The Doctor and I had been together in the TARDIS for a long time. We kept traveling around to different places, each one as new and brilliant and exciting. It felt great to travel and to know I was always safe. At this point our adventures numbered at around 28 or maybe more. I had a hard time keeping up with every twist and turn our escapades took.
We were exploring a city on an alien planet that looked like they did in the science fiction movies. Everything was silver and high tech. I felt like I couldn't touch anything for fear of an electric ray shooting from a wall to zap someone walking by. It was a pretty cool city, but I didn't know exactly what we were doing there.
"Doctor, what are we going to do?" I grabbed his arm as we walked through the city. I grabbed my mustache necklace, absent mindedly playing with it, as the Doctor led me to a bar.
"Well, right now we're going here because I'm thirsty and I need to see someone about something." He smiled down at me and opened a door in front of us.
Loud music sounded from the walls and I had to adjust my eyes to the lighting. It was bright and dark at the same time. It hurt my eyes and I didn't know what to do about it. The Doctor made me sit in a booth off in the corner of the bar. He backed up a step when I scooted over so he could sit next to me.
"Now don't drink anything." He shook his finger at me as if I was a child. Of course, I didn't want to point out that he was the most childish 1100 year old I had ever met. I smiled and shook my head and he walked away to speak with some large blue man sitting in another, back room of the bar. I wasn't going to pretend like I wasn't confused, but I just let the Doctor do what he needed to do.
I didn't have my notebook, so I couldn't write anything in my stories. I was stuck, sitting at a table while the Doctor did his business. He didn't even tell me what his business was; just that he had to do it. Apparently, I wasn't allowed to be a part of the whole process of negotiation or whatever they were doing.
"Hello, little miss, would you like a drink?" A waiter walked up and smiled at me with his sharp pointy teeth, purple skin, and tentacle arms. In response, I smiled politely and declined, stating that I was waiting for a friend that would be coming back any second. He shrugged and walked away. I kept sitting there, minding my own business and alien watching. I noticed a man who actually looked human at the bar, he was the only human looking thing here, and it seemed he noticed me as well. I pulled on my leggings, getting a bit nervous. He was pretty handsome, and he stood up, still looking at me. I could only guess he was going to come over and talk to me. Though someone else got to me first and blocked him from my line of sight.
"Hey little lady, how about you try this?" A glass was placed before me as a blobby alien looked down at me. He was menacing and I was sure he meant business because it looked as though he was scowling.
"Um, I'm sorry; I'm not supposed to drink anything, thanks." I pushed the glass away from me and tried to see if I could look beyond this alien and see the Doctor. I had no such luck. But the alien seemed to get angrier and more insistent when I refused.
"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to drink this." He grabbed the cup from the table and placed it back before me. From inside his blobby-ness, he pulled out something that looked like a ray gun, or at least it looked like a weapon. I grabbed the drink from in front of me hesitantly. "Drink it all down."
"What will it do to me?" I looked down at the green fizzing liquid as a creepy smile formed on the alien's face. I didn't like his expression and I felt my stomach plummet to the bottom of my gut.
"Well, little lady, you'll just have to find out." He lifted my hand so that the cup was right in front of my lips. He kept his ray gun pointed at me as I reluctantly took a sip of the liquid. I was surprised to find that it didn't taste like anything. Looking back up at the alien, who just looks annoyed, I downed the rest of the drink in one gulp. "There you go, enjoy your ride, but stay put." The Blob chuckled and he slid away. He grabbed the glass and I was once again left alone in an alien bar without the Doctor by my side.
My vision started to go hazy as I sat at the table. I didn't know what was happening, or what I had just ingested, but I knew I had to find the Doctor to figure out what was going on.
I stood, looking around to find my way to the back room. But I couldn't locate the room the Doctor had disappeared into. It seemed as though there were no doors at all in the bar. My feet walked towards the direction I knew the door was supposed to be, but I couldn't find the opening in the wall.
Turning back to the rest of the bar, I had to blink a few times. There was no one around; drinking, smoking, or socializing. Not a soul was breathing or stirring. I was all alone.
"Please tell me this is not happening. Haven't I been through enough?" I grabbed my face and sunk to the floor, my back against the wall. "No, no, no, no, tell me I'm not alone."
"Of course you're not. Come here, Rachel Foster." The Doctor stood before me, his arms out as if he was waiting for me to jump up and hug him. I looked up at him, so very thankful he was here before me.
"Doctor," My voice cracked and there were tears in my eyes. I didn't want to be so emotional, but for some reason, I was. I stood and took a step forward that should have landed me in the Doctor's arms; instead he backed away a step. "Doctor what's going on?" I took another step forward, but he took two back. My next three steps forward, the Doctor turned and dashed away.
I followed after him, finding myself in the open air. My lungs filled with icy wind as I begged him to wait for me. The people that I ran past looked at me as though I was crazy, but I dodged them, determined not to lose sight of the Doctor. Eventually, we came to an alley way, the alley way where the TARDIS was parked.
"Doctor?" I stepped forward. He stood in front of the TARDIS, hand on the door. I took a few more steps to be closer. "Are we leaving now? Is your business done with?"
"You know, Rachel, I only take the best. And that's not you anymore." With a look of determination and a coldness I could feel in my bones, he entered the TARDIS and slammed the door. I ran to the TARDIS, jiggling the handle and trying to find my way inside, but the door was locked. "Doctor, please let me in." The engines sounded and I backed away, completely shocked that the Doctor was flying away from me with no explanation.
The TARDIS disappeared and I walked away from the alley way. Tears cascaded down my cheeks. I was in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people and aliens and no way to get home.
"Miss, are you alright?" I turned in the direction of the voice and was shocked at what stood before me. My feet backed away before I could utter a sound. The person standing before me took a step in my direction.
"W-William?" There he was before me, and I couldn't believe my eyes. I knew he was dead. There wasn't a way he could be alive. The Doctor had taken me to his gravestone and I had seen the date he died. "No," The word tore itself from my throat as I ran as fast as I could away from the impersonator of a man I had once loved.
My feet slowed a distance away as I looked at my surroundings. I couldn't make out a word of the gibberish that was posted as signs and street names. I stopped on a corner and tried to find some way that I could figure out where I was. I just needed to get back to the bar. Maybe the waiter would be able to help me. He had seemed nice enough.
"Miss?" A hand came down on my shoulder. I jumped and turned towards the familiar voice. A smile broke across my face and I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips. My hand came up and wiped away the snot and tears. Words couldn't describe my feelings at the moment I saw his face.
"Dorian?" Just like the Doctor, he backed away a step. "The Doctor's left me. Can you take me home?" I stepped forward and he took another step back. I noticed it was what a lot of people were doing with me today. That realization, however, didn't stop my next step forward.
"Look, I think you need to lay down, Rachel. Perhaps the Doctor just doesn't want you anymore." And with that, I blinked and Dorian vanished into thin air. I looked around for him, but there was no one. I was alone again.
Down the road, a street lamp started to flicker. The bulb went out and there was blackness. The next street lamp closer to me flickered and went out just the same. Fear seized my chest.
"Weeping Angels? Vashta Nerada? What else causes lights to flicker?" I looked down at my feet. They weren't moving, though I was trying to run. My feet were stuck to the ground, as if with a sticky glue. "Come on, come on," I chanted over and over again, trying to get my legs and feet to run. The lights kept flickering and going out, but I couldn't move.
Looking up at the light above my head, I prayed that it would stay on just so I could figure out what was wrong with my legs. But just as I wished the light to stay on, it started to flicker like the rest.
My lips let out a sigh of exhaustion and surrender. My knees slammed against the pavement as I fell to the floor, not even wanting to continue running or even trying. I leaned my head against the light pole beside me, completely defeated. I closed my eyes, and waited for the sun to come up.
"Excuse me." I felt the hand connect with my shoulder, but I didn't want to acknowledge it. I was too tired. The Doctor had left me, Dorian had vanished, and I was all alone. "You might want to get up now." The voice was friendly, but sounded almost mechanical and monotone. I looked up and in shock, fell flat on my bottom. "Please, don't be frightened. I'm only here to help." I took in the full appearance of the creature and couldn't believe my eyes.
The alien's skin was a gray-ivory shade that seemed rough and course and its head peaked in the center. Its eyes were like slits and from the place where its mouth should have been, tentacles cascaded out. They looked slimy and as though they would be sticky to touch. In his hand was a plastic orb that lit up when he talked. It was connected by a thick white wire to the mass of tentacles and he was wearing a blue jumpsuit with the omega symbol on the left side. Black boots adorned its feet and it wore black gloves.
"What are you?" My voice didn't hold the disgust or fear that I had initially felt upon seeing the creature. Instead, it was full of curiosity.
"I was designated Ood Omega, and I am here to help." It blinked its eyes and held out its free hand. I took it and the ood helped me stand. I found that I could walk and move my legs. The lights were flickering back on and there were people walking all around.
"Ood Omega?" The ood turned and nodded down at me. I looked up and around at all the people. None of them were even looking at us. It was like we didn't exist at all. "What's happening?"
"Someone was trying to sell you to a collector as a pet or organ farming." I nodded, letting it sink in. "I'm taking you back to your friend." My friend? But the Doctor had left me. "You are drugged and hallucinating now. I won't be here when you wake up. But I can at least help you as far as I can."
"What do you mean I'm drugged?" We were walking through the city. Transport vehicles zoomed past us and I started to remember where I was, but everything looked the same. The ood didn't answer my question. Instead, he just kept walking with me. I decided to ask another question. I liked the noise of his voice, the feeling I wasn't alone, and what he was saying helped me calm down. "Why are you called Ood Omega? Isn't Omega the last of the Greek alphabet?"
"It was the name assigned to me." He kept walking, getting faster in his stride. I walked faster to keep up, but it wasn't easy. My legs felt a bit weaker, though the fast pace seemed to start help the strength and feeling return.
"Well, don't you ever want a different name?" I caught a hold of his arm, finding it easier to keep up with him that way. "I mean, do you have a name that wasn't assigned to you?" He stopped walking and I stopped next to him.
"No, I have no other name and need no other name." I smiled as a thought popped into my head.
"Can I have a name for you?" It was impossible to tell if he was smiling or even approved of the idea. "I mean one that isn't as formal as Ood Omega? I don't like the stiffness to it." I smiled at him, my most charming smile.
"Alright." He placed the orb back to the part of his shirt where it attached, right under the omega sign. We started walking again and I smiled to myself. I was quite proud that I would have a special name for an ood. Though I didn't know if it was a common practice. This was the first ood I had met and I didn't really know anything about the race of species or even if they were friendly, but he wasn't harming me in any way thus far.
I noticed over the horizon, a faint pink glow started to show over the tops of the buildings. It seemed as though the night was over and the sun was starting to rise. I stopped Ood Omega for a minute and watched the sun rise with him. It had been such a long time since I had just paused.
With the Doctor, it was a brilliant life. Everything was fast paced and nothing was ever boring. But things like sunsets and rainbows and fields of flowers were glossed over and forgotten. I never complained, but with all the time I spent with the Doctor running, I forgot how something simple like a sunset could be so remarkable.
Sometimes, the girl couldn't remember what happened the day before or couldn't figure out where she was. But most of the time, the girl discovered something. Just the little things that came and went. She learned not to take drinks from strangers, to listen to the Doctor, to sometimes trust the people she met, to sometimes not trust anyone, to sometimes just stop and look at the sunset.
It didn't feel real for her, sometimes. Running around with the Doctor in the TARDIS through time and space. Sometimes it felt like a dream or a fake reality. But the comfort of the senses, the touch, taste, smell, sound, and sight of it all convinced her that these things were real.
And that was why she remembered what she learned.
"So, Oodmund, where are we going now?" Bathed in the rising sun, I smiled. The ood looked at me and even with the tentacles on his face and limited expression; I could begin to see what he was thinking. "I thought Oodmund might be the special name I have for you." The ood nodded and took the transmitter ball from his shirt.
"Oodmund is a very interesting name." He replaced the communication ball to his shirt and we kept walking. I couldn't keep the smile off my face, suddenly incredibly happy. Though I still didn't know where we were going.
As we rounded a corner, so that the sun wasn't in front of us, my vision started to blur a bit. My knees became weak and it was as though I couldn't support my weight anymore. I stopped walking and looked around where we were.
"Oodmund, what's happening?" I tried to grab his arm, but I couldn't find it. Instead, I fell over to a wall that I could slide down. "I feel so strange. Oodmund?" But I couldn't see him and he didn't answer me.
"I told you, you were drugged, Rachel. The hallucinations are just starting to wear off. I must go." I tried once more to reach out towards the ood, but I couldn't find him. My hands searched before me, but I couldn't grasp anything solid.
"Wait," I called out, hoping he would answer me. "What about me? Where are you going? What's going to happen to me?"
"You'll be fine. I'll be seeing you again. Goodbye." And just like that, I knew he was gone; his presence had faded. I slumped against the wall I was leaning against and sighed. My vision was more blurred, but I could see a figure walking up to me.
"Please don't take my organs." I tried to tell my vision to stop being blurry, but I couldn't make my vision clearer. All I could see was the rough outline of a man with brown hair. I smiled, but dared not to hope. "Doctor? I thought you had left me."
And with that said, I felt myself being pulled down into an abyss of unconsciousness. It was thick and black and I couldn't wake up, even if I wanted to. It was as if a blanket had been wrapped around me and I had been placed in a coffin. I couldn't move and felt a heavy weight on me. There was a rocking back and forth of my body that I didn't understand. The thought that I might have been considered dead and taken to be buried crossed my mind. Being buried alive was a great fear of mine, but I could do nothing to stop it, even if that was the case. There was also a thought that I was being taken to a place where I could be sold as a collectible or as an organ donor. These thoughts were flickers, considering I didn't want to dwell on them when I couldn't do anything about it.
Eventually, the weight on my skin started to lift and I felt as though in a few hours or minutes I would be able to move my limbs again. Voices echoed into my unconsciousness. I tried to listen with what little control I had over my body and my senses.
"There you go. A package delivered courtesy of Captain Jack Harkness."The word package puzzled me. Was I really to be sold off for parts or something? My eyes still wouldn't open, but I kept listening. "She just had something to drink. There won't be any damage done. I made sure to check. She reminds me a bit of-"
There was a muffled mumbling that I couldn't make out. The person talked quieter or was further away. No matter what I did, I couldn't hear what they said.
"Well, either way, aren't you glad to have her? I mean, she's all in one piece, though at first she did freak out and run everywhere." I felt a hand on my face. "Her temperature is down to normal, so that means the effects of the drink are definitely wearing off."
There was another muffled, mumbled reply that I couldn't make out.
"She must have been so scared at the pace she was running. I wonder if this thing happens to her often. She seems tough, though." There was some more muffled conversation and I just ignored it. I didn't want to hear anymore. I was probably being sold to some collector. I just relaxed and waited to feel my body again.
The first feeling I got was in my fingers. They started to tingle and I knew that they were waking up. Then I could feel my toes and up my legs and arms. Eventually I had feeling in my whole body, except for my head. My face had the tingling for the longest amount of time. I didn't know if that was how it was supposed to go or if it was a sign of something that went wrong. My eyes wouldn't open and anxiety started to fill my head.
There was pressure on the bed I was resting on. Someone sat next to me. My head started to feel lighter, as if it was filled with air. As soon as I knew that my head was resting on a pillow, I slowly found myself able to open my eyes.
I was in my room in the TARDIS. I was laying in my bed in my room in the TARDIS. The Doctor was sitting next to me on my bed in my room in the TARDIS. But he was sitting cross legged and looking at his watch, obviously not realizing I had woken up. A slow, groggy smile graced my lips.
"Well, I know you get impatient, but really, Doctor?" The Doctor turned to me as I sat up in the bed and pulled my legs up to my chest. The Doctor seemed awkward, like he didn't know what to say, sort of like a young child trying to thank their grandparents for a wonderful Christmas gift.
"Well, you did take an awfully long time to wake up." He smiled over at me. Before he could move to get off my bed, I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his chest. He hugged me back, tighter than I thought possible. I pulled back and blinked away the tears that threatened to fall from my eyes.
"This has got to stop happening to me. I mean, I get kidnapped and experimented on and bugged and drugged and quite frankly I'm getting tired of it. I am so much better than being some lab rat." A smile broke across my face. "I'm just going to have to be more like River. It's your turn to be the damsel in distress, Doctor." He smiled as I flopped back onto my mattress.
"Yes, well, you should have listened to me and not ingested anything." He pointed a finger at me. I raised an eyebrow and he retracted his finger.
"I was sort of held at gunpoint. And since when have I not listened to you?" The Doctor didn't really know what to say. I most always listened to what he said, I kept close or I sat down or I didn't go out 'there'. He reminded me constantly how nice it was.
"Yes, well, I'm the Doctor; I wouldn't look as nice as a damsel in distress; never really liked dresses." I laughed and followed him out as he walked to the control room. It was time to leave and start another adventure.