Lady A: Hey everyone and welcome back to Phoenix Saga: Origin! I've updated a few of my stories and even my ultimate crossover, Destiny of a Dream. Seriously, that's like a total accomplishment for me because the chapter had been close to five thousand words and I got it done in a couple of hours, including having to hand write the latter half of the chapter! Anyways, I'm apparently babbling, but I have a good reason to. The dentist who pulled my teeth said I could drink coke again so I'm a little buzzed with my recent intake of caffeine and sugar. *grins like a mad woman* Oh yeah, Chek Cola is awesome and oh how I have missed you, my friend. Yes, I am a caffeine junkie but tell me what writer or novelist that isn't! Right, still babbling. Sorry.
Brief Recap: Rose and the Doctor discovered a great big alien museum and the Timelord found an old enemy, the Cybermen. It made him run down memory lane and the nine hundred year old alien started feeling his age. Things get a little hectic when Rose accidentally set off the alarms and they became surrounded by soldiers and lots and lots of guns. Unfortunately for them, the owner of the museum has done something to royally piss off the time traveling Timelord. He has imprisoned and hurt the Doctor's Artz, not exactly a safe place to stand.
Looking Ahead: Things went downhill quick for the Doctor as he discovered that Van Statten has a Dalek cooped up in the underground bunker, very dangerous object to have in one's collection unless you have an early death wish. The Timelord becomes even more furious when he sees how bad of shape his Artz is in and dangerously close to murderous when he learns that Van Statten had raped her repeatedly. The blue eyed alien soon discovers that Artimes is incredibly early in her time stream and is dealing both the pain and exhaustion from the Time Vortex and Artron energy, but also four and half months of being beaten, raped, tortured and experimented on. The ginger haired space/time jumper then surprises him with her strength of will and he can't help but be in utter disbelief.
Enough spoilers from me! On with the show! *jumps around a bit, all jittery and happy*
Chapter Twenty Six: Spitfire
Things in the alien museum had escalated rather quickly after the last of the Timelords had learned of Van Statten's two living specimens. The first had been stored in a vault on the lower levels and had been the one thing that the leather wearing alien had never wanted to see again…a Dalek, one of the creatures that had butchered his people, turned his world into a never-ending battleground, and forced him to destroy his own people just to get rid of them. He had tried to kill it, zapping it with hundreds of thousands volts of electricity, but Van Statten's men had stopped him, sparing the Timelord's arch enemy.
He was currently strung up in some sort of lab, his wrists shackled to chains hanging from the ceiling, his jacket and jumper resting on a table nearby. He listened to the stupid little ape drone on and on about the advancements he had made by scavenging alien technology then making a mint in profit by patenting the stolen alien technology. He could still feel Artimes in his mind and though their connection was slightly stronger now, he was still wasn't sure of her physical condition and knowing Van Statten and how he had tortured the Dalek, her health was probably not very high on the little ape's list of things to worry about.
"And what of your other living specimen?" The Doctor asked his voice hard as stone as a brief flash of pain echoed through the link.
Van Statten gave him a sadistic smile that made the Timelord's gut twist in revulsion. He could see the cruelty and wicked amusement swirling in his eyes and the blue eyed alien felt an extremely strong urge to snap the little ape's neck like a toothpick.
"My beautiful phoenix, so named for that gorgeous hair of hers." Van Statten replied signaling to the guard to bring him his second most prized possession, "Fetch her."
After a few minutes, the door to the lab reopened and the Doctor watched on in horror as the red headed time/space jumper was dragged in, her body limp and her hair hiding her face. The guards dropped her unceremoniously on the floor before returning to the previous positions and she let out a small whimper of pain. She didn't budge an inch, the pain shooting through their link fueling the Timelord's anger.
"Let's see if you can make this one talk as well. The most I got out of her was screaming and moaning." Van Statten commented a smug look on his face and his eyes filled with lust as they trailed over the unmoving ginger.
The Doctor had heard what he had implied and it made his blood boil. That disgusting, little ape had tortured and raped his Artz. The desire to kill the supposed self-righteous human was demanding to be appeased. No one, absolutely no one, hurts his Artz and gets away with it. Once he was through with the Dalek, he would deal with the vile Van Statten, making him regret the day he touched her with his filthy hands.
'Calm down, Theta. He suffers a fate worse than death so focus on the Dalek and leave that bastard to his fate." Artimes whispered in his mind.
He could tell that it was taking a lot of effort for her to communicate telepathically with him, and he felt so completely disgusted with himself for not getting here sooner to help her.
'Are you alright?' He asked trying to calm down like she asked.
'I'm great, a bit tired and worse for wear, but it could have been a lot worse. He didn't learn anything from me, Theta. I promise. Not a single bit of my foreknowledge.' She answered.
'I don't care about that, Artz! All I care about right now is getting you to the Tardis and into the med bay for treatment. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.' He apologized his guilt radiating through their shared link.
'It's not your fault, Theta, so shove that guilt up your ass where the sun don't shine. We have more important things to worry about than my health. Focus on the damn Dalek!' She snapped her jaw clenching as a wave of pain shot through her, disrupting their link for a moment before reconnecting.
The now fully furious Timelord turned his attention back to the patiently waiting museum owner, an expectant look on his apish face.
"Her name is Artimes and she is my friend. You've hurt someone I care for and that is not a safe place to stand. For the moment, I'll let that go, but tell me, you foolish little ape. Do you know what a Dalek is? A Dalek is honest. It does what it was born to do for the survival of its species. That creature in your dungeon is better than you." The Doctor said aloud, his voice cold from his rage.
Van Statten simply smirked at him as he walked over to the scanner he had used on the time traveling alien before.
"In that case, I will be true to myself and continue." He replied with that same arrogant and smug look on his face.
'I hate being a part of the human race today.' Artimes commented softly.
The blue eyed alien could feel the great shame she felt through their weak and sporadic connection. Feeling that from her, it just made him angrier. His Artz had nothing to be ashamed of! She was the absolute best example of her species, what humans could one day become, while Van Statten was the absolutely worst, a prime example of why he hated the human race in his younger years, but she shouldn't have to carry the heavy burden of her race's darkness. She didn't deserve that! No one did!
"Listen to me, that thing downstairs is going to kill every last one of us!" The Doctor yelled trying to make the little ape understand the danger that he was putting his subordinates in.
Hell, the entire world was in danger if the Timelord let the Dalek live!
"Nothing can escape the Cage." Van Statten replied calmly before activating the scanner.
The Doctor writhed in pain, his wrists biting into the shackles as he rode it out. Why? Why wouldn't this stupid ape listen to him? The pain subsided as the scanner finished its sweep.
"But it's woken up! It knows I'm here! It's gonna get out! Van Statten, I swear that no one on this base is safe! No one on this planet!" The Timelord shouted trying to get it through the genius's arrogant and thick skull.
'Over two hundred people…they're going to die today.' Artimes whispered her anger and sorrow resonating in his head.
The blue eyed alien felt his blood freeze. This was a key point, a point in time that his Artz knew about. He now understood why she had refused to speak around Van Statten. She had known what was coming and wanted to avert it, but in her current state, there wasn't much she was physically capable of doing. She wouldn't be able to stop any of it because of how badly Van Statten had injured her. A newfound fury swept through the Doctor's body. That revolting ape had robbed his Artz of her ability to save lives in this instant of time and that made the Timelord's resolve, to keep the Warrior within him locked away after the Time War, crack and it started to crumble away, the barriers slowly breaking down. The Oncoming Storm was beginning to emerge.
The scanner was switched on again and he threw his head back as he groaned in pain. He was granted relief when the pain stopped suddenly as he watched his Artz kick the stand that had been holding the scanner in place. It fell to the floor and shattered on impact. Van Statten glared hotly at the now sitting up red head, her eyes blazing in rage.
"No one hurts my Doctor, Van Statten." Artimes bit out as she rose slowly to her feet, her entire body struggling to compensate for her physical demands.
The Doctor could tell that she was in no condition to be standing or moving for that matter. Her entire body was trembling from the amount of effort it took to keep her standing and the sheer amount of pain she was enduring for her actions was astronomical. Van Statten made to strike the crimson haired woman, who was glaring defiantly at him, with his hand when the alarms started blaring.
"Release us if you want to live." The Timelord ordered pinning the man with the eyes of the Oncoming Storm.
The blue eyed alien was quickly released and threw his clothes back on. He was by her side almost instantly, wrapping his arm around the ginger's waist to alleviate some of the strain on her body. She leaned into him as he kept her upright while they walked out of the lab. Every instinct he had was telling him to scoop her up and race back to the Tardis, but he knew he had to deal with the Dalek first or no one was safe.
'So where are we then?' He asked trying to lighten the mood.
Artimes giggled tiredly, a slight blush appearing on her face. He looked down at her briefly, wondering why she was blushing like that. What could have possibly happened to cause such a reaction from her?
'Spoilers.' She sang in his mind, her blush deepening.
He internally groaned. That word meant that she had been to his future and wasn't about to tell him a damn thing unless it was absolutely vital. Time travel, they never met in the right order.
'How many times?' He asked wanting to know where she was in her timeline.
She didn't answer his question. Their link completely silent except the sporadic waves of pain or exhaustion. Why wouldn't she answer such a simple question? Had something happened in her previous jumps that she didn't want to reveal to him? He knew she kept secrets from him all the time and that it was mostly for the protection of time itself, but he still worried about her.
'Artz, how many?' He asked again, desperation slipping into his voice.
Again, the only answer he received was silence and that silence was not only deafening, but unnerving as well. Why? Why wouldn't she answer? His worry was really starting to rise, momentarily disrupting his earlier rage. He was about to ask again when she finally replied.
'Fourth.' She answered quietly.
By this point in the conversation, they were in the lift and heading up to Van Statten's office. He looked down at her with wide eyes as he just stared. It was only her fourth jump…her fourth jump. That realization struck him hard, robbing him of words for a moment. Not only was she beaten, raped, tortured and experimented on for who knew how long, but she was also contending with the extreme pain and exhaustion of her 'early days'. Guilt flooded his entire being with a vengeance, remembering how hard it had been for her back in Cardiff and she could barely move. How in the world was she still sane?
'Four and half months by the way and to answer your question about my sanity, I knew you were coming and took measures to make certain you got here so you could be my knight in shining armor. Who do you think it was that convinced the Dalek, an actual Dalek, to send out a distress signal?' She informed looking up at him with knowing eyes.
He was in a bit of shock at how long she had been in the underground museum, but that feeling was subsiding and being replaced by his earlier rage.
'It's not your fault. What happens here, it isn't your fault. You are not to blame, do you understand?' The Doctor stated firmly, remembering eighteen sixty nine and how she had shattered to pieces because of her guilt and sense of responsibility.
Her eyes narrowed at him and he could see a rage that matched his own, a slight flicker of the reddish gold light he feared dancing in her eyes.
'This is not Cardiff, Theta Sigma. This is not Gwyneth, an innocent human being forced into sacrificing her life just to maintain the future of time. This is a Dalek, a being created to kill and carry out its purpose for the sake of its species. Oh no, none of this falls on me in the slightest. This lands squarely on that piece of shit, Van Statten. His arrogance is what gets hundreds of people killed and his methods of torture fuelled the hatred that lies at the core of every Dalek, but thanks to one Diana Goddard, his newly appointed assistant as of today...I might add, he will suffer a fate worse than death. His identity, his name, his reputation…the man known as Henry Van Statten will disappear…all of it will be erased from his mind and he'll be dumped in the middle of some city to live out his days as a homeless junkie trying to make it through the day in one piece. I'm simply saving him from the aliens that only want to take his life." She replied giving him a fierce and fiery look.
He smiled slightly, shaking his head a bit in disbelief.
'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.' He commented causing her to smirk in response.
'It would have always happened anyways. I'm simply maintaining the timeline.' She replied in very sassy and sarcastic manner.
He had to force down the laughter building up inside of himself. Even batter, bruised, and completely and totally exhausted, she was still one hell of a spitfire and he had to say that he was truly impressed by the strength of her will. With every adventure that passed with her, he was finding more and more reasons to like the ginger haired space/time jumper which was all the more incentive he needed to step up his game and start protecting her properly. The nine hundred year old Timelord wanted his Artz to be around for a very long time.
Lady A: There you have it! Chapter Twenty Six: Spitfire is complete! You know, the hand written version of this was a lot shorter than what I have typed here. I really went all out and expounded and added a lot of stuff. This is why you always do multiple drafts, people! Anyways, leave tons and tons of reviews and be on the lookout for Chapter Twenty Seven: Enemies No More! Stay tuned and the totally epic scene I was telling you about is in the next chapter so be prepared for some awesomeness as the episode Dalek comes to a close! See you there!