The Power of Three - Part 2
The Doctor was sitting on a wall overlooking the Thames, Amy and the Judge on either side of him, though he was sitting slightly closer to the Judge than Amy. He knew he'd overreacted in the monitoring room. It was just…Kate was the Brigadier's daughter, she'd been raised on so many stories about him, likely, and it was just…he didn't want to disappoint her, he hated disappointing people. He wanted to be able to walk in there, knowing exactly what was going on or able to give her an answer, he wanted to be the hero and live up to the image she might have of him because of her father. Oh he was sure the Brig would not leave out the details of ALL the times he had been wrong or an idiot or made a mistake, but to a child they were so easy to overlook. He just…he wanted to at least appear that he knew what was going on, to be able to help, and instead he'd just stood there with no idea at all, not even a guess for what was going on.
He knew that the cubes were likely observing them, just as the Judge had feared, but WHY? And why only look at them for such a short amount of time? Why be there for so long? Why choose NOW to do whatever it was they were doing? He wanted to know and a part of it was because he just, he didn't want to disappoint Kate. He knew he'd disappointed enough people in his life, his children, his wife, his people, he just…the humans always looked to him with hope and faith and he hated to let them down.
He looked over when he felt the Judge link her arm through his and lean on him just slightly, the way she was doing it making him lean slightly towards her as well, allowing them to lean on each other. He smiled, turning his head more to press a kiss to her temple, hesitating a moment just before he did so to give her the chance to pull back. He was encouraged to know that she was comfortable with at least that sort of intimacy between them. They had slowly been getting more used to being near each other, a hand hold here, a hand to the back there, it truly warmed his hearts to know that he could at least bestow a kiss to her hair or something like that now. He would be cautious with it though, he didn't want to do it too often and have her grow uncomfortable with it, he truly wanted to make this work and, as he'd promised her in Mercy, this was going to be a partnership again, with BOTH their feelings and thoughts taken into consideration, not just his own.
"The moment they arrived," he murmured, turning his gaze out to the Thames and sighing, "I should've made sure they were collected and burned. That is what I should've done."
"What we both should have done," the Judge agreed, "I should have told Jack to just start rounding them up and locking them away, he'd have found some way to do it."
He squeezed her arm, he knew she was worried about Jack and his team, the man hadn't picked up the phone just yet. He promised himself silently, when this was all dealt with, he'd take her to see Jack (and Jenny if she was still there, last he'd heard she wanted to go off on a bit of freelance work in the Universe) and make sure they were all alright. He had to believe that Jenny was off-world at the moment, he had to otherwise he wouldn't be able to focus on the cubes thinking his daughter was running around somewhere with them loose. He thought she'd gone by now though, last time the Judge had spoken to Jack, Jenny hadn't been there so he hoped that was what it was.
"How?" Amy scoffed, "Nobody would've listened."
"Especially not the humans," the Judge sighed at that, "You're so stubborn."
"Like you can talk," Amy muttered under her breath, granted she hadn't had much experience with the Judge outside of seeing her interacting with the Doctor and her comments here and there but if she was anything like the Doctor…well, she probably had to be worse than the Doctor to be able to put up with him for centuries of their marriage.
She felt a small discomfort form in her gut whenever she thought of that, not that he was married, no. Well, not in the sense that she was upset he was, no she'd moved on from him and she truly had chosen Rory. It was just…thinking of how she'd acted around him, thinking he wasn't married, that…shamed her. She felt guilty for that, even though he never let anything happen, she felt guilty for having tried to tempt him, for having gone after him when he was so obviously NOT going to reciprocate. She should have worked it out with River, that woman flirted and piled on the innuendo…and the Doctor hardly batted an eyelash at it, hardly reacted, was truly uninterested in returning the banter. Even more so, she felt incredibly guilty for what she'd done to Rory. It had been the night before her wedding and she'd tried to seduce another man. She was sure that was a guilt that she would have to live with the rest of her life, but she was determined to spend it proving to her husband that she was his and only his.
They fell into a silence then, just looking out at the Thames, but the Doctor noticed one very distinct difference. While he and the Judge were looking at the stars above it, Amy was looking at the buildings across from it, on Earth, "You're thinking of stopping, aren't you?" he asked Amy quietly, "You and Rory."
"No," Amy said quickly, a bit too quickly which she seemed to realize, "No, I mean, we haven't made a decision," she sighed.
"Which means you ARE thinking of doing it," the Judge pointed out, "You have to be thinking of it if you need to decide on it."
"Maybe," Amy admitted, "I don't know. We don't know. Well, our lives have changed so much," she tried to explain, "There was a time, there were years, when I couldn't live without you," she chuckled softly, glancing at the Doctor more than the Judge, which she understood, "Um, when just the whole everyday thing would drive me crazy. But since you dropped us back here, since you gave us this house, you know, we've built a life. But I don't know if I can have both."
"Why?" the Doctor eyed her a moment, curious to what she thought.
"Because they pull at each other," Amy answered honestly, "Because they pull at me and because the traveling is starting to feel like running away."
"That's not what it is," the Doctor denied.
The Judge looked away at that, the Doctor not seeing it as he was focused on Amy. She had to admit, there were times, on Gallifrey, where she honestly HAD wondered if his travels around the universe were just that, him running away. She knew he hadn't wanted their marriage at first, neither had she, but their children, their lives, their…love, she'd thought that he'd been ok with it, happy even. And then he'd asked if he could leave, just for a bit, he'd said, to explore the universe, what he'd wanted to do before he'd taken his brother's place at the altar. She'd denied him that for so many years at first, because she'd feared it was that he wanted to run away from them, that it was his escape from their lives. There had been a few details that changed over the years, that had gotten her to finally allow it, but always in the back of her mind she'd wondered if a part of it had been him running away.
Amy was right in that sense, you couldn't have both, the two lives, they DID pull at each other, enormously so. The freedom of the TARDIS and the responsibility of your life wherever it was based, it was difficult to manage both. Even now, when she heard him deny that was what the TARDIS was to him, she still felt…doubt. She knew that he considered the TARDIS a home now, he had to, it was all he had left of Gallifrey. What she tried to bury in the back of her mind…was the question of WHEN the TARDIS had started to feel like a home to him. Had it been after the war? Or had it been before?
"Oh, come on," Amy rolled her eyes, nudging him, "Look at you. Four days in a lounge and you go crazy."
"It wasn't always like that," the Judge murmured, forcing her gaze back to the stars instead, not wanting the Doctor to hear her thoughts about that subject, of all the issues they might have to resolve…the TARDIS, his trips among the stars, was…well, the largest one she had and she knew it would be the one that they would truly likely come to verbal blows about. She wasn't ready for that confrontation, "There were days Amy, where you could hardly get him out of bed he'd want to lounge around all day."
"Wish I could have seen that," Amy laughed light.
"I'm not running away," the Doctor repeated, looking back and forth between the Judge and Amy, as though guessing at the Judge's thoughts, before he focused on Amy, "This is one corner of one country, in one continent on one planet that's a corner of a galaxy, that's a corner of a universe that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond and there is so much, so much, to see, Amy. Because it goes so fast. I'm not running away from things. I'm running to them, before they flare and fade forever."
The Judge smiled a small smile at that, put that way…she could understand why he'd run off to see the stars. But still, there was always that niggle. When had it become that? When had it become running TO something instead of away from another thing? Had it always been like that? Had it happened in the middle of his travels, to justify him being away from his family, his planet? Was it both? Running to something AND away from another?
She wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.
"It's alright," the Doctor continued, "Our lives won't run the same. They can't. One day, soon, maybe, you'll stop. I've known for a while."
"Then why do you keep coming back for us?" Amy shook her head.
"When Time Lords regenerate, Amy," the Judge offered, recalling what the Doctor had told her about the little Pond girl, how she'd been the first he'd seen, "We're more…partial to the first people we see. Like…how animals imprint on another when they're born, they form a bond with that person, a closer one than we might normally form when we become friends with another. You were the first one the Doctor saw after he regenerated, just like Jack was the first one I saw many times after I regenerated. It…" she trailed off, trying to think of the words to describe it, "It makes you more a part of our hearts, the beginning of our newest story. You're there from the beginning of us and something in us just wants you to be there for the end of us as well. It's why it's so hard to let go of the first ones we see after we regenerate. It's why the Doctor keeps coming back to you, it's why I keep in constant contact with Jack."
"Yes," the Doctor nodded, patting the Judge's hand as it gripped around his elbow, "I'm running to you and Rory, Amy," he told her, "Before you fade from me."
Amy gave him a small smile for that, "Don't be nice to me. I don't want you to be nice to me."
"Yeah, you do, Pond," he nudged her, "And you always get what you want," he looked out at the Thames again, before he straightened, a thought striking him, "They got what they wanted!"
"What?" Amy eyed him oddly but the Doctor was already rising, pulling an equally confused Judge to her feet, "Who did?"
"The cubes!" he cried, hurrying them back towards the Tower, "That's why they stopped. Come on!"
They'd barely managed to keep up with him as he nearly barreled into Kate at the end of the main hall of the Tower, "Kate!" he called, dashing to her, "Before they shut down, they scanned everything, from your medical limits to your military response patterns. They made a complete assessment. The Judge was right, they were observing you and…" he stopped abruptly when the lights went out, "Problem with the power?" he glanced at her.
"Not possible," Kate pulled a torch from her pocket, always prepared, "We've got backups."
The Doctor pulled out the sonic and scanned it around, humming unhappily to himself before he headed further into the room, to the middle of the cells that held the cubes, pausing when he saw that all of them now had a bright '7' illuminated on the sides of them.
"Why do they all say '7?'" Amy frowned.
"7…" the Doctor murmured, "What's important about 7?" he looked at the Judge.
"It depends, 7 on earth or in the Universe?" she countered. It could mean on Earth, given that the cubes had come to Earth, but it could equally mean something different in the culture of whatever had sent it to Earth in the first place.
"7 wonders of the world," he began to list, just thinking of anything that had 7 in it, starting with Earth but planning to branch out, "7 streams of the River Ota. 7 sides of a cube…"
"A cube has 6 sides," Amy cut in.
You humans are so literal," the Judge shook her head, "What about the inSIDE of a cube?"
The Doctor pointed at her, only for his attention to be pulled to a cube just over her shoulder, the 7 was gone now, replaced by a 6, "It has to be a countdown."
"Not in minutes," Kate glanced at her watch.
"And therein lies the alien quality of it," the Judge reminded them, "Minutes to you, 60 seconds in one, could be seconds to another race."
"However long we have," the Doctor cut in, "We have to get humanity away from those cubes. God knows what they'll do, if they hit zero," he turned to Kate, "Get the information out any way you can, news channels, web sites, radio, text messages. People have to know that the cubes are dangerous."
"Ok," Amy shook her head, "But why is it starting now? I mean, the cubes arrived months ago. Why wait this long?"
"Because if something sticks around long enough," the Judge answered, "Eventually you learn to trust it."
The Doctor smiled at that, catching her eye, giving her a wink, knowing she wasn't just talking about the cubes but about the two of them as well. They'd had many issues at the start of their marriage, but once they started to trust each other, got used to each other being a constant presence and one not likely to leave any time soon, they'd had to adjust, they'd had to work with each other, expect the other to be there. They had to change their routines around the other and build a life with the other there. It was what the cubes had done, just put themselves in the middle of human life and make it so the humans expected them to be there, made them a part of their lives by choice.
"Yes," he murmured, "Allow people enough time to collect them, take them in to their homes, their lives. Humans, the great early adopters. And then wham!" he threw his hands up, "Profile every inch of Earth's existence."
"Discover how best to attack us," Kate breathed, horrified at the notion.
"Kate," the Judge turned to her, "Contact Torchwood and the governments, make sure you tell them about the cubes. Go," she turned the woman and gently urged her off.
"Right," the Doctor moved to the main monitoring station, "Every cube was activated. There must be signals, energy fluctuations on a colossal scale. There must be some trace. There can't not be," he glanced at the Judge and Amy, "We need to think of all the variables, all the possibilities, ok?" they nodded and turned back to the monitoring, watching the screens of news reports on the cube activities.
The Judge let out a long breath at that though, she wasn't used to thinking in possibilities and variables, she was very rigid when it came to things like that, interpreting a situation. But the Doctor needed her help, so she could at least try.
~8~
It hadn't taken Kate nearly as long as they thought it would to get the word out, before they knew it the news channels were broadcasting that the governments wanted the cubes disposed of immediately. By then though, the cubes had counted down to 4.
The Doctor sighed as he looked into one of the chambers, empty save for a desk and a chair and a cube that had ticked down to 3 no, "Doctor, please, you don't have to do this," Amy came up beside him.
"She's right," Kate agreed, "You don't have to be in there. We can do this remotely."
"I've already discussed this with the Judge," he told both women, "And, frankly, she's the only one that gets a say in what I do or don't do."
The Judge gave him a soft smile for that. It was…actually more true than the women realized. He wasn't just talking about the fact that they had discussed being more of a team and talking about their options before making decisions, he was talking about Gallifrey as well. For married couples especially, things had to be even and fair. It was frowned upon for one side to take advantage of the other. It was why he hadn't been allowed to go gallivanting across the universe for centuries. He needed her permission and blessing to be able to 'leave' the family and she'd refused to give it. It would be the same if she had wanted to go off and do something, she would need his blessing as well. It was just…less so here on Earth now. They HAD discussed this rather insane plan of his, to go into the chamber and be there right when the cube hit 0. She hadn't liked it but he had reminded her that SHE had done the more dangerous task the last time they were with the Ponds, going off into the desert with just Isaac and trying to bait the Gunslinger, so it was HIS turn this time. She wasn't a fan of either of them putting themselves in a dangerous situation but, if it meant that he wouldn't be doing it 100% of the time, she could agree to 50% and put herself out there as well. He would take the cubes this time, but the next dangerous situation would be HER time. He hadn't quite liked that little deal, but she'd reminded him just as much as he didn't like her in danger, she didn't like HIM in danger and if insisted on things like this then that was the consequence he would have to live with.
He'd pouted, but given in.
"Besides, remotely isn't my style," he tweaked his bowtie, "See you after," and stepped into the cell, shutting the door firmly behind him and moving to sit at the table across from the cube, waiting and winking at them through the glass window.
They all watched, the three women to the side, as the number ticked down to 2, then to 1, and finally 0, before the numbers flickered off, leaving just the cube. They leaned forward, watching as the cube's top slid open.
"Geronimo," the Doctor grinned and got up to lean forward as well, peeking inside it.
"What's happening?" Kate asked him.
"Well, what's in there?" Amy called when the Doctor did nothing but fall back onto the chair with a frown.
"Doctor?"
"There is nothing in here," he huffed.
"Well, that's good?" Amy scrunched her face, not quite sure why he was upset about that…but then again this WAS the man who thought 'too normal' was a bad thing, "You know, it's not bombs, it's not aliens."
"It's alien," the Judge countered, "We know that, we just don't know what is in there. Remember the nanogenes Amy?" she glanced at the ginger girl, "Not all alien substances are visible."
"Great," Amy grimaced, hoping it wasn't nanogenes.
The Doctor stood, pulling the sonic out and flashing it around, "No sign of nanogenes," he offered in reassurance, but it just made his frown deeper, "Why? Why is there nothing inside? Why? It doesn't make any sense!" he turned and strode out of the cell, heading for the monitoring station, the technician at it watching street cameras and news reports, people just walking past the cubes, all of which were open, but there was nothing inside them coming out there either. Some people peeked in, but just shrugged and walked on, "Glasses," he put a hand on the technician's shoulder, the boy wearing glasses, "Is it the same? Is it the same all around the world?" he watched the feed change to show the same thing all over the world, nothing happening, "All along, every action has been deliberate. Why draw attention to the cubes, if they don't contain anything?"
"Doctor, look," Amy frowned, pointing to a monitor where a small group of people had fallen to the ground, clutching at their chests.
"They're CCTV feeds from across the world, showing the same," the technician mumbled, flicking through the feeds.
"People are dying!" Kate gasped seeing others rushing to help, all those already fallen right beside the cubes.
"No," the Doctor tried to disagree, but the evidence was right in front of him, "What? They can't be dying. How? How are they dying?"
"It looks like some sort of heart attack," the Judge leaned forward, looking at the monitors closely.
"The cubes brought people close together," the Doctor spoke quickly, trying to work out how the cubes opening could have caused something like what they were seeing, "They opened and…ah!" he suddenly fell backwards, onto a chair, clutching his own chest in pain, his hand clenching over his left heart.
He felt the breath leave him…but not out of shock for what was happening to him…but because he could see the Judge flinch, her own right hand coming up to rest on her left heart, nowhere near as affected as him, but clearly feeling something. But that…that shouldn't be possible! That should have faded given their time apart. It had been another one of the reasons he'd stayed away from her so long even when Gallifrey had been there!
"Doctor, what's the matter?" Amy hurried to his side.
But his gaze was fixed on the Judge, "Carah," he called in Gallifreyan, "Did you feel that?" the Judge swallowed hard and turned to face him, nodding at that, "You still feel…" he shook his head in shock.
He should have expected it though.
A telepathic connection was formed between two Time Lords that spent an inordinate amount of time around one another, usually spouses. It mostly formed because a spouse was the one likely to trust the other with access to their own mind. Sometimes they formed between close work partners or siblings or very close friends, but a spouse, most often, tended to be the one to allow it to form completely, to allow their mind to be open as well and create a true connection instead of a sensitivity to the other's mind and thoughts. An emotional bond was formed between parents though. It began the day they conceived a child, slowly growing as the child that was a combination of them both and connected to the both of them grew in the womb. Upon birth, even when the child was delivered, the connection between parents remained. There were many species out there, he was sure the humans were one, where the women likely wished the men could experience the hell they did during childbirth, on Gallifrey they could. The emotions were so high, the culmination of it being their child, that he could feel everything his wife had, all the pain and strain. But after it was over, the emotional connection continued.
It was renewed every time a child was born, strengthening with each. They had had three children on Gallifrey, two boys and then one girl, all three had died on Gallifrey during the war. He knew it, he'd felt them die, as had the Judge. It was why she'd regenerated three times during the war. In the middle of battle, she'd felt her children die, it had distracted her, and each time they regenerated and been killed or merely been killed before regeneration, she'd ended up regenerating but living. He knew it was another reason for her to hate regeneration, because she'd been lucky to survive, and her children had died instead. They were on opposite ends of the planet, scattered all around, but the bond between a mother and child especially was strong, even more so given she'd been the one on Gallifrey with them after he'd departed to have his adventures. She'd felt them die and a part of her had died as well.
He knew he should have expected her to do what she could to keep the emotional bond between them going. It was literally her only way to know that he was still alive while he was offworld, she'd feel it, no matter where he was, if he died, but he had tried to let it fizzle. Tried to. He hadn't quite succeeded, he did feel what she felt but only when the emotion was strong, it was why he hadn't known she'd regenerated so much between seeing her again. He just…he'd thought if he tried to dim their bond then she would as well and she wouldn't be hurt if he was. They didn't physically feel what the other did, if he was shot she wouldn't experience the entirety of the pain, but she would know he'd been hurt. It was really only during the first few months after childbirth that the emotional bond was so strong.
On Gallifrey, they called it the Markings, the steps that were taken when two Time Lords wed. They called each other their husband or wife, but the steps that led up to being that were defined by the Three Markings. The first was the wedding, the union of two Time Lords. The second, the telepathic connection that was formed from the time spent with each other, the trust built between the couple. The third and final marking, the third sign of a successful marriage, was the emotional bond, created from their children, from the love and depth they felt for each other to create a child. Those who successful completed the Markings were defined as truly married. A marriage wasn't like on earth, it wasn't just the wedding ceremony, they weren't seen as married just because they said their vows. They had nothing to really show for it like the humans did. They didn't exchange rings, Gallifrey operated on a hand-fasting ceremony, the rope meaning to symbolize the entwining of two lives, the tying together of the mind and heart. It could be years on Gallifrey, decades even, before a married couple was officially designated as truly being married. They had to complete the three markings in order to be counted as wed. It wasn't just the wedding, it was everything from that point to when their first child was born.
He should have know she wouldn't give up the emotional connection though, she hated change and, after losing their children, he should have expected that she would cling to their own bond with everything she had. He wished he'd known that, he wouldn't have let himself get as hurt as he had in the past for the sake of sparing her the worry over him. He'd tried to diminish it slightly, it could be, with time and distance and effort, but he knew he hadn't fully let go of it, not now, not when he knew she was alive. He knew though, seeing that she still felt that bond, that he would have to stop trying to dim it and allow it to reassert itself, it wasn't fair to her to feel even a fraction of what happened to him and for him to try and push away what happened to her. Maybe if he hadn't, he'd have known she'd regenerated and gotten her away from Torchwood and spared her some regenerations.
"I never stopped," the Judge murmured, giving him a pointed look.
"Doctor, what is it!?" Amy shouted when he cried out again, clutching his chest.
"Posters are logging a global surge in heart failure, cardiac arrest," the technician called.
"Oh thank god," the Judge breathed.
"What?!" Amy rounded on her.
"He's got two hearts Amy," the Judge reminded her, moving over to kneel before the Doctor, reaching out to place her hand on his, gently pulling it off his chest, "Only one isn't working."
"Yes but humans only have ONE!" Amy yelled.
"Really?" the Judge rolled her eyes, "I had absolutely no idea they did. Thank you for the anatomy lesson Mrs. Williams."
"Arg," the Doctor winced as another pain struck him, "Show me 10 seconds after the cubes opened," he ordered the technician, "Show me the patterns in their electrical current."
The Judge looked over her shoulder at the technician, seeing the readings he'd brought up and converted, a pulse going off, "Please tell me that's not what I think it is," she nearly groaned at the sight of it.
"No!" Kate gasped, her eyes wide.
"Yes, the power cut," the Doctor nodded, "They sucked the power and then…ahh!" he grimaced, trying to bring his hand up to his chest again but ending up putting the Judge's hand over his heart instead, "They're signal boxes! People…wham! Pure electrical surge out of the cube, targeted at the nearest human heart. The heart, an organ powered by electrical current, short-circuited. How to destroy a human? Go for the heart. Ow! Crikey Moses!" he winced again, hunching forward from the pain.
"Doctor, the scan you set running," Kate looked back at him, "The transmitter locations. It's found them."
"Bring it up then!" the Judge ordered and the technician did so, showing them an image of the earth with 7 small dots on it, strands of energy drifting from them and into a point in space, "7 points of entry, all activated within 7 minutes of each other."
"Why is that important?" the Doctor grunted, trying to think, but ended up letting out a pained cry, "How do you people manage one heart?" he asked the humans, "It is pitiful!"
"We need to get to one of those points," the Judge moved to help the Doctor stand, "If it's touched the Earth we can touch it right back, perhaps even get to its control center, yes?"
The Doctor nodded, "Where's the closest one?"
Amy gasped as the man zoomed in on the nearest location, "That's the hospital where Rory works."
"We need to go there, now!" the Doctor winced, trying to move, but the Judge held him firm.
"No..." she began.
"Oi!" Amy rounded on her, "My husband may be in danger!"
"And MINE IS," the Judge snapped back, "I meant to give me a moment to start his heart back up Amelia, that was all! 10 seconds, I think your husband can endure that long."
Without even waiting for Amy to rebut that, the Judge turned to the Doctor and straightened him slightly. She gave him a quick look, getting a nod in return, before she made a fist and hit it hard against his chest and then again on his back, making him gasp and let out a whoop as his heart started once more.
"Right, to the hospital!" he cheered, taking the Judge's hand and pulling her off, Amy rushing after him with Kate.
~8~
The Doctor walked briskly through the hospital, the Judge at his side, a relieved smile on her face as she read a text he saw was from Jack, that he and the team were ok and were currently trying to help the people around Torchwood Two, Amy and Kate behind them, "How many deaths have been recorded?" he called over his shoulder to Kate.
"We don't know," she answered, "We think it could be a third of the population."
"Right," he spun around to face her, "Kate, we have to find the wormhole. But the attacks could still happen. Tell the world. Tell them how to deal this. The world needs your leadership right now."
"I'll do my best," Kate straightened.
"Yeah, of course you will," he winked at her, "Good luck Kate," he pulled out the sonic as Kate turned and headed off, flashing it around to scan the area, "I need to locate the wormhole portal. Hello. Hello!" he stopped when it started beeping quickly around a young girl standing a few feet away, staring blankly ahead and standing rather stiffly, "Hello," he walked over to her, eyeing her closely, "You are giving off some very strange signals…" he brought the sonic closer, making the girl's face and eyes glow blue.
"Oh, my God," Amy gasped.
"Some sort of robot," the Judge squinted at the girl, "Probably another probe. But more advanced."
The Doctor nodded, "If I shut her down, I can…" he aimed the sonic at the girl's neck, catching her as she fell, he and the Judge lowering her to the ground as she shut off. He stood up and scanned the droid with the sonic, grinning when he caught a trace, "Bingo," he held out a hand to the Judge, helping her up and hurrying off with her and Amy, leading them through the halls of the hospital till they reached an empty hall, a goods lift at the end, the sonic beeping more the closer they got to it.
"Oh," Amy frowned, disappointed when the doors opened and there was nothing but a normal lift inside, "Portal to another dimension in a goods lift?"
"The energy signals converge here," the Doctor shook his head, finishing the scan and placing the sonic back into his pocket, "Does seem a bit cramped, though."
"Well a portal around humans would have to be small and unassuming," the Judge remarked, "I'm sure even the humans would realize that something was off if there was a swirling vortex appearing in the middle of a hospital."
Amy rolled her eyes at that but followed the two Time Lords into the lift, the two moving to feel the walls, trying to find the portal, when the back wall wibbled as the Doctor poked it.
"Through the looking glass, ladies?" the Doctor smiled at them before stepping through the wibbling wall, the Judge and Amy following him through the wall and into a rather large, dark room beyond. It was clearly an alien craft that they had entered just judging by the architecture of it all.
It was a wide room, circular, with large windows through which they could see the earth with a gentle haze around it, "Where are we?" Amy asked as they slowly stepped toward the circular room.
"We're in orbit," the Doctor answered, "One dimension to the left."
Amy shook her head and looked to the room, gasping when she saw that there were tables, like examination tables, set up around the room, men and women lying on it, Rory on one of them with Brian beside him on a gurney, "Rory!" she rushed over to him.
"Seborean smelling salts," the Doctor tossed her a small vial, moving to help the Judge look at Brian.
"Doctor!" the Judge gave him an outraged look, "Those are outlawed in seven galaxies! They're completely contraband!"
He gave her a sheepish smile, "Would it help if I said I acquired them before they were outlawed?"
She narrowed her eyes at that, holding out a hand as Rory gasped awake, "Amy, the salts."
Amy didn't even hesitate to give the woman the salts, there was a rather commanding tone in her voice, like a mother instructing her child to hand over something they'd stolen. The second that she got her hands on it, the Judge threw it across the room and pointed warningly at the Doctor, clearly saying that if he went to try and retrieve them, she would tackle him.
Not that the Doctor did try to retrieve them, though it had little to do with her silent threat and more to do with the fact that a round of laser bolts started to shoot at them from all around them, "Whoa!" the Doctor ducked down, Rory rolling off his small table to duck below with Amy, "Whoa! What kind of a welcome do you call that?"
"What are you two still doing here?" the Judge looked over at Amy and Rory, "Get Brian and get out!"
"What are you going to do?!" Amy asked as Rory moved to get his father.
"Absolutely no idea," the Doctor stated.
"Just get him back to the hospital and wake him up!" the Judge urged, Rory grabbing Amy's hand to pull her out of the room with the gurney and his father.
The moment that the humans were out of the room, the shots died down and there was a flicker in the middle of the room. The Time Lords looked over to see a pale man, with a dry cracked face, bald, wearing a long black cloak, standing there.
"So many of them, crawling the planet, seeping into every corner," the man grimaced, disappearing in a flash and appearing by a monitor of what looked like honeycomb shaped monitors all attached to each other.
The Time Lords glanced at each other, slowly rising and moving closer to the monitors, eyeing the man and the information on the screens in curiosity and alarm.
"Please tell me he's not one of the Shakri," the Judge whispered to the Doctor, not taking her eyes off of the man, the hologram of the man, before them, "They're a myth!"
"The Shakri exist in all of time and none," the hologram spoke, "We travel alone and together. The Seven."
"The Shakri craft," the Doctor spun around slowly, observing the room, before focusing on the hologram once more, "Connected to Earth through 7 portals in 7 minutes. Ah, but why?"
"Serving the word of the Tally."
"Yes, but I think he meant why EARTH," the Judge corrected, "And why attack via cube?"
"Not Earth, Humanity. The Shakri will halt the human plague before the spread."
The Doctor let out a breath, working out what the hologram meant, "Erase humanity before it colonizes space," he eyed the image before them, "We thought the cubes were an invasion, the start of war."
"The human contagion only! Must be eliminated."
"Who are you calling a contagion?" Amy's voice demanded as she and Rory strode back into the room.
"We told you to get out!" the Judge rolled her eyes at them, "Not come back," she gave the Doctor a disapproving look, "You need to find a companion that will actually listen to you, you know."
"Yes, I know," he rubbed the side of his face, "Haven't managed to find one yet…"
"Thanks," Amy rolled her eyes at that, "But what's going on? What is this 'Tally,' anyway?"
"Some people call it 'Judgment Day' or 'the Reckoning.'"
"Don't you know?"
"I've never wanted to find out," the Doctor admitted.
"I thought it was a myth," the Judge offered when Amy looked at her as well.
"Before the Closure, there is the Tally," the Shakri image stated, "The Shakri serves the Tally!"
"The pest controllers of the universe," the Doctor sighed, "That's how the tales went, isn't it?"
"Wow, that's a seriously weird bedtime story," Amy mumbled.
"No more weird than some of the ones you humans tell," the Judge countered, "Do you seriously tell your children stories about a wolf eating an old woman and then having its stomach cut open?"
"So!" the Doctor cut in, clapping his hands to prevent an argument, "Here you are," he gestured at the Shakri image, "Depositing slug pellets all over the Earth, made attractive so humans will collect them, hoping to find something beautiful inside. Because that's what they are. Not pests or plague, creatures of hope, forever building and reaching. Making mistakes, of course, every life form does, but…but…they learn. And they strive for greater and they achieve it. You want a tally? Put their achievements against their failings, through the whole of time. I will back humanity against the Shakri every time."
"While I do love your little speeches dear," the Judge remarked, crossing her arms, "They do get a bit long winded. Someone could do something while you're talking and you'd probably not even notice."
As though agreeing with the Judge's assessment, the Sharki spoke again, "The Tally must be met. The second wave will be released!" it hit one final button on the keypad before it, having been typing that entire time the Doctor was speaking, clearly not moved or distracted at all by his words, though it appeared the Doctor had distracted himself.
"What does that mean?" Amy tensed.
"The first wave was what hit earth with the first pulse," the Judge told her, "It's preparing another one."
"The human plague, breeding and fighting," the Shakri nearly spat, "And, when cornered, their rage to destroy. You're too late, Doctor. The Tally shall be met."
Amy blinked as the man disappeared, "He's gone?"
"He was never really here," the Doctor sighed, "Just the ship's automated interface. Like a talking propaganda poster," he quickly moved to the computer where the Shakri had been standing and looked at the controls, "I can stop the second wave," he smiled, relieved to see that, and quickly soniced the computer, "I can disconnect all the Shakri craft from their portals, leave them drifting in the dark space. Ah, but all those people who were near the cubes, so many of them will have died."
"Defibrillation," the Judge offered, making the Doctor look at her, "I've had to restart Jack's heart a time or two, can't we reverse the pulse and instead of stopping hearts, make them restart?"
"Brilliant!" he pointed at her, starting to put the command into the computer, grinning when he saw his commands coming through, "30 seconds. Don't let me down, cubes. You're working for me, now," his grin did start to fall when, after the command went through, a blinking warning began to go off on the monitor, the ship shaking in time with it, "Oh, dear. All those cubes. There's going to be a terrible wave of energy ricocheting around here, any second. Run!" he grabbed the Judge's hand and turned to race from the room, the Ponds right behind him.
They reached the wall they'd appeared through and threw themselves through it, landing in the goods' lift which shook a moment later as the Shakri ship exploded.
"I'm going to miss this," Rory remarked as the humans started laughing, the Doctor smiling at that sadly while the Judge just shook her head.
She would never understand humans.
~8~
The Judge looked up from where she was sitting in a black car, waiting for the Doctor to get in, he was saying goodbye to Kate at the Tower while she was finishing a call with Jack. The team was just fine, they hadn't been anywhere near the cubes when they'd gone off the first time, had been able to help quite a few people restart their hearts in the process. Everything was fine with them though and Jack reassured her not to worry…which never really worked, she always would.
She looked up when the door opened and the Doctor slid in beside her, the driver taking off, ready to bring them back to the Ponds and the TARDIS.
"So…" the Doctor began after a moment, "You still have the emotional bond?" he glanced at her.
She let out a long breath and nodded, "It was the only way I could tell that you were ok, or that you'd be ok," she gave him a look, "You didn't exactly make it easy to just let you run off when it felt like the only times you came back was after someone died or after YOU died. I just…wanted to be prepared."
He nodded, glancing down at her hand lying on her lap, both her hands flat against her thighs and reached out to take her hand, entwining his fingers with hers and resting the back of his hand on her leg to do so, "I'm sorry," he offered her, "You probably guessed that I…I tried to block it a bit."
"You were rather surprised whenever you saw a new me," she gave him a small smile for it, aware of what he'd tried to do.
"I didn't know you'd kept your half open," he told her, "I thought if I didn't then you wouldn't either."
"There are many, MANY things that you do that I don't Doctor," she reminded him, "Things you don't do that I do. Something like this isn't something I'd follow your lead on, it's too…it's too important to me," she took a breath a moment, "I think it might have been a little why I didn't know how to act around you at first," she admitted, "I knew you'd been suppressing it and I wasn't sure why. I wasn't sure how to act because I wasn't sure what I should feel, because I didn't know what YOU wanted to feel."
"I want to feel YOU," he spoke quietly after a short silence, "I was scared," he ran a hand through his hair, "I was scared that I would feel…that you didn't want to be around me, that…that you didn't want to be with me. You staying in Torchwood didn't exactly help," he pointed out as well, they had both made mistakes when it came to their actions and the bond they shared, the way they handled it, "I didn't want to feel you pulling away from me, so I just…tried not to feel it at all."
The Judge nodded slowly at that, "The emotional bond will always be there," she began, "But…it's not the only bond we shared or will share. We need to work a bit more on this," she gestured between them, "On actually talking to each other. Emotions and thoughts are wonderful, being able to sense them is great, but talking…there's something lost in the translation of emotions and thoughts and I think we need to make sure we're honest with each other. I know there'll be things we'll hide from each other, but I think…if we can promise that, eventually, we WILL talk about it, that…communication would be best. We need to actually TALK instead of just rely on our senses."
"I agree," he smiled at her, "I miss talking to you Carah," he murmured, "I miss how open we were with each other in the end. I know it'll take time too, to feel that comfortable around each other again, but I do want to work towards it. I want this to work, US to work."
"Then we will," she squeezed his hand, moving hers slightly so it was less just on her lap and resting, equally between them on the seat, making him smile more as they both turned to look out their respective windows at the scenery passing them, both feeling like they'd bridged another gap that had grown between them.
~8~
The Judge was sitting beside the Doctor, across from the Ponds, with Brian at the end of their kitchen table, staring at the sticks in her hand as though they were a deadly enemy. They were eating Chinese food, or the others were, the Judge was more glaring at the wooden chopsticks like they had done her a great travesty. She hadn't quite managed to get the hang of them. Jack loved to order Chinese food just to 'encourage' her to try the chopsticks again and 'help' her get the hang of it and it never worked. She didn't understand how an entire people could survive off eating with two sticks, but somehow they'd done it.
"Mmm, dear me," the Doctor swallowed the last of his food and set his bowl down, "We'd better get going," he glanced at the Judge, seeing her glare growing more murderous and actually fearing for the chopsticks, "Things to do. Worlds to save, swings to...swing on," he reached out and took the sticks from her, gently setting them down along with the carton of food, before he took her hand and stood, heading for the door as the Ponds fell quiet. The Judge slowed though and gave him a meaningful look, nodding her head towards the Ponds. He smiled at her for that and glanced at them, "Look," he called, making Rory and Amy turn in their seats, "I know, you both have lives here, beautiful, messy lives. That is what makes you so fabulously human. You don't want to give them up. I understand."
"Actually, it's you they can't give up, Doctor," Brian offered, looking to his son and giving him a smile, "And I don't think they should. Go with him. Go save every world you can find. Who else has that chance? Life will still be here."
This time the Doctor gave the Judge a meaningful look and nodded his head towards Brian.
"If you want to come too Brian…" the Judge left it open for him.
But Brian shook his head, "Somebody's got to water the plants. Just bring them back safe."
Rory and Amy beamed, leaning over to say goodbye to Brian before heading to the TARDIS with the Time Lords. Brian got up and stepped out after them, watching them gather at the door, his family waving goodbye, before they all stepped in, the box disappearing before his eyes, taking the Williams, the Doctor, and the Judge with it.
A/N: I sort of wanted someone to just do the same thing that Martha did to the Doctor dealing with the Lilith, like they both ended in one of the Doctor's hearts stopping and so why not try the same method :) But we know more about the children! 2 boys and 1 girl :) ...but they're all dead :( ...or are they? }:) Is it possible, in the middle of war, that the Judge misread what she was feeling? We'll have to wait and see what happens if Gallifrey ever returns. Till then, the children are, for all intents and purposes, deceased :'(
I can say, the little thoughts that the Judge has about the TARDIS and the Doctor's travels will pop up again }:)
Some notes on reviews...
Aww thanks :) I try to keep in mind that the Doctor is an alien and try to make each story unique in terms of his past and his life on Gallifrey so it's great to know I'm managing it :) I can say that we'll see them get more loving as it goes on and...there may be a key point near the start and end of the second half of Series 7 that will see a breakthrough for them ;)
I always try to just be kind and polite when responding to flames :) I think, most times, they just want a fight or a rise out of the author and I've learned that just being nice back to them tends to take that edge off and allow all parties to move on :) I'm really glad you're enjoying the stories ^-^ As for Angel, we may see her having a bit more work to do keeping him from going dark, but that means, to me, plenty of fluff and touching moments to come ;) Lol, sorry about the Time Babies tease there, we'll have to see how it goes, I don't want to do too many stories where they all end up with babies so this might be one of the sort where, they've already had children, there won't be new children, but it will depend how all my other stories go :)
I can say that the exile in London may be a bit different than in the episode, but I don't want to say too much more about how ;) I think the Judge though, will be ok with Vastra, she seems very sensible, logical, and 'alien' enough for the Judge to think her someone worth talking to lol :) I see a tiny bit of Vastra defending Jenny though ;)
