Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
A/N: I've realised I've made a dumb mistake. I said in 'Beautiful In Blue' that Hope has brown eyes, but then I forgot about that and said in Hope's First that she has blue eyes. I've edited the first story now so Hope has blue eyes, not brown.
Also, just to keep everyone (including myself) on track: in this story the Doctor is on his twelfth incarnation, Anna is on her third, Hope is 349 but looks like a nineteen year old and Danny is thirty six but looks like a six year old. Also, by now Clara is no longer travelling in the TARDIS.
Hope's First Regeneration Part One
The chirping and chattering of the rainforest creatures were joined by an eerie, grating whoosh. Monkeys and birds fled, screaming out alarm calls, as a blue police box faded into existence in a steaming clearing. A man who appeared to be in his late fifties, but was in fact much older, stepped out of the mysterious box. He looked around with a considering air, his sharp eyes peering between the foliage for any sign of danger.
The man was followed out by a blonde woman of around the same age, a younger woman and a little boy, both with curly brown hair, although the boy's was shorter and lighter. "Wow!" exclaimed the boy, Danny, craning his neck to stare up at the thick canopy above them. "It seems safe enough" the Doctor muttered, having thoroughly scanned the surroundings with both his eyes and his sonic screwdriver.
The young woman, his daughter Hope, smirked mischievously. She sneaked behind the TARDIS, and then leapt out roaring. Danny yelped in shock and ran behind his mother's legs; Anna and the Doctor raised their eyebrows at Hope, who had doubled over laughing. "Oh man…hey, champ, you okay?" she asked her little brother. Danny grinned, his fear forgotten. "Yeah, do it again!" he begged.
Hope chased her brother around the clearing. "So, where are we going?" she asked her father. "There's a path of sorts here" said the Doctor, pointing out a rough track flattened in the forest floor. "Why don't we simply follow it?" he suggested. "Alright. Hey Danny, we're going to…Danny?" called Hope, looking around for the boy. "Danny? Oh, no – Danny!" cried Anna, looking around wildly.
Danny wasn't anywhere in sight, or in the TARDIS. "As soon as we find him, that boy is grounded. He knows better than to wander off" the Doctor sighed exasperatedly. "Mum, dad, the track keeps going back here. I think I see footprints too", Hope turned to her parents, "you go that way, and I'll go this way. We can signal one another with our sonic screwdrivers if we find him" she explained.
So the Doctor and Anna followed the track to the east, whilst Hope followed it to the west. "DANNY! DANNY!" Hope hollered, irritated with her little brother for running off. Still, she couldn't really blame him; she'd gone wandering plenty of times at his age. "DANNY!" she shouted, and dimly heard a voice replying. Hope strained her ears, trying to hear over the croaks, chirrups and chatters of the jungle inhabitants.
"Hope?" came a voice in the near distance, somewhere to her left. Away from the track. Seriously, Danny? Hope rolled her eyes and left the beaten path, calling out to Danny. His voice grew louder with every shout, but the echoing acoustics of the forest made it difficult to pinpoint exactly where he was. Hope pushed past a curtain of twisted lianas into a small clearing, finally finding Danny sitting on a half rotten log.
The two siblings hurried towards one another and embraced. "What the heck were you thinking? You know you have to stay with mum or dad at all times" Hope scolded. Danny sniffled. "I'm sorry…it's just, I saw a monkey, and I wanted to see where it went, but then I got lost and" – Hope put a finger on his lips and grinned at him. Danny smiled back. "Hey, it's okay. Let's go back to the TARDIS and meet up with mum and dad" she suggested.
Hope pulled out her sonic and signalled that of her fathers. Moments later the blue light flashed; they'd gotten it. Hope then scanned for the TARDIS, which lay to the northwest. "Right, c'mon Da-ow!" Hope winced, looking down at her ankle. A small teal coloured spider was scurrying up her calf; she brushed it off and examined the bite. It was bright red and stung like mad, but it was very small and didn't seem like much to worry about.
Taking Danny's hand and holding out the sonic, Hope began to find her way back through the jungle. She tried to ignore the stinging spider bite, gritting her teeth and forging on. "Hope, aren't you gonna scan that bite you got?" asked Danny. She brushed some hair from her eyes and shook her head. "Nah, if I do that I'll lose the signal to the TARDIS. The quicker we get back, the quicker I can heal myself in the med bay" explained Hope.
They walked for five more minutes. The sonic continued to beep, high pitched and grating. Her whole lower leg, from her toes to her knee, felt like it was on fire, and her vision kept blurring. Hope focused with difficulty on the hand gripping her sonic, and noticed that it was imperceptibly trembling. "Sis, are you okay? You're shivering" said Danny. How could she be shivering? She was so hot…it was so damn hot in this jungle... Hope stumbled over a rock.
"Ugh…I don't…I don't feel so good" she muttered, groaning. Then she let go of Danny's hand and ordered him to "stay right there", before staggering over to a tree and vomiting behind it. That spider would have to be poisonous….I hate spiders she thought bitterly. Very slowly, Hope slid down the trunk of the tree and sat between two buttress roots. With shaking hands, she changed the setting on her sonic and scanned herself. As she waited for it to show a result, she gave her little brother a weak smile.
According to her sonic screwdriver, the venom from the spider bite was deadly to humans. Her hearts nearly stopped at that information…if she didn't cure herself…she might regenerate. What if she became someone she didn't like? What if she became someone Anthony didn't like? "Dan…help me up. We've gotta get back home fast" she sighed.
They limped through the forest, Danny looking all around for signs of trouble (or rescue) and Hope just trying to stay on her feet. At last they came out onto the dirt track. "TARDIS is…just up…" Hope barely managed to gasp out before her knees buckled and she collapsed. "Hope!" Danny yelled fearfully, heaving his big sister onto her back. Hope's eyes were shut and she looked a rather sickly green colour. "Hope? Hope, wake up! Come on, Hope-huh?" he gasped, looking up.
He could hear a vehicle, barrelling towards them up the track. There was a rise up ahead, and if the vehicle came over it they might not see Hope or Danny until it was too late. Danny ran down the rough path until he could see a prism shaped truck of sorts, with spherical wheels and a blacked out mirror. "Wait!" he called out. "Stop, please!"
The truck continued to trundle towards him, and for a terrifying moment Danny thought it would run him over…but then it slowed down and came to a stop a few feet in front of him. A short, brown haired man dressed in dirty navy overalls got out of the driver's seat. "Hey, kid, what're you doing out here? Who are you?" he asked, his breath smelling of garlic. "I'm Danny, and my sister's really sick, you gotta help her!" exclaimed Danny, grabbing the edge of the man's shirt and pulling him along.
Danny led the man back to Hope, who was still lying unconscious on the path. "What happened? How did you even get out here?" the man asked as he checked Hope's pulse. "In my mum and dad's ship…I went off when I shouldn't have, and Hope came to find me but she got bitten by a spider…is she gonna be okay?" he asked worriedly.
"Depends on what kind of spider it was that bit her. I don't suppose you saw what it looked like?" the man inquired. Danny shook his head helplessly. "Teal…" Hope gasped without opening her eyes. "No markings, just teal blue" she whispered. The man grimaced for a moment before making his face blank, but Danny noticed. "What's wrong? Are teal spiders deadly?" he asked, tears springing to his eyes. This was all his fault; this would never have happened if he'd just stayed put!
The man heaved Hope into his arms. "You two are coming back to the compound with me. There are medics there that might be able to do something for your sister. Oh, and my name's Rich by the way" he explained, carrying Hope to the vehicle. Danny climbed in with her. The inside of the vehicle was Spartan, with two seats facing one way, two seats facing the other and a narrow bunk on the wall opposite the doors. "Oh, a double-engine all terrain transport module. Cool" Danny commented, albeit without his usual enthusiasm.
Rich was surprised the boy knew what he was sitting in, but brushed it off. He set off back to the compound, feeling sorry for the girl and her little brother. I kind of feel bad about giving the kid false hope, but who'd want to hear the truth? His sister…she's doomed.