~revised~
Chapter XLVI
Doctor
He had landed the TARDIS on a roof and was now trying to extinguish some fire - smoke that was coming out of the open door. He joined Mira and Donna after shutting the door and said, "The funny thing is, for a spaceship, she doesn't really do that much flying. We'd better give her a couple of hours." He then turned to Donna, "You all right?"
She looked quite a bit upset, but she answered, "Doesn't matter."
"Did we miss it?"
"Yeah."
"Well, you can book another date..."
"Course we can," Donna replied sadly.
"Still got the honeymoon..." he tried to comfort her.
"It's just a holiday now."
"Yeah... yeah... sorry."
"It's not your fault," she said.
"Oh! That's a change," he replied in surprise.
"Wish we had a time machine. Then we could go back and get it right."
" ... Yeah, yeah. But... even if I did, I couldn't go back on someone's personal timeline. Apparently." he said, smiling shyly.
He could see the suspicion in her eyes as she glanced at him, then she sat down on the edge of the roof. He sat next to her, but before that, he draped his jacket around her shoulders. It must be cold for a human in such a dress now. Mira was wearing long sleeves, but she looked a bit cold as well.
"God, you're skinny. This wouldn't fit a rat," Donna said to him.
Mira had sat down on the other side of her, not after cautiously glancing down to the street.
"Oh and you'd better put this on," he said to Donna and produced a ring from his pocket.
"Oh, do you have to rub it in?" she said indignantly, and even Mira shot him a warning glance.
"Those creatures can trace you. This is a bio-damper. Should keep you hidden," he said, ignoring them and slipped it onto her finger. "With this ring, I thee bio-damp."
"For better or for worse," Donna replied and he smiled at her.
"So, come on then. Robot Santas - what are they for?" Donna asked.
"Ah, your basic robo-scavenger. The Father Christmas stuff is just a disguise. They're trying to blend in. I met them last Christmas."
"Why, what happened then?"
"... Great big spaceship? Hovering over London? You didn't notice?" the Doctor said.
"I had a bit of a hangover," she replied dismissively.
"A bit of a hangover? Must have been some party," Mira said and looked at Donna, brows raised in admiration.
He decided to not pursue it, instead he looked at the landscape. "I spent Christmas Day just over there, the Powell Estate. With this... family. My friend, she had this family. Well, they were...," he said and then paused for a moment. Back then everything with Rose had been fine. Of course he had worried that she wouldn't accept his new regeneration, but it had turned out better than he had hoped. He looked over to Mira for a moment. She still didn't know about that. Not that he was planning on regenerating any time soon, but never knew. Maybe it was better to tell her now, instead of her finding it out for herself. Or maybe she would be so shocked by it that she would leave instantly.
"Can't remember the last time I really celebrated Christmas Day," Mira said absent-mindedly into the silence.
"It's overrated anyway," Donna replied. And then, to him, "Your friend... who was she?"
"Question is, what do camouflaged robot mercenaries want with you? And how did you get inside the TARDIS? I don't know...," he said and outright ignored Donna's question. He could see how she rolled her eyes at him as he pulled his sonic screwdriver from his jacket. There still was something weird about her. How could she get into the TARDIS like that? "What's your job?"
"I'm a secretary."
Whilst he scanned her, he said, "It's weird, I mean - you're not special, you're not powerful, you're not connected, you're not clever, you're not important..."
"This friend of yours - just before she left, did she punch you in the face?" Donna said suddenly and looked him right in the eyes, then she whacked the Sonic aside. "Stop bleeping me!"
"What kind of secretary?" he asked as if nothing had happened, putting the Sonic away.
"I'm at HC Clements. It's where I met Lance. I was temping," she said and looked into space, "I mean, it was all a bit posh really. I'd spent the last two years at a double glazing firm. Well, I thought - I'm never gonna fit in here. And then he made me a coffee. I mean, that just doesn't happen. Nobody gets the secretaries a coffee. And Lance - he's the head of HR! He don't need to bother with me! But he was nice, he was funny. And it turns out he thought everyone else was really snotty too. So that's how it started, me and him - one cup of coffee. That was it."
"When was this?" he asked.
"Six months ago."
"Bit quick, to get married..."
"Well... he insisted," she said.
He looked over to Mira, because her head had flung around to Donna. Their eyes caught for a moment and he saw the disbelief in them.
"And he nagged... and he nagged me...," Donna continued, obviously not noticing the expression on Mira's face. "And he just wore me down and then finally, I just gave in."
Mira looked away again and slightly shook her head.
"What does HC Clements do?" he asked and decided he would ask Mira later what that had been about.
"Oh, security systems, you know... entry codes, ID cards - that sort of thing," Donna replied. "If you ask me, it's a posh name for 'locksmiths'."
"Keys...,"he said musingly. Well, not that he had an idea yet what this was all about, but keys was a clue. The only question left was now: Keys for what?
"Anyway, enough of my CV. Come on, it's time to face the consequences. Oh, this is gonna be so shaming. You can do the explaining, Martian-boy."
"Yeah," he said and looked at Donna, trying to correct her false assumption once more. "I'm not from Mars."
Donna nodded and he stood up, lending her a hand. Mira was already up as he turned to her.
"Oh, I had this great big reception all planned. Everyone's gonna be heartbroken," Donna said.
…
As they arrived at the reception, it was already in full swing, despite of Donna's concerns. Everyone was dancing to 'Merry Christmas Everybody', drinking and obviously having fun. No-one seemed to be heartbroken. Donna walked in ahead of him and Mira, and as soon as they noticed her, all heads turned to her.
"You had the reception without me?" she asked completely dumbfounded into the sudden silence.
"Donna... what happened to ya?" a man asked and rushed over to her.
"You had the reception without me?" Donna repeated, slightly louder than before.
Before the following, awkward pause could get too long, he decided to introduce himself. "Hello! I'm the Doctor," he said cheerfully.
Mira added, "I'm Mira," and waved slightly with her hand.
"They had the reception without me," Donna said a third time, turning around to him.
"Yes, I gathered," he replied.
"Well, it was all paid for - why not?" a woman said snobbishly.
"Thank you, Nerys," Donna hissed at her.
Well, that would be Nerys then, he thought.
"Well, what were we supposed to do? I got your silly little message in the end - "I'm on Earth"? Very funny. What the hell happened? How did you do it? I mean, what's the trick because I'd love to know-" another woman said whilst approaching Donna.
Suddenly, the whole room started to talk at the same time. Everyone seemed to want something to Donna. Suddenly, she burst into tears, the crowd stopped talking and the man – he assumed it must be Lance – hugged her. She cried into his shoulder, and everyone started to applaud. For a moment he caught her eyes and she winked at him, making him smirk. Well, at least she wasn't crying for real, he just couldn't stand that.
"Humans," he quietly said to Mira. "Works every time."
"Nah, not humans. Women," Mira whispered.
He looked at her and saw the grin on her face. "Oh please, don't say that you can do that just as well?"
"Oh, you've no idea!"
...
A little later he was leaning against the bar. Almost everyone was back to dancing now. Donna seemed to have fun, even though she had missed her own wedding. He looked for Mira and saw her standing a few yards away, holding on to a glass of sparkling wine, leaning against a party table. Again, she just looked lost and absent. He walked over to her, and grabbed her hand before she had any chance to pull it away.
"So-" he started, leaning to her side and turning his head to her, but she interrupted him.
"We're not going to dance!" she said, her face rather close to his and looking at him out of big eyes, almost a little bit shocked.
"What?" he said and frowned, because he was a bit taken by surprise. "No- no. We're not." He hadn't planned on that, and in fact he was glad that they had just sorted out that topic. "Actually, I wanted to talk about Donna. And Lance. You shook your head when she talked about him."
"Yeah. I don't think she told the truth. She didn't just exaggerate. There's something weird about Lance and this whole wedding."
"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking as well. At least she somehow got inside the TARDIS."
"And you've no idea how that happened? I mean, it clearly wasn't a simple teleportation."
"Simple teleportation?" he asked.
"Yeah. At home there're teleporter... Anyway. It wasn't a teleportation. Nothing psychic at least." She looked around, sighed and continued, "I think I'll go outside for a while...," and put the glass on the table. She tried to pull her hand out of his, but instead of letting her go, he dragged her with him to a guy who just was about to put his mobile away. She shouldn't stand outside all alone right now. Besides, it was cold.
"I think I know something better," he said to her and then to the guy, "Could I borrow that for a moment?"
The guy nodded and handed the phone over. He took it, walked a few steps away and leaned against the bar, Mira next to him. She opened the phone as he put his glasses on and searched for H C Clements. At least he tried, but the phone was just way too slow for his taste. He used his Sonic – not after casting a furtive look around the room – to speed things up a bit. Mira covered him inconspicuously with her body from a nosy woman who was standing next to them. Eventually, the result "Sole Prop. TORCHWOOD" appeared on the screen.
"So, it's Torchwood," Mira said quietly.
"Yeah," he said, closed the phone and handed it back. So, Torchwood seemed to be behind all this. But how could they possess technology like that? Transporting someone on the TARDIS? Right at this moment, he spotted a cameraman.
"Come," he said to Mira and walked over to him. "Say, you were filming at the wedding as well?" he said to him. "Can you show me?"
"Yeah, I taped the whole thing", he replied and put a tape in the camera, "They've all had a look. They said "sell it to You've Been Framed". I said "more like the News". Here we are..."
He and Mira looked at the small screen of the camera. It zoomed in on Donna's face, just as she disintegrated into golden particles with a scream.
"Can't be! Play it again?" he asked.
"What was it?" Mira wanted to know.
"Clever, mind! Good trick, I'll give her that. I was clapping," the cameraman said, earning an irritated glance from Mira.
The Doctor watched the scene again, his brows furrowed. "But that looks like... Huon Particles!"
"What's that?" the cameraman and Mira asked together.
"That's impossible, that's... ancient! Huon energy doesn't exist anymore, not for billions of years! So old that...," he explained, and his eyes were suddenly drawn to the biodamper he had given to Donna. " ... it can't be hidden by a biodamper!" He ran over to a window, Mira following him.
Mira
She had followed the Doctor and could it see for herself now – robots, disguised as Santas, approaching the house slowly. The Doctor immediately rushed back to Donna, and she followed him. Unfortunately. There was no time for him to explain what exactly Huon Particles were, but she would ask him later.
"Donna! Donna, they've found you," he yelled.
"But you said I was safe!"
"The biodamper doesn't work. We've got to get everyone out."
"Oh, my God - it's all my family...," Donna whispered after looking around.
"Out the back door!" the Doctor said.
"Are they armed?" Mira asked the Doctor.
"Most likely," he replied as they were running to the back door, but there were Santas as well.
"Great," she said and then they ran back inside and over to another window. More Santas.
They ran out the back door, only to be confronted with two more of the Santas.
"We're trapped," Donna said.
"What's that for?" Mira asked and pointed at the remote controls that were held by the Santas.
"Christmas trees...," the Doctor said thoughtfully.
She wasn't quite sure if that was an answer to her question.
"What about them?" Donna asked.
She turned her head and saw the big Christmas tree in the middle of the room. Yeah, what about them?
"They kill," the Doctor said and ran into the crowd.
"What?" she yelled and went after him. They had to get the people out then, or at least away from the Christmas tree. She had no idea how this thing could be dangerous, but right now she trusted the Doctor.
"Get away from the tree!" he yelled.
"Don't touch the trees!" Donna fell in.
"Yeah, everyone, get away from it!" she shouted as well. But no one moved. They just looked indignantly at them.
Donna ushered a group of little girls away from the tree and said, "Out! Lance, tell them!"
"Stay away from the tree!" the Doctor tried it again. "Stay away from the tree!"
"Oh, for God's sakes, the man's an idiot! Why? What's a Christmas tree gonna... oh!" the woman from before said just as the baubles floated away from the tree and spun through the air. Mira watched them sceptically. What was that supposed to be? Right now, the baubles were hovering over the heads of the guests. Everyone was chatting and watching in excitement.
"Don't stand there, move!" she yelled and tried to get the people moving, but it was too late. The baubles moved again and started to explode. All hell broke loose as everyone started to scream and ran for cover. Tables broke, people got injured and in no time the whole place was completely damaged. She ran for cover as well, trying to keep an eye on the baubles, but they were too many. Once more, she really missed something like a weapon or at least an energy shield, but she doubted she would have had a chance to hit these baubles with a gun. They were really fast. She barely saw how the Doctor made it to the DJ's stand. The Santas had entered the room now, and were lined up opposite to it.
"Oi! Santa! Word of advice: if you're attacking a man with a sonic screwdriver...," she heard the Doctor say over the screaming of the people, "... don't let him near the sound system."
A moment later, she covered her ears and winced with pain as a horrible, high-pitched screeching sound filled the air. As the sound stopped and she opened her eyes again, she saw the Santas lying on the floor. The Doctor was already crouching next to them and so she joined him.
"Who sent them?" she asked, ignoring the chaos around them. Yes, people were injured, but no one was about to die, and the others were helping them already. It was the top priority now to find out who was behind it, and if another attack was imminent.
"Don't know," the Doctor replied. "Look at that - remote control for the decorations." He showed her the remote control. "But there's a second remote control for the robots." He examined the head of one. "They're not scavengers anymore. I think someone's taken possession."
"And who?" she wanted to know, just as Donna showed up.
"Never mind all that, you're a doctor - people have been hurt," she said.
"Nah, they wanted you alive, look," he replied, and chucked a bauble in her direction. "They're not active now."
"All I'm saying - you could help," Donna said to him.
"That's what we're doing," she said. "We have to find out what's behind of it. As for the wounded people: Call an ambulance, they can help way better than we." She looked up at Donna and could immediately feel that she was slightly shocked by it. Most likely it sounded heartless to her, but she had to get the priorities right.
"Sure you're human? You talk just like him," Donna replied accusingly.
"Gotta think of the bigger picture... there's still a signal!" the Doctor suddenly said, after holding one of the bleeping heads to his ear, and so spared her an answer. With that said, he took off. Mira followed him. Behind her, she could hear someone talking to Donna.
"Donna... who is he? Who is that man?"
But Donna didn't answer. As Mira turned her head, she could see her following as well. Once outside, she saw the Doctor scanning the helmet with his Sonic.
"There's someone behind this, directing the robo-force," he said.
"But why is it me? What have I done?" Donna asked.
"If we find the controller, we'll find that out," he replied, still scanning the area. "Oh!" He raised the Sonic into the air. "It's up there. Something in the sky."
"A space ship?" Mira asked. She looked up, but of course, she couldn't see anything. Slowly, the place around her filled with people, and an ambulance had arrived as well.
"Could be. I've lost the signal - Donna, we've got to get to your office, H C Clements. I think that's where it all started," the Doctor said, just as Lance rushed by. "Lance - is it Lance? Can you give me a lift?"
Ingridie, bored411, oXxgeorgiaxXo, Ronin Kenshin, 10th Squad 3rd Seat: Thanks for reviewing :-)
Quasi-Stellar: I was thinking that as well, and I´ll see if I can make it a tiny bit faster without rushing it :-)
