NOTE: This chapter was a tough one to write, hopefully it works! Just to help clarify, the flashbacks are just memory but the Doctor is very engrossed in it. ;)
Chapter Nine
"This is all my fault."
"Doctor, this isn't your fault."
"I picked these flowers for her." The Doctor pointed out.
The Doctor stared at the white and blue roses that were now in a shimmering protective field to keep them from poisoning anyone else. They had brought the flowers back to the TARDIS so that the Doctor could run some tests on them in hopes of discovering where they came from. So far the flowers hadn't given up any hints as to their origin.
"It was bound to happen sooner or later." Quay said. "Besides clearly this means I picked out the ones that drove Tanya away, so we both are guilty."
"I should have known better." The Doctor just shook his head. "I guess it doesn't matter now."
"How did I avoid getting drugged? I mean I assume they sent a dozen or so tainted batches each night in hopes I would pick one. I often smelled the flowers that came in to help decide."
"Time release." The Doctor replied. "The drug activates when the stem of the flower sits in water for five to ten minutes."
"So I triggered them by putting them in the vase." Quay looked at the flowers. "That's...terrifyingly well planned."
"These monsters are highly organized and well funded. The stolen voices are a relatively new problem, but I have a feeling that whoever is doing the actual kidnappings has been trapping people for a long time. I think someone is paying the Market to get the singers for them. How is the Ivory Market organized?"
"No one really knows." Quay shrugged. "Some people think it is just a bunch of individuals and small groups with no affiliation to one another, others think it's all controlled by one elected leader or some kind of 'board'."
"Most likely a mix of both. Back on Earth there are drug cartels that move most of the drugs. There are plenty small and individual dealers, but for the most part there are only a handfull of major players that control most of the traffic."
"Once in a while there is a bust, raids on auctions and what not, but by and large the government denies any true organized Market."
"They are just trying to keep panic down." The Doctor guessed. "We need to find a way in. River must have sent to the Market by now, if we could pose as buyers we may be able to get her back, and then work on finding her voice along with Tanya's."
"You think she's lost her voice already?"
"I do. These hits are surgical. They take what they want and let the Market sell the rest, it has to be a team effort. So first we have to find the auction."
"I'm not really sure where to start there."
"We can start with the one person who we know has been to one of these sales houses."
"Tanya still hasn't been able to really remember anything particularly useful."
"I can help her with that."
The Doctor didn't bother explaining, he just turned away from the flowers and headed over to the main console. Quay watched with a doubtful expression as the Doctor mucked with the controls but he didn't say anything. The Doctor threw the large red lever that set the TARDIS into flight to take a short hop before heading for the doors.
"Alright, let's go." The Doctor said.
Quay didn't question the Doctor's odd behaviour and trotted over to the doors. It wasn't until the Doctor opened the doors and revealed that they were now on the lawn of Tanya's mother's house that Quay jumped back in surprise.
"Wha...what?" Quay asked as he hesitantly looked out of the TARDIS. "How..."
"Did I not mention that this is a space ship?" The Doctor asked with a slight amused grin.
"No, no you did not. A space ship?"
"Through Time and Space actually."
"What are you?" Quay asked, sounding like he was afraid of the answer.
"I'm a Time Lord."
"Never heard of them."
"Yeah, well, there aren't many left."
The Doctor's mournful tone kept Quay from asking any more questions. In no mood to explain further the Doctor just headed for the front door of the small house. It was late at night but Tanya's mother greeted them after just one knock on the door. She must have been awake and it looked to the Doctor like she hadn't slept in weeks. She threw her arms around Quay in a warm embrace before ushering them both inside. Tanya's mother made herself busy elsewhere allowing Quay and the Doctor some time alone with Tanya.
Tanya was sleeping fitfully in a tangle of warm blankets. The Doctor stayed out in the hall and allowed Quay to step into the room alone to wake her. The Doctor looked over at the desk in the room at the piles of drawings of birds that it held. Quay tried his best to wake Tanya gently, but she stilled ended up jolting awake with a silent cry of terror. She looked around with her eyes wide with fright until she recognized Quay. Relaxing she pulled Quay into a powerful hug. Quay closed his eyes for a moment and held her close.
"Tanya, you remember the Doctor?"
The Doctor waved from his place in the door. Tanya looked over and nodded with a smile. She brought her arm up and stopped short with a pantomime of a struggle as if held by a short chain before she chuckled silently.
"That's me." The Doctor smiled. "River thought it was funny too."
Tanya furrowed her brow in confusion.
"Miranda's name is actually 'River'." Quay explained.
Tanya nodded her understanding, having always assumed that Miranda Afterglow was a stage name. Tanya leaned to the side a touch to get a better view out the door past the Doctor. When she didn't see River she turned a concerned look on Quay.
"She's not here." Quay admitted quietly. "River was taken a few hours ago."
An expression of horror fell across Tanya's face. She began talking at a mile a minute, but without her voice she couldn't ask her questions. Frustrated she looked to the Doctor with a pleading expression.
"I'm here to help," the Doctor assured "and we are going to get her back. In order to do that I need something from you."
'Anything.' Tanya mouthed silently.
"I need to look into your memories, I know you don't remember much, but the memories are still in your mind. They are just locked away by the trauma. I just need a quick look."
Tanya gave the Doctor a confused look before turning to Quay.
"He's not human." Quay explained.
The news didn't shock Tanya, but it didn't look like it made her feel any more comfortable with the idea either.
"It's perfectly safe." Quay looked up at the Doctor. "It is safe, right?"
"I won't hurt her. At the same time I'm not particularly good at it." The Doctor admitted. "I can push my own memories on someone, but I have a harder time reading other people's thoughts. I used to be better at it, I've gotten a bit rusty with it during this regeneration."
"Regeneration?"
"It's complicated." The Doctor shook his head. "We are wasting time. Tanya, please, I promise I won't hurt you. You could be River's only chance. If she gets sold and taken off world it is going to be very difficult to find her."
Tanya didn't hesitate she just nodded. The Doctor stepped up to the bed and flashed Tanya a reassuring smile. Tanya tried to return the smile but she also gripped down tightly on Quay's hand. The Doctor reached out and gently placed his hands on either side of Tanya's temples. The Doctor closed his eyes and concentrated.
The first image that lashed across the Doctor's mind was that of a metal symbol of a bird. Tanya's thoughts were so confused at the time that even locked deep in her mind the memory wasn't clear. The metallic bird suddenly transformed into a living creature, a small purple bird with bright yellow eyes. Furrowing his brow the Doctor tried to determine if the memory was an actual representation of what had happened or a construct of Tanya's mind. It wasn't an easy distinction to make. Along with the strong memory came a powerful wash of fear and panic that made it difficult for the Doctor to concentrate.
The Doctor started struggling for breath as Tanya's traumatic loss of her voice forced fear into his own hearts. She had more chaotic images of the events that didn't make much sense. There was a plush blood red carpet, and something that looked like a black glass fireplace. There were bits and pieces of the people that she had encountered, but no clear image. The Doctor could see yellow skin, and green eyes, but they didn't seem to belong to the same person. There were scales, and green velvet, but again it was difficult to tell what feature went with what object. The strongest images were all of the purple bird as it fought to get to her.
When Tanya whimpered the Doctor pulled away from her. She turned to Quay and buried her face in his shirt as she broke down into tears. Quay rocked her gently and rubbed between her shoulder blades. The Doctor felt guilty for having upset her. In order to see the memories he had to bring them to the surface and she still wasn't really ready to deal with them. Quay looked up at the Doctor expectantly.
"Did you see anything useful?"
"No." The Doctor sighed. "Tanya, can I try again?"
Tanya pulled away from Quay and nodded.
"Thank you."
The Doctor took a deep breath as he prepared himself to try once more. It was exhausting to look into the memories of another person, but he was determined to find something useful. This time he decided to not bother with the event that had lead to Tanya losing her voice. He was more interested in the Ivory Market where she had ended up afterward.
Reestablishing their connection the Doctor dove deeper into Tanya's repressed memories. Quickly becoming lost the Doctor slipped into Tanya's past as though it was his own. He cried out at the top of his lungs, but there was no sound to go along with his efforts. Locked in a medium sized cell he pressed his back against the cold cement that made up the back wall as he looked around frantically. There were others trapped in the cage with him, all women, or rather young girls. They huddled together in small groups, but the Doctor didn't make any attempt to approach them.
Acting out the scene just has Tanya had the Doctor pressed himself into the corner and cried out once more. The other women tried to distance themselves from him, afraid of his silence. They chattered quietly among one another now and then, proving that they hadn't lost their voices. One of them eventually tried to speak to the Doctor but he just weld his eyes shut and screamed voicelessly again.
The tension in the prison escalated further when three men entered the row of metal cages. There were other cells here that held others, but Tanya wasn't focused enough for the Doctor too relive much detail about them. While two of the men went about some business in a different cell the third walked up to the bars that held Tanya. He had dirty blonde hair and equally muddy blue eyes that bordered on gray. The Doctor stared at him for a moment before risking pleading for help. The blonde man furrowed his brow at the voiceless cry for help.
"That's weird." The man studied her.
"Dace!" One of the other men snarled. "Stop drooling over the girls! Get over here and help us."
"There is something wrong with the new one, she can't speak, she doesn't make any noise at all, but she's trying to like she should be able to."
"Yeah, we get that from time to time."
"What causes it?"
"Who cares? Now, get over here. We need to get this stock upstairs in the next five minutes or none of us are going to get paid this week."
The Doctor watched as Dace's expression flashed to anger. The man continued to stare into the cage at his mute captive before he got a defeated look in his eyes. The Doctor risked stepping closer in hopes of the man showing her some mercy. However he shook his head sadly before he turned and went back to work. Devastated by emotions that had washed over Tanya at the time the Doctor was forced to pull away.
"Doctor?" Quay asked concerned.
"I'm okay." The Doctor brushed away the tears that stained his face before he looked down at Tanya. "You were very brave."
Tanya looked at him expectantly.
"No," the Doctor shook his head "I haven't found anything helpful yet. You must have been unconscious when they brought you to the Market."
Tanya reached out and took the Doctor's hands and brought them back up to her temples to encourage him to try again. The Doctor smiled and leaned down to give Tanya's forehead a quick kiss to show his appreciation that she was willing to keep trying. Closing his eyes the Doctor focused on the next strongest memory in Tanya's mind.
Thrown back into her past the Doctor blindly fought against the powerful hands that held his wrists. Tanya had learned the men's names by now so the Doctor knew them as well. Travis was trying to drag him out of the corner of the cell. Out of the five women who had been locked up with her only two remained and they did nothing to help. Twisting out of Travis's grip the Doctor lashed out and struck Tanya's attacker in the throat the way River had taught her.
Coughing and sputtering for breath Travis took a step back. Tanya wanted to bolt, but Dace and Nick were standing behind Travis blocking the exit to the cage. Enraged Travis pulled his hand back to strike Tanya. The Doctor cringed and prepared for the painful blow. Before Travis could act Dace snatched his wrist and held him back.
"Get off me, Dace!" Nick snarled.
"Her face is worth more than your pride." Dace replied calmly. "You want to end up on the sales floor, be my guest."
"He's right, Nick." Travis pointed out. "It's not worth it. She's already sold, if she shows up with new bruises we are all in big trouble."
"Fine." Nick spat as he tore his wrist out of Dace's hand. "She's headed to the Emperor anyway."
"The Emperor?" Dace repeated with fear tainting his voice.
"Yeah." Nick shrugged.
"Nick, we can't keep selling to that monster."
"Why not?"
"He buys a new one every other week, clearly he's murd..." Dace stopped himself, but it was too late Tanya had easily been able to finish that sentence and the Doctor shivered with her fear.
"What do you care what he does with his girls?" Nick's asked suspiciously. "You going soft on us? His money is as good as anyone's."
"Yeah, I guess." Dace shrugged as if he suddenly saw Nick's point. "It just seems like a waste."
"Whatever, just mark her and get her out of here."
Nick seemed to have lost interest in helping and left Travis and Dace to deal with Tanya. The Doctor backed up against the wall as Dace approached. He had saved her from Nick's beating and part of her wanted to believe that she had a chance of making a connection with him. The Doctor didn't fight when Dace took him by the upper arms and forced him around to put his back to Travis. Facing Dace he stared at him pleadingly, but the man wouldn't bring his gray eyes up to face her. The Doctor gasped and cried out without sound as Travis slapped the freezing cold paint across Tanya's shoulders.
The shock of the paint had broken the Doctor and Tanya's connection briefly, but now that he was getting closer to finding out how she had escaped he was determined to continue. Being forced down a long barren corridor by Dace the Doctor continued to silently beg the man for help. He still wouldn't look directly at her as he dragged her along by the wrist. The Doctor thought about twisting out of his grip to run, but Tanya had decided against it knowing that there was no where to run.
When they came to the room at the end of the hall the Doctor stared at the complex machinery in amazement. Tanya had not understood what she had been looking at, but even reliving her memories the Doctor knew he was looking at a teleport system that was far ahead of what this section of the galaxy should have. Dace pushed the Doctor into the centre of the room and went over to the controls. The Doctor went to step forward but was stopped by an invisible force field. After typing into the controls for a moment Dace turned around and looked at his captive.
"Don't look at me like that." Dace whispered. "I can't help you, they'll sell me..."
Using Tanya's dark eyes the Doctor gazed mournfully at Dace.
"I've never sent someone to the Emperor myself, in fact this is the first they've ever trusted me with the teleport alone. You can't understand how huge that is for me...not that you'd care." Dace sighed. "I can't help you, I'm so sorry."
Tears streaked down Tanya's face, but the Doctor didn't try to beg anymore. Dace hovered his hand over the final control that would trigger the teleport. Closing Tanya's eyes the Doctor shook with her tears as she bowed her head in defeat. The Doctor caught the sound of Dace sighing once more before there was a pause and then more typing. The Doctor looked up at Dace and the young man smiled sadly at him.
"Good luck..."
The next few seconds explained to the Doctor exactly why Tanya's memory was so damaged. It wasn't just the traumatic stress of the events, it was the violent teleport trip that Dace had triggered. Dropped suddenly in the middle of the city Tanya had run in frantic confusion for nearly an hour before she was able to get her bearings well enough to seek out the Golden Nightingale. When Tanya's memories turned to finding a strange man cuffed to her friend's bed the Doctor pulled away.
Free from the psychic connection Tanya suddenly jumped up from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. The Doctor winced as he heard Tanya throwing up violently. Quay had gotten to his feet and stared at the closed bathroom door in concern. The Doctor settled his own stomach as he thought over the last few minutes of the memory.
"I don't think it was a mistake, it could have been, but I don't know, I think he helped her, and if he help her he might help River."
"Doctor?" Quay asked confused.
"We may have someone on the inside...assuming he didn't end up for sale himself. In any case if we can find the Emperor he will know where the sales are."
"Doctor, what are you talking about? What do we do now?"
"Buying River back is still be our best hope...not that I own anything worth a fraction of what she is. "
