A/N: Hello Again everyone! I'm back! My gosh I can't believe I've been gone for this long! I am so incredibly sorry. I don't know how I could ever make it up to you, my faithful readers. That is if you're still out there patiently waiting for my return. What can I say? My life has been consumed by work. I got a promotion and it all went topsy turvy with training and starting a new role. well, it's finally slowed down some and I can focus on the story one more! so here's the latest chapter. I apologize in advanced if it's a little BLEGH in the beginning. I was a bit rusty in writing. It gets better I promise you. And this, THIS is the beginning to the BIGGEST change in the story. I hope you're ready for it. As you know Doctor Who belongs to Steven Moffat and the BBC (Who else cannot WAIT for series 7 i'm counting down the days!)
"Doctor, it's good to see you. It's been too long."
The Doctor didn't know what to do, none of us did. This was not a person I expected to meet so soon on my adventures with the Doctor. I was incredibly excited at this moment. The stranger held out a hand to Amy and introduced himself to her.
"The name's Jack, Captain Jack Harkness. How do you do?" Amy took his hand and shook it and visibly blushed as red as her hair, all the way to the roots. Jack Harkness had the ability to do that to anyone.
"Amy…Pond. Uh pleasure to meet you. How do you know the Doctor?" That was Amy, quick to jump straight into business and ask the important questions.
"We go way back, the Doctor and me." Jack replied with a smile before moving on to me.
I felt my inner fan girl squeal with excitement. I always said if I could not have the Doctor then I would take Captain Jack Harkness in a heartbeat, immortality and all. He took my hand in his but did not shake it. Instead he brought it to his lips and placed a kiss against my knuckles. I blushed, just as Amy did. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Doctor shoot Jack the most murderous of looks. What could he possibly be doing? There was no way he was JEALOUS of Jack Harkness, was there?
"And who might you be beautiful companion to the Doctor?" Oh ho ho, he was smooth; Jack Harkness knew how to turn on the charm didn't he?
"She's spoken for." The Doctor piped in, lips pressed together in a thin line, jaw set rigid. He was even shooting Jack that murderous glance again.
Spoken for, what the bloody hell did he mean SPOKEN FOR?! After that conversation that we just had and the fat heaping rejection the Doctor handed over to me on a shining silver platter oh no that Time Lord had another thing coming.
"I'm Adriana Smith. It's so very exciting to meet you, Captain Jack Harkness. I know all about you. Long story. I'm from a parallel world, and I am NOT," here I shot a look at the Doctor and he blushed as Amy laughed, "spoken for. How do you do?"
Jack laughed in a good-hearted fashion and looked back and forth between the Doctor and I. He knew there was something going on between the two of us, but for now he just kept his lips sealed about it. Jack Harkness knew better than to upset the Doctor, and he seemed to know that that was one subject neither the Doctor, nor I was willing to speak about right now. Instead we took a look around us and studied out new surroundings. It looked like we were on earth. The air was breathable and all. There was sand everywhere, like a desert, but we were in a town. The buildings were old, and made out of wood and brick. So we had to be somewhere in the past I deduced. A literal tumbleweed blew past us and only then did I realize just how eerily creepy and empty this place seemed to be.
"So Jack, where are we and what brings you here?" I ask him and the four of us make our way further into the little town and into what looks to be an old style saloon.
"Welcome to Earth, 1886. This is an old mining town. You know Wild West style and all. I don't exactly know how I ended up here. One minute I was at my desk in Torchwood talking to Ianto and the next I'm here. I barely managed to begin exploring before the Tardis crash-landed."
The Doctor instantly whipped out the sonic screwdriver and began to scan the surroundings. Amy went over to him to help while I stayed behind with Jack. I was still a little peeved at the Doctor who implying that we were a couple even though we weren't. Putting our little tiff aside, something just didn't feel right about this place. I was beginning to get that feeling of impending danger and foreboding. You know, that feeling you always get when the Doctor arrives in a new place and you have no clue what's going to happen. I began to feel like there was a trap lying in wait for us.
"Something doesn't feel right about this place." I mentioned to Jack as the Doctor and Amy rejoined us.
"I agree. I sensed it too when I arrived," Jack began, "there's not a single human being in this place. Isn't that right Doctor?"
The Doctor nodded and looked at us all with the most serious face. "Jack's right. There's not a living soul here. It's just the four of us."
"I don't like it," Amy chimed in and wrapped her arms around herself, "something just seems so off about this place."
We all nodded in agreement and sat around the old saloon planning on what our next move should be. The Doctor tried the Tardis again, but she still would not dematerialize. It was like there was something holding her in place, not allowing her to leave. We were stuck, stranded in 1886, in a mining town with no miners. If that does not scream out trap to you then I don't know what would. We decided then to split up and investigate. Jack offered to go with me and Amy with the Doctor but the Doctor shot that idea down.
"What is your problem Doctor? There is NOTHING wrong with Jack going with me."
"Think about it Smith, what if you go into another one of your Gallifreyan memory episodes, Jack can't help you like I can."
"Then I'll wait for it to pass and Jack will be there to make sure no coyotes eat me!" I rolled my eyes and noticed how both Amy and Jack tried to suppress smiles and fail. I know, I know I sound childish about this whole thing, but so does the Doctor. I mean he flat out tells me he can't feel anything towards me 'cos it'll put me in danger and then he goes off and plays the part of a jealous lover. He is just so….so…..Time Lord, high and mighty and thinks he's in charge of everyone. I cannot stand when he's on that pedestal of his.
"I'll go with Adriana instead." Amy says and comes over and links arms with me. "Doctor, you and Jack go exploring together. The two of you probably have year's worth of catching up to do, yeh?"
The Doctor opens his mouth to argue but Amy and I shoot him a glance to shut him up. He's not going to win no matter what he does. Jack shakes his head and chuckles before saying something about the Doctor knowing how to pick the feistiest of companions. He reaches in to his trademark military style trench coat and pulls out two wrist communicators. He hands one to Amy and the other one to me.
"The Doctor and I will be wearing these too. They're wrist communicators specially equipped with GPS and state of the art technology. No matter where you two go we will be able to stay in contact. Nothing can disrupt the signal so don't worry about wondering off too far. There's also a red switch on the side here," he holds out his wrist and points the button out to us, "if you are in any form of danger just press it and the Doctor and I will get your exact location and can be with you in two minutes tops, got it?"
Both Amy and I nod and we all go off on our separate ways. Amy and I head west out of the town and into the surrounding areas. It's so eerie and quiet that it's a bit frightening. There is not a life form in sight, not even a bird. There's a slight breeze every now and then, and a tumble weed would blow past us. It was very unnerving. It got to the point where Amy and I began to talk about any little subject just to keep from going crazy with the silence.
"So, you and the Doctor: trouble in paradise?" Amy asked as we climbed up a little sand dune. I just had to laugh.
"Whatever are you talking about Pond? There is nothing going on between the Doctor and me for there to be trouble. There isn't any paradise that you speak of either."
Amy shook her head and gave me a knowing look. "You're in love with him, I can tell. And I can also tell that he's in love with you too. Oh don't give me that look Smith. I can see it in the way he looks at you. It's like you're the only thing that truly matters to him."
"Too bad he's such a stubborn Time Lord and won't give in and give anything a chance. He's too worried about us getting hurt."
"Typical man, afraid of showing emotion and letting people in. Stubborn doesn't begin to describe him. But you know he only has your best interest at heart. I mean after losing his entire race I kind of get where he's coming from." Amy stated as she helped me up the sand dune. I just had to agree with her there.
It felt good to talk to Amy about stuff like this. I felt like I would be going crazy without another person to talk to. There was a bond between Amelia Pond and I. We were both in the Doctor's crazy chaotic world now and we needed to stick together and look out for each other. We finally reached the top of the sand dune and stopped to take a little break. We could see the entire area from our perch. The town was in the distance and if it was possible it looked even more eerie than when we arrived. It's like there was a dark ominous aura hanging over the town. Maybe the people all fled; maybe there was a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why the town was empty. Oh who was I kidding? Nothing was ever that simple where the Doctor was involved.
"It is just so weird that there is no one here." Amy spoke and shivered despite the heat. "Do you think maybe they ran off because of lack of gold or something?"
I shook my head, "I don't think so Amy. Something brought us here for a reason, us and Jack. Stuff like this does not happen on accident when the Doctor is involved. Everything has a reason and I think we're about to find out soon why we were brought here."
At that exact moment, the ground began to shake. What the hell was going on? Was there an earthquake? Out of nowhere a hole in the earth appeared and both Amy and I lost our footing and fell. We screamed not knowing what was happening. It felt like centuries that we were falling until we landed in a heap of tangled limbs on a cold floor. We were both dazed and a little disoriented so we couldn't move. I heard in the distance the sound of machinery, and the floor was cold and metal. Lights came on out of nowhere, blinding Amy and I. Once our eyes became adjusted to the light did we move and survey our surroundings. It seemed like we were on a space ship of something. It most certainly reminded me of both Starship UK and the Carteret Space Station that we visited on the mood. I got that feeling again, the feeling of impending doom. I knew Amy felt it too because she gave me a look before calling Jack on her wrist communicator. I took that time to call the Doctor.
"Doctor are you there? Can, can you hear me?"
A few seconds of silence followed by his answer, "I'm here Smith. What's going on, are you and Amy okay?"
"I'm sending you our coordinates Doctor", here I pressed the red switch on my communicator as Amy described to Jack where we were, "get here soon Doctor. You won't believe what we have stumbled upon this time."
"Hold on Smith, Jack and I are on our way."
The communicators gave way to silence and Amy and I were left on our own. We quickly surveyed our new surroundings and noticed that we were in the middle of a long corridor. There were doors on either side of us, and we could faintly hear voices coming from our left. We were not alone. Someone, or something was in here and I could bet he or it or even she was not going to be happy to see us. I began to pace around as Amy kept an eye on where we fell from waiting to see the Doctor and Jack. We did not have to wait long, in a matter of minutes a rope fell from above and both Jack and the Doctor descended down to us.
"Hello ladies," Jack began with his trademark grin on his face, "I see you two wasted no time getting yourselves into trouble."
"Oh well you know us," I said nonchalantly, "trouble is our middle name. Never a dull day when you travel with the Doctor, right Jack?"
Jack chuckled at that, "The Doctor told me all about you impossible Adriana Smith, girl from a parallel universe. I must say I quite like you."
Jack Harkness never wasted an opportunity to flirt it seems. Even in the middle of what could be a dangerous alien infested trap he wasted no time jumping in and being charming. The Doctor had pulled out the sonic screwdriver and was taking readings of our surroundings. The look on his face when he was finished was not a pleasant one. One thing he looked very angry, and next looking from Amy to I, very, very worried.
"We seem to be in a bit of a pickle gang," The Doctor began while fiddling with the sonic screwdriver, "I can tell you that we are most definitely inside an alien space craft. I can also tell you that it is a very familiar space craft to me and I don't like coincidences or anything that gives me a feeling of déjà vu. Be extremely careful, and do not for any reason let your guard down."
"Doctor, do you hear that?" Jack asked and pointed towards the door to our left where Amy and I heard the voices.
"There are voices coming from that room Doctor," Amy began, "Adriana and I heard them before too. What do we do?"
The Doctor gave us his trademark 11th Doctor smile, "We go investigate and poke it with a stick, see if we get a response."
With that we made our way down the corridor and towards the room as stealthily as we could. Every now and then one of us would glance back to make sure no bad guy was right behind us waiting to catch us and yell "boo". When we arrived at the door the Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the control panel to open it, but Jack stopped him. He put a finger to his lips and motioned for silence; afraid the sonic would make too much noise and give us away. Instead he plugged his wrist communicator into the panel and began to punch away on some buttons. A few seconds passed before Jack had the door open as noiselessly as the wind. What we saw on the other side of that door made my blood run cold.
"THE PLAN IS WORKING. THIS PLANET WILL SOON BE OURS! OUR RACE WILL BE WHOLE ONCE MORE!"
That voice, anyone in their right mind, Whovian or not knows that voice. I saw Jack and the Doctor stiffen and Amy looked at the three of us in confusion. I knew who these creatures were from watch Doctor Who at home so many times."
"Doctor," Amy whispered getting his attention, "Who or what ARE they?"
"My most hated enemy." The Doctor replied in a whisper, his voice as emotionless as a stone and as cold as death himself. Amy was still confused so she turned to me for answers.
"The Daleks." I replied in a voice as low as I could. "The Doctor's most feared and hated enemy. Do you remember on Starship UK when the Doctor told you about the loss of his people? About the war where they all perished and it's just him now?" Amy nodded that she did remember. "The Daleks were the cause of that war. The Doctor had to sacrifice his own people to stop the Daleks from taking over the universe."
I felt the Doctor's emotions swirl around me as I explained this to Amy. I felt it all, the immense sadness, the incomprehensible hatred, and the pain of all he had lost. At that moment I forgot why I was mad at the Doctor and our petty little arguments over Jack. I took his hand in mine and he squeezed it as hard as he could. He was shaking as well; the rage was going through him. I knew he was thinking about all of the times he had come face to face with the Daleks and was never able to destroy them. He was hoping now he would get the chance. He made a move to leap out at the Daleks but he hadn't moved a foot before they all stopped and swung their eyestalks towards us. There was about twenty of them here. We had been caught.
"THE DOCTOR ARRIVES! HE HAS COME LIKE WE THOUGHT!"
"Well of course I've arrived," the Doctor began speaking and making his way into the center of the Daleks, "You are having a party and I wasn't invited. I'm terribly hurt so I've decided to crash it."
"WE KNEW THE DOCTOR WOULD COME. WE LED THE DOCTOR HERE!"
Jack, Amy, and I spun around and looked at the Dalek that has just appeared out of nowhere behind us. It swung its gun towards us and we three backed up as it moved forward, joining the Doctor in the center of the Dalek ring. This was bad; this was very, very bad. Nothing good ever comes from the Doctor and the Daleks meeting. I shot worried glance at the Doctor and saw that he was seething with rage. The Daleks laid a trap for him and he walked right smack into it.
"What do you mean you led the Doctor here?" Jack asked as he pulled out his sonic gun from its holster and ushered Amy and I behind him so he could protect us.
"THE DALEKS LED THE DOCTOR'S TARDIS HERE." One Dalek began speaking.
"WE KNEW THE DOCTOR'S TARDIS WOULD BE DRAWN TO THE TIME ENERGY WE PLANTED."
A third Dalek finished up their tale and Amy and I shivered, "THE DALEKS LURED THE DOCTOR AND HIS COMPANIONS TO THEIR DEATHS. WE KNEW THE DOCTOR COULD NOT REFUSE TO INVESTIGATE."
"And what about Jack, huh?" I shouted out feeling a little brave and very annoyed, "How did you get him all the way here from Torchwood?"
"WE USED THE DOCTOR'S COMPANION'S VORTEX MANIPULATOR TO SEND HIM HERE. IT WAS THE PERFECT WAY FOR THE DOCTOR TO INVESTIGATE."
"And the Tardis," I continued on feeling gutsy as all hell as the Doctor watched me intently, "Why wasn't the Doctor able to pilot her out of here?"
The Dalek who I assumed to be the leader answered yet again, "WE HAVE SECURED THE DOCTOR'S TARDIS. IT CANNOT OPERATE UNLESS WE WILL IT."
The Doctor had quite enough of the Daleks story. He raised the sonic above his head and in an instant half of the lights in the room burst and went out. Amy and I screamed as sparks flew around us and jack shielded us as best he could. The Daleks full attention was on the Doctor now. He looked ever so much the Oncoming Storm. He was ready to destroy the Daleks once and for all.
"That's enough! I've had enough! You are the beings that I hate most in this world, my most hated enemy. This ends today. There will be no more great Dalek Empire; there will be no more trying to take this planet as your own. I will put an end to this; I will stop you once and for all!"
There was silence in the room. Not a soul breathed or uttered a syllable after the Doctor's speech. The Doctor was tense as he waited for the Daleks to make the first move, to strike first. Jack was also on alert making sure he could protect Amy and I as best as he could. It truly was like an old western in that moment, each side waiting for the other to make the first move. I don't know what else the Daleks were planning, but I knew it couldn't be good. I still had this sense of foreboding and the hairs at the back of my neck stood up and I got goose bumps all across my body. Something terrible was going to happen I could just fell it.
"HOW DOES THE DOCTOR PLAN ON STOPING THE DALEKS? HE HAS NO PLAN, NO MEANS OF ESCAPE!"
"That's never stopped me before!" The Doctor shouted as he clutched the sonic screwdriver tightly in his hand and pointed it at the Dalek, "I will defeat you, once and for all. I will put an end to the Dalek race!"
Everyone's attention was so focused on the Doctor and the Dalek leader that no one noticed a human slip in from the door to the Doctor's right. For a moment I thought maybe there was still someone here that could help us. Maybe if we got back to the Tardis we could form a plan and help the Doctor defeat the Daleks. There was no way I was going to let him do this alone. I noticed that the human that snuck in had a rifle with him. I was about to get his attention and signal for help until I noticed that he had taken aim with the rifle. Only thing was he wasn't aiming at any of the Daleks.
"Doctor!" I screamed and lunged forward out of Jack's grasp and sprinted the short distance towards him, "Look out!"
The Doctor spun towards me just as the gun was fired a deafening "CRACK" resonated through the air. I pushed the Doctor backwards with all of the strength I could muster and felt something pierce my side. White hot agony ripped through me and I knew I had been hit. The Doctor fell backwards and landed with me on top of him.
"No!" I heard Jack and Amy scream and they were at my side in an instant.
The Doctor was in a state of shock. He held me to him and placed his hands on the side of my ribcage trying to stop the bleeding. He was saying things in a language I couldn't understand and I knew he had to be speaking Gallifreyan.
"Why Smith?" He croaked out and I noticed that he had tears in his eyes, "Why did you push me away. I would have been fine, I could have survived that shot and healed. You're only human. You didn't need to save me."
The pain was unbearable but I tried my best to ignore it. I even had the grace to roll my eyes at the Doctor. Amy was crying and had her face buried in Jack's chest. Jack took one of my hands in his as the Doctor held me and I saw that all the normal flirty banter was gone from him. He gave me a subtle nod before gently pushing Amy away and, keeping my hand in his, turned and shot the human without a second glance.
"Adriana," Amy was shaking uncontrollably and I tried my best to give her a smile but it was more of a grimace, "you're going to be alright, right? Please tell me you're going to be alright." She turned to the Doctor now and looked at him with pleading eyes, "Doctor, tell me she's going to be okay."
The Doctor didn't acknowledge Amy at all, he couldn't bring himself to move or even speak at that moment.
"Doctor," I said to him and he focused all of his attention on me without any hesitation, "You know why I did it."
"I don't Adriana, I really don't. Why would you put yourself in that position to save me?"
"Because you're the Doctor, stupid. You don't die, you save worlds. And because I love you, you stubborn old Time Lord." I gave him a smile and placed my hand on his cheek. I knew I was going to die here; the Doctor wouldn't be able to save me like he did with the Fae. My time had come, and I guess you could say I was ready. I wasn't afraid of dying. Not if it meant the Doctor lived and finally defeated the Daleks. I felt my eyes flutter shut and surrendered myself to the darkness once more.
Well there you have it. Did anyone else cry? I did when I was writing the ending, after Adriana got shot. That one line she says to the Doctor came to me in a dream and i built this whole chapter around it. Just wait until you see what happens next chapter. Everything changes and it's gonna be good. Please read, REVIEW, and enjoy! I know i've been gone for far too long. I hope you guys can forgive me and leave me some love! I've missed my most fabulous readers! Cyber Hugs for now & David Tennant/Matt Smith pictures for you all! I promise next chapter will be up ASAP! ALLONS-Y!
TheDoctor'sTARDISXO
