chapter fifty five – copycat
Midnight Shuttle
She must have fallen asleep again because she soon felt the Doctor shaking her shoulder. Rixel groaned, opening her eyes.
"Rixel, I need you to get to the back of the shuttle."
She rubbed her eyes and glanced up at him. "What?"
"Trust me." He glanced over his shoulder, then back at her. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Just waking up." Rixel mumbled.
"She's not copying her!" Someone shouted out. "Why not? Why is she so special?"
Rixel thought she heard a soft echo, but her head was still groggy from sleep she didn't think anything of it. "What's wrong?"
"Don't worry about it." The Doctor said, pulling her up to her feet. "Off you go."
"She's not copying you." Jethro said as Rixel walked back toward him. "Look." He pointed off behind her.
Rixel turned to see the Doctor kneeling down beside a woman. She recognized the woman as a passenger, but didn't know her name. "What's going on?" She asked.
"She's copying all of us." Jethro said. "Dunno how she's doing it."
Rixel noticed that when Jethro spoke, so did the woman. Her lips moved to the exact words Jethro was saying, just as he said them.
"We should throw her out." The Hostess said.
"Don't be rediculous." The Doctor replied.
"Look at her! Look at her eyes! She killed Joe and she killed Clyde and we're next!" The Hostess shouted.
Rixel looked back at the Hostess. Killed someone? What had she slept through? She looked back at the woman, who was still repeating everything everyone was saying. It sent a chill down her spine.
"You alright?" Jethro asked.
Rixel nodded.
"Just throw her out already!" Someone shouted.
"No one is getting thrown out!" The Doctor yelled.
"There's an air pressure seal. It'll stay open for six seconds. Enough time to throw someone out." Someone said.
"Will it kill her?"
"I don't know. She's got a body now. It would kill the physical form."
Rixel turned to Jethro. "What the hell is going on?"
He shrugged. "Dunno. One minute there's bangs all over the ship, the next the front half has been completely cut off. Then this woman starts copying everyone here."
"We need to throw her out!" The Hostess said.
The Doctor jumped up to his feet. "Listen! All of you! This is a life form over here. You can't just kill it! Could you actually murder her? Any of you? Really?"
"Kill her for just copying you?" Rixel asked Jethro. She watched as the woman repeated everything the others were saying still.
He nodded eagerly. "Whatever it is, it killed the captain."
"I'll do it." The Hostess said.
"So would I." Another said.
"I think we should." Someone else said.
"What?" The Doctor shouted.
"Ok, I think we all need to calm down!" Rixel interrupted, raising her voice. "She's not exactly hurting anyone, is she? It could be a coincidence that the Captain died. Seriously, we all need to just relax!"
"It's not copying her!" An older woman said, pointing at Rixel. "Did anyone else see that? It's not repeating her!"
"I saw it!" A man said. "You're with her, arn't you! You're one of them!"
"Throw her out, too!" The hostess said.
"What?" Rixel gasped.
Jethro just laughed.
"No one is throwing anyone out!" The Doctor stormed over and stood defensively in front of Rixel. "And if any of you lay one finger on her, I'll personally make sure the rest of your life is not worth living."
Everyone took a step back from him. The shuttle went silent. Rixel swallowed loudly in her ears. Everyone was glaring at her and the Doctor. She wanted to say something, but she was suddenly scared. Forget the Requiem and the Daleks and Titanic, this was here and now. It didn't matter that she was older. She was trapped on a shuttle in the middle of a deadly planet with a mob that wanted to throw her outside. Her death was literally standing a few short feet away from her.
"She stopped, you know." Jethro finally spoke.
Rixel turned her head. The woman wasn't speaking with him.
"When did she...no, look. She's still doing it." The Doctor said. His words were spoken with the woman.
"What about me, is she...Look! Look at that! She's not doing me!" A man said.
"Mrs. Silvestry?" The Hostess laughed. "Nor me!"
"Sky? What are you doing?" The Doctor asked, taking a step towards her.
"She's still doing him!" One of the girls pointed out.
"Doctor, it's you. She's only copying you." The older man said.
The Doctor turned and looked at Rixel. "Don't say anything, got it? Not even a word."
Rixel froze. She wanted to ask why not. She needed him to tell her that everything was okay and there was no reason to be worried.
"Rixel, do you understand?" He demanded.
She nodded slowly.
"Good." The Doctor turned back to Sky and walked over towards her.
Jethro stepped over to Rixel. "Are you okay?"
She nodded.
"You don't have to answer, obviously. But I'll make sure they don't throw you out."
She smiled it at. It was a nice offer, even if it was incredibly odd. She glanced back at the Doctor.
"Do we have a deal?" The woman said.
"Do we have a deal?" The Doctor repeated.
"She spoke before him!" Someone said. "Did you see that?"
"I saw it!"
"Oh, look. I'm ahead of you." The woman said.
The Doctor repeated what she said a half second after her.
"He's copying her." Jethro said.
"Doctor? What's going on?" One of the girls asked.
"I think it's moved." The woman said, getting up to her feet. The Doctor repeated her. "I think it's moved. It's letteing me go."
"Mrs. Silvestry, is that you?" The Hostess asked.
"Yes, yes it's me." The woman replied, with the Doctor still repeating her. While the woman walked over towards the group, the Doctor remained sitting on the floor where he was before.
"They're separating." Jethro looked over at Rixel.
The red headed girl shuddered. She wanted to run over to the Doctor, but she was afraid. That woman stood between them.
"It's passed onto the Doctor." Jethro said. "It's transferred. Whatever it is, it's gone into him."
"No, that's not what happened." One of the girls said.
Rixel looked up at the girl who spoke. She liked that idea. It sounded more reasonable. She didn't like how the strange woman was now moving closer to them.
"I can feel again." Sky, the strange woman, grinned. "I'm coming back to life."
"He's still copying you." Someone pointed back at the Doctor.
"Help me." Sky said, her words echoed by the Doctor. "Please, get me away from him!"
The older man stepped forward and took Sky's hand, pulling her back to the group. Sky glared at Rixel for a moment, before grinning at the older man. "Thank you."
Rixel pushed passed Jethro and raced over towards the Doctor. She knelt down in front of him. Her eyes searched his face, but he seemed to stare straight through her. His voice came out as an echo of the words Sky said.
"I'm so sorry. I couldn't breathe. I must have scared you all so much." Sky said.
"It's all right. There you are. Everything's alright now. It's gone." A man said.
"I wouldn't touch her." The girl who Rixel agreed with spoke up again.
"But it's gone now, Dee Dee." Someone said. "It's passed into him."
"That's not what happened." The smart girl named Dee Dee said.
Rixel wanted to tell everyone to listen to her, but she didn't dare speak. Not when the Doctor told her not to. Instead, she placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Is he okay?" Jethro asked, standing behind the Doctor.
"The Doctor can't move. It's possessed him now." Someone said.
"It's inside his head." Sky said.
"It's inside his head." The Doctor repeated.
"It killed the driver." Sky said.
"It killed the driver." The Doctor said.
Rixel bit her lip. She hated this. She wished she could do something.
"And now it wants us." Sky said.
The Doctor's eyes seemed to focus in on Rixel. Sadness filled up behind them. "And now it wants us."
"Stop it!" A man shouted. "Make him stop! Make it stop!"
"She's saying it!" Dee Dee said. "It's not him, it's her!"
"The thing repeats!" One of the men shouted. "He's repeating her! It's in him now!"
"Rixel?" Jethro knelt down behind her. He lowered his voice so only she could hear. "Do you think it's in him?"
Rixel stared back into the Doctor's eyes. He seemed to be looking right back at her now. She couldn't understand it. He wasn't moving or acting like himself. He was reapeating her. But she could still feel that golden warmth inside of him. That little feeling of the Tardis that she'd never felt from him before was there. She nodded.
"You're on his side!"
"No!" Dee Dee said. "It's the voice! Look at him! It's not possessing him, it's draining hm!"
"It went from him to her!" Another woman shouted. "Everyone saw it! It's in him now!"
"I saw her steal his voice!" Dee Dee shouted.
"She's right!" Jethro stood up. "It's Sky, not the Doctor!"
"They're as bad at him!" Someone shouted. "Shut them up!"
"Don't speak about my son that way!" A man yelled.
"That's how he does it." Sky and the Doctor said. "He makes you fight. Creeps into your head. Listen. Just listen. That's him inside your head."
"Get him out of my head!" A woman cried.
"Throw him out!" Jethro's dad shouted.
"No!" Jethro shouted.
"Don't just talk about it! Grab him!" Someone else shouted.
"Throw him out!" Sky said.
"Throw him out!" The Doctor said.
"Now!" Sky said.
"Now!" The Doctor repeated.
One of the bigger men marched over to the Doctor and grabbed his arm. Rixel growled and jumped up to her feet. She glared at the man, causing him to let go of the Doctor for a moment. Then the man's face grew dark. "Listen here girl, nothing against you and yours, but this isn't your friend anymore. It's a possessed thing that will try and kill you."
"It's her father!" Jethro shouted. "Dad, leave him alone! You wouldn't let them throw me out!"
The man glared down at Rixel. He hesitated for a moment, then pulled the Doctor up to his feet. "I'd want to be dead if I was possessed."
"Dad, no!" Jethro clawed at his father, but the man was too strong. He started to drag the Doctor towards the back.
"Don't!" Dee Dee shouted.
"We have to do this!" The hostess said. Her hand was on the button next to the door.
"Come help me!" Jethro's dad demanded.
A woman came over and grabbed the Doctor's arm. The older man joined them, grabbing the Doctor's legs so he was completely off the ground.
Rixel had been watching the scene in front of her with shock. She couldn't imagine that people could be so ...so... vicious! Her body was frozen to the spot, unable to move or act or anything. All she could do was stare at the cold heartedness of everyone.
Jethro pushed her from behind, snapping her out of it. "You have to do something!"
Rixel stumbled forward, blinking. Her head snapped up. Jethro was right. "Stop!" She shouted.
"Jethro, get over here and help me!"
"Dad, look!" Jethro pointed at Sky.
"Let go of him this instant!" Rixel growled, stepping towards them.
The woman dropped the Doctor instantly, letting his hand fall to the floor. "I...I'm sorry."
"I said, let him go!" Rixel shouted.
"Don't tell me what-"
"Dad!" Jethro interrupted. "Look!"
Finally the man turned to look at Sky.
"I'll give you until the count of three to let her go!" Rixel shouted.
As the red headed girl spoke, so did Sky.
"It's her!" The Hostess said, pointing at Rixel.
"One!" Rixel said, shortly followed by Sky.
"No, it's Sky!" Dee Dee said. "I told you it was her!"
"But she's copying her now!" The older man said. "It is Sky!"
"I'm not throwing out a woman!" Jethro's father said.
"Two!" Rixel clenched her hands into fists at her side.
"Dad! It's Sky! Do something!"
The Hostess slammed her hand into the button next to the door. She grabbed Sky by the arm as the door opened, filling the shuttle with blinding light. "Three." The Hostess said, grabbing Sky into a tight hug. One second they were there, the next they were completely blinded by the light. The doors shut, leaving the shuttle with two less people.
The Doctor fell to the floor as everyone released him.
"What did she do that for?" Jethro's dad shouted.
Rixel and Jethro ran over to the Doctor.
"Are you okay?" She placed a hand on his chest.
"I'm okay. It's alright. It's gone. I'm okay." The Doctor sat up, breathing heavily.
"She saved him!" Jethro said, staring at the closed door.
"She did it!" Dee Dee shouted.
Rixel hugged the Doctor. "Are you sure?"
He patted her back lightly, then got up to his feet. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Rixel went to follow after him as he sat down, but Jethro dragged her off to the side.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah." She said, staring at the Doctor. "I should go and see-"
"Are you sure you're alright?" Jethro asked.
"I said, I'm fine." Rixel turned to look at him and was surprised to see his face was slightly pale and fearful. "Why? What's wrong?"
He paused for a moment, then shifted. "You know those old stories about the crazy diseases that wiped out huge civilizations and all? Bubonic Plague, Casterdonian Flu, Sunstar Virus?"
Rixel froze. She never expected to hear about the Sunstar Virus again in her lifetime. Especially not from some random person on a shuttle that had nothing to do with it.
He leaned forward, placing his lips near her ear. "You've got red freckles on your face."
Rixel gasped and took a step back.
His face quickly changed to a forced smile. "It could be nothing, of course. Trick of the light. Maybe I just didn't notice it before. Maybe it's just how your face flusters when you get scared. I just thought I should tell you."
Rixel stared at him for a moment. He had to be mistaken. This didn't make any sense. No, no, he was definatly mistaken. He was wrong. She shook her head and headed off to the Doctor.
"I'm so sorry." Rixel said, sitting beside him.
"It's alright. It's over now." The Doctor said. He placed his head back against the seat. "The Hostess...what was her name?"
Rixel shook her head slowly. "I don't know."
He sighed and closed his eyes.
Donna raced over to them as they came off the shuttle. She hugged the Doctor for a quick moment, then pulled Rixel in for a dreadfully long, painful hug.
"You can let go now, Donna." Rixel mumbled into the woman's shoulder after a moment.
"I was so worried!" Donna said, stepped back and letting Rixel breathe. "What do you think it was?"
The Doctor shrugged. "No idea."
"Can't imagine you without a voice." Donna said.
This made Rixel snicker. They both looked down a her. "What?" She said with a smile. "It's funny, cuz he talks a lot. Get it?"
The Doctor reached his hand down and rubber her hair. "You haven't changed much, have you?"
"Doctor?" Donna spoke up. "I think I'm ready to go back to the Tardis now."
Rixel shuddered.
"Something wrong with that idea?" The Doctor looked down at Rixel as he noticed her reaction.
She shook her head quickly. "No, no. Everything's fine. Sounds like a good idea."
Donna patted Rixel's shoulder. "Looks like you got a bit of sun there."
"Huh?" Rixel looked up at her.
The woman reached down and dragged her finger across Rixel's cheeks. "The freckles. I used to get them loads of times as a kid. Usually after a bad sunburn. Though I don't think they were ever as red as yours."
The Doctor looked down at Rixel. The little red headed girl just forced a smile.
"Yeah. Had 'em for ages now. Got a bad burn a few trips back. The Doctor always takes me to the strangest places."
Miraculously, he seemed to accept that for the time being. He linked arms with them and headed off to the Tardis.
