Disclaimer: The only part of Doctor Who I own is my unabashed love of it. The rest belongs to the BBC and friends.
Make Haste Slowly – Chapter 9
Caesar and I made it without incident to the tree line; to find the Doctor leaning back against an old oak with his arms crossed. The Roman tethered his horse to a branch before giving the Doctor an appraising look.
"So are these the grand clothes that a caveman might wonder at then?"
"Caveman?" The Doctor asks, looking back and forth at both of us, obviously confused.
"Long story…" I tell him. Hoping he will drop it. I already feel embarrassed enough about that one thanks.
"You called him a caveman?"
So much for dropping it…
"Doctor…" I murmur.
His eyes lights up, but he manages to otherwise hold in his amusement.
"I think this belongs to you." He says to Caesar as he holds out the sword.
"Indeed it does, and based on how this campaign has gone thus far, I need all of the swords I can get."
The two just stare at each other for a minute, is it just me or are things a little tense?
"I was under the impression that you wished to speak to me." Caesar finally says.
"I do yeah." The Doctor replied.
When he doesn't continue Caesar begins to shift on his feet, glaring at the Doctor. I insult him by calling him a caveman, the Doctor keeps him waiting. We really are quite a pair…
"Those legionaries, in Rome, they weren't yours." The Doctor finally says.
"No, they were the soldiers of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, my… friend." Caesar hesitated at the last word, seeming to chew it over a bit before deciding to use it.
"So why did you work to undermine them, why did you help rescue me?" The Doctor continues. He already knew who the men were commanded by I think, he just wanted Caesar to tell us that himself.
"I did so to help Oswin, not you, and also because it aided me."
It's still really weird to hear him call me that. In fact he doesn't actually know my proper name. I wonder if that is how the Doctor feels sometimes. With no one addressing calling him by his actual name. Maybe you get used to it eventually.
"Why did you want to help her?" The Doctor asks.
"When you were threatened, she did not wish to flee, even when you told her to. She would have stayed and been taken herself before she left you. When someone is in trouble, I have found that friends are not always that… supportive. Many would take advantage of the situation for their own gain, or simply would have turned away so as to not endanger themselves. But she did not walk away, she is the kind of friend I wish I had, and the kind of friend I wish I could be." Caesar finishes bitterly.
"But you have a whole camp of soldiers down there that would probably die for you." I say, hesitantly.
"They would die for an idea, for Rome, for glory, for Caesar their General. I doubt you could find one among them that would put themselves in harm's way just for me, as a man. When you become something more than just yourself, an idea, a symbol, a title, it is very hard to find people who remember to look at you for who you really are. The people around you, who you call friends and who call you friend, you both do it for gain, you use each other, jockey for position, and strike each other down eventually."
He takes a deep breath before continuing.
"When I called him a God Oswin, you tried to prove me wrong. I don't understand what he is, but his otherworldliness didn't matter to you, doesn't matter to you. You didn't try to use it to your advantage to get what you wanted from me. You just wanted him back, for him."
The Doctor smiles, almost sadly.
"My friends have always been the best of me." He says, in a hushed voice.
"You are a very lucky man."
"I know…"
"How did me rescuing the Doctor help you?" I say quickly, feeling a little uncomfortable with the looks they are both giving me.
"As I said, I am not a very good friend myself. Your God who is not a God escaping from right under Pompey's nose, me being 'attacked' in the process, it was a rather disgraceful night for Pompey, even though he never left his bed. He owed me a few favours after that."
Artorious whinnies, and starts pawing the ground.
"He wants us to know that someone is coming." The Doctor says, looking anxious and moving towards me.
Caesar looks in my direction, silently asking if he had heard the Doctor right, that his horse had something he wanted us to know. I nod; it's nice to see other people having the same reactions as I do when the Doctor is being weird…
"We had best be going then. I have not found the locals to be overly welcoming." Caesar says.
He turns to me and flashes a grin.
"Oswin Oswald, God's friend, God's power, I hope we may run into each other again."
He turns to the Doctor.
"Take care of her. And let her take care of you as well."
And with that, he sweeps around, and throws himself onto his horse before galloping back across the clearing.
"He certainly knows how to make an exit doesn't he?" I ask the Doctor.
"I'll give him that yeah." The Doctor says, seemingly lost in thought.
"God's friend I get, you called me that and it seems to have stuck. But why did he add on the God's power bit?" I ask.
"For a man like him I guess friends are your power or your downfall…" He trails off.
"Doctor?" I say, tugging on his arm a bit.
"Hmm?"
I give him a questioning look before we hear something, or rather someone, several someone's actually, crash through the trees in front of us.
They look, not nice, pretty threatening, axes, spears, hostile faces, the works...
"Get the Oswald! The Roman said she was a God's power! We shall use her to defeat him!"
"Run!" The Doctor shouts, grabbing my hand as we turn to get away.
True to his word of not underestimating a Celt, as soon as the TARDIS doors are locked behind us the Doctor runs forward to get the TARDIS moved somewhere else.
"Never a dull moment with you is there?" I say, trying to laugh it off.
The Doctor's face stays serious though.
"You know what happens to him, to Caesar, don't you?"
That brings a sadness to me too.
"And you, Brutus?" I say quietly.
"Shakespeare, but yes, the sentiment is right at least. He walked into a trap… Betrayed by his friends and allies, the same way he had been all his life. Caesar had a very lonely road most of the time."
"Not every lonely monster can find a companion…" I say to him, though I don't know if he heard me, having already begun setting the TARDIS controls again.
We have both been soaked through by our run in the rain, and I am starting to shiver.
"We could have dropped in on him anytime, why did we have to come to cold, wet Britain? Why not, like Egypt or something, where it's nice and warm? He ends up there eventually right?"
"Yes he does, but I don't think Cleo wouldn't have been too happy to see me again…" The Doctor looks embarrassed when he says that.
"Cleo? Like as in Cleopatra?"
"Where else do you think she would get a carpet that was bigger on the inside to hide in?"
"Yeah, but Cleo?"
"Cleopatra is a bit of a mouthful when you are in a hurry to say something… Whereas Cleo, two syllables, enough to get some emphasis on but not enough to trip over when you are… preoccupied."
He thinks for a moment before adding.
"Clara would work too I guess. Two syllables, three consonants, it's a nice name…"
I am a tiny bit taken aback, but he doesn't notice as he turns and tosses his drenched jacket over the railing.
"Step one complete! Now, onwards to step two!"
His vest joins his jacket and he runs a hand through his wet hair, showering droplets on the console he is leaning over.
Seriously, I got in trouble for the drippy umbrella but the TARDIS doesn't mind him throwing sharp or water logged objects about in here. I don't care what he says, she isn't a cat, she is a cow. This isn't a patience thing; she just doesn't like me for some reason.
I sit in one of the chairs, still shivering a bit from being soaked.
"Clara?" He asks, head poking around from the console.
"I could use a hot shower." I say to him, and his head disappears again, back to work.
He does seem to have a lot of ways to say my name, and I can usually tell his mood just by the way it comes out. Not that I take time to think about things like that. Oh well. I'm not sure what he meant by preoccupied, part of me kind of wants to know, but another part of me is happy being in the dark as to why Cleo wouldn't want to see the Doctor again…
A/N: Thank you all for sticking with me thus far! I hope I am still on the right path! I am trying to balance thoughts and action. Things will probably slow down a bit next chapter again.
