Chapter Ten
"Doctor, can you hear me?" Amy asked while the Doctor moaned and slowly fluttered his eyes open. He was slightly stunned to see Donna kneeling beside him as he tilted his head to one side and softly smiled, closing his eyes again.
"Donna," he sighed while Amy knelt back on her legs and frowned.
"Donna?" she asked when he opened his eyes again, blinked his eyes a few times then looked at Amy and sighed.
"Sorry, where're Jamie and Zoe?"
"I'm right here," Zoe said.
"Where's Jamie?" the Doctor asked as he stood up and they headed for the door. Walking out of the exhibit room, the Doctor felt a sense of relief when he saw Jamie standing at the end of the hallway and was talking to the security guards. Walking closer, the Doctor stood next to Jamie when Jamie turned around and looked at him with a concerned look on his face.
"Och, Your Lairdship, I am so glad that you are alright," Jamie said when the Doctor looked at the security guards and one of them had grayish blue hair and crystal blue eyes.
"We are so sorry that we didn't act sooner, Sire," the security guard while they lowered their heads and the Doctor looked at Jamie with a hint of a smile on his lips.
"Yes, well, it is bad enough that this place is a virtual maze but being attacked after we accidentally ended up in the new exhibit room is totally disgraceful! Have you even started looking for those thieves?" the Doctor asked then sniffed and the security guards shook their heads. "I see. Well, when I get back to the royal palace, I will be telling my father about this."
"No, Sire, please don't do that! If you and your party will come with us to the security room…"
"I don't think so," the Doctor said, turning on his heels and headed down the hallway. Shrugging, Jamie walked after the Doctor when he caught up with him and the security guards watched them going around the corner. After the security guards had left, Amy, Zoe, Jamie and the Doctor peeked around the corner when they walked back into the exhibit room and walked to the display case. Taking the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, the Doctor scanned the display case when he placed the sonic screwdriver away and headed for the door.
"What was that all about?" Amy asked as they left the room and headed down the hallway.
"I was scanning the case for an energy signature," the Doctor said.
"So we can track the orb and find those men," Zoe said and the Doctor nodded. They left the museum when the Doctor took the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket then scanned the area and smiled, heading down the pavement.
"The signal's coming from this direction," he said as they followed him down the pavement when he turned right and held the sonic screwdriver tightly in his hand. Humanoids and aliens looked at the Doctor while they passed by them when the Doctor stopped and Amy, Zoe and Jamie nearly crashed into him. "Blimey, I lost the signal."
"You think they had some sort of transport waiting for them?" Amy asked.
"Yes, which means we need to go back to the TARDIS and find out where they went," the Doctor said then turned around and placed the sonic screwdriver in his pocket. Watching the Doctor and Amy run down the pavement, Zoe looked at Jamie as he slightly smiled then placed his hands behind his back and gently rocked back and forth on his heels.
"If you think I'm running after them then you are sadly mistaken," Zoe said while Jamie softly laughed, held his arm out and they slowly strolled down the pavement.
The TARDIS floated in the vortex as Jamie walked into the control room while nibbling on half of a turkey and cheese sandwich the TARDIS had made him and the other half of the sandwich sat on the plate in his left hand. Amy and Zoe were relaxing the living room while Jamie felt a déjà vu feeling as he place the plate on the console and looked at the Doctor. He remembered the times the Doctor would be so involved in something that he forgot to eat and he watched the Doctor looking at the screen and was pushing the buttons on the console.
"Having any luck?" he asked as the Doctor looked over at him then took the half of the sandwich off the plate, nibbling on it.
"Turkey and cheese?" he asked and Jamie nodded. "No, I haven't had any luck."
"I'm sorry that I wasnae any help. If I had been younger, I would have…"
"Jamie, I don't blame you. I was the one that screwed up," the Doctor said with a sigh and brushed the hair out of his eyes. "I've been screwing a lot of things up lately."
"Eh?" Jamie asked when the Doctor took another bite of the sandwich and leaned against the console.
"When I woke up, I accidentally called Amy "Donna"."
"Who's Donna?" Jamie asked and the Doctor told him about Donna, making him smile. "She sounds a lot like my friend, Grace. She's tough as nails an' just as sassy. What happened tae Donna?"
"Well…" the Doctor sighed then told him about Davros, the daleks, Rose and her coming back for him and the human meta crisis as Jamie nibbled on the sandwich and nodded his head, not understanding some of what he was talking about.
"Sounds tae me like you saved Donna's life."
"Yes, but at the expense of her returning to the way she was before I met her."
"Doctor, let me ask you this. Is she happy?"
"Yes, she is."
"Do you think she would be happy if she hadnae met you?"
"To be honest, no, I don't think so."
"So, by knowing you, even though she doesnae remember you, she's a better person?"
"I'd like to think so."
"Do you think I'm a better person for remembering you?"
"Are you?"
"Aye, I am."
"But you remembering our time together wouldn't have killed you like it would if Donna remembers."
"It might nae have killed me but it would have, should have, driven me insane. What I'm trying tae get you tae understand is that she is happy because she met you," Jamie said, gently poking the Doctor in the chest. "Now, about this human meta-whatever it was."
"What about him?"
"Why did you leave him behind?"
"He killed Davros and the daleks."
"So you just left him on that other world with Rose?"
"Yes, she could heal him…"
"Like she healed me," the Doctor thought.
"Eh?" Jamie asked, looking confused.
"See, he was born at the time of war and blood and I thought Rose could help him to rein in that anger, rage and pain inside him."
"But he is you, aye?"
"Yes, he is."
"That means you have anger, rage and pain inside you."
"Yes, but I can handle it better."
"Ah, and you think she can handle that responsibility?"
"Yep, Rose is fantastic!"
"But you still love her, aye?" he asked as the Doctor looked down at the floor then sighed, nibbling on the sandwich.
"Yes, I do, but I don't age like humans do. The idea of us being together was too painful because watching her growing older while I stay the same would break my hearts."
"Is that the other reason why you didnae come back for me an' Zoe? If it is then you really dinnae ken me that well. I may be old but I can still out run you," he said with a smile and the Doctor arched an eyebrow at him.
"You can?"
"Well, if you give me a head start," he said and they laughed.
"His being able to grow old was the other reason I left him with her. If she hasn't rejected him, they can have a life and family together and that's all I ever wanted for her," the Doctor said when the scanner beeped and they looked at the screen, placing the sandwich on the plate.
The wind blew the scraps of paper around in small circles while the TARDIS materialized in the alleyway and the doors opened. Walking outside, Amy, Zoe and Jamie watched while the Doctor locked the doors, placed the key in his pocket then took the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and scanned the alleyway. Nodding, he walked down the alleyway while they followed him and they walked out of the alleyway, heading down the pavement. Starships and star shuttles of different sizes and shapes moved overhead while Jamie watched them going by as Zoe tugged on his hand and he looked at her.
"What?" he asked.
"You nearly walked into that pole," Zoe said as she pointed to the silver pole and Jamie rolled his eyes, smiling.
"Doctor, are you sure this is where the signal's coming from?" Amy asked while the Doctor scanned the area then placed the sonic screwdriver in his pocket and stood against the wall, placing his hands in his pockets.
"No, I'm not sure," he sighed when he brushed the hair from his eyes and Amy leaned against the wall, watching the aliens and humanoids going by. "Where are Jamie and Zoe?"
"Over there," she said as she pointed to Zoe looking into one of the shop windows and Jamie was standing next to her, watching two young humanoid females walking down the pavement and Zoe looked at them, rolling her eyes.
"They're old enough to be your granddaughters," she whispered as he turned and titled his head to one side.
"Aye," Jamie sighed as they walked to the Doctor and Amy and Amy smiled, sliding her arms around Jamie's right arm.
"No harm in looking," she said as he softly laughed, nodded and patted her hand. Suddenly the Doctor saw the three men from the museum while they stood near a space shuttle as he tapped Amy on the shoulder and she looked over at the men. "That's…"
"Yep," the Doctor said.
"Looks like they're getting ready tae leave," Jamie said.
"Which means we have to stop them."
"And how do we do that?" Zoe asked.
"Aye, they'll run if they see us," Jamie said when the Doctor reached into his pocket then took out a gold chain with a TARDIS key on the end of it.
"Not if I use my perception filter," the Doctor said.
"What is a perception filter?"
"I'll show you," he said as he placed the gold chain around his neck and smiled at Jamie, who blinked as he tried to focus his eyes on him. "Can you see me?"
"Aye, I can, but it's like I didnae want tae see you."
"That's how it works. Now, I'll just go over there and…" the Doctor said as the men looked over at them when one of the men pointed to Amy, Jamie and Zoe then ran down the pavement. "Rassilon, why do they always run?"
Sighing, the Doctor took Amy's hand as they ran down the pavement while Jamie started walking across the street and Zoe half ran after him. She watched while Jamie walked toward the space shuttle and looked at it, placing his hands behind his back. The space shuttle was the size of a double decker bus with several tainted windows and a glass dome stuck out of the top. The haul was a silver/white color with four, metal landing legs at the bottom and four large pipes stuck out of the back of the space shuttle. Walking closer, Jamie pushed the button on the panel near the hatch door as the hatch door opened and he looked around, going inside the space shuttle.
"Jamie," Zoe said as she walked to the hatch door when his hand appeared and he wiggled a finger for her to follow him inside the space shuttle. Sighing, she went inside the space shuttle as the hatch door closed behind her and the aliens and humanoids walked by the space shuttle.
The three men ran by the aliens and humanoids while the Doctor and Amy chased after them when one of them looked behind him then sighed, running faster.
"He doesn't give up, does he?" he said as the men ran around the corner then into an alleyway and went flat against the wall, watching Amy and the Doctor running by them.
"Is he gone?" the other man asked.
"Yeah," the man said as they walked out of the alleyway then down the pavement, stopping after hearing the sounds of engines filling the air. Suddenly a space shuttle flew over their heads as they ducked down and some of the aliens and humanoids screamed while the space shuttle rose higher in the sky. Standing up, the men looked at each other as the aliens and humanoids moved by and one of the men frowned, scratching the back of his head.
"Was that…?" one of the men asked when they ran down the pavement then stopped and one of the men growled.
"Someone stole our shuttle!" he screamed.
"Um, Boss, would this be a bad time to tell you that I left the orb in the shuttle?" one of the men asked while they watched the space shuttle growing smaller in the distance and the man sighed, walking away.