Fifteen
'Floor 500'
- aka The Long Game (Part Two)
It didn't seem like Adam had just gone through serious surgery when he woke up again. There was no wooziness in his body, no feeling to suggest that he now had a massive hole in his head. Seriously, he'd gone through more traumatic appointments at the dentist. In fact, maybe he'd actually felt better than he did ten minutes before. Extra energy ran through his veins and he felt like he could run a marathon and win, and the robe he got changed into was plush and sat at just the right temperature, cooling him from the outrageously hot temperature on the floor. Seriously, did they not understand the concept of air conditioning in the year 200 000?
And then a mirror had been held up to his face. He blinked, trying to look for anything on his forehead that was out of the ordinary. There wasn't a mark on his face that he didn't recognise, and when he ran his fingers over his forehead there was no bump or scarring, nothing to suggest the change he had undergone. Maybe the skin felt a little tighter around the area, pulled at his hairline just slightly, but it was that subtle that Adam could forget about the change easily, accept it as the new normal.
He'd only come down here to ask about the computers and accessing them for his own research and had been talked into getting the surgery. If he got it he would become the computer, be able to know anything and everything and if he could afford it, and it was pain free, why not? He could change the world with that type of information...be labelled a genius, get all the money in the world, the respect he wanted and thought he deserved.
He lowered his hand, swallowed. It was still hard to believe that he now had a hole in his head. Kind of freaky too.
"I told you it was painless," The nurse holding the mirror up for him chimed in, meeting his eyes in the reflection. "No scarring, you see? Perfect success."
Adam nodded slightly. "How do I activate it?" He asked, finding his voice, still squinting at his reflection in disbelief.
"It's a personal voice," Quipped the nurse. "Some people whistle. I know one man who triggers it with 'Oh, Danny Boy'. But you're set in default for now," She lowered the mirror, turned to face him directly. "That's a click of the fingers."
He hesitated, nerves creeping up on him. Did he really want to see his own brain? "So...uh...you-you mean…"
The nurse raised her hand, fingers moulded into the clicking position and raised her thin eyebrow. "Click."
Working up the courage, he clicked his fingers together, the nurse shuffling quickly to hold up her mirror again. Silently, his forehead opened up. Metal spikes shot out from his smooth skin and rested at different angles along the length of his forehead, drawing even more attention to the fact that he could see his brain with his own two eyes. The flesh was pink and ripply, wiggling and pulsating away in his skull with every beat of his heart.
With shaking fingers, Adam reached out and touched at the silver spikes on the side of his head, cringing at the way they jingled in response. He hesitated, wondered if he could just reach in and touch at his brain but quickly stopped himself with another click of his fingers. The hole closed just as quickly as it opened, and despite his absolute horror at what he'd just seen on his own skin, the nurse looked the image of calm as she dropped her mirror and stared at him.
Nausea swum through his entire body then, and he could feel bile itching at the back of his throat and he knew he was just a short way away from vomiting all over his front.
"Oh, oh my god. I'm gonna be sick," He exclaimed.
Not able to help himself or hold it in, Adam lurched forward and grabbed at his stomach. Something cold travelled up the back of his throat and rolled around in his mouth like an ice cube. Confused, he reached into his mouth and pulled out a frozen lump of vomit, rolling it over between his fingers not knowing what to make of the situation.
The nurse spoke from his right. "Special offer. We installed the vomit-o-matic at the same time. Nano-termites have been placed in the lining of your throat. In the event of sickness…" She reached over and grabbed a metal bowl from the table, holding it out for him to drop the ice cube into with a resounding ding. "...They freeze the waste."
Adam gulped, wondering if he had made the right decision in filling his body with this freaky technology.
Just like it had with Suki, the lift opened automatically when the Doctor, Ella and Rose walked in front of it. There wasn't any hesitation in her step when Ella followed the Doctor into the elevator, Rose beside her acting the exact same way.
It was Cathica who was freaking out, standing outside and peering in with her arms crossed, but she was more afraid of getting into trouble than finding out what was really out there. Even when the Doctor was talking about how wrong the place was and how history had been stunted for at least ninety years Cathica had just stared at him as though she wasn't able to truly understand what was going on. She had been so bitter that Suki had been promoted instead of her, but it seemed that she hadn't allowed herself to question the place and what was so good about going up to Floor 500. It was like she knew that she wanted the promotion, but wouldn't pause long enough to debate what would happen if she got it. Almost as though she was stuck, unable to think for herself.
When Rose noticed that she was pausing hesitantly in front of the doors, she gestured at her to come in. "Come on, come with us."
Cathica just shook her head, looking at them like they were the stupidest people on the space station. "No way," She said resolutely.
The Doctor reached a hand out and waved with an almost mocking smile on his face, "Bye!" He said, obviously not going to try and convince the woman to go.
"Well," Cathica tried, looking at them desperately. "Don't mention my name. When you get in trouble just don't involve me."
The Doctor peered halfway out of the elevator to watch her as she stalked away before he turned to Ella and Rose. "That's her gone. Adam's given up. Looks like it's just us."
"Yeah," Rose said, still looking slightly disappointed that Adam had chickened out. Who would want to go sit on the observation deck when there's so much interesting stuff going on out here to explore?
"Good," The Doctor said decidedly, holding both his hands out for high fives from the women.
Ella slapped his palm with a grin. "The trio," She said. "Just how I like it."
The doors closed and they began to rise quickly, the large space by the door changing numbers as soon as they flashed on the screen. They rose from Floor 139 to Floor 200 to Floor 280 in about five seconds, picking up speed the longer they were in there for. The elevator was faster than any other one Ella had been in before but her ears still filled with tension, popping and crackling under the pressure and her legs swaying a bit to keep balance under the constant movement.
There was no dinging of the lift as it reached its destination, instead the numbers above them flashed vibrantly as 500 and the doors pushed open. It was dark outside of the elevator, an eerie blue light flooding around them as they stepped out onto solid ground. And it was freezing cold. Icicles hung off walls and the soles of her shoes crunched under a layer of snow.
Rose immediately pulled her pink jumper closer to her body, fastening it shut with the zip, and even the Doctor shrunk into his leather jacket to keep warmth. It was Ella, who was dressed more for the climate they'd experienced downstairs that was feeling the chill. She rubbed her bare arms and tried to repress the shiver that tingled at the base of her spine.
"The walls are not made of gold," Said the Doctor. "You should both go back downstairs."
It wasn't voiced as a suggestion, but Rose took it as one as she strode forward, sticking closer to Ella who had begun to look around. "Tough," She said.
The area looked to be frozen in time. There were no employees roaming about in the main area they crossed through to. It had a similar layout to Floor 139 with little stalls that Ella was sure would be shop fronts and there were the information ports and computers lit up on the sides. Except everything was covered in ice. It looked dead. The shiver that Ella had been trying to repress ran through her body, from the cold or from the eeriness of their surroundings, she didn't know.
The elevator closed behind them as they ducked under some loose hanging wires, and as they ventured further into the abandoned building, the Doctor stepped in front of Ella and Rose like he was preparing to shield them from any danger.
They rounded a corner at the end of the room where light was streaming through, making shadows dance across the ice as they went. At some type of frozen over control desk, workers were sat at chairs, looking dumbly at the screens in front of them as a suited man with stark white hair loomed over them.
He purposefully didn't look over as they climbed up the metal steps to the floor he was standing on and it seemed the man was trying extra hard to look busy as he stared thoughtfully at one of the screens up above, fingers of his right hand stroking his chin.
It was only when the Doctor pushed an arm out behind him to stop Ella and Rose from walking any further into the area that the man stirred. He made a popping noise with his mouth and craned his neck to stare at them. It looked like his back was going to give out with how far back he was leaning to get his head at that angle without turning fully to face them. His eyes were an icy blue that almost triplicated in size when he caught eyes with them until his pupil took up the majority of his eyeballs. His lips quirked at the corners almost menacingly and it made Ella's stomach turn to knots.
"I started without you," He said, voice unnaturally calm as a laugh tinkled from his mouth. "This is fascinating. Satellite Five contains every piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire…"
The Doctor strode forward as the man began to speak, Ella and Rose linked hands and kept close to him and it seemed that Ella wasn't the only one who was feeling unsettled by the man by the way Rose was clutching at her hand.
"...Birth certificates , shopping habits, bank statements, but you three," He grinned, gesturing and facing them fully when they came to a stop beside him. "You don't exist," He giggled like it was a joke. "There's not a trace. No birth, no job, not the slightest kiss. How can you walk through the world and not leave a single footprint?"
Rose let go of Ella's hand and rushed past the man to get to one of the workers stationed at the desk. Ella didn't even have to hear Rose's exclamations to know that it was Suki. The woman was almost as blue as the floral shirt she donned and just as unresponsive as the other frozen workers. Her arm looked stiff and unmoving as Rose tried to shake some life into her but the woman didn't even blink.
"Can you hear me? Suki?" Rose spun to look at the man with a glare. "What'd you do to her?"
"I think she's dead," Said the Doctor somberly.
"They all are," Ella said softly, looking at the frostbitten hair and clothes of the other workers that had seemingly been there much longer than Suki had. There's no way anyone could survive extended periods of time in this freezing place.
Rose followed the length of the woman's arm right down to her hands that were placed over the same hand print buttons that were in the newsroom. "But...she's working."
"They've all got chips in their head and the chips keep going. Like puppets," The Doctor told them darkly.
The man made an impressed sound and applauded the Doctor. "Oh! You're full of information. But it's only fair we get some information back. Because apparently, you're no one," The man laughed unsettlingly again. "It's so rare not to know something. Who are you?"
The Doctor had a blank expression schooled onto his face and he nodded at Rose and Ella to get them to move closer to him. "It doesn't matter, 'cause we're off. Nice to meet you, come on," He said shortly.
Three workers shot up from their seats as quick as a flash and rushed over to them. Two grabbed at the Doctor, and one wrapped its arms around Ella's waist, pulling her backwards as she tried to make her escape. It's freezing hands sent shocks through her body, it felt like she was being hugged by an icicle. From across the room, Rose was kept in place by Suki, who was gripping her arm, still staring straight forward unresponsively.
"Tell me who you are," The man repeated, an impatient edge cutting into his tone.
The Doctor struggled against the strong hold of the zombified employees trying to get free. "Since that information's keeping us alive, I'm hardly gonna say, am I?"
The man smirked like he was amused by the man. "Well, perhaps my Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise."
"And who's that?" The Doctor asked.
The man made an effort to look over his shoulder and then turned back to the Doctor like he was ready to tell a secret and was making sure no one else was there to find out. "It may interest you to know…" He started in a whisper. "That this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. In fact, it's not actually human at all. It's merely a place where humans live."
Some deep foreign voice rung out then, echoing sharply across the walls as it spoke in tongues...or some strange alien language that Ella couldn't even begin to decipher. The man stuck a finger out as if to say 'just hold on a minute' to them, and began listening intently. He uttered out a couple of yeps around its menacing talking and then turned back to them once the voice quieted down.
"Sorry," He apologised, looking away from them, clearly talking to the alien that had spoken. "It's a place where humans are allowed to live, by kind permission of my client," He snapped his fingers and then pointed directly above to the ceiling.
Ella craned her neck to see some massive slug stuck to the icicles on the ceiling, hanging down over them. It's blue and pink slimy skin wobbled like jelly as it spoke, mouth on the bottom of the alien snarling and snapping its razor like teeth in their direction. Slobber pooled out of the corner of its mouth when it opened it to scream threateningly, its breath breezing over them and making Ella shiver as its spit fell in puddles to the ground where it promptly froze.
"What the hell is that?" Ella asked, looking over at the Doctor and away from the alien on the ceiling that continued to swirl around. He looked equal parts horrified and disgusted at the alien.
"You mean that thing's in charge of Satellite Five?"
The alien made a disgruntled stir of sounds and the man looked offended by the choice words of the Doctor. "That 'thing' as you put it, is in charge of the human race," He corrected. "For almost a hundred years, mankind has been shaped and guided. His knowledge and ambition, strictly controlled, by its broadcast news. Edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, The Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe," He spread out his arms and leant back to observe the thing before grinning over at the Doctor. "I call him Max," He said excitedly.
The Doctor smiled as if to say 'of course you would name the very ugly slug stuck to the wall that'.
Without even having to verbalise it, only nodding his head, the Doctor, Ella and Rose were forced over to some shackles on the wall. The pull of the cuffs as the bar that stretched across her middle clasped it all together locked into place made Ella wince. The things were far too tight, and she had to keep clenching and unclenching her fists to get some feeling into them. It didn't help that the cool was starting to seep into her bones, her body trembling uncontrollably.
The man who was controlling everyone from the directions of his slug boss, had taken it upon himself to start talking shit to fill in the time...or maybe bore them into speaking. It was clear he still wanted to know who they were because they weren't dead yet - even if Ella felt like she was going to contract hypothermia at any moment.
"...Create a climate of fear and it's easy to keep the borders closed," He said, explaining why there's no aliens on board the station. "It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilise an economy. Invent an enemy. Change a vote."
"So all the people on Earth are like, slaves?" Rose asked, sounding a little disgusted by everything.
The man hummed. "Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?"
"Yes," The Doctor said without even a hint of doubt.
"Oh," The man said with an over exaggerated frown. "I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm gonna get, 'yes'?" He mocked.
"Yes," The Doctor replied stonily.
A laugh sounded from the man. "You're no fun."
The Doctor raised his arms in the cuffs and glared coolly at the man. "Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much fun I am," He threatened.
"Oh he's tough isn't he?" Creepy eyes staring at Ella for longer than she was comfortable with before he carried on. "But come on, isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit."
"And what happens to the people who figure it out? You what, shove 'em up here and hope no one notices they're gone?" Ella asked, trying her absolute hardest to keep the chatter out of her teeth as she shivered through her question.
"It's easy to make people forget so long as their eyes are always on the prize of 'promotion'," The man answered, using air bubbles to mock the one thing every employee that Ella had met was working so hard towards. She glared at him, but he remained unaffected, his grin instead turning threatening. "It's even easier to hide people that have no identities," He said, pointing at Ella. "And look, you're not too far off dead now...makes my job even easier," He offered with a wink.
Ella clenched her jaw in an attempt to stop her teeth from chattering, and continued to glare hotly at the man. He just laughed at her, grinning from ear to ear like the Cheshire Cat.
"The computer chip system, you see," The man carried on, walking away from them. "Allows me to see inside their brains. I can see the smallest doubt. And crush it," He spun to face them again, forming his hand into a fist and raising it to show just how much power he had over everyone.
"And then they just carry on, living the life, strutting about downstairs and all over the surface of Earth, like they're so individual. When of course, they're not. They're just cattle…"
Out of the corner of her eye, Ella thought she saw something moving in the shadows down in the main area they had come from. She squinted, tried to make out the figure in the distance through her shaky eyes trying to adjust to the darkness she was peering out into. Long, neat braids hung down the person's back and shaped their unintelligible face and a black pantsuit. Cathica had brought herself upstairs and was searching the area while everyone was distracted.
"...In that respect, the Jagrafess hasn't changed a thing…" He trailed off, eyes narrowing on Ella as she quickly snapped her attention back to him to not give Cathica's position away. "What were you looking at?" He asked suspiciously, taking a step forward.
"What?" Ella asked, trying to play dumb.
"What were you looking at?" He repeated.
"Trying to see if there's anything past your big head," She forced through chattering teeth.
For a second silence hung heavy in the air and Ella thought she'd made the situation worse and angered the clearly psychotic man. But then he bent forward with his hands on his knees and let out a roaring laugh, the biggest reaction either of them had gotten out of him.
He pointed a finger at her, waggling it in the air. "Oh I like her," He told the Doctor. "You made a good choice hanging around with that one."
Rose cut in with her own questions, drawing the attention away from the Doctor and the man's glaring competition. "But what about you? You're not a Jagra...er...belly thing -"
"-Jagrafess," The Doctor corrected.
"Jagrafess. You're not a Jagrafess. You're human."
"Yeah," The man said shortly with a frown, as though he didn't like being reminded of the fact. "Well, simply being human doesn't pay very well."
"But you couldn't have done this all on your own," Rose insisted.
"Oh I like her too!" The man said with a scoff of a laugh. "I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also the Jagrafess needed a little hand, to, erm, install himself," He added in a whisper as to not upset the ceiling monster.
"No wonder, creature that size. What's its lifespan?" The Doctor asked, looking up at the thing once again.
"Three thousand years."
"That's one hell of a metabolism, generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs, Jagrafess stays cool, stays alive. Satellite FIve is one great big life-support system," The Doctor explained.
The monster up above began to whine like it was unsettled and the man working for it pointed at them. "But that's why you're so dangerous. Knowledge is power, but you remain unknown."
He snickered a tiny bit and then snapped his fingers together. A hot surge of electricity ran through the cuffs and up into Ella's body. She hunched forward, suspended by the cuffs in her painful position as sparks ricocheted through her body. She shuddered in a breath through her agony, groans inching past her clenched teeth.
"Who are you?" The man interrogated above the sounds of pain escaping from the trio.
The pain subsided briefly but Ella still braced herself for the next round, knowing that there was no way the man was going to give up until he got what he wanted.
"Leave them alone," The Doctor demanded through breaths of pain. "I'm the Doctor, they're Ella Smith and Rose Tyler. We're nothing. We're just wandering."
"Tell me who you are!" He demanded impatiently.
"I've just said," The Doctor shot back.
"Yeah but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly -" The man cut off suddenly, his mouth dropping to form a perfect O as he regarded them, the Jagrafess talking above them. The man stretched out his arms at the Doctor in appreciation. "Time Lord," He named.
The Doctor paused, disbelief marring his features. "What?"
"Oh ho yes! The last of the Time Lords and his travelling machine. With his little human girls from long ago," His hand reached out to stroke at Ella's stunned face, she moved her head to try and get away from him, but his fingers still found purchase against the cold skin of her cheeks.
"Don't know what you're talking about," The Doctor denied with a shake of his head, trying to get the attention back to him and away from Ella.
"Time travel."
"Someone's been telling you lies," The Doctor insisted.
The man rolled his eyes. "Young master Adam Mitchell," He said, turning back to the screens and snapping his fingers.
An image popped up in the middle of the room. Adam was sat on one of the chairs in the newsrooms, the blue light streaming into his forehead. Into a hole in his brain, the same one that Cathica had spiked earlier. And he was screaming in agony, trying to separate himself from the beam of information, but was instead rendered paralysed.
Rose gasped in horror. "Oh my god, his head."
"What the hell's he done? What the hell's he gone and done?" The Doctor exclaimed incredulously. "They're reading his mind, he's telling them everything."
"And through him, I know everything about you," The man said happily. "Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you have infinite knowledge, Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny, compared to what you have seen in your T.A.R.D.I.S...tardis!"
The Doctor strained against the shackles. "Well you'll never get your hands on it, I'll die first," He promised.
The man simply shrugged. "Well die all you like, I don't need ya. I've got the key!"
Trapped in the beam of blue light, the key on a necklace was pulled out of Adam's pocket and suspended in mid-air above his head. Ella watched this on the screen realising the awful position he had just put them into. They had no upper hand now that everything was out in the open.
"Oh my god," Ella breathed in disbelief, she could see her breath as it left her lips, the room feeling impossibly colder now.
The Doctor swore under his breath. "You and your boyfriends," He said, struggling against the shackles once more in a desperate bid to get out.
"Today we are the headlines. We can re-write history. We could prevent mankind from ever developing-"
"-And no one's gonna stop you," Said the Doctor. "Because you've bred a human race which doesn't bother to ask questions. Stupid little slaves believing every lie. They'll just trot right into the slaughterhouse if they're told it's made of gold."
Above them, the Jagrafess snarled angrily. An alarm began to blare and the suited man rushed over to the workers at the computer station, inquiring needily as the Jagrafess continued to get louder and more demanding the longer the warning alarm continued.
On the screen, the Tardis key that was hovering in mid-air dropped onto the floor with a resounding clang and the light streaming into Adam collapsed, definitely not by his own intention.
"Someone's disengaged the safety," The man realised in horror, changing the screen showcasing Adam with a click of his fingers. Series of numbers flowed through then, the man reading them quickly nodding away as they flashed over the screen.
The Doctor was also following the codes and numbers and the odd letter that popped up, understanding written on his face which was a good thing seeing as Ella had no idea what was going on. The patterns were tracing back to the problem and the screen switched to an image of Cathica in one of those chairs with that same blue light striking into her brain. Except this time she looked more in control and alert, she knew what she was doing, she was making her own decisions.
"Who's she?" The man asked as he ran back to the controls to try and override her.
"That's Cathica," Rose said, looking over at the screen also.
"And she's thinking," The Doctor crowed, impressed. "She's using what she knows. Everything I told her about Satellite Five, the pipes, the filters, she's reversing it."
The air was beginning to lose it's chill, it no longer prickled at Ella's skin. Water dripped from the ceiling. The icicles were melting as the air took on a warmer temperature.
"It's getting warmer," Ella said, scrunching her fingers up and releasing them, enjoying the way that feeling began to run through her numb veins.
"She's venting the heat up here. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano!" He announced with a laugh.
The Jagrafess howled as the computers sparked and began to burn, the dead workers separating from the control panel and flying back from their chairs, the only person left seated was Suki. The man growled in frustration and began trying to sit the dead back up to keep working and that's when Rose broke out of her shackles, the shortage of power for that split second must've unlocked their restraints. Ella tested hers, trying to yank her arms out to no avail.
"Yes," The man said, speaking to the Jagrafess and too distracted to notice that Rose had broken free. "Sorry sir, I don't know how she did it. A member of staff with an idea," He pushed at Suki, and used her computer himself.
"Sonic - pocket," The Doctor instructed Rose.
Without a moment's hesitation Rose stuffed her hand in his pocket and felt around, her eyes widening. "God, can you get bigger pockets!" She complained.
"Hurry up!" He yelled impatiently.
Rose pulled the screwdriver out of his pocket, "Got it," She then held the thing up, inspected it. "What do I do?"
"Flick the switch."
It took Rose a couple of tries to release the shackles on the Doctor but when he was finally free he shot out of his restraints and grabbed the sonic off Rose. All it took was one flick of the switch and a point in Ella's direction to have her free.
"Oi mate, wanna bank on a certainty?" The Doctor asked as he rushed to lift the bar holding Ella's shackles up. "Massive heat in a massive body...massive bang!" He rubbed his hands over her shoulders quickly to help get some life back in them once she was free before grabbing at her hand and leading her away.
He paused when they got to the same metal steps they'd used to enter the area and turned back to grin at the man gleefully as he continued to waste time trying to fix the problem. "See ya in the headlines!"
The Jagrafess screamed overhead as if willing the prisoners to come back but Ella didn't even hesitate to keep going. She couldn't, the ceiling was collapsing around them at its tantrum and the race was on to get out of there before they were swallowed in debris. They made a slight pit stop to the room where Chathica was, the Doctor managing to rouse her from her state with a click of his fingers and then they wasted no time in legging it out of there. The lift shuddered just as they took off downwards, but the Doctor flicked his screwdriver out and kept it on track.
They all shared a look as they went, one that said 'hey, we made it, we didn't die.'
There was a lot of cleanup to do on Floor 139. Shop fronts were smashed up and people were injured from being shoved around because of the tremors of the Jagrafess dying. The thing was though, they weren't pushing and fighting one another to get where they wanted to go anymore, they were more peaceful, working together to help one another out. This must be the beginning of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, even if it was almost a hundred years off schedule.
"We're just gonna go," The Doctor told Cathica, watching the cleanup begin. "Too many questions. You'll manage."
She turned to him nervously, clutched the paper cup filled with water closer to her hands in support. "You'll have to stay and explain it, no one's gonna believe me."
"Well they might start believing a lot of things now. Human race should accelerate. All back to normal."
Cathica nodded her head over to where Adam was waiting by the Tardis. "What about your friend?" She asked.
"He's not my friend."
With a final nod the Doctor stood and began making his way over to the Tardis, ready to leave. The Doctor had his sights set on Adam as he walked, looking more furious the closer he got to him. Rose stretched out a hand to try and slow the Doctor so she could talk some sense into him, plead with him not to do anything stupid, but he brushed past it easily.
"I'm all right now," Adam said weakly. "Much better," Between his fingers was the Tardis key, which he brandished sheepishly. "I've got the key. Look it's...and..well - it all worked out for the best, didn't it?"
Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, the Doctor yanked him over to the Tardis without a word and taking the key from his hands roughly, using it to unlock the Tardis door.
Adam just kept trying to take the blame off him. "You know it's not actually my fault because you were in charge."
"Just keep shooting yourself in the foot mate," Ella grumbled just as he was shoved through the doors of the Tardis wordlessly by the Doctor.
It was a tense trip in the Tardis. The Doctor was painfully silent the entire time, focused on pushing buttons and taking them where they needed to go. Ella didn't need him to say it for her to realise where they were going. They were taking Adam home, he wouldn't be travelling with them any longer. It didn't seem like Adam caught onto that, looking more nervous the longer they flew in the Tardis. Ella didn't want to say anything to put him out of his misery. After everything he'd put them through today she thought it was better to let him sweat for that short period of time.
Adam choked when the Doctor grabbed him by the scruff of his neck once again and pulled him out of the Tardis, into a pokey little house. His relief was clear on his face though when he noticed where the Doctor took him.
"It's my house. I'm home, oh my god, I'm home!" He laughed, the smile falling as soon as he caught sight of the Doctor again. "Blimey. I thought you were gonna chuck me out of an airlock."
The Doctor didn't waste his time humouring Adam's weak attempt at a joke. "Is there something else you want to tell me?"
"No - uhm, what do you mean?"
He walked over to the telephone swiftly and picked it up in his hands. "The archive of Satellite Five. One second of that message could've changed the world," Adam lifted his finger and waved it at the telephone set trying to come up with a viable excuse as the Doctor took out his sonic and blew the thing up with a single press of a button.
"That's it then. See ya," The Doctor said simply, turning to head back to the Tardis.
"How'd you mean 'see ya'?" He asked incredulously.
"As in goodbye."
"What about me?" Adam tried again, pointing at his forehead. "You can't just go. I've got my head. I've got a chip type two, my head opens."
"What, like this?" The Doctor said, clicking his fingers and watching as the brain became exposed within a split second.
Adam looked up, trying to see it before pinning the Doctor with a hard stare. "Don't," He clicked his own fingers to shut it.
"Don't do what?" The Doctor asked, snapping his fingers again.
Adam glared in response, but didn't say anything as he closed his head up again.
Ella took that as her opportunity to mess with him. "I think he means this," She said, her fingers moving together with a resounding click and watching in amusement as the chip moved his skull out of place to showcase his brain.
"Stop it!" Adam ordered, closing his head up again as quickly as possible.
It was Rose that tried to placate the situation. "All right now, that's enough. Stop it," She looked over to them and it actually seemed that she was being serious. The Doctor, acting like a petulant child, crossed his arms and avoided eye contact with her.
"Thank you," Adam croaked. And that was when Rose raised her hand and clicked, activating the chip. "Oi!" He said, snapping his fingers.
"Sorry, couldn't resist."
"The whole of history could've changed because of you," The Doctor said with a glare.
"I just wanted to help," He said with big puppy dog eyes.
The Doctor wasn't taking any of it. "You were helping yourself."
Adam floundered. "And I'm sorry - I've said I'm sorry and I am, I really am...but you can't just leave me like this."
"Yes I can. Because if you show that head to anyone, they'll dissect you in seconds. You'll have to live a very quiet life. Keep out of trouble. Be average, unseen. Good luck," The Doctor opened the door and it creaked on its hinges as he pushed it inwards, clearly finished with the conversation.
With a last ditch attempt at reasoning with them, Adam called out to the Doctor weakly. "But I wanna come with you."
At that comment, the Doctor took a step back from the Tardis to truly look at the man, Adam shrunk under his gaze. "I only take the best. I've got Ella and Rose."
Ella smiled at the Doctor at the compliment and followed him into the Tardis when he left. She didn't bother saying goodbye to Adam as she went, after all he almost got them killed with his stupidity. It was Rose that hung back for a second, but even she didn't wait too long before she closed the doors on Adam forever. The Doctor grinned and revved the engines and the shaking under her feet alerted her that they had left Adam behind once and for all.
It wasn't until much later that Ella began to think. In her room in the Tardis, tucked away in this plush bed, Ella couldn't bring herself to go to sleep. Her room was perfect, as it usually was. It was plain with just a bed, a bedside table with an alarm clock to help her tell the time even though they lived in limbo land, timeless mostly, but she needed the structure to get her sleeping schedule and an en-suite bathroom. Just the way she liked it. And when she would climb into bed to go to sleep the yellow light that sprung through the room would dim greatly until there was just a whisper of the light left, just enough to allow her to see everything. It was like the Tardis knew that she was afraid of the dark.
Despite being in the same comforting environment, her mind was rushing with ideas and possibilities and jumping to 'what if' conclusions. She kept thinking of the way the Doctor had so easily left Adam, dropped him off back home without a second thought about it. She'd understood why he did it and couldn't fault him at all, but there was this niggling feeling in the back of her brain that made her wonder if he would do the same to her if she messed up.
Could she ever mess up that badly on one of their adventures that the Doctor would just chuck her out on the streets? Could she become as insignificant in his eyes like Adam was?
A rush of anxiety sped through her body as she sat up straight in bed, pushing the thin blankets off her in the process and fanning a hand through her tangled hair. Light filled the room once more, as though the Tardis knew that Ella wasn't going to be attempting to get anymore sleep. She'd been lying in bed for the better part of two hours, and the Doctor usually waited around eight before he started getting antsy and impatient. Apparently Time Lords didn't have to sleep which she was very envious of right about now.
Tiredness pulled at her eyes but no matter how much she concentrated and tried to relax into sleep, her mind betrayed her as it ran a million miles an hour.
She slipped out of bed, bare feet padding across the carpet as she made her way to the door. The temperature outside was just the slightest bit cooler than in her room and it made her shiver and wish her pajamas were just a tiny bit thicker.
Her body was still trying to acclimatise to normal temperatures, the Doctor had told her when she'd practically shivered through the entirety of dinner even with a thick wooly jumper on. She'd forgotten how cold she was on Floor 500, with the only thing stopping her muscles seizing up was the adrenaline coursing through her veins. It wasn't until everything slowed down that her body caught up...along with her thoughts.
Seeking a distraction she thought that now was the perfect time to try and find the library that the Doctor had continued to talk about.
She didn't stop at the console room and continued on down the hallway, checking every door as she went. The hallway curved and continued on as far as the eye could see in multiple different directions. It felt like hours that Ella spent walking, opening so many different doors to no avail. Apparently she could find a swimming pool that the Doctor had never mentioned existing before but still couldn't find the library.
Ella was that close to just giving up altogether and retreating back to her room when the Tardis began to hum. The engines weren't moving so they weren't travelling anywhere - the Doctor always preferred to sit in space while Ella and Rose slept anyway - and there weren't any alarms going off to signal danger so she had no idea what was going on.
The humming only intensified when she screwed her forehead up in confusion and then tiny little twinkle lights on the edges of the carpet began to twinkle flashing like an arrow down the hallway and moving with her when she began to follow them. The lights faded after a couple minutes of walking, stopping in front of a simple oak door.
Ella tested the door and cracked it open, peering inside tentatively. Lights flickered on and she realised that she had indeed found the library. She pushed the door fully open until it rested on its hinges and then looked out at the hallway, feeling pretty stupid that she was about to thank a ship that wouldn't be able to speak back to her.
"...Thank you," She said quietly, her voice ringing in the silence.
The Tardis just hummed in reply and she took that as a positive.
As she stepped inside the first thing that caught her eye was the circle of massive plush leather couches. And then it was the long stretches of bookshelves that went on so far in front of her that Ella couldn't exactly see where they ended. Books of all sizes sat in perfect stacks along the wooden cases.
Ella tip-toed in, feeling like she was intruding on something, and ran her fingertips along the spines of the books in the closest shelf that was eye level to her. Some of them were printed in English, others what she thought was French but a lot of them were printed in alien languages that she couldn't read. There was a particularly old one that her fingers brushed over, the spine a bit tattered from use and the words seemingly ancient.
Someone cleared their throat behind her. She almost jumped out of her skin.
Hand on her chest, Ella turned to find the Doctor leaning against the doorframe watching her. She stared at him with wide eyes and an open mouth, trying to will words to come to her.
"I see you found the library then," The Doctor started, stating the obvious.
"Heh - yeah, here I am," Ella said awkwardly in response, rubbing her hand over the back of her neck and trying her hardest not to look guilty. Technically she didn't do anything wrong but it almost felt like being here was intruding on his privacy being in here. It felt a bit personal.
"What're you doing up? I thought you humans loved your sleep."
"Can't sleep."
The Doctor leaned forward inquisitively. "And why not?"
Ella shrugged, trying to keep her cool. "Just can't."
"You're lying," The Doctor pointed out like he saw it on her face and could read her like an open book. "What's wrong?"
A sigh was pulled from her mouth at that. "I just - I keep thinking….would you ever throw me out like that?" She continued on quickly at the confusion that morphed on the Doctor's face. "Like Adam. I mean if I do anything that bad would you kick me out?"
"You're smarter than that idiot. You know better."
"But what if I don't, what if I mess up, do something really shit?" She asked seriously. If he could read her like a book then she might as well lay all her cards out on the table before he began telling her what she thought. "I mean I don't have anything to pack or get rid of...you could just throw me out on the street without a second thought if I fucked everything up."
"Ah," The Doctor said in almost...understanding? Ella looked down at her hands to avoid seeing his reaction and picked at her nails. Silence stretched over the two for a bit, the soundlessness roiling uncomfortable in the air as tension began to fill it. Then the Doctor cleared his throat. "Tell ya what, come on…"
Ella looked up to see the Doctor gesturing for her to follow and she questioned him with a raised eyebrow as she stayed locked in her position, hesitating to follow him.
"Come on, I have somewhere to take you," He tried again, this time holding his hand out for her to take.
She moved forward then and slipped her fingers between his. She had held his hand on occasion before then, but they were usually always running from danger and she didn't have time to think about how his hand felt in hers. His palm and skin and of his fingers were calloused and dry but it was undeniably warm as he squeezed her hand just once as he led her out to the control room.
He left her at the seat by the panel and began to punch in coordinates, twisting a couple of levers and they began to move. The ground shook under her feet in a way that she had only just begun to get used to and her hand found purchase on the seat she stood next to, to aid her in keeping her balance as she rocked around.
"Where're we going?" Ella asked.
The Doctor shot her a look like he was surprised that she had even bothered to pose the question. "You'll see," He told her evasively.
"And Rose won't be annoyed that we're going anywhere without her?"
"Nah, shouldn't do," The Doctor peered around the console and sent her a cheeky grin as he continued to work. "Neither of you woke up when I popped out to see the Queen of Trexx the other day."
Ella opened her mouth to confront him, lifting a finger to point at him in her attempt to call him out. "Now hold on a-"
The Doctor cut her off by reaching around the Tardis controls to ring the bell as he always did when he landed. The floor had stopped shaking under her feet as well. "Here we are," He called gleefully, clearly very pleased with himself that he had gotten the upper hand in this situation.
He rounded the console and began moving to the doors without even waiting for her. Ella looked down at her pajamas, a soft pink and blue patterned fabric cut into a singlet and mid-length trackie pants which she smoothed it out under her hands. Surely she couldn't wear that to wherever they were going.
"Oi!" She called, catching his attention and pulling him to a stop by the Tardis door. She gestured down to what she was wearing. "Is this alright."
The Doctor smirked. "Yes, you look lovely, now come on."
He opened the door and stepped out into...darkness? Ella couldn't see much from where she was standing and so she moved forwards, tugging up her singlet top as she went. She wasn't wearing a bra and the last thing she wanted was to draw any unwanted attention to herself around whatever alien thing the Doctor had decided would be a good idea to take her to.
The area outside the Tardis was immensely familiar and very far from alien. Through the darkness Ella could spot the couch that the Doctor had parked an inch away from, and the cheap glass coffee table that the Doctor had almost tripped over filled with a variety of odd belongings - her belongings.
The Doctor had taken her to her apartment.
It was night time and it was dark save for the tiny specs of light filtering in through her blinds and the glow of the night light that she had used religiously filtering under her closed bedroom door. But it looked the exact same as she had left it when she had run off with the Doctor, nothing had been taken, no one had come and cleared her apartment yet since she was declared missing. If anything, the night light told her that she - a younger she was currently living in the apartment.
Ella followed the path the Doctor had made past her coffee table and stood with him by the kitchenette, trying with all of her might to think why he could've possibly thought to take her here.
"Usually," The Doctor started, his voice a hushed whisper in her ear, speaking before she could even form questions to ask herself. "As a golden rule you shouldn't cross your own time stream - who knows what kind of paradoxes you could create. But seeing as that version of yourself," He pointed at her closed bedroom door knowingly, and her eyes followed him. "...is fast asleep. I'd say it's pretty safe to let it slide. Just don't be loud and draw attention to yourself and we should be fine."
"Why…" She trailed off, trying to find the right thing to say. "Why'd you bring me here?"
Even through the darkness Ella could make out the Doctor rolling his eyes and gesturing at her like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. "You said you didn't have any personal belongings on the Tardis, well, now you've got a chance."
Her mouth opened again to utter out a thank you but it was as though he knew exactly what she was going to do and quickly shushed her sharply, telling her to go choose some things to take before the sun rose.
There was no way she could possibly get into her bedroom to get any of her clothes if a past her was sleeping in bed so she was already limited with what she could choose. And then she took a moment to think about what she needed - what she really wanted to take with her on the Tardis.
She didn't have many belongings. Some cheap and quite frankly very faulty kitchen appliances, a hair straightener that smoked everytime she turned it on to use it, piles upon piles of work uniforms and cheap clothes that she'd gotten with the store's discount sprung to mind when she thought back to the things she owned. They were all pointless things that she could replace but her special book, well to her it was priceless.
Blindly, Ella felt her way over to the coffee table once again and felt around on her old sofa that she'd gotten at a yard sale for half price for her bag. Her fingers found purchase against the familiar and worn fabric of her handbag and with a quick flick of the zip she'd grabbed at the hardcover book that she always sat on the top of her bag. She ran her fingers over the copy and held it close to her chest as she rose from her knees and turned to the Doctor who was snooping around her kitchen.
She cleared her through to gain his attention and then whispered out across the room that she was done, turning and moving into the Tardis without even bothering to wait for him to join her. The whole thought of her accidently crossing her own time stream actually scared her and she didn't want to take any chances.
The Doctor glanced down at the book in her hands when he passed her on his way to pilot the Tardis and it was only once they were back amongst the stars that he actually gave her his full attention, staring at her curiously.
"What'cha got there?" He asked.
A little sheepishly, Ella rose the one possession she brought with her and held the cover out so he could read it. The title of the book was completely a coincidence to her situation now, but the Doctor's eyes flickered with amusement when he skimmed over it. 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' was the first book that she ever owned, left on her bedside table in the hospital after she was found, with a message on the first page scribbled in chicken scratch handwriting to never give up. She had no idea who gave it to her, but she appreciated it all the same, reading it countless upon countless times since she'd gotten it. It was priceless to her.
"Good book," The Doctor said with a nod, noticing that it was the only thing she brought with her. "Are you sure that that's all you wanted? Because it's going to be very hard to cross our own time streams again to go back there."
Ella shook her head. "Nah."
"Alright then, well count that as your final goodbye to Higburn Apartment Complex," The Doctor paused, a contemplative look passing over his face. "Hold on, I'm pretty sure I know the owner, hung out with him a few times in the '90s. Nice bloke, very competitive on the pokies - good ol' Patrick Allen," He said with a smile of remembrance.
Ella recognised the name. He was an old balding man who had a kind smile whenever he passed her going in and out of the complex. For some reason she could still remember the way his hands had shaken and gripped hers when he had handed over the keys once she'd signed the lease. According to some horror stories she'd heard through the grapevine, he was the best landlord she could ever ask for. It was strange to her that the Doctor knew him too, Patrick Allen had always seemed the introverted type.
"Small world," Ella said with a smile.
The Doctor checked his watch quickly. "Well then, you'd better go back to bed. You've only got another four hours 'til we set off tomorrow."
"Right," Ella said slowly, knowing when to take a hint. "Goodnight Doctor."
She turned and made her way around the back to get access to the neverending stretch of hallway when she paused and looked over at him. He was focused back on the console, tinkering with a few buttons distractedly. She knew that she should say more - thank him for taking her back to her place for one last goodbye. But of course, she was never one for eloquence.
"Hey Doctor?" She called out to gain his attention once more. She sent him the most genuine smile she could muster and held up the book that she cherished so much. "Thank you."
It seemed that was all that she needed to say because the Doctor smiled back at her and nodded softly.
"You're welcome," Was all that he said in return.