped running.
Katti must have noticed because she turned to look at him.
"Doctor, what's going on?" Katti asked and he turned to look at her confused.
"Corvoline was used by a group of rogue Timelords when I was just a teen to force the regeneration process," The Doctor stated. "It killed anyone or anything not of Timelord decent."
He glanced at the flames.
"You two get back here, we'll figure this out together," Elizabeth stated. Katti looked like she was about to argue but Elizabeth spoke up. "We don't have time to argue this. The longer we wait the larger the Corvoline enhanced fire gets and the more lives that are put in jeopardy."
They both surrendered and began sprinting towards the TARDIS.
"How do you get rid of Corvoline?" Katti asked and the Doctor sighed.
"There is a chemical, Lakon, it can stop the spread. I'm not sure how it would stop the spread of fire enhanced Corvoline though," The Doctor said.
"Do you have any Lakon?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah, in the back room, large green bottle labeled Lakon, why?" he asked. There was silence.
"Uh-oh," Katti said running faster.
-x-
Elizabeth heard that and instantly turned off her com and ran towards the back room where she picked up the bottle he talked about. Then he headed off in the direction of the fire, avoiding where the others were.
She watched Bella enter the TARDIS then sprinted away. Eventually she got close and looked for the object she needed. She heard static and turned on her com. They would have remotely soon enough anyways.
In her mind, she knew what she had to do. She couldn't worry about them tracking her down before she could do it.
-x-
"What are you thinking?" Bella demanded terrified. Her sister was heading into a dangerous situation where she would most likely die.
"I'm doing what needs to be done," Elizabeth stated bluntly. "Ah-ha."
"Ah-ha?" The Doctor muttered. "She's starting to sound like me."
"Thanks," Elizabeth stated.
"Don't do this," Katti begged and pleaded. "Please, we'll figure out someway to do this. Don't…"
"I have to," Elizabeth said. "The longer we wait the larger it gets. The longer we wait the higher the risks of an innocent getting killed are. I know, death is inevitable, but if I can do something to prevent it I am going to. Bella, you are a doctor – a surgeon, you should understand better than anyone."
She swallowed knowing her sister was right. She did understand that need to save people.
"What are you going to do," Bella asked.
"Whatever it takes, no matter the cost," Elizabeth said. "I'm going silent." With that there was no more noise.
A surreal silence settled over them all as they realized what she meant. No matter the cost – even the cost of her life.
-x-