I'm back! 42 might be happening, actually, because...writing an episode from scratch is hard. I'll still write it, but I might need more time to work out the plot issues. This arc was like a trial run for writing a new episode, because I had absolutely no transcript to base this on. And it was HARD. So...yeah, here you go. My Gravity Falls fanfiction is not indicative of me leaving this fandom-I just had Ideas and had to post them. Also, clarification: the car accident happened sometime in the fall of 2019.

Disclaimer: I dn'ot own the Dcoortr Who uiervnse.

Chapter 33: Lost and Found

April felt a sudden, sharp pain in her shoulder. She turned her head to see Dr. Ford holding something in his hand.

The world began spinning, and then everything went dark.

There was nothingness, only a blank white void. It pressed in on April from all sides, enveloping her in harsh light.

April's head hurt.

April first became aware of something cold and hard under her back. As she gradually returned to consciousness, April felt bright light sear her eyelids. Finally, she was able to open them and see what was around her.

She found herself in a small, white cell, with a grey panel on the opposite wall. The panel was surrounded by a darker grey frame that seemed to stick out by an inch or so. A small black and grey square was mounted on its surface. Everything smelled of disinfectant, and April felt that she was somehow dirtying the room with her sweat-soaked dress and tangled hair.

Where am I? She thought as she struggled to her feet. The last thing she remembered was her conversation with Dr. Ford. That strange woman had bumped into him and he'd started acting weird. Right before everything went blank, he'd been holding something in his hand, but April's eyes had been unable to focus and see it properly. It must have been a syringe with some sort of sleeping medicine, April decided.

Her legs no longer burned from all the running she had done, which meant that at least some time had passed, but not enough for an ache to set in. Everything was blurry. Right, still missing my glasses.

Slowly, April pushed herself off the wall to investigate the door, but the instant she did there was a sharp stabbing pain in her temples. April stumbled, catching herself against the wall. The pain faded to a dull ache, but then struck again. Okay. Right. Head hurts. Probably because of the sleeping thingy. Unless it's—what were those things again? April couldn't quite marshal her thoughts, the ache behind her temples distracting her. Dream crabs. Not brain freeze, though. Just a really, really bad headache.

April looked across the room. It was far enough that she couldn't make out what the black and grey square was. She'd have to get there in order to investigate.

Tentatively, April stepped away from the wall she'd been leaning on. She stumbled across the room, catching herself on the door. The pain in her head hadn't abated, but at least it hadn't gotten worse. From here, April could see that the black and grey "square" was actually a keypad with numbers.

April stared at it, remembering the letter that Jeremy had given her. Right. First password. It's…why can't I remember? April could feel her head aching as she searched back for the image of the letter, picturing it in her head. I think it started with a four. Something about Torchwood—the 456. And then intervening letters. I don't know. I think…43…59? Or was it 56? And then 6 something. Okay, I'll just have to brute force it.

April typed in 435961, then 435962, and so on, until she reached 435964. The door slid open, revealing an equally blank white hallway outside.

Considering her options, April decided that it would be best to leave the room as soon as possible. She didn't know where she was or why she was there, but every moment she stayed meant that it was more likely the opportunity to escape would be gone.

April walked down the hallway as fast as she could, knowing that it was likely for there to be security cameras there. Any moment, she could get caught. Finally, she found a flight of stairs, which she ran upwards.

Follow. It wasn't a word, but a feeling. April should follow. It was what ought to happen, what would happen, what had already happened…

April shook her head in confusion. Where had that come from? Ignoring it, April continued down the next hallway.

Here.

April felt a tug on her mind, pulling her towards one of the unassuming white doors that lined the hallway.

Okay, this is stupid, April thought. Either I'm just going insane and hearing voices, or I'm going insane and thinking it's a good idea to follow a random psychic call or something. Could be a trap.

Definitely a trap, April reminded herself. This is ridiculous. Wherever you are, they haven't killed you yet. Therefore, its safest to go back to where you were and wait for the Doctor, Martha, and Harriet to rescue you.

But—

The pain behind her temples throbbed again, nearly sending April crashing down to the ground. She caught herself against the wall, focusing on her breathing until she was steady.

Carefully, April made her way across the four-foot span of the hall to reach the door. What am I doing? April wondered.

Getting yourself killed, answered her brain.

Investigating, April decided. That made it sound like less of a stupid decision.

There wasn't a keypad on the door—none of the doors in this hallway had one. April rested a hand on the door's metal handle. Cautiously, she turned it. The door clicked and April jumped back, but nothing happened. No alarms sounded, no guards came running, and no lasers shot out at her. April shrugged, turning the handle once more and stepping into the room behind it.

April couldn't believe what she saw.

The entire cell was white, with padded walls, a padded ceiling, and a padded floor, like the insane asylums in movies. It was rather small, maybe a hundred square feet at most, and had a harsh, clinical feel to it.

Inside the small room was a single occupant, sitting against the wall and clutching her head. She was middle-aged, dressed in white clothing that had turned slightly grey from a long time without washing. Long, ragged brown hair hung over an oval face with wild grey eyes, shaking as the woman jerked her head back and forth, back and forth.

For a moment, April froze, unable to believe her eyes.

"Mom," she whispered.

"He has many names," her mother said, hands pulling away from her face. Her head snapped up towards April, but her eyes seemed to stare past her daughter and into empty space. "Among them—the Oncoming Storm."

April rushed forwards before stopping in her tracks. According to the Doctor's theory, it made sense for her mother to be here. If she was the product of some sort of genetic experimentation, of course they would have her mother. It was even possible for her mother to be there if she had come from a parallel universe, since there was a chance her mother had been transported as well. This could be real. This could definitely be real.

But it also might not be. April didn't know where she was. She didn't know what her captors were capable of. Her mother didn't look to be in a state to be answering any security questions, so how could she know who this was?

If this is my mother, I need to help her, April decided. If this isn't, then the people who put her here could either be trying to get information from me—which I won't give them—or trying to delay me.

Honestly, neither seems likely. If they were trying to get information, there are much better ways, and if they were trying to delay, it would be so much easier to just send guards.

April took a slow step towards her mother. "Mom, are you okay?"

"I'm always alright," she said. That was a quote. April was certain of it.

April knelt down, knees sinking into the padded floor. "The Doctor said that. I don't think it was true." She looked at her mother again. "Of course you're not okay." She took a deep breath. Her head still hurt. Priorities. First of all, how do we get out? No, first of all, where are we? "Wh—"

"There's a platoon of Judoon upon the moon," her mother interrupted.

"Yes," April said. "There was. But where—"

"Martha Jones," her mother gasped and her hands flew out to clutch April's shoulders. "Smith and Jones, don't you see?" April tried to shake herself free from her mother's grasp, but she just held on even more desperately. "I even brought a straw. H2O scoop. Listen, listen, can you hear me?"

April's eyes lit up. "We're in the Royal Hope Hospital, aren't we?"

"K9."

"Affirmative," April whispered. "Why can't you just tell me? Mom, what did they do to you?"

"Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, TARDIS."

"Midnight," April recognized.

"We must not look at goblin men. They look into us—oh! I looked into the TARDIS and the TARDIS looked into me. You're shining, too much light." April's mother turned her head to one side, locking eyes with April. "Who are you?"

"I'm April. D—don't you remember? I'm your daughter!" April looked at the door. Every second she spent in here, the more likely it was that she would be discovered. She needed to go, now. But she also needed to figure out what the heck was going on with her mother. Or if this woman was even her mother, even real.

"Jenny…and Vastra and Strax? No, no, wrong. Delete. April…it's you!"

"Yes," April said encouragingly. She looked at the door again. If she could get out of here, she'd be able to convince the Doctor to rescue her mother. It looked like she'd been here for a while, and while the time obviously hadn't been good for her, April wasn't convinced that her mother's mental state was due solely to solitary confinement. The Doctor could help her, but someone needed to get him first. It would be in everyone's best interests if April left without someone slowing her down and got help.

But she couldn't just leave her mother behind.

Some rationalist you are.

"Mom, do you know the way out?" April said. She still felt her mother's hands on her shoulders, but they didn't hurt anymore. It felt slightly uncomfortable. But if this helped to ground her then April was more than happy to let her keep holding on.

"It's all changing, can't you see? The ways are parting and I can't tell which way you've turned anymore. I can't remember it all."

"Do you know anything?" April asked, frustrated. "Anything that can help us escape?"

"I can't think, April. It's echoing and it's all so loud!"

"What's echoing?" April asked. Her mother didn't seem to be responding to anything she said.

"You don't hear it," her mother whispered, hands falling away from April's shoulders. Her eyes looked lost, afraid. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm so, so sorry," she said, her voice hushed. "Oh, I'm so very sorry."

"What for? Mom, you don't have anything to be sorry about."

"Can't you hear it?"

"I don't…Mom, I need you to come with me, okay? I'll get you out of here, and then you can explain everything."

"You don't know yet."

"Then you can explain it to me, once we're gone."

"Jo couldn't figure out the obvious you said—stupid, stupid! Don't be Jo."

"O…kay, just come with me," April said, grabbing her mother by the arm and trying to pull her up.

"Oh," her mother said, dragging out the sound like April had, as if considering it. "It sort of stuck and now I've owned it."

"What?" April asked, not comprehending. Everything her mother had said so far seemed to be some sort of Doctor Who reference, but she didn't remember this one. Maybe it was from a Classic Series episode she had forgotten? "Please, just come with me." She was running out of time, and she didn't know when she would lose her chance to escape. It might already have been lost. April might never have had a chance to begin with.

"I don't want to go," her mother said.

"No, you have to. Mom, we need to get out of here."

Her mother grabbed April's hand for a moment. "Stop wasting time," she said, dropping her arm. She curled up against the wall and began muttering under her breath.

April looked at her for a moment, then back at the door. "I promise I'll come back, okay?" Her mother didn't answer. April stumbled over to the door, took one last look at her mother, and fled.

The hallway's light was harsh and bright as April sped past door after door. Her heart pounded in her chest and her head ached. April could barely see where she was going, between her lack of glasses and her general dizziness.

She didn't know where she was supposed to be heading towards, anyway.

I'm in the Royal Hope Hospital. Probably. I'm certainly not above it, and I doubt this much space could be dedicated to whatever crazy organization kidnapped me inside it. Therefore, I am almost definitely under the hospital. And if I want to escape, that means I need to go up. Now. As fast as possible.

April turned a corner. At the far side of the hallway was a dead end. April hurried forwards, and on closer inspection discovered that there were two doors. One appeared to have an elevator behind it and the other, a flight of stairs. Next to them was a map. April had to squint to read it, since it was fairly high up.

She was on level negative four. April didn't know whether people in the UK started on floor zero or floor one, but she figured it would be fairly obvious if she reached a level available to the public.

But what caught her attention was a room marked "communications room level -4," which was almost directly to her left. The door wasn't locked either, which was slightly worrying, but April stepped in and looked around. The room was devoid of people, but the walls were covered in dark screens and in the center of the room was a table surrounded by four chairs, each pushed in neatly. Four smaller screens were arranged, one facing each chair.

Cautiously, April stepped towards the center to examine the table. The small screens turned out to be iPads of some sort, though not any recognizable brand from the year 2019.

She stepped up to it and turned it on, but it immediately showed her a lock-screen. Instead of the 4 or 6 digit code she normally used, a keyboard popped up on the screen.

This, April realized, was where the second password came in. "Xander Jade," she said, typing the letters into the iPad. "Question—oh, wait, no, there was a question mark before that. Question one—for Ida. Lo! Dash. Six ate parentheses. Nine's asleep."

The iPad opened up, and April immediately found the phone application. This was it. She could call Martha Jones—that was, after all, why she had given herself Martha's phone number.

She opened it up, but something stopped her.

This was too easy. This was far too easy. The doors hadn't been locked at all, and seriously, how come there hadn't been any cameras?

"Don't be Jo," April said aloud.

The Third Doctor, April remembered, had a companion named Jo. Jo had been funny, and kind, and brave. She had not, however, been particularly intelligent.

There had been many mistakes she had made, and some were worse than others. Some moments of outright stupidity and other moments that were understandable mistakes, but really bothersome.

Among the second category had been an error that Jo had made during one of her episodes. April couldn't remember which one, but she remembered the incident clearly. Jo, having been kidnapped yet again by the Master, had gotten free and found the communications room. Jo got kidnapped rather frequently, but she was also fairly adept at escaping, so this wasn't much of a surprise. Proceeding with her plan, Jo had then opened up the radio frequency and sent out a distress call. It had then developed that the Master had purposely let Jo go free so that she could do precisely that.

April had been watching Doctor Who with her mother when she first saw this scene, and had realized right from the start what was going on. She had spent most of that episode screaming at the television to stop, don't do that, it's obviously a trap! The television hadn't listened to her.

"Don't be Jo," April's mother had said. It seemed that she could actually offer April some advice.

Seriously? It's obviously been a trap from the beginning, but if the trap isn't sprung then you're stuck here. The Doctor needs to know where to find you, so you still have to call him. Just…tell him it's a trap.

April looked down at the phone icon. And then the door opened.

Into the room stepped a woman flanked by two-armed security guards. April stepped forwards, squinting, and even then, she could barely see her. April had the feeling that she had seen her before. She had seen her at the hospital, and she had seen her long before that.

And then the woman spoke, confirming April's suspicions.

"Hello, April," said Mrs. Rice.