Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
Author's Note: Read, review (so that I know people are still reading this), and hopefully enjoy.
"One good solid hope is worth a cartload of uncertainties."
Professor Flopp had finally found the answer and he didn't like it. He couldn't deny it.
"See the chemical make-up of the crystals?" The Doctor pointed to an old, crumbling piece of paper spread across the professor's cluttered desk. "Lodestone. They're part lodestone magnetite." Professor Flopp flopped into his chair and covered his face with his webbed hands. How had he overlooked that? If he'd only understood sooner…but he hadn't and he felt that the death of Atlantis was on his shoulders.
"I should have known," he muttered. "We're all going to die and it's my fault."
"Yes, it is."
"Doctor!" Gatsby stood behind the poor professor, her hands on his shoulders, and glared at the Doctor.
"Well, he is the expert, not a very good one."
"Shut up," Berly snapped, before Gatsby could argue. She was tired of their arguing. There wasn't time for arguing. According to the Doctor they had less than twelve hours before the city, the entire ocean, was pulled into the vortex. "It doesn't matter who's to blame," Berly continued. "We have to inform the emperor. Atlantis must be evacuated."
"And go where?" Professor Flopp resurfaced from his hands. "There isn't anywhere to go! We're doomed."
"The Above Lands." It was their only hope, their only choice. Berly remembered what the Doctor had said earlier. Perhaps the Above Lands were habitable. Perhaps they weren't. But there was no perhaps about the fate of Atlantis. The city would be destroyed. Berly was willing to take her chances.
"Even if the Above Lands were safe, which they aren't, we don't have enough transport to take the entire population," Professor Flopp pointed out dismally.
"What about the Tardis?" Gatsby suggested.
"Your blue box?" Berly laughed. It was a desperate laugh. "That'll hardly fit everyone. It'd take millions of trips."
"No, it's bigger on the inside. Dimensionally transparent."
"Dimensionally transcendental," the Doctor corrected. "And broken. The vortex is too strong. She won't be able to fly."
"Then what?" Gatsby demanded. "We can't just sit here and sob."
"Then we'll move the city," Berly declared.
"Smashing idea." The professor leapt to his feet. He seemed to have cracked at last. "If it weren't impossible!" Berly was smiling, though none of them understood why. There wasn't anything remotely amusing about their situation, and personally Gatsby had to agree with the professor. Moving the entire city was far-fetched at best. Downright stupid at worst.
"It's not impossible. The city used to be in the Above Lands. It had to have been transported somehow. Maybe we can go back the same way we came."
"Brilliant! Berly, I could kiss you," the Doctor said. Berly blushed.
"Not necessary," she stammered. "It might not work. Only Dahl would know."
"Dahl?" Gatsby asked.
"The mechanic."
"Another expert. Hope he's better than this one." The Doctor jerked his head in Professor Flopp's direction. The professor had given up on defending his honor. He had none left.
"I deserve your insults, Sir," he said, defeated. The Doctor pitied him. Only a small bit. He softened his voice and addressed the professor.
"Don't give up yet. I still have a job for you to do. I need you to take Gatsby to this mechanic and see if it's possible for the city to be moved. Do you think you can handle that?" Professor Flopp nodded, not entirely convinced of himself, even for such a small task.
"Good." The Doctor clapped him on the back, then moved towards the door. "Berly, with me."
"Wait," Gatsby called after them. "Where are you going?"
"To receive a pardon from the emperor," the Doctor replied, not bothering to look back at her or explain further. Before she could ask anything else, he and Berly had gone.
"You know, I hate when he runs off like that," Gatsby grumbled. More importantly she didn't like being left alone on a foreign planet, in a foreign city that was on the verge of destruction, with a mopey professor she'd only just met. Still, the Doctor had given her a job to do. At least he hadn't locked her in the room this time. Gatsby turned to the professor, who was lost in his own personal failings and had hardly noticed the Doctor's departure.
"Come off it," Gatsby barked. The Doctor was right, there was a time and place for niceties and this wasn't one of them. "We have a city to save." She felt important just saying it. The fate of Atlantis, not to mention her own survival, was partly her responsibility now. It was a daunting task. Travelling with the Doctor was even more of one, but this was the life she'd chosen, for better or worse, and she couldn't deny that it was satisfying to feel important. She grabbed the professor's hand, gave it a good squeeze, and hefted him to his feet.
"Let's go see this mechanic."
Emperor Reckonwith was relaxing in his private chambers, being fed sea urchins by one of his wives. He couldn't remember her name. She was the newest, the youngest and the prettiest. She didn't nag as much as the others. As if he didn't have enough problems without a gaggle of disapproving wives. Then again they wouldn't be wives if they actually liked him. What an odd marriage that would be!
"Which one are you again?" Emperor Reckonwith asked.
"Allota," she whispered and plunked another urchin into his open mouth. Yes, Allota, that was her name. He'd forget again soon enough. They were hard to keep track of, the fifty empresses. Oh, and the children. He never bothered learning their names. He hadn't even met half of those guppies. Come to think of it, he hadn't met half of his wives either.
"Wait a minute, you can't go in there!" Despite the guard's protest, the door of the emperor's private chambers flew open, and in marched the foreigner. He'd forgotten about the foreigner too. Allota shrieked and knocked the plate of sea urchins to the floor, ruining the expensive carpet he'd had installed last week. Well, there was grounds for a divorce. He'd worry about that later though. There were more pressing issues at hand, the man in his doorway for one.
"I couldn't stop them, your Majesty. I'm sorry," the guard groveled. The emperor stood. With a flick of his wrist he signaled the guard's immediate imprisonment.
"Close that door. I can't stand to hear them whine." Berly followed orders, shutting out the sound of her comrade's protests. "So, tell me what you've discovered," the emperor said. "And make it quick. I'm tired."
Obeying, the Doctor blurted, "Atlantis has to be moved. Now," he added, in case he hadn't been clear. The emperor laughed. There would be an execution after all, how grand.
"Ridiculous, absurd, please tell me more. I'm amused."
"There's a vortex under this city. In, let's say, eleven hours Atlantis will be sucked into it and torn into a million pieces."
"Tragic." The emperor was unimpressed. The Doctor was impatient. Berly was shaking in her military boots from either fear or anger, and no one bothered to see how Allota reacted.
"Well?" the doctor demanded.
"Well what?"
"I figured out why the tremors have been getting worse."
"Congratulations. Guard, take him to the cells."
"Didn't you hear me?" the Doctor cried, as he was restrained. "There isn't much time." The emperor sat back down and gestured for his wife to feed him a seaweed roll.
"You don't honestly expect me to move the entire city," he chuckled. "Where would we go?"
"The Above Lands," Berly answered.
"Now you really are wasting my time. Atlantis has been here for three trillion delta years."
"And soon you'll be scattered across time in tiny bits!" the Doctor yelled. He'd made a mistake. No one yelled at the emperor. Absolutely no one. He fixed the foreigner with a steely gaze.
"You're wasting my time. A vortex under the city! It's preposterous."
"But-" Berly began.
"I have had enough!" His outburst caused Allota to startle again and knock over the plate of seaweed rolls. There would definitely be a divorce, as well as an execution. "Take this man away. He'll be burned in the morning."
"PEOPLE WILL DIE!" The Doctor was being dragged out of the room.
"Oh yes, you will." Emperor Reckonwith smirked. "Painfully, I should think."
Berly had heard enough. She'd been subservient all of her life. She was a soldier. She'd never asked questions, but there comes a moment in everyone's life when they can't take another order. Berly had reached that moment. She thought of her parents, who she'd left behind, and even the awful man they'd wanted her to marry. She thought of the children playing tag by the fountain. She thought of the emperor's sniveling wife, who's name she couldn't remember or had never known. These were her people and they were in grave danger. Over her dead body, quite a possibility, would she allow them to die.
"I'll tell them," Berly threatened. The emperor looked up from dusting the crumbs off of his robes. The Doctor gave up his struggle and the guards stared, open-mouthed, at their fellow soldier. Yet again no one bothered to see Allota's reaction.
"Excuse me," the emperor said slowly.
"I'll tell everyone in this city what's going to happen. You'll have a rebellion on your hands."
"You dare defy me!"
"Yes." Berly didn't back down. She wasn't going to run away this time. There comes a moment in everyone's life where they learn to be brave.
"Then it will be an execution for two." With another flick of his wrist, the emperor ordered Berly to be taken into custody.
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" she screamed. "I'LL TELL THEM!" They were being ushered out of the emperor's private room.
"Then you'll be gagged." It was the last they heard as the door was closed. Berly continued to fume as they were led down the hall. The Doctor, however, was too stunned to resist. In all of his years he'd never confronted a situation so hopeless. Everything relied on Gatsby now. Gatsby! At least she was safe, for the moment. The emperor might have forgotten about her. Perhaps she could escape. But to where? The Tardis was useless. The city was doomed.
Berly and the Doctor were pushed into the very cell where he and Gatsby had resided earlier. It wasn't any more accommodating. Dare he say even less so. He slumped down against the wall, out of ideas, his life in the hands of a human girl who hadn't known what a book was until a day or two ago.
"It's not over yet," Berly said. "Maybe your friend can convince Dahl to move the city without the emperor's permission." It was a desperate maybe, the most useless of maybes, but the only hope they had.
"You shouldn't have gotten involved," the Doctor said. Berly just shrugged. She'd made her choice. She didn't regret it.
"Sometimes you have to do the right thing, no matter the consequences." It was something he thought Rose would have said. Rose would have thought of a solution. Any of his previous companions would have found a way. The Doctor wasn't sure about Gatsby Goode, he could only hope that he hadn't been wrong in thinking she had that special spark. A useless hope. A desperate, human hope. The last hope for any of them.
"You should really think of moving over to a democracy," the Doctor advised, and to pass the time while they waited for their execution, he told Berly all about democracy.
"Well yes, it's possible to move the city." Dahl, the mechanic, twiddled his thumbs. He was a nervous man who suffered from severe panic attacks when even just a napkin was folded incorrectly. The presence of this strange girl, demanding him to move Atlantis back to the accursed Above Lands, going on about how the city would be destroyed if he didn't, well it was enough to set off the greatest panic attack he'd suffered in years.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Gatsby tried to sound more impressive than she felt. She tried to sound like the Doctor. He wouldn't take no for an answer. He'd say something about…well, he'd probably say something that she didn't understand. She wished he was with her. Professor Flopp was no use. Once they'd found the mechanic, he'd curled into a small ball in the corner of the room. She could hear him whimpering, though she couldn't see him through all of the steam.
"I…I…" Dahl stammered. "It requires the emperor's seal. Without that I can't do anything."
"Useless!" Gatsby cried, stamping her foot. "All of you are pathetic. Can't you do anything on your own?"
"No," both the professor and the mechanic replied. She'd just about had enough of all of them. These silly Atlantians weren't worth the effort it was taking to save them! Of course, she didn't really believe that, but she was beginning to. She was furious. Beyond furious. A few days ago, before the Doctor had popped back into her life, she'd been just like these fishy people; doing everything she was told, never asking questions, useless, but she was a different person now. She was, like the Doctor, a person who wouldn't take no for an answer.
"It doesn't matter then," Gatsby said. "The Doctor will get the emperor's approval and-" Just then a soldier burst into the room, gasping for air.
"There you are!" Biddick clutched his sides. He'd been running since he'd left the emperor's private room, searching for the girl foreigner.
"Me?" Gatsby was surprised that anyone would be looking for her. Unless…unless… "Where's the Doctor?"
"Your friend." Biddick paused to regain his breath. "Was arrested, along with Berly. They're to be executed in the morning. Is it true? Atlantis is doomed?"
Gatsby went pale. It took all she had not to collapse. She wanted to join Professor Flopp in his corner, but she knew she couldn't. If the Doctor had been arrested then it was down to her to save the city. If she could. Could she? Yes, Gatsby told herself firmly, I can. She was afraid. It was too much. She wasn't a hero. She wasn't the Doctor, but squaring her shoulders, she knew she would have to be for the time being.
"Can you take me to him?" she asked. The Doctor would tell her what to do. He'd tell her how to get the emperor's seal and save Atlantis. Save him. Save herself. Biddick looked hesitant.
"Maybe," he admitted. "No one really uses the underground passages. I could probably get you into the prison that way, but…"
"Then we'll do it." Biddick weighed his options. If they were caught, they would be executed. If they weren't caught, the city would still be destroyed. His options were heavy indeed.
"Take me to him. Now," she added, in case she hadn't made herself clear enough. It was a command. Biddick understood commands.
"Alright," he relented, grateful for being told what to do. "Follow me." Gatsby stared down Dahl, the useless mechanic. He began to hyperventilate.
"I'll be back," she told him. "And you will move this damned city." Then she followed Biddick out of the room, leaving the mechanic and the professor to sob in their corners.
The pair moved swiftly and silently through the soggy passages under the city. Every small sound made Biddick pause, but Gatsby pushed him on in a not so polite manner. The clock was always ticking, faster and faster. She had to see the Doctor. She had no idea what he'd tell her to do, but just seeing him would give her the courage she needed to do whatever. It wasn't long before Biddick was ushering her into the prison.
"I'll leave you here," he said, eager to get away. Gatsby caught his sleeve before he could escape.
"Thank you." She hadn't completely forgotten her manners. With a nod, Biddick disappeared, and she focused on the matter at hand. There he was, her Doctor, lying on the straw mat they'd slept on the night before. So it was true. She'd hoped that, somehow, it had all been a grand mistake.
"Doctor." Her voice broke around his name. The strength that it had taken for her to get here fled when she saw him. Gatsby clutched the bars of his cell, afraid she might finally fall.
"Gatsby?" The Doctor blinked up at her. "Gatsby!" He leapt up and wrapped his hands around hers. "What are you doing here?"
"One of the soldiers told me you'd been arrested. He said you're going to be executed in the morning." He didn't need to answer. His expression said enough.
"Oh Doctor," she sobbed. "I talked to the mechanic. He said you need the emperor's seal to move the city."
"His what?"
"It's his ring," Berly piped in. "That tacky thing, he never takes it off. You'll never be able to steal it." And so they were doomed.
"We don't need to steal it," the Doctor said. He squeezed Gatsby's trembling hands. She was just a child in so many ways. How had he not noticed before? How could he ask her to do what needed to be done? She was crying, and he knew, trying not to.
"Gatsby Goode." He brushed away her tears. "I'm terribly sorry, but I need you to do something."
"I know," she said. "Tell me. I'll do it." Just a child, a remarkable child.
"They're going to have us gagged at the execution tomorrow. I need you to be there. I need you to make an announcement."
"What sort of announcement?"
"Tell the people of Atlantis what's happening. The emperor can't arrest the entire city."
"But these people won't do anything against the emperor. They're all brainwashed." Berly gave a slight cough. "No offense," Gatsby added.
"Their families are in danger. If they know the truth, they'll do anything to save themselves."
"You're sure?" The Doctor couldn't lie to her. He'd never lied to an emperor of Atlantis and he'd never lied to Gatsby Goode.
"Not at all." Gatsby had stopped crying, but she was still trembling. All three of them turned at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. They didn't have much time. Time! Gatsby hated it right then. She hated losing time, the way it kept slipping through her fingers.
"I know you can do it," the Doctor said quickly. He kissed her forehead through the bars. The footsteps were so close. "You're one of the best." He let go of her hands. Gatsby wanted to grab them again. She wanted to be in the cell with him. She just wanted to be with him, but time, awful time, was not on their side.
"Hide in the tunnels until morning," Berly said, as Gatsby backed away. "Remember the fountain? That's where the execution will be held at daybreak." Gatsby nodded to say that she understood. Someone was unlocking the door to the cells. They could hear keys clanking. She had to leave. She had to be brave. Before she broke down and decided that she couldn't leave the Doctor, Gatsby hurried back to the door she'd come through with Biddick just moments earlier.
"Oh and Gatsby," the Doctor called, as she was closing the door. "Try not to be late."
"You're one to talk," she threw back, giving him a weak smile. As one door opened the other one closed. Gatsby slinked back into the tunnel, knowing she wouldn't sleep that night. It seemed that travelling with the Doctor didn't leave much room for sleep at all. She curled up by the door, ignoring the damp and the cold, and focused on how the Doctor was only a few feet away, yet so out of her reach. Vaguely, she touched her forehead where he'd kissed her.
Gatsby Goode wasn't a hero. She was a human girl in a strange place with a strange man. Then again there are no heroes. There are only ordinary people who reach a point in their lives when they have to save the world.