Ride the Whirlwind

Chapter 10

oo~oo

I woke slowly, my head pounding. Sitting up slowly, I blinked and looked around at blank cement walls and a cell door with a glass window. Pressing my back into the corner, I closed my eyes and started screaming for the Doctor. Handcuffed hands held over my head protectively.

Sometime later, someone opened the door and a dark-haired woman stood there. I only looked up to see if the Doctor was behind her. He wasn't.

"How are you doing that?" She took one step into the cell and looked around. "This is a soundproof room."

"Where's the Doctor?" I asked civilly. I could be civil for a few minutes anyway. "I want to see the Doctor."

"How are you doing that? We can hear you screaming everywhere." She seemed perplexed and annoyed. I didn't care. I wanted the Doctor. He'd left me alone again.

"Forget that, ask him what he did to them." A man stood behind her, holding a strange looking gun on me. "They're in a kind of coma."

"Where's the Doctor?" I asked slowly this time, since she seemed to have trouble understanding me. "The Doctor? You remember? Tall, slender, spiky-hair? The Time Lord in pajamas you ripped out of my arms?"

"If I tell you where he is, will you stop screaming his name?" She asked tilting her head, making her dark hair fall across her cheek. "Don't make me sedate you again."

"I want the Doctor." I was done being civil since it hadn't worked. Leaning my head against the wall, I closed my eyes and ignored them.

"You know how to fix the Captain." A third man spoke. "All you have to do is shoot him. He'll come back in five minutes and he can tell us what that bastard did to them."

"I'm not shooting the Captain, if we don't have to." The woman answered. "He wants the Doctor. And he doesn't seem to recognize any of us."

"Shoot him while you're at it." The guy that wanted to shoot Jack spoke. "That's one way to make the Captain very happy."

"But not the Doctor." The woman answered. "Don't shoot him till he tells us what's wrong with them."

"I want the Doctor." I said louder since we seemed to be getting off track here.

"Wait one more day." The woman answered. "You shut up, you're not getting the Doctor till you tell us what you did to him. Best you'll get is a needle in the neck."

"Doctor!" I screamed, putting my head back down. The sound reverberated nicely through the walls. "DOCTOR!"

"Just shoot the bastard." The third man urged. I opened my eyes to see if they would.

"No! Go get the tranquilizer gun." The woman pulled him aside and slammed the cell door. I ignored them and went on screaming for the Doctor. The lock snicked into place.

oo~oo

Eons later, the cell opened again and Jack stood there. He'd found another jacket and looked a bit worse for wear.

"Shut up and tell me what you did to us." He held blasters in both hands. "It was that thing with the soul-eater, wasn't it?"

"Where's the Doctor? Why isn't he here?" I glared at him. "I want the Doctor!"

"We were almost blue!" Jack shouted, taking a step in the room. "Look at your palms, they're blue. Tell me what you did?" Another step in.

"I want the Doctor!" Screaming at him didn't seem to be getting through. "Let him come see me, please." Please might not work on Jack, he seemed very angry. I hoped he didn't take this opportunity to kill me. "Please." I'd beg if I had to.

"The Doctor is still unconscious you idiot!" Two more steps in the room. "If you want to help him, tell us what happened. Think about something besides what you want for a minute."

"I don't know! He was fine, then he collapsed in the shower and was burning up with fever. It was too dark to see what color he was. I would never, ever hurt the Doctor."

"The Doctor believes this amnesia act of yours, but I don't ok? Too many little things don't add up. You know the TARDIS, you knew just how to drain the soul-eater." Jack frowned at him. "I heard what you did when Gallifrey appeared in the sky, about the energy bolts you used." Jack pulled the door shut behind him and leaned against it putting one blaster in his pocket.

"I don't remember." There was no point in trying to convince him of anything, he hated me. Didn't matter if it was old me or new me.

"I really don't see why the Doctor puts up with you. Why he wouldn't let us kill you on the Valliant. Why he let you on the TARDIS now. Why he puts up with your mauling hands on him all the time."

This was promising. "Jealous, Jack?" A nice sly grin to annoy him. "Did you think the Doctor was gonna be all yours?" Chuckling softly, I tried to figure what would get him angry enough to step away from the door. "I see how it is, you play both sides of the street." I nodded knowingly at him. While not getting me any closer to the Doctor, it did alleviate the boredom and annoyed Jack. And most importantly, it kept me from being alone, if only for a little while.

"Actually," Jack grinned tossing his head, bragging a bit. "I've been known to take a walk down the alley a time or two."

I stared at him, trying to keep the grin off my face and not succeeding very well. "You think that makes you attractive to the Doctor? Or are you counting on the pheromones?" I could sense them, but they had little effect on a Time Lord.

"The Doctor likes me! He trusts me!" How quickly that grin turned to a glare. Really, this was too easy. It was going to get boring in a hurry, but I wasn't alone, even if it was only Jack.

"He loves me." I said it quietly, gently. "Has he ever told you that? Ever told anyone? I'm willing to bet not. Not even that blond pet he used to have. Rose? Was it?" Kept the amusement out of my eyes and just looked at him. "He loves me."

"That's a lie! He said there was nothing going on! The Doctor doesn't lie! Besides, I thought you didn't remember anything? Caught out in your own game?" He gave a short laugh and shook his head.

"The Doctor shared some memories when we were in the maze." Memories of my own to keep forever. "And no, he doesn't lie. That's why he's never said it to anyone else."

"You lie. You don't know how to tell the truth." He spat at me standing up and taking a step away from the door. One more Jack, just one more.

"Ask him." I taunted sliding up the wall, till I was standing. "Ask him yourself. No? Ok, I'll ask him." He took a step toward me and I took one step toward him. "What will you say then? Huh Jack? What will you say when the Doctor says he loves me."

"You'll trick him into saying something….It doesn't matter, he's still unconscious. He'll have to wake up before he says anything." Another step. Too bad Jack. Freak.

"I'll make sure he says it slowly, so you can understand." With a grin, I took two quick steps, used the chain on the handcuffs to twist the blaster out of his hand, flipping my hands up around his neck to strangle him with the chain before he could take a breath. Jerking him down to the floor, I kicked him in the gut and ran for the door. Idiot hadn't even locked it. Pulled it open and took a deep breath, feeling for the Doctor.

Brushed aside the woman outside and was down the hall. Doctor where are you? Where are you? Closed my eyes while running and had to backtrack. No, that hallway, those stairs. There was shouting and pounding feet behind me, but no shots.

Pushed the door open and fell into the room. The Doctor was strapped to a hospital bed, twisting feverishly, and yes, his skin was slightly blue. Looked at my palms and they were a bright blue. Damn soul-eater.

Noise at the door and I turned to growl at them. "What the hell did you do to him!" Walking quickly to his side, I lifted a hand to touch his hair, but the handcuffs were in the way. With a growl, I burned them and shook them off, slinging them at the door. Jack and the woman stood there staring at me in shock.

Turned back to the Doctor and brushed my fingers across his brow. He immediately stopped thrashing and calmed down.

"Shoot him." The woman tried to push past Jack.

"No." He answered. "Look, he's quieted the Doctor."

"He's going to kill him." Another man's voice at the door. The third man downstairs at the cell. "You can't chance the Doctor's life for his."

"The Doctor trusted him." Jack said slowly. "Let him be for a bit. He can't steal the TARDIS and he can't get outside. At least he'll be quiet for awhile. Maybe he can help the Doctor." He walked in and sat down at a desk and watched me.

Dismissing them, I brushed my hand across the restraints holding the Doctor down, pulled them away and climbed up into the bed, fitting myself into the space along one side of the rails. Wiggling around I reached for the Doctor's hand meaning to thread my fingers in his when I saw the blue stains on his palm and fingers, the hand he grabbed the soul-eater with. Contact poison? Sitting up again, I opened his hand and examined it carefully. Jack sat up, watching closely.

Thinking furiously, I pressed the Doctor's blue marks against my blue palm and sucked with my mind. Something similar to how I drained the creature of energy, only this time I was feeling for the poison, Sweat broke out on my forehead, and I felt dizzy before I found something that didn't belong.

I didn't touch his memories or his mind, just the chemical composition of his body. Not that he would have minded, but I didn't want to accidently trigger a memory of me, evil me—the Master—or something I'd done. I didn't want to know. More than that, I didn't want to know what the Doctor felt seeing me—him.

Certain I'd gotten most of the poison out, I lay my head on his shoulder . His breathing was easier so I closed my eyes, to rest for a moment. The Doctor's hand in mine, it was safe to rest for a moment. Just a moment.

oo~oo

One. Two. Three. FOUR. One. Two. Three. FOUR. One. Two. Three. FOUR.

Remember the DRUMS, puppy. Pounding a rhythm to the brain, just like the song says.

One. Two. Three. FOUR. One. Two. Three. FOUR. One. Two. Three. FOUR.

What happened to the drums, puppy? Where did the drums go?

oo~oo

AN: There you go, all happy and reunited. Everyone is happy. Well, almost. Poor Koschei, nightmares all the time.