Something heavy flew into one of the walls outside with a heavy thud, followed by the crashing sound of dozens of glass dishes falling to the ground and several more shocked cries.
The Doctor cursed, glancing at the door before returning his attention to the unconscious man on the ground. "I need to get back out there. Donna, try and wake him up. Don't jostle his body at all, but try and get him conscious. Greeves, try and find some blankets - we need to keep him warm," he directed the butler. "And all of you," he instructed the room at large, "do not touch that knife. Right now, it's keeping him from bleeding out. Get him conscious if you can, but do not let him move around, and don't let anyone jostle the knife. Got it?" he asked, rising to his feet and moving to the door.
"What are you going to do against such a creature?" Agatha asked incredulously as Donna left the door and knelt by Roger. "You're unarmed, and it's dangerous!"
"So am I," the Doctor said grimly, ignoring her disconcerted look and placing his ear next to the door. After listening for a moment - and appearing to hear nothing alarming - he cautiously opened the door and slipped out. A moment later, he returned and opened the door fully. "Coast is clear," he informed them. "Whoever the murderer is, they're back to normal. Won't do anything in front of all these witnesses."
"Doctor!" Lady Eddison called from inside the dining room, sounding greatly distressed. "My jewelry! The Firestone! It's gone! Stolen!" She appeared by his side, throat bare of the famous necklace. "Please, Doctor, you have to -" Her eyes landed on her wounded son and she gasped. "Roger! My child!" she collapsed more than knelt by his side, letting out a heart wrenching sob as she picked up his limp hand. "My son!"
"It's all right, my lady, he's still alive," the Doctor assured her, crouching down and checking Roger's pulse. The rest of the group, attracted by her cries, crowded into the doorway and looked on in horror. The colonel pushed his way through, rolling his chair to be by his wife and son's side. "And it looks like he's coming around," he added as Roger groaned. "I can stitch him up here, give him some basic care, but you'll want to have him taken to the hospital and looked at as soon as possible," he warned. "I can't make any promises, but I can try."
She nodded frantically, clutching her son's hand to her chest. "Anything! Anything! Just please, save my son!" she pleaded.
"Right." He stood to his feet and hesitated before patting her awkwardly on the shoulder in an attempt at comfort. "Stay strong, Lady Eddison. Your son is healthy, and he's coming around. Those are good signs. Try and keep him awake and calm, if you can." He turned back to the group at the door. "Davenport, go to the kitchen and have them start boiling water," he instructed the worried servant. "Lots of it. I'm also going to need blankets, clean towels, and lots of light. And you lot -" he addressed everyone else, "clear the room! I'm going to need a sterile work environment and none of you are helping."
xXx
Lyssa waited in tense silence with the others back in the drawing room as the Doctor worked. The dining room was a mess - apparently the creature had flung the table against the wall in a rage, possibly at being denied its prey - and was currently being cleaned by the shocked staff. No one else had been harmed, but everyone was antsy. They all sat quietly on the couches, tense and withdrawn.
Lyssa and Donna sat off to the side, keeping a close eye on Robina and the reverend. The Doctor had been visibly unhappy about Lyssa leaving after someone had tried to kill her earlier that day, but knowing that she wouldn't be of much help - her hands were shaking too much to risk handling sterilized items - and not wanting to be a distraction, she had promised to stick with Donna and fled the room, hastily washing her hands in water as hot as she could stand. Agatha had remained with the Doctor, quietly offering to help him as Lady Eddison and the colonel were too distraught.
Lyssa fiddled with one of her loose curls, trying to keep her face clear as she thought. She didn't remember much of this episode, but given that each one of the guests was hiding something, and how few were remaining, she had a pretty good guess as to who was hiding what. More specifically, she was pretty sure that Robina was the thief - presumably the infamous Unicorn mentioned earlier that day. And the reverend... he was connected to Lady Eddison somehow. Whether that connection was enough to warrant murder or not, she wasn't sure.
They all looked up as the door opened and the Doctor and Agatha came in, expression giving nothing away as he came to a stop in the middle of the room, ensuring he had everyone's attention. "Surgery's over," he announced quietly. "Roger has survived the operation and is resting quietly in his room. His mother and father are with him. Barring infection, he should recover completely in time."
Lyssa closed her eyes, whispering a quiet prayer of thanks as everyone let out a relieved breath.
"What about the murderer?" Robina asked, watching the Doctor with narrowed eyes. "Obviously they're still out there. Not to mention whoever it was that stole her ladyship's necklace. What are we to do? We're all in danger."
"Yes, you are," he agreed grimly. "Which is why I'm going to ask each of you to return to the rooms provided for you and lock the doors while I confer with Mrs. Christie, my wife, and Miss Noble. I will do my best to protect you and catch this killer, but that depends on you listening to me and doing as I say, understood?" he asked, meeting everyone's eyes and waiting until they nodded to move on. "We'll travel with you to your rooms and ensure you're safely in there, then return here."
Upon gaining their agreement, everyone stood and escorted the reverend and Robina to their rooms before returning to the drawing room, declining the drinks offered by Greeves. The Doctor began to pace in front of the fireplace as the others reclaimed their spots on the sofa closest to the fire.
"Did you enquire after the necklace?" Agatha questioned after a moment.
"I asked Robina - figured she would know," Donna shrugged. "Lady Eddison bought it back from India. It's worth thousands. Made a good target for anyone - any of the guests or servants could've nabbed it in all the chaos. Be easy enough to hide."
"It can sting, it can fly. It could wipe us all out in seconds, why is it playing this game?" the Doctor interrupted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "What's the point? Not to mention, what use does it have for a necklace?"
"I don't think the wasp is the one who grabbed the necklace," Lyssa pointed out. "It's a giant wasp. They can't exactly pull it off. The thief and the murdered are separate." She sighed. "I just wish I knew why the wasp was killing people. It's obviously targeting this group for a reason."
"Oh, stop it!" Agatha exclaimed in exasperation. "You speak as though people were killed by that thing instead of one of us."
"How do you know they're not the same thing?" Lyssa pointed out with a frown. "You saw the same giant wasp that I did, right? There's no way something that size could come from Earth. Not Earth as we know it, anyways."
"It would be very easy to manipulate light and images to create such a thing," Agatha dismissed. "Such tricks are often performed at parties, though usually for fun and not murder. Either way - the murderer is as human as you or I."
"You're right!" the Doctor exclaimed, startling them all. He walked over and knelt by Agatha, looking at her with confident expectation. "Ah, I've been so caught up with giant wasps that I've forgotten. You're the expert!" he grinned.
The author shook her head, bewildered. "I'm not, I've told you! I'm just a... purveyor of nonsense."
"But you're not! You're brilliant!" Lyssa objected. "Your stories are amazing!"
"But my stories are just that - stories," Agatha smiled sadly. "I'm grateful that you enjoy them, but you seem to think me greater than I really am."
"No, no, no, no, no!" the Doctor shook his head. "Because plenty of people write detective stories, but yours are the best! And why? Why are you so good, Agatha Christie? Because you understand!" he exclaimed. "You've lived... you've fought... you've had your heart broken. You know about people... their passions, their hope, and despair, and anger. All of those tiny, huge things, that can turn the most ordinary person into a killer. Just think, Agatha! If anyone can solve this... it's you!"
xXx
Everyone was gathered in the drawing room once more, including the very reluctant Lady Eddison and her husband. Several trusted servants sat with Roger in their place, instructed to call if anything changed. Donna placed the lockpicking kit she and Agatha had found earlier on the coffee table in the middle of the room, then settled on one of the couches with a bowl of grapes she had appropriated from the kitchen, on account of dinner being interrupted earlier. The storm from earlier had passed, leaving the room ominously quiet.
"I've called you here on this endless night, because we have a murderer in our midst," the Doctor announced ominously, pacing in front of the group. "And when it comes to detection, there's none finer. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... Agatha Christie!" He held a hand out to the author before taking his seat by Lyssa and Donna as Agatha took his place.
"This is a crooked house," she began, quieter than the Doctor but just as commanding. "A house of secrets. To understand the solution, we must examine them all. Starting with you..." She paused, glanced meaningfully at Lady Eddison, then turned abruptly to Robina. "Miss Redmond," she finished.
Robina raised an eyebrow. "But I'm innocent, surely?" she drawled. "You can hardly think I murdered several people I have no connection to?"
"Exactly!" Agatha pronounced, smiling grimly at the confused look the young brunette sent her. "You've never met these people and these people have never met you. I think the real Robina Redmond never left London. You're impersonating her!" she accused.
"How silly!" Robina laughed, though it lacked her usual coolness. "What proof do you have?"
"You said you went to the toilet..." Agatha started.
"Oh! I know!" Donna interrupted gleefully. "If she was really posh, she'd have said 'loo'."
"I don't think you can accuse people based on synonyms, Donna," Lyssa muttered quietly with a laugh.
The redhead shrugged as Agatha reached down the table and picked up the lockpicking kit. "Earlier today, Miss Noble and I found this on the lawn. Right beneath your bathroom window. You must have heard that Miss Noble was searching the bedrooms, so you panicked. You ran upstairs and disposed of the evidence."
"I've never seen that thing before in my life," Robina stated, losing her smile altogether. "Frankly, this idea is both ridiculous and insulting. I expected better from you both."
"What's inside it?" Lady Eddison asked, speaking up for the first time since leaving her son.
Agatha opened the box, revealing the multiple levels of tools. "The tools of your trade, Miss Redmond. Or should I say," she paused and showed the box to the room before turning back to the brunette, "the Unicorn!"
The rest of the group gasped, and Lady Eddison clutched a hand to her bare neck, staring at the young woman in shock.
"You came to this house with one sole intention," Agatha finished. "To steal the Firestone!"
Robina raised her head, looking the author brazenly in the eye before seeming to come to a decision and standing up. No longer did she have the prim carriage of a proper lady. Instead she emitted a bold defiance. "Oh, all right then," she gave in, voice switching from its former refined accent to a rougher one. "It's a fair cop. Yes, I'm the bleedin' Unicorn. Ever so nice to meet you, I don't think. I took my chance in the dark and napped it. Go on then, you knobs. Arrest me, sling me in jail!" she challenged the group, pulling the Firestone from her bag and flinging it at the Doctor, who caught it just before it hit the ground.
"So... is she the murderer, then?" Donna frowned.
"Don't be so thick," she sneered, sitting back down. "I might be a thief, but I ain't no killer."
"Quite," Agatha murmured in agreement. "Quite. There are darker motives at work. And in examining this household, we come to you..." She eyed Lady Eddison once more before turning to her husband. "Colonel!"
He immediately folded. "Dash it all, woman! You with your perspicacity! You've rumbled me," he complained, standing up from his wheelchair much to the shock of the entire room.
"Hugh, you can walk! But why?" Lady Eddison asked, staring up at him.
He glanced at her. "You're still a beautiful woman, Clemency," he said softly. "Sooner or later some chap will turn your head. I couldn't bear that. Staying in the chair was the only way I could be certain of keeping you." He turned to Agatha. "Confound it, Mrs. Christie, how did you discover the truth?"
She blinked. "Um, actually I had no idea. I was just going to say you're completely innocent."
There was an awkward pause.
"Ah," he grimaced.
"Sorry," the author winced.
"Well... shall I sit down then?"
She nodded slowly. "I think you better had."
He sat back down in his chair, looking grim. Lady Eddison quietly reached out and took his hand.
"So he's not the murderer?" Donna checked, popping another grape in her mouth.
"Indeed, not," Agatha confirmed. "To find the truth let's return to this." She took the Firestone from the Doctor and held it up for the room to see." Far more than the Unicorn's object of desire. The Firestone has quite a history. Which brings us to... Lady Eddison." She held her gaze this time.
"I've done nothing!" the shocked woman protested. "Surely you can't think I would hurt my own son?"
"You brought it back from India, did you not?" the author pointed out. "Before you met the Colonel. You came home with malaria, and confined yourself to this house for six month, in a room that has been kept locked ever since, which I rather think means..."
"Stop. Please," the poor woman begged, glancing nervously at her baffled husband.
"I'm so sorry," Agatha said genuinely, before continuing on. "But you had fallen pregnant in India. Unmarried and ashamed, you hurried back to England with your confidante, a young maid later to become housekeeper Miss Chandrakala."
"Clemency, is this true?" the colonel asked in shock, turning to his distraught wife.
She could only nod, on the verge of tears. "My poor baby. I had to give him away. The shame of it," she whispered brokenly.
"But you never said a word..." he frowned, trying to understand.
She shrugged helplessly. "I had no choice. Imagine the scandal. The family name! I'm British, I carry on," she sighed.
"And it was no ordinary pregnancy," the Doctor interrupted knowingly.
She blinked, staring at him. "How can you possibly know that?"
"Clemency?" the colonel asked, and she shook her head.
"'Scuse me Agatha, this is my territory," the Doctor announced, standing up. "But when you heard that buzzing sound in the dining room, you said 'It can't be.' Why did you say that?"
"You'd never believe it," the poor woman whispered.
"The Doctor has opened my mind to believe many things," Agatha said, glancing pointedly at him.
Lady Eddison glanced around the room, then back at her husband, who patted her hand encouragingly, before starting her tale. It was a brief if fantastic one, involving her short-lived yet passionate affair with a man long ago who revealed himself to be the same species as their murderer. He was killed soon after, but not before leaving her both the Firestone and bearing a child.
"A 'poor little child'," Agatha said when she had finished. "Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Professor Peach worked it out. He found the birth certificate."
"Oh, that's maiden! Maiden name!" Donna exclaimed excitedly.
"Precisely," Agatha nodded.
"So... she killed him?" Donna continued on, munching on her grapes like they were popcorn.
"I did not!" Lady Eddison denied.
"Miss Chandrakala feared that the Professor had unearthed your secret. She was coming to warn you," Agatha stated.
"So... she killed her!" Donna deduced, undeterred by Lyssa's snickers.
"I did not!" Lady Eddison stated again.
"Lady Eddison is innocent," Agatha stated firmly. Because at this point... Doctor!" she turned to him.
"Are you gonna accuse him, too?" Lyssa jokingly asked the redhead in an undertone.
She shrugged, casually popping another grape in her mouth. "Might do."
The Doctor shook his head at them both before standing to take Agatha's place. "Thank you. At this point, when we consider the lies and the secrets, and the key to these events, then we have to consider... it was you, Donna Noble!" he turned to his companion.
She almost choked on her grape before she swallowed it. "What? Who did I kill?" she demanded.
"I don't know, Donna, who did you kill?" Lyssa teased.
"No, but you said it, all along," the Doctor raised his voice to speak over them. "The vital clue. This whole thing is being acted out like a murder mystery. Which means..." He pointed to the author, "it was you, Agatha Christie!"
"I beg your pardon, sir!" she frowned.
"She killed them?" Donna said incredulously.
The Doctor shook his head adamantly. "No! But she wrote! She wrote those brilliant, clever books. And who's her greatest admirer? The moving finger points at you..." He turned around. "Lady Eddison!"
"Leave me alone!" the poor woman pleaded.
"So... she did kill them?" Donna continued, confused. "I thought we went over this already."
The Doctor sighed. "No! But just think, last Thursday night, what were you doing?"
"I was... I was in the library," Lady Eddison started slowly, thinking back. "I was reading my favorite Agatha Christie, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Thinking about her plots, and how clever she must be. How is that relevant?"
"Just think. What else happened on Thursday night?" the Doctor coaxed, glancing pointedly at the reverend, who had been quietly watching this whole time.
"I'm sorry?" he asked in confusion.
"You said on the lawn, this afternoon. Last Thursday night, those boys broke into your church," the Doctor reminded him.
"Ah. Yes, that's correct," the reverend nodded. "They did. I discovered the two of them. Thieves in the night, I was most perturbed. But I apprehended them," he finished casually.
"Really?" The Doctor raised his eyebrow. "A man of God against two strong lads? A man in his forties? Or, should I say... forty years old, exactly?" Lady Eddison gasped and he turned his head to her, but kept his gaze on the reverend. "Lady Eddison, your child, how old would he be now?"
"Forty! He's forty!" she exclaimed, staring at the reverend in shock.
"This is poppycock!" he exclaimed in frustration.
"Oh?" the Doctor challenged him. "You said you were taught by the Christian Fathers. Meaning, you were raised in an orphanage." He raised his voice to be heard over the shocked mutters of the group. "You found those thieves, Reverend, and you got angry! A proper, deep anger, for the first time in your life, and it broke the genetic lock! You've changed!" he accused the man. "You realized your inheritance! After all these years, you knew who you were."
He grabbed the Firestone from Agatha and held it aloft. "Oh, and then it all kicks off, 'cause this isn't just a jewel. It's a Vespiform telepathic recorder! It's part of you, your brain, your very essence. When you activated, so did the Firestone. It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie, directly from Lady Eddison. It all became part of you. Mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain. You've killed, in this pattern, because that's what you think the world is. Turns out, we are in the middle of a murder mystery. One of yours, Dame Agatha!"
"Dame?"
He grimaced. "Oh, sorry. Not yet."
"So... he killed them, then? Definitely?" Donna double-checked.
"Yep," the Doctor pronounced with finality.
"Well. This has certainly been a most entertaining evening," the reverend said casually. He frowned when everyone just stared at him. "Really, you can't believe any of this surely, Lady Edizzzz..." he trailed off in frustration.
"Sorry, didn't catch that. Lady who?" the Doctor teased, holding a hand up to one ear.
"Lady Edizzzzzon..." he finished with some difficulty, glaring at the Doctor.
"Little bit of buzzing there, Vicar?" the Doctor asked innocently.
"Don't make me angry!" he snapped, standing abruptly.
"Why? What happens then?" the Doctor prodded, shifting ever so slightly so he was closer to the man.
He snapped. "Curse it! You humanzzzz! Worshipping your tribal sky godzzz! I am so much more! That night, the universe exploded in my mind! I wanted to take what wazzz mine. And you, Agatha Christie, with your railway station bookstall romancezzzzz... What'zzzzz to stop me killing you?" he demanded, the buzz becoming more prominent as he grew angrier. A faint purple sheen appeared around his face, glowing unnaturally.
"My child!" Lady Eddison gasped, reaching out to him with both arms.
He either didn't notice or didn't care, the purple glow increasing until it covered his body. When it faded, his human form was gone, replaced by the giant wasp from earlier. "What'zzzz to stop me killing you all?" he asked ominously, speaking in wasp form for the first time before flying threateningly at the bewildered group, who immediately scattered.
The Doctor leapt back, pulling Lyssa and Donna from the couch to a position behind him as he waited to see what the creature would do. "It doesn't have to end in violence," he shouted. "You can stop this at any time! Please! I can help you!"
"Forgive me!" Lady Eddison pleaded, still trying to reach out to him.
"No, no, Clemency, come back! Keep away, keep away my darling!" her husband shouted, pulling her struggling form away from the threat and into a corner with Robina and Greeves.
Agatha darted forward while it was distracted and snatched the Firestone off the floor, waving it in the air to grab attention. "No! No more murder! If my imagination made you kill, then my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature!" She fled out the door, followed by Lyssa, the Doctor and Donna. They could hear the wasp following them, but managed to make it outside and shut the door unhindered.
"Where's Agatha?" Donna gasped as they ran out onto the grass and looked around.
"There!" Lyssa shouted, pointing as the woman drove up to them in a vintage car and beeped the horn. Behind them, wood shattered as the Vespiform started to break through the door, buzzing angrily.
"Over here! Come and get me, Reverend!" Agatha shouted, beeping the horn again.
"Agatha, what are you doing?" the Doctor called.
"If I started this Doctor, then I must stop it!" she stated resolutely, driving down the driveway as the Vespiform escaped into the open, looking between them and the author before deciding to follow her.
"Come on!" the Doctor shouted, leading the way to one of the other cars and commandeering it. They piled in with him and he took off after the others.
"You said this is the night Agatha Christie loses her memory," Donna recalled. "Is that what's about to happen?"
The Doctor shrugged but kept his gaze on the road. "Time is in flux, Donna! For all we know, this is the night Agatha Christie loses her life and history gets changed."
"Some things are fixed events and have to happen, but this doesn't feel like one of them," Lyssa added. "She's already written several books and been made famous for that. If that's all that history requires of her, this could be it."
"But where's she going?" Donna frowned as Agatha turned off the main road onto a side trail.
"'Silent Pool Lake'," the Doctor read off a wooden sign as he followed her and the wasp. "The lake! She's heading for the lake. What's she doing?"
Agatha stopped abruptly by the lake, getting out and holding her hand in the air, revealing a faint purple glow from a small object - presumably the Firestone. "Here I am!" she called as the wasp buzzed closer. "The honey in the trap. Come to me, Vespiform!"
"She's controlling it!" Donna realized as the wasp headed straight for the author. "Or the Firestone does, and she controls it!"
"Its mind is based on her thought processes. They're linked," the Doctor explained as he parked the car by Agatha's and leapt out, coming to stand by her. Lyssa and Donna scrambled to follow him, keeping a wary eye on the hovering creature.
"Quite so, Doctor," she agreed, still holding the glowing jewel aloft. "Which means if I die, then this creature might die with me."
"Don't hurt her!" the Doctor shouted at the wasp as it buzzed about threateningly, though made no attempt to attack just yet. "You're not meant to be like this! You've got the wrong template in your mind! I can help you! Please, just stand down!"
"It's not listening," Donna muttered tensely as the buzz grew more menacing.
"Wait. Agatha and the Vespiform are linked through the Firestone," Lyssa said thoughtfully, eyeing the jewel. "What happens if something happens to the source of that link? Might be enough to shock him, give us a bit of time to work with." Not giving herself enough time to overthink it, she snatched it out of the author's hand and slammed it onto a nearby rock, ignoring everyone's shouts. When that failed to do anything, she left it on the rock and grabbed another stone, pounding it into the jewel until it cracked, the purple glow abruptly fading.
Behind her, the buzzing faded into nothing, followed by a heavy thump and a startled cry, abruptly muffled.
She cautiously turned around. Agatha was slumped in the Doctor's arms, unconscious but breathing. The wasp was gone, replaced by the human reverend once more. He also appeared to have fallen on Donna when he morphed back, as the redhead was struggling out from underneath him, muttering curses under her breath.
"You couldn't have waited to do that until he was over someone else?" she demanded as she shoved his legs off her and got to her feet, eying Lyssa balefully. "He just about squished me flat!"
"Sorry," Lyssa winced sheepishly, though she was trying not to laugh. "I didn't really stop to think about it, just acted. Are you okay?"
Donna grumbled about it for a moment longer before waving it off. "You stopped him, and that's the important thing. Although..." She eyed his limp form. "Is he dead?" She prodded him cautiously with one foot and received no reaction. "I swear, if he moves, this time he's getting swatted!"
"Oh no. Did I kill him?" Lyssa asked in horror. "Please tell me I didn't kill him." She crept closer to him, watching for signs of life. After a tense moment she saw his chest rise faintly as he drew a breath and sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. I must admit I wasn't really expecting that severe of a reaction."
"You broke the link at its source," the Doctor spoke up, drawing their attention back to him and the unconscious author in his arms. "They both got a wave of psychic backlash. Knocked 'em clean out."
"Will they be all right? Will she be all right?" Lyssa asked, kneeling down by the duo and cautiously touching Agatha's arm. It felt clammy to the touch, and she frowned. "What's this going to do to them?"
"This link's barely a week old, and not directly formed by either of them. Physically, they'll be fine as soon as they wake up," he assured her. "Maybe have a headache for a bit. Mentally... a backlash like that? Means he's lost all memories dating back to when the reverend learned about his true heritage. Maybe even a bit before. Not sure how much she's lost since it was an indirect link on her part."
"So... he won't remember that he's an alien? Won't remember killing all those people?" Donna frowned.
"The memories are gone," the Doctor confirmed. "Not just forgotten, completely erased. You could show him a film of what happened here, and he wouldn't remember even a bit of it." He raised his eyebrows and gave them a significant look. "We've solved another riddle. The mystery of Agatha Christie. And tomorrow morning, her car gets found by the side of the lake. A few days later, she turns up in hotel at Harrogate, with no idea of what just happened. No one will ever know what happened here."
"Yeah, but Lady Eddison, her husband and son, and all the staff... what about them?" Donna pointed out.
He shook his head as he got to his feet, easily lifting Agatha with him and carefully placing her in the car they'd borrowed to get there. "Shameful story. They'd never talk of it. Too British. While the Unicorn does a bunk, back to London town. She could never even say she was there. All wraps up nice and easy, Time stays as it should, and Agatha won't even remember all those spoilers we accidentally dropped. Really, this is too easy."
"Doctor... what do we do about the reverend?" Lyssa asked, glancing over at his unconscious body. "Surely we can't just leave him here."
The Doctor sighed. "Annnd I spoke too soon." He wandered back over and looked down at him. "Murder at the Vicar's rage," he mused. "Except he's not full of rage anymore, doesn't even remember any of it. And..." He paused. "I'm not even sure how much of that was him. The book Lady Eddison was reading... it gave him a template of murder, burned it into his mind. That's all gone now, erased with his memories. I could turn him in, sure, but he'd never know why. I'm not even sure the charges would stick if none of the others speak up, which I'm sure they won't do."
"But we can't just let him go," Donna objected. "You said the memories are gone, but what if he gets angry and his... wasp side... wakes up again?"
The Doctor shrugged, crouching down to pick him up, though a good deal less careful than he was with Agatha as he deposited him in the car as well, securing him in place as best as he could with the flimsy lap belt that was a 1920's seatbelt. "I can replace the genetic lock, make it unlikely he'd ever be able to access it again even accidentally. And without the template he's not likely to go on a murderous rampage - he chose the path of a religious man for a reason." He scooped up the crushed remains of the Firestone, laying them out on his palm. "I can hook this up to the console, set up an alert to go off if he ever breaks through the lock again."
"So what are we going to do with him?" Lyssa frowned at their current problem, looking far too peaceful as he sprawled in the back of the car. "I agree that he doesn't deserve jail if he wasn't truly in control, but given that he has still committed murder, we can't just let him go free as though nothing happened." She crawled into the front next to Donna as the Doctor started the car and steered them back towards the manor.
"Why not have him give back to the community?" the Doctor suggested. "Obviously he can't stick around here, but maybe if we drop him off on the other side of the country, leave him with a note making him think he took the job during one of the days he can't remember... It'd be a small, quiet parish, maybe one with a charity nearby that he'll discover he volunteered to work for. His memories will be easy to manipulate when he first wakes up, he'll accept it easily enough. And it'll be a way to do good for a change. We'll drop in on him every now and again. Make sure he's staying on the straight and narrow."
"I say do it," Donna decided. "If he's not homicidal anymore, and you'll find out if he gets all wasp-ish again, then why not? If the template thingy is gone, what good is locking him up gonna do?"
"All right. Plan Rehabilitate-Homicidal-Man-Wasp is a go," the Doctor grinned.
Donna grimaced. "You're not allowed to name things anymore."
xXx
Once they'd reached the TARDIS - and returned to the borrowed car to its former spot - it was easy enough to stop by the reverend's home and gather all his personal effects. The Doctor hopped back in time a few days and sent a letter via regular mail in the reverend's name to a parish looking for a new reverend, offering to take over.
Intercepting the acceptance letter, he added it to the reverend's opened mail and left a note explaining the sudden absence - claiming a call from a parish in need - then dropped the reverend off at said new parish with his items. He'd informed the local doctor that the reverend had been robbed while traveling with them and struck over the head, but should be fine, if a bit amnesiac. After setting a few other pieces in play to ensure everything went smoothly, they'd moved on.
Agatha had awoken by the time they arrived at the hotel, but seemed to be dazed, staggering out of the TARDIS and heading for the hotel at their gentle prompting. She looked back at them once with no recognition, then turned to the hotel and slowly made her way forward.
The Doctor sent them into the Vortex once she was safely inside, slinging his coat over one of the railings. "That's that, then. One of the great mysteries of history - solved!"
"But what happens to Agatha?" Donna asked softly. "Will she be all right?"
"Oh, great life!" the Doctor assured her. "Met another man, married again. Saw the world. Wrote and wrote and wrote."
"She never thought her books were any good, though. And she must have spent all those years wondering," Donna frowned.
The Doctor paused. "Thing is, I don't think she ever quite forgot," he mused. "Great mind like that, some of the details kept bleeding through. All the stuff her imagination could use. Like Miss Marple!" he suggested.
Donna tsked. "Shoulda made her sign a contract."
"And, where is it, where is it, hold on..." he muttered, lifting up one of the grates on the floor by the console and digging through the storage space below. "Here we go!" he cheered, lifting out a small chest. "Chest of C's... That is C for Cyberman," he tossed a familiar metal chest plate over his shoulder, making Lyssa shiver as it clanked against the floor. "C for Carrionites..." he pulled a small fogged over globe out of the chest and rolled it a few feet away, a faint noise coming from inside the sphere.
"Um... is that ball screaming?" Donna asked, eyeing the globe nervously.
"It's fine, they're just cross," he waved her off. "Ha! Cross Carrionites... Anyway, C for Caesar," he tossed a small stone statue head over his shoulder, not wincing when it smacked the ground. "Aha! Here it is!" he announced triumphantly, pulling out a small book. "Christie, Agatha," he showed them proudly. "Death in the Clouds."
"Is that - that's a wasp on the cover." Lyssa stated in disbelief as she and Donna joined him on the floor.
"She did remember!" Donna cheered at the same time.
"Somewhere in the back of her mind, it all lingered," the Doctor grinned. "Mind like hers? I'm half surprised she forgot at all. She's too brilliant to miss much. And that's not all. Look at the copyright page." He flipped the book open and held the page out for them to examine.
"Facsimile edition, published in the year... five billion?" Donna read aloud incredulously.
"People never stop reading them. She is the best selling novelist, of all time," the Doctor announced. "And believe me, I would know."
"But she never knew," Donna frowned. "All those people who love her work... and she never knew."
"Well, no one knows how they're gonna be remembered," the Doctor pointed out gently. "All we can do is hope for the best. Maybe that's what kept her writing. Same thing keeps me travelling."
"Wait, hold on - I want to check something," Lyssa muttered, taking the book and flipping through it as the Doctor began to put everything else away. "Aha!" Her eyes lit up when she found it, and she shoved the book at Donna. "Something tells me your sneaky hints weren't the only thing to sneak through."
"What is it?" the Doctor asked curiously, peering over at them when Donna went abruptly silent.
Donna cleared her throat. "It says..." she faltered, clearing her throat again. "It says, 'To Donna, who understood.'" She looked up with the hesitance that only appeared when she was genuinely complimented. "Is that... does she mean... is that me?"
The Doctor reached over and took the book, examining it curiously, flipping it upside down and tilting his head to the side to study it. "Can't imagine who else it'd be for. She didn't have any close friends or family named Donna." He righted the book and handed it back to her. "Whatever you said to her, it made an impression."
Donna shook her head but took the book. "But it was just some stupid comments," she said, bewildered. "Nothing special!"
"Seems like it was special to her," Lyssa smiled gently, nodding at the book. "You did something that helped her, and now the whole universe knows it. Your name is written was written by one of history's most famous authors and is still being written in copies five billion years from now." She nudged the redhead. "I'd say that's pretty good for a day's work."
Donna looked down at the dedication page again, then shut the book abruptly. "Well, I still say it wasn't anything that special." She tried to hand it back to the Doctor but he waved her off.
"Keep it. I have other copies of her work. You did good today, Donna."
She scrunched up her nose and stood, but kept the book, holding it carefully in her hands like it might break at her touch. "I don't know about you lot, but I'm starved. Dinner got interrupted before I could eat much, so I'm headed to the kitchen and then bed. Try to stay out of trouble until then, spaceman!" she called over her shoulder as she headed for the halls.
Lyssa frowned, watching her form quickly disappear. "Some day I'm going to find the person - or people - who did so much damage to her self esteem, and I'm going to do something uncivilized to them."
"I won't stop you," the Doctor agreed, watching her leave with a sad expression before he carefully hid it. "Although, why did she only tell me to stay out of trouble and not you?" he grumbled as he carefully replaced the chest down below and put the grating back in place.
"Why did she only tell me to stay out of trouble and not you?" he grumbled as he carefully replaced the chest down below and put the grating back in place.
Lyssa smirked as they he helped her up. "Either you're the only one who gets into trouble around here - which is a valid thought - or I'm allowed to get into trouble, but you're not. Which is also valid."
"Wha- bu- how is that fair?" he sputtered.
"Life isn't fair, Doctor," she snickered. "And anyone who says differently is selling something."
"That's, that's not the quote," he protested.
"Yeah, well," she caught his eye and halted mid-response as her brain decided that was the perfect moment to remind her of just what he'd done to save her life earlier that day. And that she and the Doctor were alone in the room. "Some - I - some things just are the way they are," she finished awkwardly, looking away as her face heated up.
And of course, Donna had left which meant there was no one there to save her from herself as the Doctor eyed her in concerned curiosity.
"Lyssa?"
She looked anywhere but him, trying to come up with an excuse to leave that wouldn't involve her having to discuss... that... with him and utterly failing. A flash of gold caught her eye and she seized on it gratefully. "Wedding ring!" she blurted.
"I - What?"
"The ring! Your ring! I mean, my ring. Well, not my ring, you were the one who gave it to me, I'm just borrowing it, but the ring that I have currently, which is actually yours -" Her brain finally caught up with her mouth and she stopped, closing her eyes in embarrassed frustration. "And I'm just gonna stop there before I did that hole any bigger," she sighed, shoulders sagging. Taking a deep breath, she slid the ring off her finger, keeping her gaze on her hand and feeling the heavy weight of his gaze as well, and held it out to him.
His fingers -and it had to be deliberate - brushed hers as he took it, and she was surprised she didn't spontaneously combust right there as sparks erupted at the contact, just like she'd felt earlier when he'd - She hastily steered her thoughts away from the memories and scrambled for something to distract her from both them and the atmosphere, which had grown tense, as though waiting for something to happen.
"You're 0 for 2, now, Doctor," she blurted out, plastering on a too-bright smile as she dropped her hand, trying not to be obvious as she rubbed the small indent from his - from the ring, the non-special ring they'd used for a ruse, which didn't actually mean anything.
"What do you mean?" he asked curiously, tilting his head to the side in a way that should absolutely not have sent butterflies fluttering through her chest. He had this look on his face, like he was trying to hide some expression
She shrugged, brain still obviously on hiatus as her mouth kept talking without her permission. "Just that you stole both my first and my second kiss, and while I don't mind that it's you," she froze as she realized what she'd just said and frantically tried to switch tracks. "I- I mean, while I'm okay with it being someone I trust like you, I'm wondering if that's going to be the pattern from now on or something." She mentally begged herself to stop talking as she backed up towards the hallway, mentally preparing her escape route. "But don't worry," she added as his eyebrows scrunched together, recalling the last time they'd discussed that particular topic, "you still have great hair."
Then she turned and fled, hearing his confused voice behind her.
"What are you - wait, that was me?"
AN : Don't worry, Lyssa won't escape from her feelings for long, I promise! ;D
The book Death in the Clouds has no dedication, I made that up for the story (along with the notion that Agatha Christie had no close friends or family named Donna, I apologize if I got that wrong).
The actual quote both Lyssa and the Doctor reference towards the end of the chapter is, 'Life is pain, anyone who says differently is selling something,' from The Princess Bride by William Goldman.
The 'great hair' line Lyssa throws out there refers to her conversation with Nine in Ch.49, where she tells him that her first kiss was stolen by some bloke with great hair. He responds with protective ire, she laughs into her sleeve.
Lyssa could act normal during the adventure because she had to focus, and then everything slowed down and she was left alone with the Doctor, and now everything is falling apart. There was also a more obvious Freudian slip before I replaced it for this one. ;)
And because it's Christmas, Imma give y'all a sneak peek of the Doctor and Lyssa's thoughts during the last part of this chapter (it's totally legit and their actual thoughts)
Doctor internally: She's so cute when she's flustered, but I can't say anything, have to maintain the timeline, why is this so difficult -
Lyssa internally: HELP IM EXPERIENCING EMOTIONS
Okay, I lied, that was more like a summary than anything and not quite canon. But I hoped you liked it anyways!
Anyway, in case I don't see you guys soon - I hope you all have a very blessed and Merry Christmas that is spent with loved ones. :)
Special thanks to everyone who's favorited and followed, and shout-out to all my reviewers! You guys are awesome, and it just makes my day each time you guys leave something :) There's a couple of you I couldn't send responses to, but please know that I super appreciate every single review I get, and I'm so grateful to everyone who takes the time to leave a review!.
Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)
General Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, just Lyssa.
