"Come along, then. Let's see what we can do." The Doctor says, and I vaguely realize that something is wrong, something is orange and wrong. He is holding a gun, a laser cannon from that one planet we went to, Haldor or Hatlor, or something like that.
Not important. What is important is that he has a gun. A weapon.
He's pointing it at some kind of control console.
"Um, Doctor. Love…" I say, clearing my throat, not sure what to say through my surprise, "What are you doing?"
He shoots, bright light erupting from the cannon, and flames burst up from the console. The ship below our feet lurches and groans, an alarm sounding. Someone comes through a doorway, the features of his face escaping me through the flames. The Doctor take once glance in his direction and shoots him point blank. Whoever it is falls to the metal floor, smoking and dead.
I squeal in shock, clamping a hand over my mouth, hoping it might keep the revulsion in, keep me from screaming for help.
For help against him. My Doctor.
"Doctor, what the hell?!"
"I thought I was just a survivor. But I'm not." The Doctor says, and his face instills in me something I've never felt before for him.
Fear.
"I'm a winner. That's who I am. A Time Lord Victorious."
With that, his madly furious face twists into a grin, a sadistic grimace of a smile that sends my hearts into a terrified headlong gallop. He starts towards me with a determined, prowling strut, his eyes full of death. The cannon is pointed at me now.
"Doctor, what are you doing? What's happened to you?" I say, my voice rising in pitch. I flinch as flames rise around him, an explosion causing my ears to ring.
"He was right you know, I always lose my toys. But that's okay, because I know who I am now. The Time Lord Victorious. Humans can't last around me, how could they? Not even Time Lords could." He growls, reaching for me through the flames, and all I see is the orange of his odd spacesuit before I let out a scream of horror.
"Evy!"
I open my eyes, sucking in a strangled breath before focusing on the face in front of me.
It's his, the Time Lord Victorious, bent on murder and destruction, retribution his only solace.
I flinch, jerking away from the hand on my face, trying to scoot away, and I briefly register shocked concern in his eyes before I realize what is going on.
I've just had a nightmare. That's all. It couldn't have been true, I should have known that. The Doctor would never.
"Oh, shit." I breathe, and he tries again to comfort me, his hand brushing hair away from my face. I don't jerk away from him this time. I lean into his touch, desperate to calm down.
"Bad dream?" He murmurs, and I nod, drawing in a shaky breath.
"Yeah… Really bad. Wow."
"What was it about?"
In the dimmed, pulsing orange and white light, I can see that he knows the answer to that already. My reaction to him must have tipped him off. He isn't trying to connect telepathically either, probably giving me space.
"You…" I say, snuggling into his bare chest, and his arm rests comfortably around my shoulders, "Do you think Granicus… What he showed us, do you really think they're going to come true?"
He swallows and I hear his hearts thud a bit quicker under my cheek.
"The drone, it's partially made of the vortex, so it knows which timelines are most probable, very accurately, more accurately than I do. It's also heartless and fascinated with pain, so I hesitate to take anything it shows me seriously…"
"So you do think they will come true…"
"I hope not. I really, truly hope not."
I frown, shifting to look up at him, and he won't meet my eyes.
"Why, what did he show you?"
"He showed me my worst fear."
He doesn't elaborate, so I take the same route as him.
"He showed me my worst fear, too. I didn't even know it was my worst fear until he did…" I say.
My worst fear, even worse than losing the Doctor.
Which, hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, he hinted at that happening as well.
But worse than that, even...
Him losing sight of himself, spiraling into the darkness of what the Time War did to him. The Doctor turning away from what he values most in favor of giving in to bitterness, to despair.
"We'll be alright. We're always alright, you and me." He mutters, his hand moving down to my waist to press me closer to him, reassuring himself of his own words.
"Yeah." I say, forcing my eyes closed.
A dreadful feeling keeps me up for another hour before I finally drift back to sleep.
"I do love a random trip! Where do you think she's taken us?" I say, leaving my post on the console to go look over the Doctor's shoulder, at the monitor. I see a tiny little planet displayed on the screen, with numbers and stats around it that I don't even begin to understand, as always. The Doctor shrugs after a quick glance at it and takes my hand.
"You always want to spoil it!" He says, and we head to the doors. Opening them, the first thing I get from this planet is a waft of very stinky air. It smells like a strange combination of natural gas and pancakes. A sweet and sickly gaseous cloud.
I plug my nose with my free hand, groaning.
"Mmm, smells like when you try to cook breakfast." The Doctor says, grinning cheekily, and I take my hand off my nose to smack him playfully.
"Shut it." I laugh, shaking my head, "Why do you think it smells like that? Has something horrible already happened here, are we too late?"
"Actually, I think it's just the composition of the atmosphere. Obviously they've got a hefty amount of oxygen, or we'd be in trouble… But it's quite different from Earth, that's for sure."
He licks his finger, holding it up to the air before placing it back in his mouth, sucking on it thoughtfully.
"Gaseous sulfur… Bit of methane… Ooh, and aerosolized liquid beryllium? That's the sweet part of it." Then he pauses, cocking his head a bit, "Bet you can't smell the galzoniumite."
"That's not even an element." I say, chuckling, "You're pulling my leg, again, aren't you?"
"Not on Earth it's not, but here… Galzoniumite, a main element that makes up a large part of bodies of liquid and soil on planets in the Galzon-56 galaxy. That's where she's taken us…" He says, "Hopefully she's taken us to the right time."
"What do you mean, the right time…"
That doesn't sound promising.
"Well… The Galzon-56 galaxy was a bit… wild before their three billionth year or so." His dubious expression causes me to bite my lip, knowing that 'wild' means 'extremely dangerous', "No matter, let's get on, shall we?"
I look out into the cloud of smoky atmosphere before us. I can't really see much, except for a black, rocky ground, and more rocks jutting through the smoke. Silence prevails through the haze.
Not a single sound.
"We shall?" I say, uncertainty causing it to be a question. I take his arm, feeling a little afraid of the unknown for the first time in a while…
A/N
Hello lovelies, hope your days/nights are going fantastically!
Just a note to let you know that I've started a drabble series, Beyond the Glowing Stars, and it'll just be little scenes having to do with the stories of TGS and ATGS, things that weren't important to the story, but that I really wanted to write :]
Some will be sad. Some will be happy. Some will be freakin' adorable. All will be fun to write, and hopefully to read?
So, let me know how I'm doing, here and there. A review helps me write a lot faster, I don't know why, but it's like a kick in the creativity, so to speak!
Thank you soooooo much to everyone who has reviewed, ever, on TGS or ATGS or BTGS, anything. I love you all to Solgard and back, and you make my day with every word you type to me :D :D
You're all beautiful and delightful people who have hearts of gold, always remember that.
Love,
A.
