Unto the Universe
Chapter Sixty: Gallery of Time: Down a Long Hall
By Lumendea
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any spinoff material, and I gain no income from this story, just the satisfaction of playing with the characters.
…
Rose's body was heavy. Thoughts were hard as she started to move. She wasn't in the TARDIS. There was no smell of lilac or lingering scent of time and leather from the Doctor. Still, Rose moved her arm out in search of him, only to flinch as pain seared through up her arm and into her chest. The weight of her shifted, and Rose flailed at it, knocking away sharp bits of debris.
The world was becoming clearer, and the pain was fading. She started to sit up, only to have bits of wood and glass cascade off of her and to the ground. Blood was splattered across her clothes in large patches. That, more than anything, helped Rose come back to herself. She gasped for air and was pleased when everything seemed to work. Reaching down, Rose blinked in surprise when her arm didn't protest the sudden movement. She touched the bloody patches, they were wet, but there was no pain. A bit of wood was sticking out of her stomach. That part hurt.
Rose blinked, trying to make everything fit in her mind. It was difficult. Her arm suddenly cracked, and the last bit of pain faded. She turned her attention to it just in time to see a long bleeding cut heal. Just like Jack's body did. Before she could doubt or panic, Rose pulled the chunk of wood out and unleashed a cut of pain. But then it faded. She touched her skin through the hole. It was whole even if the smear of blood remained.
Apparently, Jack's power to heal was a reflection of her own. It was really hard not to panic. Everything that she'd seen this should be nothing, and yet as Rose watched her right hand knit itself together after she pulled out a couple of shards of glass, it felt like a lot. Swallowing, Rose shook her head as she became aware of the ringing in it.
The hallway was in shatters. Most of the wall had been blown out, and Rose could see pieces of destroyed furniture and frames scattered across the tile floor. Smouldering remains of paintings made her snarl in fury. If Alice, the Curator, was her child, then the Monk and Master were in enormous trouble. There had been some kind of explosion, she realized. Likely the Monk and Master. She hoped briefly that they'd blown themselves up in trying to access something that the Doctor's brother had left hidden but somewhat doubted she'd be so lucky.
Pushing more wood and glass off herself, Rose carefully climbed to her feet and looked around. Part of the nearby walls had been blown out, exposing heavy metal support beams, which had thankfully stayed in place. They didn't look damaged, and Rose hoped that meant at least the roof wasn't about to come down.
She strained her ears, trying to listen for the Master and Monk, but it was still all white noise. She swallowed a few times, trying to ease the pressure and tiptoed towards the entry to the wing as her hearing slowly cleared. Then it clicked into place, and she could hear the sounds of someone running in the distance. She didn't hear the Master or the Monk and turned towards the noise.
Jack came tearing into view, his face pale and eyes fearful. He relaxed for a moment when he caught sight of Rose standing, but horror quickly took its place. Rose guessed that with the blood on her clothes, she looked awful and remembered seeing that a few times with Jack. He rushed towards her, completely ignoring the debris scattered across the floor.
"Rose!" Jack gasped in relief. "Are you alright? What happened?"
Before she could answer, the Doctor came running into view. Rose tried to smile as the Doctor crossed the long corridor in what seemed like split seconds. Then he came to a stop beside Jack.
"Rose?" the Doctor hesitated before touching her. His eyes were darting between the patches of blood. "You're hurt; I need-"
"No," Rose whispered. "I'm not hurt. I was, but I'm not now."
"Like me," Jack said with a dawning look of comprehension. "Please tell me that you don't feel pain like I do."
"Pain is part of life," Rose said as her answer. Both men were crestfallen at the response. So sweet of both of them to want to spare her pain, but Rose knew deep down that it was a bad idea. "Can't go through life only feeling the good things."
The Doctor considered her words even if he struggled with them for a moment. Then he sighed and nodded. It seemed the sort of idea he'd understand, but Rose supposed it was different when it was someone that you loved.
"The Monk and the Master, where are they?" Rose asked. "They were close by. They must have caused that."
"Rose, calm down-"
"I'm fine, Doctor," Rose promised. "Really. We can't ignore the threat." Shaking her head, she pointed at the gallery she'd been sneaking away from. "I really doubt the explosion was part of a security system, so they must have had some means of protecting themselves."
"Right." Jack nodded, slipping into business mode.
The Doctor took a moment longer, but finally, he nodded as well. They headed towards the remains of the main doorway, which was built of some sort of heavy metal and had only been covered by wooden panels. Rose silently thanked the Doctor's brother for building a strong structure before making it look pretty. It wasn't truly a replica, but she doubted the real palace would still be standing.
The Curator swept around the corner like a bird, her eyes sharp and angry as they took in the area without her ever slowing down. Her icy blue eyes jumped over to them and the blood on Rose's clothes. There was a flicker of relief at the sight of the three of them still healthy and whole, but she did not stop. Her fingers to dancing across the top of her cane, using the controls without her ever glancing down. The Doctor grumbled something but followed the Curator into the gallery. A gaping hole had been blown into one of the walls. She said nothing to any of them and hurried in front of them and to the gaping hole in the wall.
"Interesting choice," she murmured. "Well, this isn't good, but it isn't the worst area they could have accessed."
"How many secret areas are here?" the Doctor demanded.
"The Founder turned this asteroid into a honeycomb," the Curator answered drily. "All sealed apart from each other with serious shielding and even time distortions. But there are still dangerous items down here. If you wish to stop them, we can't delay."
The hole revealed a Victorian-style metal spiral staircase. Small lamps were set into the walls of the staircase. It was very low-tech, and Rose knew that it had to have been designed that way to make it harder to find. It had been hidden neatly in the space between two walls. Rose hadn't noticed it at all when she'd spotted the Monk and Master, but they apparently had been more observant.
"I'm sorry about the art," the Doctor said.
"It will be addressed later," the Curator answered. "But the most important thing is to stop them from stealing whatever they're after."
"Do you know what is down here?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes," the Curator sighed. "That's the hidden History of Time Travel wing. Beside it is the Hall of the Unknown where all unknown technology is stored."
The Doctor made a sharp sound that the TARDIS didn't translate. Judging from his expression, it had defiantly been some sort of curse. Without waiting for another word from the Curator, the Doctor headed down the staircase. The Curator moved faster than even Rose and Jack after the Doctor, with them hurrying after her.
The spiral staircase was larger than Rose thought once they stepped inside of it. She heard the Doctor mutter about Brax using dimensional technology for a staircase of all things. That might have been what the Master and Monk found. They moved quickly but as quietly as possible. The metal stairs were silent under them, never shifting or creaking. Rose tried to measure how deep they were going, but it was at least several stories before they reached the bottom of the staircase and a large, long room.
The room stretched out before them with only low lights illuminating it. This was not an open gallery. It was storage, and it reminded her a bit too much of Van Staten's vault. The walls were stone and completely seamless, carved out of the asteroid Rose concluded. Heavy metal doors were set into the wall every few feet, guarding separate spaces for the different items. Plaques hung beside each door with information. But there was a limit to how far Rose could see. Despite there being people in the room, the lights were low and random items in cases and shelves of small items and books obstructed the view. It also added to the risk of ambush.
"I don't come down here often," the Curator admitted. "This is where the Founder kept dangerous items and records. Many of the books are one-of-a-kind records of information that was deemed too dangerous to ever had digital copies of."
"And your time travel devices," the Doctor muttered.
"Time travel is dangerous in the wrong hands," Alice pointed out. "Our agents are trained to get in and get out quickly and quietly. There are few I trust with that task." She straightened up. "Let's hope that is all those two are here for."
"I doubt they'll settle for that," the Doctor said. "Stay quiet and stay together. At this point being caught alone is a dangerous idea."
Jack nodded. He was in all business mode and carefully rolled up his sleeve to expose his own vortex manipulator. The Curator kept walking as she did something with the top of the cane.
"I've locked down all of the exits," the Curator explained. "But I doubt, at this point, they plan to leave through a door."
"I doubt that too, but we can hopefully keep them from getting what they are after."
The crash from further down the room drew their attention. Their small group hurried forward, quickly but quietly. Rose glanced at the objects and plaques as they went past them. Some had frightening names, referring to disasters and crises that Rose had never heard of. Yet, they weren't what was locked in the vaults. It made her wonder if, despite having the entire asteroid, Brax had run out of room to build more vaults. Or maybe he considered them bad enough to be hidden but not so dangerous that they needed to be locked up further.
They moved around a particular large metal capsule covered with random writing that seemed like the ravings of a madman to Rose. The Doctor frowned as he passed it, blinking in surprise, but a hiss from the Curator pulled his attention back to the matter at hand. A snarled shout echoed down the long chamber.
One of the metal doors was hanging open, a thin burned line in the metal showing where it had been cut. Rose saw the Doctor take it in with stormy eyes and held back a shiver. That disquieting feeling was building. A cool hand took her left one, and Rose entangled her fingers with the Doctor's. She summoned her sword in her right hand. The Curator didn't react at all.
Alice had to be one of hers. Rose was feeling more and more certain of that. The A name, the wolf brooch, her lack of surprise over Rose's Star Knight blade, and her reaction to Jack. Not to mention her control over what would be her uncle's Collection. Jack gave her a meaningful look. He'd caught the lack of reaction too but then turned his attention to the two figures that came into view as their group came to a stop in front of the damaged door. The Monk was kneeling beside some sort of strange device with a large metallic chair, more like a throne, built into the centre of it. A control panel was mounted in front of the chair, and oddly curved arms with circuits and glowing tubes surrounded the centre but didn't enclose it fully. The Monk was tinkering with one of the arms, having removed part of the metal covering a glowing tube.
"You could help," the Monk snarled. He started to look up at the Master, who had his back to the door. "We need to-" The Monk caught sight of them.
The Master spun around at the Monk's sudden silence and realized that he and the Monk had company. "Ah, Doctor!" The Master grinned at them even as the Monk kept working in the background. "I must say that this is a surprise. I suppose it shouldn't be; that old ship of yours has always excelled at bringing you right to me." Rose didn't like the flirty note to the Master's voice there. "I'm sorry about Brax, Doctor. I'm glad that at least his Collection remains. He always was… oddly proud of this place."
"What are you two after?" The Doctor eyed the machine.
"Oh, us?" The Master touched his chest and gestured towards the Monk, eyes wide with innocence. "Just reclaiming some old Time Lord technology. After all, it should be in the hands of Time Lords and not, well her." He gestured at the Curator with a sneer. "No plans to destroy the world today, so how about you just walk away and take your…." The Master looked at Rose as his face contorted as if he had swallowed a lemon. "Lady love upstairs to the gallery. I'm not the most romantic, but I'm fairly sure that running after your old school friends isn't the best date option."
Rose almost laughed at that. It was a little tempting to say that their first date had been the end of Earth when the sun expanded, but she wasn't going to banter with the Master. Not when the Doctor was so tense beside her, and Alice was potentially at risk. Rose glanced at the young woman, or at least what appeared to be a young woman, nervously. None of the Time Lords were reacting to Alice at all. But the Doctor had never noticed Adam, and Astra had needed to reveal herself before the Doctor's next self-recognize who and what she was.
"Stop at once!" the Curator barked. "That machine is dangerous. It was unstable even by ancient Gallifreyan standards."
"Not really sure can lecture us on that," the Master sneered. "You're just an ape."
The Doctor flinched at the Master's use of that word, but thankfully the Master didn't seem to notice. "You're not capable of understanding what the Time Lords are. We are the gods of the universe."
"Bold words to say in front of me," Rose said. She raised an eyebrow. "Especially since you ran last time."
But the Master just smiled, and Rose had a very bad feeling that they were missing something.
"Finished," the Monk announced, climbing to his feet. "We're ready."
Rose heard a hum as something behind them activated and saw a smile overtake the Master's face.