Trigger warning for mentions of child neglect in the first half of this chapter
Lyssa held on tight to the console as the Doctor piloted them to the place where Bria had been raised. They'd both lost the previous light-hearted manner they'd had once they entered the TARDIS, and the ship herself seemed to reflect it, the interior darker than it usually was. Whether it was a new design, or just a temporary look because of the situation, it seemed appropriate.
Especially as the Doctor seemed to grow grimmer as each second passed. He'd looked up something on the monitor as soon as they'd entered, without letting her see, and had grown noticeably tenser ever since.
"Where was she raised?" Lyssa asked quietly as the Doctor slammed down a lever with more force than normal. "I know she was human, but was she from Earth?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I don't know where she was born - she never told me, and most likely didn't know herself. But she was raised on the planet Telmar. It was settled by a small group of humans in the thirty-fourth century, and only because they had to. They were on a ship headed for another galaxy when it began to fail, and they crash-landed. By the time they were found, a few generations had passed, and it had become a home for them out of sheer stubbornness."
He glanced at her briefly. "It's not exactly a welcoming planet. It's harsh, frigid in the winters, and boiling in the summers. The native animals are carnivorous, and extremely hostile. All in all, exactly where I would expect the Master to 'raise' someone if he had to. Hold on, we're going in, and the TARDIS is not happy about it."
"Why?" Lyssa asked, her words coming out stilted as the TARDIS shook violently around them. "Is it like Trenzalore? Or Krop Tor?"
He glared at the console. "Yes." Inputting data into one of the screens, he twisted a knob and landed them, the TARDIS sounding distinctly unhappy. He softened slightly. "I know, old girl. I know." He ran one hand over the console lightly. "But it has to be done. You know it, and I know it. Please, don't make it any harder than it has to be."
The ship groaned one last time before a small hole opened up in the console, and a small red object popped out. He pocketed it before she got the chance to make it out and turned to her. "Let's go," he said quietly, holding a hand out to her.
She took the hand, and nearly dropped it in her surprise when she felt a blazing heat start from the point of contact and race up her arm and through her body. He only tightened his grip, and, noticing how fierce his eyes looked as he seemed to glare at everything and nothing, she said nothing.
Whatever it was he'd seen on the monitor, it had clearly disturbed him. Enough to the point where his emotions had agitated the time in both of them when they touched. And it had never been that bad before - not even after Canary Wharf.
He pushed open the door and led her out before locking the door with his key. He held the key in his hand for a moment, gazing down at it before closing his fist around it. When he opened it again, the key was gone. He placed his hand against the door, spreading his fingers against the wood and resting his forehead against it briefly, closing his eyes and murmuring something in a language she couldn't understand. When he opened them again, the emotions that had spread across his face were gone, and his face was like a stone, closed off and hard.
The only sign that he was even still feeling anything was the way his hand clutched hers like a lifeline, and the heat radiating from it through her. She was growing frightened now, stealing glances up at him as they walked, barely even taking in their surroundings. She'd noticed a grey sky, and brown dirt beneath them, but her main focus was on the man walking beside her.
She just couldn't understand why he was so upset. Yes, Bria had been captured by the Master, but he'd faced both the Master and lost companions before. And he'd always been determined to fight back, to stop the Master and save his friends. Never had he looked like this.
Like he'd lost all hope.
Like he had no hope of winning.
No plan to win.
And that scared her more than anything.
"Doctor?" Her voice was quiet, but it still sounded harsh, breaking the silence that had surrounded them as soon as they had left the TARDIS. He didn't say anything, but his eyes flicked to her briefly, so she took that as a sign to continue. "What's wrong? I've never seen you like this before. It's almost like you've - given up. Why? What's going on?"
He didn't answer at first, just kept walking. And after several minutes, she didn't think he was going to speak at all. So she lowered her head and stared at the ground, deciding to just be there for him and let him talk when he was ready. Perhaps he felt the loss of Bria more keenly because she was still so much like a child? And then that was compounded by the fact that the Master had her, and apparently had plans for her as well?
And then he spoke. "We're here." She startled, jerking her head up from the ground as they stopped. In front of them was a black building, roughly the shape of a small house, that even from the outside looked dark and foreboding.
"This is where Bria was raised?" she asked quietly, staring at the building. "It looks more like a haunted house than a place to raise a child."
"It is," he told her briefly, pulling her towards the door. "Stay close to me. And whatever you do, don't go out of my sight. I mean it. This is more dangerous than anything you've ever seen so far." Without giving her a chance to respond he kicked open the door - it fell open after only a blow - and stepped inside.
The interior was dark and dusty, the walls a dull gray, and the floor simply made of dirt. The few windows had black curtains hanging in front of them, and there were tally marks scratched into one corner of a wall. From what she could make out of the other rooms, they were the same. The only furniture in the room was an uneven table propped up against the wall, and a chair with a broken leg.
Lyssa shook her head in silent horror as the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began scanning the room, flipping a switch and illuminating the room with a dim yellow light from a small light in the ceiling.
"Twenty years."
"What?" the Doctor asked, turning to look at her.
She shook her head again, fighting the sudden urge to cry. "If she's as old as I am, twenty years. That's how long she lived in this place before you saved her. Twenty years. Of this!" She waved her free hand wildly around. "No one should have to live in a place like this, let alone a child."
His face darkened. "No. They shouldn't." He let go of her hand then, crouching down to the floor and laying his head just above it, listening to something she couldn't hear. Mindful of his order to stay close, she didn't wander far as she explored the room, only to the doorway on the other wall - missing a door, although there were hinges noticeably placed along one side.
Peering through the doorway, she was about to place her hand on the doorway when a blur of motion startled her, and the Doctor was suddenly beside her, snatching her hand away. "Don't touch anything," he ordered gruffly.
She pulled her hand free and clutched it to her chest, frowning at him. "There's hardly anything here to touch, Doctor. I was just going to touch the doorway. What's wrong with that? Is it booby-trapped or something?"
"Or something," he muttered. "Have you noticed the way that I haven't touched anything except for the floor, and that only because I have to?"
She nodded slowly. "I was wondering why you kicked down the door without even trying the doorknob first."
"I told you this house is dangerous, Lyssa," he said grimly. "Don't touch anything. There's a very high chance it might just touch you back."
She blinked and took a step away from the wall, pulling her arms tight to her chest. "Okay," she muttered slowly. "Things are getting weird now. I don't suppose you want to mention why? No? Okay. Don't mind me then, I'll just be over here, sitting in the dark - literally and figuratively."
He snorted without humor. "Sorry, Lyssa. I've got to move on to the next room, and I'm not leaving you here alone." Keeping a close eye on her, he walked into the next room and waited until she joined him, holding up his sonic and scanning the walls. "I think this was the bedroom," he said after a minute, indicating a small pile of blankets in one corner.
Lyssa took a deep breath. "I know you and the Master used to be friends, Doctor, but I'm seriously contemplating hurting him. Like, pushing him in front of a bus, hurting him. And then driving the bus over him. I mean, I know I could never actually do it, but I want to. There's no excuse for what he did to Bria. Drums in his head or no."
The Doctor shook his head slowly, scanning the blankets cautiously. "Like I told Scott, Lyssa. We were friends once, even brothers, but no more. He hasn't been the man I befriended in a long time. I've made my peace with that. And right now, I'm almost inclined to agree with you. But not just for what he did to Bria. It's for what I know he will do."
"And what's that?" Lyssa asked cautiously, standing awkwardly in the middle of the room. But the only answer the Doctor gave her was a look, sufficiently grim for her to get the point. "Ah. Something very not good. All right then. What's next? Have you found anything that might give you a clue as to where we can look for Bria?"
"Not yet," he grunted, leading her into another room, that was evidently the kitchen, judging by the cans of food stacked up against the wall. He scanned them briefly, then announced, "Non-perishable food. There's enough here to last a year. That's probably all she had to eat. None of what grows naturally on this planet is safe for humans."
"What about the other people on this planet?" Lyssa asked, feeling sick at the thought. "Wouldn't they have noticed, have done something?"
"There are no humans within ten miles of here. And you're assuming she got the chance to leave when she was a child," the Doctor stated without looking at her, frowning at his sonic screwdriver. "I'm fairly certain that the day I met her was the first time she left this place on her own." He shook his screwdriver as if that could change the results he was seeing and scanned the room. "I don't understand. Why am I not getting anything? I know there's something here. There's got to be."
Lyssa wandered around the room, careful to keep her hands to herself as she walked. She stopped outside the other empty doorway, noticing a small object lying against the wall in the other room. Something that looked like a locket, and very familiar - and not in a good way, her stomach starting to churn.
"Doctor?" she said slowly, stepping into the room, her eyes fixed on the locket. "You said Bria was human, right?"
"Yes, why?" he called, his voice distracted. Then there was a sudden flurry of activity as he evidently noticed she was no longer in the room with him, and darted after her. "I said not to leave my sight, Lyssa!" he scolded her. "Why did you leave? You could have been - why did you ask if Bria was human?" he switched topics suddenly, his voice wary. "That's the second time now today that you've asked that."
"Because I don't think that she originally was," Lyssa whispered, crouching down to the floor and, careful to not touch the floor with her fingers, gently picked up the locket that had circular symbols carved on it. Circles that were similar to the symbols on her necklace. She held it out to the Doctor, the locket displayed on her trembling hand.
He sucked in a sharp breath, reaching out to touch the locket before drawing it back as though it would burn him. "No. No." He shook his head vehemently, taking the locket from her hand and throwing it at the wall violently. It bounced off and fell to the floor, popping open and revealing a noticeable lack of contents. He ran his hands through his hair and turned to her, breathing heavily.
"She's not a Time Lord, Lyssa," he told her adamantly. "She's human. Or, well, she was."
"Was?" Lyssa repeated incredulously. "What do you mean, 'was?' Are you saying the Master used a chameleon arch to turn her from human to something else? Or that he's used it on someone else, or left it here for us to find, or, or, what are you saying?"
"Not quite," he said gravely, clenching his hands into fists and glaring at the empty locket. "I'm saying 'was' because there's a very high chance that she's no longer alive. That locket is new. Brand new - it couldn't have held a Time Lord consciousness for the last twenty years. And the writing on it - it's not telling me her Time Lord name. He's telling me where to find her. Where to find them. He's taunting me. Because there are a very small list of rules to follow when using a chameleon arch. Very small, but very important. And he's broken every. Single. One of them," he hissed.
"What are the rules?" Lyssa asked cautiously. "Did he change Bria into something she's not supposed to be?"
"You could say that," the Doctor practically snarled. "But now, now is not the time for explanations. Time is running short now, for all of us. The die has been cast, and the clock is ticking."
"Ticking until what?" Lyssa said in exasperation. "Doctor, you've been hinting at all this awful stuff ever since we got in the TARDIS, and refusing to explain any of it. But I need to know what's going on so I can help you. You said it yourself - two heads are better than one. Let me help you," she pleaded. "You said you didn't like it when I tried to retreat inside my head, and then you go and do the same thing. You're hiding everything in there, and not letting me in."
The Doctor softened at that, looking at her with sad eyes. He cupped her cheeks with his hands and rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes briefly. "You're right," he admitted. "I haven't been telling you what's going on. I can't. Not all of it, not now. You're still young, too young." He stepped back a short distance, still cupping her cheeks. "I've known you for over a thousand years now. Far more than that, actually. And it hasn't been long enough. And I'm sorry."
"Doctor, you're scaring me. What's going on? What's so bad that it has you giving up before you've even started to fight?" Lyssa brought her hands up to hold his, pulling them down from her cheeks and looking him in the eyes.
"The Siren." He squeezed her hands tight before loosening his hold, though she refused to let go, staring at him with wide eyes. "I told you before, that there were some people the Siren must never meet. I'm one of them. The Master has been continuously striving to bring us together, though he hasn't succeeded yet. Now that he has Bria, though, he can do it. He can unleash the Siren, and where she is, I must go. And you must not."
"Why?" she said simply.
"Because you're someone else she must never meet. Because you are what she seeks," the Doctor said quietly. "You are what she needs. If she and I meet, the battle for time itself will begin, and I will die. But if she meets you, time itself is lost."
"Die? You're supposed to die, and you're going to go after her anyways?" Lyssa said incredulously, ignoring the other part of his warning. "Why would you go to her? Why don't you run, find a way to stop her?"
"I already have," the Doctor said quietly, stopping her in her tracks. "I have run. I've been running for so long, ever since I looked into the Untempered Schism and saw her, what she was, what she would do. What I must do. But it's time. I have run far enough, and can run no farther. If she awakens, I must be there to stop her. But not you. If she finds you, it will be over my dead body," he swore.
"Which is exactly what she's going to do," Lyssa reminded him vehemently. "You said if you and her meet, you would die."
He nodded solemnly. "I've always known that my death would come at the hand of the Siren. And that I must fight against her for the sake of the universe. But I will kneel before Rassilon himself before I let her reach you."
"Because the fate of the universe and time rest upon it?" Lyssa asked, searching his eyes, confused when he shook his head.
"Because your fate rests upon it," he said with emphasis. "Which is exactly why I'm going to ask you to go back to the TARDIS."
"And because your fate rests upon this, and you're apparently determined to go after her anyways, that is exactly why I'm not going to leave you," Lyssa declared adamantly. "I'm stuck to your timeline for a reason, Doctor, and I'm pretty sure it's not to abandon you when there's a chance you might die. In fact, if I recall correctly, that's already happened several times for us, and we've been able to get through it together."
The Doctor shook his head. "This is the farthest you've ever jumped, Lyssa," he told her quietly. "You've never jumped farther than this, and I think that this is why. This is the end of the line for me. But it doesn't have to be for you. It can't be. Go back to the TARDIS, and let me do this."
"And I'm with you to the end of the line," Lyssa informed him smartly. "And it doesn't have to be the end. Maybe it just means that I've jumped past that point, and never told you about it. I'm pretty good at keeping secrets, you know."
"Lyssa." The Doctor gripped her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "I've seen it. Your timeline is intertwined with mine, and both of them end at this point. You're not there yet. You still have so much to do. But I am. This is where I have to take a stand. This is where I have to do what I promised to do so long ago. To live up to my name, to be a Doctor. And right now, Bria's in danger. The universe is in danger. You are in danger. Which means I have to do my best to save you all."
"So let me do that with you," Lyssa insisted. "You said it earlier. The Doctor and his fairy-girl, against the universe. And you said that Bria's needed to help unleash the Siren for some reason. Well, the Siren's not here yet, so Bria's still safe, right? We need to go after her. If we can rescue her, we can stop the Siren from being unleashed."
The Doctor shook his head. "Lyssa... do you know what created the Siren? Tainted innocence. Bria has all the innocence of a child. That combined with the awful lifestyle she's had to live, and the fact that she's now in the hands of the Master? The Master will use her to unleash the Siren. It's already too late. I'm just hoping to save Bria from her. Or whatever will be left of her. It's too late to stop the Siren from being created - her presence in history means that she will be created. We just haven't met until now."
Lyssa swallowed hard. "But you don't have to go find her," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. "You don't have to go die. The universe has asked so much of you. Can't it be wrong, just this once?"
He sighed heavily. "Lyssa..." He released her and stepped away, beginning to pace. "Don't you think I've looked for a way out? I'm over two thousand years old. Two thousand years of running. Two thousand years of searching. And it ends here. With me, saving the universe one last time. I hope."
"But why won't you let me stay with you?" she demanded. "I jumped here to this you. And you've said that I'm too young - meaning you've seen me when I'm older. Which means that I survive this. And if I can survive this, so can you."
The Doctor stopped and looked at her sorrowfully. "Lyssa, you will be with me. But not this you. An older you, who's been through it all with me. You've barely begun here, Lyssa, and I'm not going to let you fall with me. So, please. Go back to the TARDIS. I need to know that you're safe."
She crossed her arms stubbornly. "Well, you'll definitely be able to make sure that I'm safe when I'm right here with you. Because you're completely bonkers if you think that I'm going to let you face the Siren alone."
His face fell. "I was afraid you'd say that. And I'm sorry."
She snorted. "Sorry for what? That I care about you enough not to leave you when you're in trouble - again? Because that's what friends do, Doctor."
He shook his head, crossing over to stand in front of her. "No. I'm sorry for what I'm about to do." And before she could react, he'd reached into his pocket, pulled out the small red object she'd seen earlier, and placed it on her forehead. It sent out a small burning sensation and she cried out, her hands flying to her forehead as she tried to peel it off. He took her hands in his and pulled her to his chest, wrapping her up tight in his arms as she sagged against him.
He picked her up in his arms, looking down at her limp form. "Because in those two thousand years, I've also learned how to control the time in you, at least partially. Which means that I can send you far away from here. To a Doctor that you can help, to a Doctor that you can save from the darkness." He swallowed hard as he carried her out of the room, slowly making his way out of the house. "Because you know what else I've learned? You didn't come here to save me from the universe, no matter what you might think. You've come to save me from myself.
"So here's me, right now. Saving you from saving me. I think you'll be rather cross with me when you wake up. And I'll deserve it. But you'll be alive to be cross, alive to wake up. And that's better than the alternative," he whispered as he caught sight of the TARDIS in the distance. "I can't save your future self, because you're not here yet. But if you think I'm going to lose you again, you're wrong, fairy-girl. I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep you alive."
He glanced up at the TARDIS as he approached, stopping outside the closed doors. "I know you're mad at me. And rightfully so. But you also know that I have to do it. It's the only way she's going to leave. And she can't be there when I meet the Siren. You know that. But you also know what she is to us. So please, let me in. I have to do this."
He waited in silence as the ship almost seemed to deliberate, before the lock opened with an audible click, and the door slowly opened to reveal the console room. He nodded his thanks as he entered the TARDIS, making sure to shut the door after him, and laid Lyssa gently down on the floor, her hair splaying out around her. He crouched beside her still form for a moment, kissing her once on the forehead before going to the console and twisting a knob. He watched silently as her body began to glow along with the rotor, spreading throughout her body as she began to disappear.
He waited until she was completely gone to let his exterior break, closing his eyes and letting a tear fall from beneath his lid. "Goodbye, my fairy-girl," he whispered to the empty room as he entered in his new destination. "I'm sorry. But I love you too much to lose you."
A/N: So, I think we can all agree that nothing important happened in this chapter, right? This definitely isn't me hinting at what's going to happen in the very last chapters I have planned for this entire story. (Hint: I've planned lots of sadness. Like, Infinity War levels of sadness - which I just watched, and it was awesome - what parts of it I could see through my tears, at any rate.) Don't worry, though. It will be quite a while before we reach the end. By a conservative estimate on my part, there will probably be over a hundred chapters before we reach the ending for this story alone, not considering the sequel.
Also, yes. This chapter was mostly info. But, to help balance it out, there should be a fair bit of action next chapter, considering where Lyssa ends up. *evil laughter*
And yeah. The Doctor is being all vague, and mysterious, and a little bit heavy-handed here, forcibly sending Lyssa away. Or trying to, at any rate. But hey, at least he confessed his love to her. Well, not to her, exactly, but he came close! Fun fact: Originally, I was going to have him confess his love to her this chapter. And give her a very important gift. But, I decided not to do it. It didn't mesh well enough. So instead, we get a partial confession - just like Bad Wolf Bay. Doesn't that make you feel great. :D
Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to ZaraSwann, Fakira, Hehe, Guest, gabumon7, afionna262, V, and Mermaid1108 for reviewing! You guys are all awesome!
ZaraSwann: Yep. It's him. :D And don't feel too bad - I didn't make it obvious til the end. And thanks! I'm glad to hear you liked it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)
Fakira: Sometimes, we just have to look on the bright side - least we've still got something. ;D And the Doctor has given her several very important hints, both last chapter and here. And, as we can see by the end, he's given up on hints and gone straight for the bluntness. Too bad she just wasn't around to hear it. :D And for Scott, it's a work in progress. I'm sure he'll work it out to be purple guy eventually. :D I'm really glad to hear that you like this story so much. And a miracle has happened - I'm getting this chapter out, and it's still Saturday! *shocked gasp* Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed! :)
Hehe: *sneaky grin* I try. Hope you liked it! :)
Guest: Eh, sort of. From his perspective, he needed to get her back, and, well, why not traumatize Lyssa and the Doctor while he's at it. As for Bria... we'll find out what happened sooner or later. Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like it! :)
gabumon7: And even more ominous writings in this chapter! Because I'm evil like that. :D More info on the Siren here, but I feel the need to remind you... this is all from Lyssa's perspective. Which means that if she's given flawed info, so are you... *evil laughter* Of course, given everything I've mentioned on the Siren so far, it'd be kind of hard for me to fake the fact that she's actually good, and not evil. Because she's not good. Not for the Doctor, at least... Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like it! :)
afionna262: Aww, thank you so much! It always makes me so happy when I hear that people are continuing to enjoy my story. :) Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you liked this chapter! :)
V: :D I look forward to seeing your reaction to this chapter. ;)
Mermaid1108: Haha, that's awesome! I'm glad to see that you like it! Especially enough to binge read it. :) Thank you so much for your awesome review, and I hope you like this chapter! :)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :) (If you were able to stand all my vague foreshadowing and gloomy prophesying)
General Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, just Lyssa, Bria, and the Siren... *Laughs mysteriously at future plot point none of you get right now*