[Beta'd]
Ch. 22. Pahasusi
"I have many names, as you do."
.-.-.-.-.-.
It had been four hours since they left Earth to drift through the time vortex. As they'd had quite a restless night, the two humans on board asked him for a break before they resumed their travelling, and they were at their respective rooms, resting.
The Doctor, on the other hand, had been tinkering absent-mindedly in the kitchen with what had been a toaster and a laser spanner. If his invention exploded once or twice, he didn't notice, so engrossed in his own thoughts he was.
He was actually reviewing at every possible angle what had happened in their latter adventure.
He was reluctant to admit he'd been really tempted to accept Mr Finch's offer. Not for the universe, not for his species, but for the pink and yellow human that was standing at that moment beside him. And that terrified him.
He had realized he felt much more for her than what he'd felt towards any companion. He'd made excuses before, convincing himself that they were just best mates, but that last adventure made him perceive just how he was fooling himself, as their relationship could no longer be defined as friendship.
He couldn't allow himself to feel that way. She would leave sooner or later, either finding something better that gave her a reason to stay behind or because she… because she…
And that was a fact. Even if she decided to stay with him as long as her body took her, she'd leave him too soon. The lifestyle they leaded was really dangerous, and even though she managed to stay alive, she'd wither and die. Seventy hypothetical years were just a blink in a Time Lord's lifespan, and when she left, it would destroy him.
Therefore, he had to put distance between them, for both of their sakes. They had already stepped on the line and jumped ahead, it was his responsibility to fix it.
The laser toaster shocked him, making him yelp and drop his screwdriver in pain. Soft giggles came from behind and he shot his head up – Rose was standing at the doorway, wearing distractingly tight jeans, a pink hoodie and a pink T-shirt that really brought up the colour of her cheeks-
Stop it, Time Lord!
"You got bored of the sonic toaster, then?" she joked "Wait, is that Jack's spanner?"
"Yes. Where's Mickey?" he replied curtly. Rose seemed thrown off by his tone.
"I've just bumped into him. He was about to get changed, so he should be ready in a minute or so."
"Right. I'll be preparing the TARDIS; when he finishes, bring him to the console room."
And with that he left, not even giving her a second glance. She looked at his back questioningly, but shrugged it off, thinking that he was just wishing to get on the move again, after being stranded for days at one place.
She then went closer to the Doctor's newest knickknack and observed it. It looked like he was in the middle of building it; peeled wires stuck out of it, and did she smell smoke? To be honest, it seemed like the Doctor needed something to fiddle with while he waited, and he didn't have the intention of making anything that actually worked.
She frowned when she spotted the sonic lying beside the invention. Did he forget grabbing it? Finding it strange, she pocketed the tool, making a mental note to return it to him.
She made herself a quick cuppa and nibbled distractedly a cookie when Mickey made an appearance. He'd decided to take a shower by the looks of it, and he was wearing a different T-shirt than before, quite possibly one that the TARDIS provided.
She handed him a mug filled with tea "Here you are; it's already warm. Drink it fast, though; the Doctor's anxious to land."
Mickey nodded, trying to shake off the drowsiness he felt, and took the mug. They sipped it in silence, and when they finished, they left the cups in the sink.
"So," Mickey tried to start a conversation "I forgot to ask you, did you stop bleaching your hair?"
"Yeah, I guess." she looked at her honey locks "Didn't feel like me anymore, so I dyed it to a more natural colour. What do you think?"
They stepped into the console room "It's weird, but I'll get used to it, I guess."
"Finally!" the Doctor exclaimed rather rudely, "I thought the experiment in the auxiliary bathroom had eaten you. I took the liberty to land while I waited."
"We've landed?" Rose gasped "I've haven't felt a thing."
He sniffed and found himself unable to shoot a grin at her "I'm just that impressive."
"Oh, yeah? Says the man who aimed for Sheffieldin 1979 and ended in Scotland in 1879."
He groaned "Just once! A man makes a mistake just once and he's reminded of it forever."
A cough behind them stopped their playful banter and the Doctor was reminded of his self-imposed task. He mentally kicked himself. What happened to the 'I'm going to put some distance between us' thing?
Straightening up his back, his face a perfect calm mask, he addressed an uncomfortable-looking Mickey. "Right. So brand new world outside; Mickey, would you do the honours?"
Shooting a wary look at them – which he'd undoubtedly deny ever making later – he walked to the closed doors and opened them hesitantly. Outside, a rowdy street with a colourful market greeted them, where people of different species chatted animatedly with one another.
The sun shone brightly from above, and the green sky was clear of clouds. She loved that part of travelling – stepping into an unknown place, finding the similarity and differences with Earth… just throwing herself into it. But for the looks of it, Mickey was having a difficult time getting his head around it.
"It's a lot to take in, I know, but you'll get used to it." she assured him. He nodded in thanks
The Doctor closed the door behind them and frowned. Something wasn't right. He headed to where both humans were standing and shrugged the feeling. Whatever it was, he'd probably bump into it sooner or later.
"So, Doctor, where are we?" Rose asked him
"You won't believe it, but we're in Woman Wept."
She twirled around, facing him completely "You're having me on, right? But it's really hot in here!"
"I remember you telling me something about this place." Mickey butted in "Didn't you say it was totally frozen, or something?"
"Yeah, but that's Woman Wept after it was frozen. This was a tropical planet initially. A human ship discovered it some centuries ago and they funded the first colony on the planet. More species came and went, and in years it became one of the most popular vacation destinations of the 38th century."
"But then something happened with their sun, right?"
"Yeah. The sun suddenly turned into a white dwarf, and the surface froze in mere minutes. Never discovered what happened. Anyway!" he clapped his hands "Bright new planet waiting to be explored. What are we waiting for?"
"Are there any rules we have to follow for not getting killed? Any food we've to avoid?" Mickey asked looking at the fruit stands near them.
"Avoid the Papua – it does a really nasty job with your digestive system. Anything else, you can have it. Have fun!"
Said man shot them a look before he got lost in the noisy market. The Doctor began wandering, Rose hot on his tail, frowning. He was avoiding her; that, she'd noticed. It was on his behaviour this morning, shut off all the sudden, and in the way he kept himself two steps ahead of her, not even grabbing her hand.
"Doctor." She called him. He didn't turn around, just hummed in acknowledgement "Is something wrong?"
He threw her a look and slowed down "No, not at all. I'm just looking around for something that could be useful for the TARDIS. Who knows, maybe I could find the transponder wave extrapolator."
"Doctor, I didn't fall for the whatever-ator excuse for the first time, why do you think I'd fall now? I saw you frowning when you came out of the TARDIS, and I know how you try to distract people with your mumbo-jumbo when you're hiding something. Something's wrong and you're not telling us."
How did she manage to pick up so much? A small part of him was proud of her, secretly happy that she knew him so much, but he soon muffled it. He couldn't allow it. He had to return to the comfortable friendship they had before those stupid… feelings came.
Despite everything, he had to tell her. She had already noticed something wasn't right, and her stubbornness would make her bump straight into trouble. He sighed and stopped.
"Something's wrong. I noticed when I stepped out of the TARDIS; time is shifting, changing. But it's probably nothing, probably two strong timelines converging together. Nothing to worry about. Now let's go, we don't want Mickey get lost in his first trip, do we?"
He didn't even give her time to react, and in seconds she lost sight of him in the crowd. She stopped and rubbed her temples. He was fleeing, that, she knew, but of what? What was going on inside that complex mind of his that tried to push her away from him?
It hurt, it really did. It wasn't a secret what were her feelings towards the Time Lord; even Mickey had seen it half a year ago, and he hadn't been around much. It had been pretty obvious to everyone… but him, apparently.
After the Sarah Jane incident, she'd thought they'd gotten closer than ever before – his words inside the cupboard still rung in her ears – but then he went and did what he'd promise he would never do to her; he was leaving her behind. Not abruptly, sure, but how else could she interpret what he was doing?
The nerve of him. She thought angered; you want to do the saving of people alone? Well, have it your way.
She strolled down the street fuming, unaware of the shadows that were tailing her. When she was near a dark alley, a strong hand pressed a napkin on her face and a sweet smell filled her nostrils before the world tilted and turned black.
.-.-.-.-.-.
The Doctor felt guilty. Very guilty. He'd seen the sad look Rose shot his way when he'd left her behind, and his mind had found an entertainment in tormenting him in any way possible for it, when he had to be concentrating on the task in hand.
He had to find out about the jumping timelines he'd detected before, but he could only think on how her usually rose cheeks went white in horror, and how her eyes had moisten up in realization. He pushed those thoughts aside as hard as he could; there was something much more important going on here than his inability to control his feelings.
Because that's what it was. He shouldn't feel how he felt about her, he was just a lonely man that destroyed every life he came in contact with. She could be happy now, but everyone left in the end, and she would too. She would realize what he does to people, and she would hate him.
And he would be alone. Before he would've told you he was better that way, but not after Rose. It was now he realized how dependant he was on her, how he needed the warmth of her smile to keep going. She made the loneliness in his head better, and he was so utterly afraid of what would happen if she lost all of it.
He knew he was the one who decided that the distance was the solution, but was it really? It had been mere hours since he'd made the decision, and in his hearts he already felt it was the worst mistake he'd ever made.
He shook his head. It was the best, if not for both of them, for her. He would protect her from everything, even from him.
He felt the timelines shifting once again and he got on guard. Right. He had to find the source of the shifting and solve it as soon as possible. There had been a change in the past of Woman Wept, and if he didn't intervene, the future of the whole planet could change.
He tried to follow the shifting with his Time sense, blocking out almost everything else around him. Somewhere deep inside his mind registered that he had bumped into something, or someone, but he didn't stop until someone tugged his arm rather forcefully.
He blinked twice, casting away the confusion that came after using his Time sense at full capability. Before him there was a young man – it was more like a humanoid goat – shooting him worried looks. He mildly wondered what had made him look so concerned, but he realized it'd be something quite normal after seeing someone walking on autopilot. Yeah, his fault.
"Are you okay, mate?" the worry was palpable in his voice, but there was something hidden under it. It was the way he kept darting his eyes around them, as if expecting to see something.
"Yeah. I had my head in the clouds. Sorry for bumping into you."
He tried to leave and continue his search, when the grip of the man became stronger. The warning look he shot at him made him pause.
"What's your name?"
"I'm the Doctor."
"Are you alone?"
"No, I came with some friends." He answered confused. Was he…? He wasn't hitting on him, was he?
He glanced around again, and replied afterwards "Go find them as soon as you can, and never leave each other's sides while you're here. And when you finish your business in this planet, leave as quickly as possible."
"Why? What's going on here?"
"My partner Frisk and I came here in a vacation. Everything was going well, but…" he paused, guilt crossing his face "We had a bit of a row, and I left the room to have some air. When I returned to the hotel we were staying, Frisk had disappeared without a trace. That was two days ago."
"Couldn't have your friend just left, angry?"
He shook his head "At first I thought that was the case, but as I spent time here, I began noticing people round here are always – and I mean always – with someone else. I couldn't see anyone alone. Then I met a guy named Napsta who had experienced the same as I had – his little sister had ran ahead, and that's when it all went wrong."
The Doctor's voice dropped. "What happened?"
"He saw two cloaked men grab her and take her away. He cried for help, but anyone else could even see the kidnappers. He tried to follow them, but it was as if they vanished in thin air. Since he told me, I can see them in the shadows, hiding, waiting for their next victim." He grabbed his arms and looked directly at him "Look from the corner of your eye – you'll see them, the eating shadows."
And indeed he saw them. It was difficult at first, but when he knew what he had to look for, he noticed them roaming in the shadows. They seemed humanoid, but a dark cloak covered their entire figure. He immediately recognized what they used to hide themselves.
"They're wearing perception filters; that's what's keeping them hidden in plain sight. Useful things if you want to go unnoticed, but they're a bit rubbish if you draw attention to yourself. That's also why they take people who are alone; you would notice instantly if someone you're talking to disappeared, but someone who you don't even know? Very unlikely."
The alien frowned "But Napsta was looking at her the whole time when they took his sister. How did they vanish?" he whispered
"It's easy to lose your concentration on a perception filter, more so if you're far away. That's why they wait until the victim is unguarded. They watch in the shadows for foreign people, walking alone at a busy market, maybe nearing some dark alley, and then, zam! It's like they weren't even there."
Then a thought crossed his mind. He thought of everything that had happened since they landed, how similar their situations really were, and dread pooled inside him.
"Rose!"
He began rushing through the busy marketplace, desperately looking for the blonde woman. She wasn't where he had last seen her, nor near the stalls.
Despite being a rather tiny square, he couldn't find her anywhere, and that hadn't happened ever before. Why had he been so bloody stupid!? Here he was, feeling sorry for himself and Rose could be in immediate danger!
He ran his hand through his wild locks, making his hair stand in all directions. The goat-like alien soon caught up with him, panting. He began looking from all directions, and soon spotted a familiar face.
"Mickey!" he called him. Said man turned around and walked towards them, with a questioning look on his face
"Hi, boss. Is it time to leave already? And who's your friend?"
The Doctor ignored his questions and steadied him by his shoulders "Have you seen Rose?" he asked, desperation leaking in his voice
"Uhh, no. Wasn't she with you?"
"We got separated. Now, this is important. Do you remember seeing her since we landed? Maybe looking at some stand or buying?"
"No, I don't think so. What the hell is going on, Doctor?"
He paced around, clenching his fists "Someone's kidnapping people, and it's possible they've taken her."
"Um," the alien interjected "Could you describe her? Maybe I can help."
"What's your name?" the Doctor asked, noticing for the first time that the man had followed him.
"Asriel."
"Okay, Asriel. She's human, has golden hair and hazel eyes. She was wearing a grey hoodie with a pink top, skinny jeans and black trainers. About a head shorter than me."
"I've seen her." The words of the vendor near them made the three of them stop and look at him. He continued "She was looking at that wristband over there – said she'd come later for it. Then, she went near Joyce's stand over there, and when I blinked she wasn't there."
The Doctor looked in the direction he pointed. There, in the shadows of a dark alley, a person watched them ravenously. However, when he noticed the Doctor was looking directly at him, he faltered and tried to escape.
There was no way the Doctor would lose his only hint if it was in his power, so he began running after him, not even caring if both men followed him. The shady person began making quick turns and leaps, trying to lose them with the help of the perception filter, but the Doctor's mind was too advanced to fall for it after him acknowledging it.
Don't worry, Rose, he thought, I'm coming.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Rose opened her eyes to find herself in a dirty dungeon. Again. She blinked repetitively to try to shrug off the fog in his head. She tried to move her hands, only to find out she was strapped to the surface she was lying on. Well, it wasn't the first time, and neither the last.
When she felt her mind clear enough, she remembered what had happened hours before she'd been taken. The Doctor leaving her behind, and those psychos using chloroform to drag her away. Why she always was the one taken, she had no idea.
She looked around the room, and felt a pang of sadness when she couldn't find the Doctor beside her. They usually ended arrested or kidnapped together and – as ill as it sounds – not having him near took away most of the fun. All because, she remembered, he decided to be a git.
So the plan she had at the moment was: one, escape from the evil wannabe monk's dungeon; and two, find the Doctor and slap him until he stopped doing… whatever that was.
"You're awake, then." A soft voice asked some metres away from her. She turned her head to see a man strapped to a metal surface, probably one similar than the one she was on. His hair was knotted, and his stripped shirt was torn.
"Yeah. How long have I been out?"
"Less than an hour. It's strange, though. The chloroform's effect often lasts longer than that."
She shrugged, or tried to, with her hands tied. "Where are we?"
"I haven't got the faintest. I've been here for two days, and the only thing I've been able to gather is that this place is huge, and that they don't care what their victims are. When I came here, there was a little girl and an old woman. They seem to take one of us each day, for what, I couldn't tell you."
"Have you seen how our captors look like?"
He shook his head "They come here covered from head to toe with those magenta robes, and they don't utter a word. They're like robots, or, or ghosts."
Rose sighed at the lack of information. She realized she wasn't going to discover anything else trapped down here, so the next step was to escape. But how? Those handcuffs were too tight – she couldn't even consider to reach the tools on the stool at her side.
Then something came to her mind. The sonic screwdriver! She never got the opportunity to return it to its rightful owner, so the device was still resting inside her right pocket. But would she be able to reach it?
Twisting her wrist almost painfully, she managed to sneak her fingers inside the cloth and touch the metallic surface, curling them around the cold device. She took it out carefully in order not to drop it to the floor, and let out a cry of victory when the sonic was finally resting on the palm of her hand. Now, she just had to find the right setting.
"Hey." She called for his attention "What's your name?"
"Frisk."
"Okay, Frisk. I may have a way to get us out of here, so give me some time and we'll be getting out of here."
Frisk's face brightened "Really? God, I hope so. I don't want to leave Asriel alone. He's been feeling down because of his parent's divorce, and it was my idea to come here, you know, to cheer him up."
"What's he like?" she asked, rolling carefully the sonic in her search for the buttons
"He's really sweet, and a worrywart." He smiled "He's stubborn too, must've come from his goat descendants." At her confused look, he added "He's half goat-half human. We had a bit of a fight before I was… you know. God, I'm sure he thinks it's his fault"
"Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon."
However, before she could fiddle with the settings, they heard soft steps approaching, and Rose had to hide the sonic inside her sleeve. Soon, two cultist went into the room, and headed directly to Frisk, who looked resigned.
"Where are you taking him!?"
The boy shot her a warm but sad smile "I forgot to tell you… the ones that go never come back. It was nice meeting you, even if it was for a short time."
"No!" No matter how much she struggled against her restraints or how much she shouted, their captors didn't even shoot a glance at her. She cursed and hit the metal stretcher.
When she couldn't hear their steps anymore, she took out the screwdriver and tried to remember some of the settings the Doctor had taught her. Was the metal melting the 334B or 157A? She couldn't afford losing time like this, so she pressed the button and prayed for it to work.
She almost cried when she heard the soft click of her now open handcuffs. She quickly undid the rest of them and sprung up, ready to go find Frisk. But before she left the room, she spotted a metal crowbar leaning on the wall. She grabbed it for protection and finally left.
The corridors seemed to go on forever. She felt she'd walked for miles, and still hadn't found anything more than closed doors. She was about to try to open one of them with the crowbar, when she heard soft muttering. She tried as best as she could to hide in the doorway, and when the cultist came near her, she hit him with the crowbar in the head, hard enough to make him unconscious, but not drawing blood.
She rummaged his pockets, and found a set of master keys hanging from his robe. She opened the door on her left and dragged the unconscious man inside. She then undressed him – the cloak could be helpful to hide herself around these parts – and tied him up.
Half in the process to put on the robe, the guy groaned and tried to rub his sore head, only to find his hands bound together.
"Good morning, sunshine." She mocked him
"What… wait! You're the prisoner!"
"Yep." She finished dressing up "Now, would you be so kind to tell me what the hell is this place?"
The boy looked torn, but he sighed in the end "You're inside the main gaol of the Pahasusi cult. My cousin Nate told me to join – said they would give us a lot of cash, but it has been two weeks since I joined, and I haven't seen a single credit."
"What about the reason why you kidnap people?"
"I've got no idea. We're just ordered to take people, no questions asked. I tried to get out of this bunch of weird psychos, but they threatened to kill me if I stepped out these tunnels without permission. I just wanted to give Nana a good home…" his voice strangled at the last part, and Rose couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He was just at the wrong place, in the wrong time.
She loosened up his restrains, but before he stood up, she shot him a wary look "I'm letting you go. Get out of here as soon as you can, and never come back."
"Thank you, miss. Thank you so much. Do you want me to show you the nearest exit?"
"Nah." She put on the hood of the cloak "I've still got something to do here."
With that, she left in her search to find Frisk before it was too late.
.-.-.-.-.-.
The Doctor, Mickey and Asriel stood in front of what it seemed to be the entrance of a service tunnel. They had lost the cloaked man, but they were near enough to spot the hidden door. Moreover, his Time sense was pointing at him at the same direction, so whatever was going on with the timelines had something to do with the kidnappings.
He patted his pockets in search of the screwdriver, and came empty-handed. Where had he…?
He muttered a word the TARDIS didn't bother to translate when he remembered where exactly was his screwdriver. On the kitchen table, beside the broken toaster. He'd left it there in his urge to put some distance between Rose and himself, and every minute that passed had more problems trying to remember why he thought it was a good idea to begin with.
Mickey seemed to notice his discomfort, and nodded at the door. "Well? How do we go in?"
"I don't have the sonic on me, so I guess I'll have to do it in the old-fashioned way. I'm sure I still have my kit for opening locks somewhere inside my pockets…"
He began searching inside his multi-dimensional pockets, but in a blink of the eye, Asriel took the initiative and kicked the door open.
"… or we could do that. Nice hooves."
"Perks of being half goat. Frisk and your friend are inside, right? What are we waiting for?"
They travelled down the dirty corridors, trying to find any clue that could lead them to their friends. They arrived to an open room full of metal stretchers, a set of handcuffs on every one of them. There were dried blood on almost all of them.
"Here's where they must keep the people they take." The Doctor mused, anger raising inside him "They tie them up here, but then they take them elsewhere. What for? And why not take them directly?"
"Because they only take one at a time." A familiar female voice spoke from the doorway. They turned around to see Rose wearing one of the dark robes, eyeing at them with an eyebrow raised. "Look what the cat dragged in, the Oncoming Storm."
"Rose!" in a second, she was engulfed in the Time Lord's embrace. She could feel his desperation and relief in the way his arms trembled, how his grip tightened, and all her anger – well, most of it – slipped away.
"Remind me later to apologize for being so daft." He asked her against her hair, his voice strangled
"I'll make sure of it." they separated, but the Doctor's hands still rested on her hips, keeping her close to him. She then looked at the other two men, and took note of the other alien's appearance "Are you Asriel?"
He nodded "Have you seen Frisk!?"
"Yep. They've taken him, so we don't have much time. I'll explain everything while we walk."
"I'm quite sure of the direction we have to take, if my assumptions are correct." At their look of confusion, he tapped his head "Time sense. Now, let's go."
The Doctor led them outside, guiding their group through the empty passageways, hand in hand with Rose. The only sound they could hear was the dripping of a lonely gutter and their steps on the hard stone.
"Right." She began "I woke up strapped in one of those nasty tables, and Frisk was beside me. He told me we hadn't been the only ones – there had been two people with him before. They take one person every day. Then, I remembered I snagged your screwdriver off the table this morning, meant to give it back to you – right, here you are." She returned it to him, who flipped it with ease before pocketing it. "Before I could get out, though, they came and took Frisk with them."
"And what about those robes?" he eyed her up and down
"When I escaped, I bumped into a cultist and hit him in the head. Thought it'd be a good disguise, so I took it."
He smiled down at her proudly "Well thought out, Rose."
She returned the smile "Well, I'm just too good. Anyway, the boy woke up while I was finishing putting the cloak on, and we spoke a bit. He told me they were the Pahasusi cult; he'd joined just to get money for his gran. They hardly ever spoke with the big guys, just were ordered to take people. They don't know one bit of what's going on, Doctor."
"I guessed so. We followed one of the cultist on his way here, and he seemed terrified of being caught out. However, someone here is changing the normal time stream of the planet, and I don't like where it's heading now. We've got to stop them."
"That's what got you all frowny when we landed?"
"Mostly, yeah."
She shot him a curious look, but he dismissed it for later. The feeling was getting stronger every minute, and it was starting to give him a headache.
A loud scream startled all of them, and Asriel paled "That's Frisk!" he lurched forward, but Mickey grabbed him
"Whoa, mate, wait a minute there. You can't just go barrelling in like a madman!"
"Mickey's right." Rose said "I know you care deeply for him, but we have to think about how to do things right. It won't help him if we just rush inside and get caught."
"B-but… he shouldn't be there, it's my fault." His shoulders began shaking, and Rose put a comforting hand on his arm.
They approached the door, and the Doctor opened it with a soft click. Once the door was open, they could hear the cultist talking, and they could see what was inside. There were four cultists inside, plus Frisk, who was strapped to a chair. He had a machine on the top of his head, and he was slumped forward, but still breathing.
What caught her eye was the column of light in the centre of the room. It was a metre high, give it or take, and its design reminded Rose of the TARDIS rotor. It was glowing with blue light, and from it, some wires came out and connected with some computers and the machine on top of Frisk's head.
"That's not good." The Doctor muttered behind her, "That's not good at all. How did they manage to find something like this?"
"What is it?"
"It's the Tear of Isha; Time Lord technology. It's basically a stellar manipulator, it alters the structural composition of stars and is able to increase or decrease the pressure inside it at will and in little time. I thought it was lost in the war…"
"Stellar manipulator? That sounds really dangerous." Mickey said
"It is. But how are they even able to activate it? It needed the energy of two TARDISes combined to switch on…"
Suddenly the men inside began speaking.
"The subject nº148 is prepared. Should we start the machine?"
"Do so." Another one answered. From the distinctive robes, he was probably the leader "We almost have enough energy to finish our Gods' design. Push the button, Delta."
Delta approached the commands and pushed it. The machine started up, only to make a strange sound and switch off. He pushed it again, confused, but the machine didn't react.
"What's going on over there, Delta?"
"I don't know, Alpha! It's not working!"
"Oh, that may be my doing. Sorry about that." The Doctor said from the doorway "Well, it's mostly your fault for not counting how many of you were there. Didn't you notice there were five? That was Rose, by the way. Say hello."
The cultist nearer to the subject took out its hood and the blonde girl waved with a smile on her face "Hello." Another man rushed to help her untie the subject
"She's quite good at using my sonic screwdriver. That's what made the machine behave so strangely. By the way, how did you manage to get the Tear of Isha? It was supposed to be destroyed in the Time War."
Alpha spoke solemnly, not showing any concern on their intervention "The God Pahasusi sent it to us when we still were a little cult trying to protect Woman Wept. It was their blessing to our noble cause."
"And that 'noble cause' involves the destruction of this sun?"
"It is the only way. Before, Woman Wept was free of parasites, but then the human species came, and with them, the other ones and the ground began crying. We just want to stop the infection. We can't return the planet to its original state, but we can free the gods from their confinement."
The Doctor dropped his cheerfulness "You'll destroy the planet with the explosion, and the gravitational pull of this solar system is going to be altered forever, affecting this galaxy. Making things worse, since you don't have the main energy font, you've been scavenging neural energy of people to activate it."
"It was a necessary sacrifice."
"A necessary sacrifice!? You're killing people in order to destroy an entire planet! And don't act as if you didn't have a plan to escape; I saw the teleportation pods when I came in."
"You can't stop us."
The Doctor just narrowed his eyes "Oh, just watch me try. Let's begin by tying up all of you, then I'll decide what to do with you. The Shadow Proclamation would have a field day with you."
Mickey and the Doctor began binding the cultists while Rose and Asriel tried to wake Frisk up. Said man regained consciousness, and Asriel swept him up in a fierce hug, asking for his forgiveness.
Suddenly, a tremor shook the room with force, making most of them lose their footing. The column changed from blue to red and began doing grinding noises, similar to a TARDIS. The Doctor faced Alpha and shook his shoulders.
"What have you done!"
Alpha dropped the device he had been holding in his hand the whole time. It was a remote control "It's destiny, you can't change it."
He pushed the man and rushed to the computers, who were blinking because of the excess of input. He put on his glasses with a swift movement and began typing rapidly, overrunning every security code they had put.
"Mickey, put them in the teleportation pod. I've linked it with the Shadow Proclamation, they have already done enough damage here."
He did just that with the help of the half goat, half human, and the four cultists disappeared in a bright light. Rose made sure that Frisk had a grip on himself and rushed to the Doctor's side.
"What can I do?"
"Go to the Tear and tell me which numbers is showing."
She did what she has been told, and she quickly read the numbers that were flashing in the screen "9-5-2-6."
He stopped and looked at her in horror "It's started. The machine is already forming the supernova."
"And what can we do?"
"I could alter the pattern the machine is using, but the sun's gonna die anyway. It won't be a supernova, but I could change it so it formed a white dwarf and…" his eyes widened "Oh, Rassilon."
"What?" Mickey asked
"The white dwarf that froze all Woman Wept; it was me all along. It's either destroy Woman Wept or the galaxy." He said horrified "That were the two timelines that kept jumping, I'm deciding the destiny of a whole planet."
Rose walked to where he was sitting and crouched to look at him in the eyes. She held his hand between hers. "You're not making the choice alone. We're here with you."
"I can't kill another planet, Rose. There are a lot of people in the surface; I can't carry their deaths on my shoulders too." He shook his head
"How much time would we have from you activate the process until the planet freezes?"
"Two hours, three at tops."
"Then we have a chance to evacuate the people. We can go to the TARDIS and tell every city to evacuate. But if you don't do it, not only them, but the people living near this planet will die too." She squeezed his hand "Do it, it's the only way."
"I'd be putting you in more danger." He mumbled.
"And when has that mattered?" she smiled at him softly.
The Doctor's entire demeanour changed. He squared his shoulders and took his hand out of hers, after returning her caring gesture. He stood up and paced around the Tear of Isha, and stopped before the device's keypad.
"Right. We've got a white dwarf to create. Mickey, Asriel, check out for exits of this dungeon, we'll have to be quick. Is Frisk ok?"
Said man answered "I'm a bit wobbly yet, but I'm managing."
"Okay. I'll need you running soon. Are you prepared?"
"Yeah." He stood up and the three men left the room
He began typing on the keypad and glanced at Rose "Rose… can you come here?"
She heard what was hidden under that question. It wasn't just a mild 'Hold that lever steady' or a 'I need you to press this button when I tell you'. He was asking her to stand by his side when he did it, because he needed someone when he pressed the button, and he needed her to hold his hand after he did.
She nodded and stood close to him. He clasped his hand in hers and pressed enter, and the machine changed colour again, this time to an orange hue. He checked everything was alright and rushed outside, never dropping her hand.
.-.-.-.-.-.
The TARDIS orbited around Woman Wept. Only three people stood inside, watching how its surface froze at amazing speeds. It came to Rose's mind the frozen waves she'd seen in her last visit, and she now could imagine how they were created.
It had been two hours and thirteen minutes since the Doctor modified the device. They had rushed outside with the help of the cultist Rose had nicked the cloak from, much to her surprise. They'd warned the city they were in and rushed to the TARDIS, jumping from city to another almost crossing their own time streams, and they'd barely made it before the surface started freezing.
The Tear of Isha would remain underground forever, under a thick layer of ice. It was better this way; no one would be able to lay their fingers on it.
When they finished, they gave Asriel and Frisk a lift to their planet, and they promised to make contact with other victims of the cult. The couldn't do anything to save their beloved ones, but at least they could discover what happened to them.
Mickey left the console room when the planet froze entirely, but the Doctor and Rose stayed. They had shifted so she was resting on his chest, his arms wrapped loosely around her. After the emotional rollercoaster they had both suffered, they needed to stay like this.
"Doctor," she mumbled, not wanting to break the spell they had both fell into, but feeling that it was time to address the matter
"Hm?"
"What was it with you today?"
He looked down at the blonde at his arms, who was still looking outside. Long gone was that confused peroxide-blonde girl he'd found inside his TARDIS; here now stood a woman who had seen the best and worst of the universe, and had faced it head on. She had also seen him at his worst, and hadn't run away.
Today, he'd been the coward. The man who ran of fear of losing her, but that had only put her in danger. He'd put up barriers in an effort to stop her making her way to his hearts, but he hadn't realized that she'd already had, so long ago.
He needed her and that terrified him, but he was more scared of not having her by his side. He would not push away, neither rush things between them. He's just going to be himself, and he would let their relationship develop on its own.
The corner of his lips tugged up in a smile, and he placed a kiss on the top of her hair.
"I don't really know, but it won't happen again."
She turned her head and made his favourite smile, the one who had her tongue between her teeth, teasing and happy.
"Good, because if you do it again, I'll slap you into your next body. Are we clear?" she tried to be stern, but couldn't hide the happiness in her tone
"Yes, ma'am."
So they spent hours chatting and making jokes, just as if nothing had happened, always touching. And when Rose fell asleep, he carried her to her room and tucked her in her bed, watching how her lips twitched upwards in her sleep. He then placed on her bedside table a box, which had the wristband she'd eyed at the market.
And if he kissed her goodnight before leaving, that was just for him to know.
The one who guesses what Pahasusi means and which language it is, they get an interlude of their liking.
B/N (Beta's Note): Hey everybody! BadWolfGirl01 here. I know that you readers think that this is awesome; if you're still reading this far into a fic that means you're enjoying it. So why don't you leave a review to let livinglittlelie know? Speaking as a writer myself, when you see that you have lots of views but hardly any have left reviews, it gets sad. Quickly. You can't imagine the happy dance that occurs when I see I have a review, and I know I'm not the only one! So leave a review, and make everyone happy! :D
