Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to BBC and whoever else has copyrights on it….and that list does not include myself.
Thanks for the reviews, everyone. You're brilliant! I am such a non Doctor/Amy shipper these days that this story is kinda awkward to me, but I think I shall still finish it!
The Doctor burst into the Williams' house as he heard the fading sound of Anna's scream. He ran up the stairs, yelling, "No, no, no, no, no." He crashed into her room, only to find it empty and the air slightly shimmering.
He tasted the same metallic taste that he smelled on the air when he was with Amy. It was the smell of space transport technology available in this time period in the Metabelle system, a system that would eventually develop the technology for Ood domestication.
He whipped out his sonic screwdriver and took some readings off the air and ground. Amy caught up to him as he checked the readings.
"Doctor?" She looked around the room. "Doctor, where is she?"
He looked carefully at his old friend. "She's been taken."
As Amy began to panic, he grabbed her shoulders. "Pond, I'll get her back; I swear."
Amy's face began to fall apart and she yelled, "Why is it that when you come around people get hurt?"
His heart fell at the sad truth. It was truly dangerous to tread with him, which was why he wished that Anna had never met him, at least not until she had to.
"Amy. Amy." He leaned his forehead against hers. "Someone took her because she's valuable alive. Remember that." He paused. "I have to get to the TARDIS now; I should not leave Anna alone for long."
"I'm coming with you, of course." Amy gave him an intense look that he found hard to deny.
"This will be dangerous, Amy. You have another child to remember, and a husband. They need you." The Doctor did not want to hurt this family any more than he already had.
"My daughter needs me now. Let's go." Amy grabbed the Doctor's hand and dragged him out of the door.
The Doctor had no more time to argue, so he ran with her.
"Now, explain while we run, what's going on?" Amy gave the Doctor a sidelong glance as they ran toward the town's park.
"The Rickens. Yes, they're low level intelligence, but they aren't just good at singing. They also have an adaptation that allows them to sense energy signatures off of creatures. That's what attracted them to their brother race, the Mindel. The Mindel are very intelligent, very advanced. They have nearly equivalent energy signatures to the Rickens—" He breathed heavily and drew out the key to the TARDIS. He opened the doors and strode in, throwing his jacket on a nearby support beam.
"So which has Anna and why?" Amy asked as he plugged the sonic screwdriver into a hole on the dashboard.
"The Rickens sensed her energy signature. They probably told their more intelligent brothers." He began hitting buttons and pulling levers. Then he began analyzing the screen. "Metabelle System. Called it," he murmured to himself.
"What about her energy signature, Doctor?" Amy's voice betrayed her frustration at his inattention.
The Doctor stopped bustling and gave his attention to his friend. "A Time Lord's energy signature is far greater than a human's. I've had people come after me just for the energy that I possess. A Gallifreyan child's signature would be so strong…" He shook his head. "It's actually a miracle that she hasn't been found before now."
"So what, they're going to somehow use her energy?" Amy's voice cracked, and the Doctor went back to starting the TARDIS.
"The Mindel are traders, and Anna will go for a very high price." He tried to make it sound less serious than it was. In truth, Anna's bio-stats were probably being beamed across the galaxy as they spoke, and many races would take notice of this girl. The Doctor had always tried very hard to keep himself a legend, a mysterious god. He was safer that way. But now physical proof of Anna's existence was being traded and bartered. He had to fix this.
Before Amy could respond, the TARDIS jerked into motion. It was a rougher ride than usual, and he had to hold tightly so that he would not fly across the main console.
They landed rather roughly and when the Doctor stood, Amy followed suit with a frown on her face as she rubbed her head.
"Sorry, we only travelled through space, you see. One dimension, like travelling through a skinny pipe instead of getting to wiggle around." He left the TARDIS feeling optimistic. Anna had only been here a short while.
"Come, come, come." The Doctor jumped out of the TARDIS, only to be knocked over nearly immediately by bustling people. "My…" He murmured, picking himself up off the floor.
Amy was behind him, nervously glancing around. "What is this?"
"It's Wall Street…but in space." He flicked out his sonic screwdriver. He hit the proper sequence to make it pick up the frequency of intergalactic merchandise and set the parameters to Anna's blood. "This will tell me if she goes on the market."
He saw Amy flinch and realized that he should probably have phrased that better.
"Don't worry," he offered, realizing that Amy probably found little comfort in that either. "I'll get her back. And make it so that they won't even have record of her ever having existed."
"Thanks," Amy whispered, hoping he was telling the truth.
"Right," he turned away from the hurt in Amy's eyes to the world around him. He took a deep breath and his head spun with the mix of races.
"Always go to the top, I say." He saw the lift to the upper echelon of offices. Taking Amy's hand, he bounded through the crowd, shoving back when people shoved him.
When they got to the lift he paused and turned to the human with him, "Just follow my lead, and keep an eye out for any holding areas."
Amy nodded, straightening her back.
"Let's go," she answered, trying to assure herself.
They stepped onto the lift.
