Hola, readers!
Welcome back for another chapter. Let's dive right in and enjoy the read. :)
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Chapter 11: Unwanted Wanda
Wanda slowly made her way down to Rose, coming up beside the girl to stare out into space as well. They both stood in silence, observing the scene before them. Distant stars twinkled some while the Sun continued to expand and change. Still shining rays of different colors and lights across the solar system. Earth was yet to be harmed by these deadly gases, still in one piece. It sort of created a heavenly glow around the planet. Wanda glanced over to Rose, seeing how she still looked cross though not as angry as before. More or less put down by what had occurred. Wanda looked back to the sight before them, thinking of the right words to say.
"He . . . he doesn't like to talk about his past," she finally spoke up. "It hurts him too much. That's the Doctor . . . he never really talks about himself. Never. Not even to those closest to him." They both stood silent for a moment. Wanda waited patiently for Rose to speak again. Knowing how the girl needed some time to gather her words.
"I just wanted to know who exactly you two are," Rose finally said to her. "I mean, I just jumped on board a ship with two complete strangers. I don't know anything about either of you."
"I know," Wanda said softly. "You have the right to know." Rose turned to Wanda in question.
"Can't you just tell me who you are?" she asked her. Wanda opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it quickly. Thinking carefully upon this. Who was Wanda anymore? She was no longer the plain, ordinary human girl from back home. She was someone new in this universe. But the real question was: who exactly was she now?
"That's the thing . . . I can't really say who or what I am anymore. I mean, I used to be human like you. But then one day, I just sort of . . . changed. One minute human, the next not. Not only that, I'm not even from this universe to begin with," Wanda finally decided to say. Rose gazed at Wanda in wonderment.
"You used to be human?" Rose questioned curiously. Wanda nodded to her, making the girl raise both brows high. "Is that normal?"
Wanda hummed in thought, then shook her head slightly. "No, I don't think so."
"And . . . you say you're from another universe?"
"Yeah. I sort of got transported into this one somehow by mistake. And all of this," Wanda indicated around them, "everything we going through and doing, had been nothing more than a show I used to watch back in my world." Wanda stared back out the window, gazing into the expanding Sun. "The thing is, this is nothing like what I had watched. Everything's . . . different than what I had imagined. Everything's changing. Things are a lot harsher and . . . more frightening than what I had ever dreamed. Most of the time, I can barely stand any of it. I just want to curl up and hide away. I'm so nervous and scared . . . I just don't know what to do with myself." She pinched her thumb hard, tears welling up into her eyes.
Wanda sucked in a small breath, trying to keep herself calm and collected as she continued on speaking. "The worst part is I can never see my mother, father, sister, or even my best friend Shelly ever again. They've would have woken up by now. My mother would have found my bed empty. They'll see that I'm gone, and they'll always wonder what happened to me. They'll always wonder and never know. I'll become one of those missing people who just vanished and are never seen or heard from again. I can never let them know that I'm all right. I can never tell them how much I love them and miss them." Her voice started to waver and break as she cried. "I miss them so much."
Everything hit her right then and there as she began to sob. All this time, she had been numb to the knowledge of never returning home. The knowledge had never really hit her or settled in. It had been so quick and sudden to do so in the first place. But now, watching an alternate version of her home being destroyed, all those feelings simply washed over her as a flood of rapid emotions. Her anger, her pain, her fear, her sorrow, bursting all at once on her. She felt Rose pull her into a gentle hug as she cried. After a few minutes, Wanda quickly pulled back and wiped away her tears.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she said hoarsely. "I shouldn't be the one getting upset. I have no reason to be crying."
"'Course you're upset. You have every reason to be. I'd be upset too if I'd lost my way home," Rose replied gently, softly rubbing Wanda's shoulder in comfort. "Especially, putting up with him all the time." Rose inclined her head to the door.
"Oh, he's not bad at all," Wanda defended, not wanting Rose to think poorly of the Doctor. "He's helped me in many ways. In both this universe and back in my own. I will always be grateful to him. I just wish I wasn't such a burden most of the time." She pinched her thumb slightly while staring at the door.
Rose glanced down to Wanda's hands. "So, I take it you do that when you're nervous or worried, yeah?"
Wanda blinked and glanced down in surprise at her fingers, pulling them away from each other in a nervous chuckle. "Funny, I don't even notice that I'm doing it most of the time."
Rose chuckled as well. "I had this mate, Aleena, back in secondary school. She used to do the same thing, but she would tug on her ear instead." Rose paused for a second, smiling kindly as Wanda. "You're a lot like her actually."
"I hope that's a good thing." Wanda smiled as Rose nodded happily to her. They both stared out the window again, watching the continuation of the expanding Sun. The computer announced overhead the Earth's death would be in twenty minutes. Wanda glanced back to the door. "I'd better go get him. If this relationship is going to work, he needs to learn to get along with you."
Wanda walked away, not even realizing what she had said. Rose sent her a curious gaze as she left the room. Wanda glanced down the hall to see the Doctor had not gone that far. He paced around at the end of the hall, hands clasped behind his back as he paced. She walked cautiously up to him, afraid that she might make him even angrier than he was now. Why was he so angry in the first place? She just could not see it, or begin to understand. At least, not from what she knew from her universe's show. Of course, clearly, things have changed within this universe. Though, she still wondered what exactly, and felt baffled by the whole ordeal.
"Doctor," Wanda called to him. He shot her a quick glance and continued to pace.
"Why did you even want to bring her in the first place?" he asked in a hard tone. "You know I don't want any more companions. Why did you want her?" Wanda had no idea what to say to that. She just watched him pace.
"Because," she finally decided to say. "Rose Tyler is important." He stopped pacing to face her.
"Yeah, you said that already," he gritted out. "But why? Why is she so important?"
Wanda stared at him for a moment, thinking of how to explain something like that. In the end, she decided upon a simply answer. "Spoilers."
He groaned and shook his head. "I hate that word."
They stood in silence for a few seconds before Wanda spoke again. "I think we should get back to Rose. You two need to make up." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder.
He frowned at her, crossing his arms angrily. "Yeah? Why should I?"
"Because if you don't you'll regret it." She turned and walked back down the hall towards the room.
The Doctor watched her walk away for a second before sighing heavily and following behind. They arrived back into the room to see Rose still standing in the same spot and staring out the window. The Doctor and Wanda walked down to the girl, coming up beside her. None said a word. Wanda glanced nervously between the two of them, fearing they would never talk again and their relationship be ruined. But luckily Rose was the one to finally break the ice.
"All right. As my mate Shareen says, 'Don't argue with the designated driver,'" she said lightly, trying to ease the tension. The Doctor just hummed, not paying her much attention. Rose pulled out her mobile to fiddle with it. "Can't exactly call for a taxi. There's no signal. We're out of range. Just a bit." The Doctor shook his head and sighed.
"Wanda, fix up her mobile for her," he waved at Wanda. Wanda stiffened, wondering why exactly he was telling her to do that. He was the one good with technology, not her.
"Um, I don't really know how to do that," she told him. The Doctor looked at her, his brows raised in disbelief.
"What do you mean?" he asked, sounding either annoyed by this or let down greatly in some way. Wanda pinched her thumb lightly.
"I only know how to unlock things and put wires together," she told him bashfully. He frowned at her before reaching over and grabbing Rose's mobile. He fiddled around with it until he got it to work. He handed it back to Rose and watched the girl as she called her mother. Both of them listened as Rose talked with her mother, having a heartfelt conversation. After she hung up, she turned to them both with a smile.
"Thank you," she told them gratefully. She paused in thought while looking out the window. "That was five billion years ago. So . . . she's dead now. Five billion years later, my mum's dead."
"Bundle of laughs, you are," grumbled the Doctor. At that moment, Platform One shook rocking them on their feet slightly. "That's not supposed to happen." He glanced over to see Wanda pinching her thumb harder and twisting it; the same anxious expression from earlier appearing on her face once again. He sent her a stern frown, turning around to walk back out of the room. Both Rose and Wanda followed closely behind.
They arrived back into the main lobby, everyone around seeming relaxed and casually talking. The Steward announcing overhead of the shaking to be simple gravity pockets. Completely normal and nothing to worry about. But, of course, none of the guests had been worried or anxious in the first place. The Doctor gazed around the room with a thoughtful frown.
"That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets, and they don't feel like that," the Doctor told them, going to a nearby panel on the wall to fiddle with the readings. He glanced over to Wanda. "What do you think, Wanda? Listen to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty hertz. Is that dodgy, or what?"
Wanda blinked rapidly at him, not understanding what he wanted her to say or do. She did hear the change in the engines, but what that meant she had no idea. All she did know was that Cassandra's robotic spiders that she had snuck on board were sabotaging Platform One's functions.
"Um . . . I don't know," she finally told him, her voice coming out nervous and shy. She saw a brief flash of anger in the Doctor's eyes before he turned to Jabe who had just now walked up beside the trio, asking her where the engine room was located. She did not know, but she offered to take him to the maintenance duct behind her suite. Rose decided on staying behind to talk with Cassandra while the Doctor and Jabe walked out of the room with arms linked. Wanda followed quickly behind, wanting to stay close to the Doctor in case he needed her help.
They found the maintenance area in no time with he Doctor managing to get the door open easily. As they walked in, for a brief second Wanda saw one of the robotic spiders scurrying around a corner. She pinched her thumb and started to wonder if maybe she should tell the Doctor what exactly was going on with Platform One. By doing so, she might be able to save of all those who were going to die. She could stop their deaths. While pondering this, Wanda suddenly felt dizzy as flashes of different images ran through her mind. Too fast for her to firmly grasp onto what she was seeing. The images were gone in an instant, leaving Wanda confused as to what she had just seen. Shaking her head, she decided to let things pass as they would. It was not as if she could change time anyway. Only the Doctor could do something like that. Not her. Besides, did the Doctor not always warn not to change time about certain things? Could this event be one of those times?
The Doctor and Jabe discussed the ownship and control of Platform One as they all walked down the small hall. Jabe indicating that if anything were to go wrong with the ship, then everyone on board would be left helpless. The Doctor just stated 'fantastic', leaving Jabe confused while Wanda just shook her head. They finally stumbled upon a large screen down the way. The Doctor pulled out his sonic, fiddling around with it while Jabe and Wanda watched him work. He scanned the screen for a while, pulling the sonic back every few moments to check the readings then going back to work.
So, any ideas as to what's going on?
Wanda jumped as the Doctor's voice rang in her mind. She glanced around, wondering if she had imagined it or if she was going mad. She looked back to the Doctor to see him watching her closely, studying her reaction with a hard gaze.
Well? he pressed for answers.
"Um, I don't . . . how are you doing that?" she asked him, greatly confused by what was happening. Of all other times she had run into the Doctor, never once had he spoke to her in her mind. She had heard in the show Time Lords could speak telepathic to one another, but had never seen it occur. None of the other Doctors had even mentioned they both could do such a thing. Why would Nine suddenly be doing so now? He turned away from the panel to glare at her.
You're telling me you don't even know how to talk with me this way? You don't know how to wire a mobile. You don't know the difference in engine failure. Do you even know how to read this? He thrust his sonic into her hand, showing her the different readings he had picked up from scanning the panel.
She glanced down at it in alarm, frightened by his words and anger. She fumbled with the sonic, trying to get a good a good look at the readings. But she was too jittery and anxious, her dyslexia kicking in worse as it usually did when she got this way. The numbers and letters looking like nothing but a jumbled, tangled mess to her.
"I-I'm sorry. I can't read it," she stuttered nervously. He yanked it back out of her hand, glaring in rage at her.
"You can't even read a simple sonic?!" he shouted. "You can't do anything right! The only sign on intelligence I've seen so far is with the psychic paper, but now I'm really starting to question even that! All I've seen you do is be a jittery mess constantly pinching your damn thumb. You can't even speak with me properly. Even a child could do that! What sort of a Time Lord are you?!"
She backed away from him, clutching her hands to her chest. "I-I-I—."
"I'm really starting to question if you're even a Time Lord at all. I'm starting to question if you're even Wanda. My Wanda would at least know how to read and work a sonic! My Wanda knows how to wire a mobile, knows the differences in engines, and she certainly knows how to communicate with me!"
Jabe looked at them both confused and worried as to what was happening between the two of them.
"I can say otherwise," she said to them. "I scanned you both earlier. Both of you are certainly the same species." She paused for a second to stare sadly at them. "It's remarkable either one of you even exists." The Doctor turned to the humanoid tree sharply.
"I exist," he said firmly. "She's nothing more than a fraud. A cheap knockoff." He jabbed his thumb at Wanda. She winced as he pointed to her. "She's not a Time Lord and she is most certainly not Wanda!" He turned and stormed down the way. Wanda stayed rooted to the spot, staring at the Doctor's back trying to blink away her tears. Jabe glanced to Wanda before going after the Doctor.
"Sneak Peek: it's the 'the last human,'" Wanda called out in a thick voice. The Doctor turned sharply to her, continuing to glare at her.
"As if that helps any," he said harshly before turning back around to march on. Wanda turned quickly and swiftly walked back out of the maintenance area, going down the halls of Platform One.
The entire time she kept telling herself not to cry, but had to constantly brush away the tears that manage to fall. In the end, Nine was right. She really was a fraud, a cheap knockoff of a Time Lord. Everything brilliant, wonderful, and unique about the Time Lords she did not possess. As he had said, even a Time Lord child could communicate telepathically. She could not. Something as basic as that and she could barely even hear him in her mind.
She stumbled as she came across the staff all surrounding a smoking room. They all squeaked in terror as the hall filled with the smoke and the smell of burning flesh. Wanda choked as she covered her mouth and nose from the smell.
"All of you get back, it's dangerous," she urged to the staff. They all scattered back away from the door. She quickly went up to the panel on the side of the door, using her sonic to try to lift the sunfilter from inside the room. Trying to at least manage to do something right during this adventure. She could not believe she had forgotten all about the poor Steward being murdered by Cassandra's robotic spiders. She gasped when she realized that was not the only thing she had forgotten. "Rose!"
She took off running down the hall. Not even noticing that she had indeed raised the sunfilter of the Stewards office. She ran as fast as she could, hearing Rose's cries coming down the hall.
"Let me out! Let me out!" Rose shouted through the door. The computer announced the sunfilter being lowered. Wanda rushed up to the door.
"Rose! Rose, get down to the floor, as low as you can!" she shouted at the door.
"Wanda! Wanda, please, let me out," Rose cried to her. Wanda rushed over to the door's panel, trying to get the sunfilter back up. Her sonic buzzed loudly as she worked with the panel; she glared at it in frustration.
"I am not going to lose Rose. Do you hear me," she growled at the panel. Suddenly, the panel made a noise as the computer announced the sunfilter rising up. Wanda sighed in relief but this was short lived as the panel pinged and the computer announced the sunfilter lowering once again. She rushed back down the hall, knowing she needed the Doctor to get the computer working. She found him down by the Steward's office.
"Doctor! Help! It's Rose! She's trapped in the room, and the sunfilter is going down," she shouted to him. He rolled his eyes at her.
"Oh, well, it would be her," he said, clearly annoyed, but rushed down the hall with Wanda all the same. He ran up to the panel, pulling apart a section of the wall to get into the wiring. He worked quickly to get the filter back into place. Finally, the computer announced the sunfilter rising once more. Wanda let out a sigh of relief. The Doctor walked over to the door, trying to get them open. "The whole thing's jammed. I can't open the doors. Stay there! Don't move!"
"Where am I gonna go, Ipswich?" Rose shouted in annoyance through the door. The Doctor ran back down the hall. Wanda followed closely behind. He shot her a quick glare.
"You know, none of this would be happening right now if someone had told me about this in advance," he growled at Wanda.
"I'm sorry. I'd forgotten about Rose being trapped in that room," Wanda apologized to him, feeling terrible that she had placed Rose in danger.
"It's not just Rose. The rest of this would not be happening," he barked at her. "The ship would not be sabotaged. The Steward wouldn't have died. And then, the rest of the guests would all be safe, including that Rose of yours." He glared ahead, looking angry. "If my Wanda were here, she wouldn't have let any of this happen. She wouldn't have let anyone die. But apparently to you, knowing that people are going to die is just perfectly fine."
Wanda stared dejectedly down to the floor. Opting not to talk. They made it back into the lobby, finding Jabe explaining to all of the other guests on what was occurring on the Platform.
"The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One," she explained to them.
"How's that possible?" Cassandra cried out in fake dismay. "Our private rooms are protected by a code wall." The Doctor walked up and took the robotic spider out of Jabe's hand.
"Summon the Steward," one of the guests suggested.
"I'm afraid the Steward is dead," Jabe informed them gravely. All the guests gasped in shock, frightened by the news.
"Who killed him?" asked the same guest.
"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe," accused Cassandra. "He invited us. Talk to the Face, Talk to the Face."
"You leave him out of this, Cassandra," Wanda said sternly to her. But at Cassandra's glare, Wanda quickly looked down to the ground and pinched her thumb. Noticing what she was doing, she quickly let go of her thumb. Not wishing to look any weaker in front of Cassandra or the Doctor.
"Easy way of finding out," the Doctor spoke up. He held up the spider for those to see. "Someone brought their little pet on board. Let's send him back to Master." The Doctor sent the spider down, shooing it away. The spider at first went up to Cassandra, but with some eye movements from her the spider then went to the Repeated Meme aliens.
"The adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse," Cassandra said in triumph.
"That's all very well, and, really, kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it . . .," the Doctor said to her. He walked up to the Repeated Meme. One of them tried to attack him, but he just ripped its arm off to reveal it being nothing more than a robot itself. ". . . a Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea." He ripped a certain piece out of the arm, making all the Meme robots collapse to the ground in a heap.
"Remote-control droids," he explained to the room. "Nice little cover for the real troublemaker." He walked up and shooed the spider with his foot. "Go on, jimbo. Go home." The spider walked back over to Cassandra.
"I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed," Cassandra spat at him, glaring that she had been found out. She called out to her caretakers and they pointed her moisturizing equipment at the Doctor.
"What are you gonna do, moisturize me?" the Doctor asked in sarcastic fright.
"With acid." Cassandra grinned wickedly at him. "Oh, you're too late anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax-free. Past every code wall." She chuckled darkly at the guest's stunned faces. "I'm not just a pretty face."
The Doctor glared at her. "Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it, how's stupid's that?"
"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation, with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous."
The Doctor started to grumbled darkly. "Five billion years, and it still comes down to money."
Cassandra gloated to the Doctor for a few more moments before she activated the spiders self-destruct, sending Platform One into chaos. With the safe systems down, the ship was no longer safe from the Sun's heat. Being this close to the expanding Sun, the ship would burn up at the same time as the Earth. Cassandra and her caretakers then teleported away with a laugh.
"There must be a system-restore switch," the Doctor called out to them. "Jabe, come on. You lot, just chill." He ran out the doors along with Jabe. Wanda quickly followed in suit. The Doctor glanced over his shoulder when he heard an extra of footsteps. "Oh, not you!"
"I can help," Wanda said quickly to him.
"Fat lot of help you've been so far," he barked at her. She kept her head down as they continued to run. They eventually went back through the maintenance area and found the main system room. Giant fan's propelled through the area, stopping any from walking across the walkway to the controls the Doctor needed.
"Oh. And guess where the switch is," the Doctor said sarcastically when he saw where he needed to go. The computer announced the heat levels rising within the ship, it becoming extremely overheated within the ship. Wanda glanced over to Jabe, seeing her panting from the heat. Wanda knew what was going to happen to Jabe, but she would not let Jabe die if she had anything to say about it. The Doctor was right. She should not just sit idly back and watch those around her die. She simply must do something. She had to at least try.
The Doctor threw down the switch to slow down the fans, but when he let go and started forward the fans just continued their fast movement once again. The switch had to be held down. Jabe walked over and was about to hold down the switch when Wanda went over and did it for her. All she needed to do was take Jabe's place at the switch, then Jabe should survive today.
"Don't worry, Jabe. I got this," Wanda assured her. She smiled kindly at Jabe. "You need to get yourself out of here and quick."
"She's right, the heat's gonna vent through this place," the Doctor said to her. "You're made of wood, you'll just burn up." Jabe looked back and forth between them.
"Are you sure?" she asked them.
"We're fine, just get out of here," said Wanda.
"And quick, because the heat is going to travel through maintenance if you're not fast enough," the Doctor ordered. Jabe nodded to them, taking off back the other way.
Wanda held onto the switch as the Doctor made his way as quickly as he could across the walkway, going towards the controls he needed. He could not move as fast as he needed with the still turning fans causing him to pause at each step. Eventually, he finally made it to the controls. Throwing the switch to raise the shields once again. It happened just in time as the Earth outside blew apart into dust. The ship shook slightly from the explosion, but stayed firmly intact.
Wanda sighed in relief for what felt like the hundredth time that day. She smiled when she saw the Doctor walking back over. He did not even glance at her. He just continued to march along back down through maintenance. She winced, feeling, once again, dejected by his demeanour around her. Letting go of the switch, she went after him. Halfway down maintenance, she came to a halt when she saw the Doctor just standing there. He stood there stiffly, staring down at the floor. She followed his gaze to see a pile of smoking ash. Wanda gasped in horror upon realizing it was Jabe. She had not made it out in time. She had still burned. She had still died.
"Oh, no. Jabe," Wanda whispered brokenly. The Doctor marched on, not evening bothering to look at Jabe's ashes again. Wanda kneeled down, gently placing a hand over the ashes. "I'm so sorry. Rest now. Be at peace." She stood back up, jogging to catch up with the Doctor.
They arrived back into the main lobby. Many guests had died from the overheat exposure. Their smoking ash and cindered bodies lied around the room. It made Wanda sickened by the sight. She felt a wave of guilt wash over her, knowing she had let this happen. Wanda glanced over to see Rose made it in there. The girl stared around the room in dazed horror. Wanda walked over to her while the Doctor went over to Jabe's escorts to tell them the terrible news. Both were devastated and began to sob upon hearing what had happened to their companion. The Doctor turned back around, marching across the room.
"You all right?" Rose called out to him as he marched past them.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered harshly. "I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one: teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two: this feed must be hidden nearby." He marched over to the ostrich egg Cassandra had brought as a gift. He smashed it open to reveal a small device inside. "Idea number three: if you're as clever as me," he walked back over to them, "then a teleportation feed can be reversed." He activated the device to have Cassandra teleport back into the room, right in front of them.
"Oh!" she gave a startled cry.
"The last human," the Doctor growled at her. Cassandra started to laugh nervously.
"So, you passed my little test. Bravo," she said anxiously to him. "This makes you eligible to join the . . . the Human club."
The Doctor glared darkly at her. "People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them."
Cassandra sneered at him. "It depends on your definition of 'people,' and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, then, Doctor. And watch me smile and cry and flutter."
Wanda looked away as she heard the creaking begin, not wishing to see what was about to occur.
"And creak?" The Doctor grinned hatefully at Cassandra as the creaking grew louder.
"Rose, look away," Wanda whispered into Rose's ear. Rose sent her a puzzled look, continuing to stare towards Cassandra.
"And what?" Cassandra asked, confused by the Doctor's words.
"Creak. You're creaking," the Doctor said almost cheerfully to her.
"What?" Cassandra breathed in disbelief. Her eyes shifted around to see her skin cracking up, she herself stretching in smaller from the strain of being within the metal frame. "Ah. I-I'm drying out. Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me. It's too hot."
The Doctor's eyes flashed with a deep and dark gaze. "You raised the temperature."
Cassandra began to cry out in pain. "Have pity. Moisturize me. Oh, oh, Doctor."
Rose walked up to the Doctor, staring at the scene with clear alarm and dismay to what was happening right before them.
"Help her," she pleaded to him.
"Everything has its time, and everything dies," said the Doctor coldly. Cassandra cried out as she was ripped apart. Pieces of her flying everywhere across the room. Rose stared on in horror. Wanda winced as she heard the pieces flying. The Doctor stared indifferently at where Cassandra used to be. He turned and started to walk out, but stopped short and turned sharply around.
"I'll tell you what, though. It wasn't Cassandra who murdered those people today," he said loudly, harshly. Wanda and Rose looked to him in confusion. He stormed up to Wanda, pointing his finger roughly at her. "It was you. You knew this was going to happen. I know you did. And yet, you did nothing. You could have told me. You could have stopped this."
Wanda stared wide eyed at him, frightened by his words. She thought back to the moment she had wanted to tell him in the maintenance hall. Where she should have told him. Her head hurt suddenly and everything spun as the images from before flashed through her mind. This time she could see them much more clearly. She saw herself telling the Doctor of what was to happen. He would have then rushed off to confront Cassandra immediately. This would have led him not being able to save Rose in time. Rose would have then died, leading a domino effect in her wake. If Rose died, then there would be no more Bad Wolf. If there was no Bad Wolf, then the Daleks would have succeeded on Satellite Five. If they succeeded, then Jack Harkness would have died leaving no Face of Boe to help the universe. If Jack died, then the Doctor would have as well, leaving the universe defenseless. And with no Bad Wolf, then that would leave Gallifrey . . .
Wanda gasped as she pulled herself out of these images. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind from what she had seen, and push through her sharp and stabbing headache. What exactly was all that?
"What, upset knowing you're a killer?" the Doctor growled, ignoring Wanda's shaking frame. He got closer to her to jab his finger into her. "I'll tell you one thing right now. You may have the genetic makeup of a Time Lord, but you certainly aren't one. And you are not Wanderer. She is something so much more that you will never be." He turned back around and stormed out in rage.
Wanda stood there, watching the Doctor leave. Her whole body shook, feeling nothing but anguish. Rose slowly came up beside her, patting her gently on the shoulder.
"Come on. We better go before he leaves us behind," she said softly. Wanda nodded and walked down the hall with her. Feeling a wave of numbness overtake her.
They made it back to the TARDIS, the door lying open for them to walk through. As soon as the door closed behind them, the Doctor sent the TARDIS straight into empty space for drifting. He then promptly marched down the corridors and out of sight. Rose and Wanda stood there, staring down the way. Wanda helped Rose find herself a room in the TARDIS before telling the girl goodnight, going down the corridor herself. She shuffled her feet down the metal floors, not paying much attention to where she was going.
Her eyes fell on a very familiar wooden door. She pushed it open to see her room still there. But . . . it was emptier now. Much more bare and cold. No music sheets here and there. No books all lined up on the bookshelf. No random assortments of the Doctor's material items lying around. Even the bed seemed hardly slept in. She walked in some, letting the door shut behind her. She turned off the light, staring at the ceiling. It remained blank and lifeless of stars. All she wanted right now was to look at those stars, but even that was lost to her. Tears pricked in her eyes as she moved to the bed. She started to sob the moment she landed on it. Curling up into a ball, wanting nothing more than to be back home and away from the Doctor.
The images of Bad Wolf and Gallifrey continued to run through her mind painfully.
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I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everyone enjoyed the read. :) I really hope everyone is liking the story so far. If anyone has a thought, or a question, or an idea, or even simply wants to say 'hi,' leave a review and tell me what what's on the mind. :D
Reviewers:
Lorelei Tatsuye Marivaine: Oh, I wish First Wanda would say that. But she's just too shy and timid to ever say something like that to someone. I know, I've been trying to get her to. *sigh* But I'm sure later Wanda's would most definitely give that as a sassy remark. ;)
E-man-dy-S: I'm glad you're loving it! :D And thanks for the cookies. ;) Oh, and to Wanda's 'blindness', well . . . let's just say Wanda has had a very, very, very sheltered life. She has a very innocent and child-like outlook on her surroundings when it comes to certain aspects of life. Don't worry, you'll get a better picture of why and how in the future. You just have to remind yourself that even though it's obvious to us, does not mean it is to her. She is very naive. Oh, and on the village, I'm so glad you've caught on. :) I'm going to leave hints throughout the story to see if anyone can guess what Wanda's 'village' really is. Also, if you're wondering why Wanda does not see it for herself, well if you lived in an certain environment all your life, you tend not to question or think of anything as there being wrong to it.
ElysiumPhoenix: Yay! I'm glad you like it! :D I hope you continue to enjoy the story in the future.
So, another chapter ends for the day. I would like to note here that I am going to slow down in my updates. I plan on updating on Tuesdays and Thursdays for now on. And I might not be able to update in the mornings in the future. Sorry about that. I hope everyone will continue to love the story and enjoy the read. :)
Have a lovely day, everyone! :D
~Tinker~
