The Ordinary One Part Five
Notes: OK…let's have a little recap. The TARDIS is old and broken and the Doctor, Rose and intruder girl Stella have landed in a Gaal warehouse for stolen goods 7000 odd years in the future. Rose and the Doctor are about to steal the gold necessary to fix the space-time ship thingy, whilst Stella tried to distract the guards, succeeded for a while, then tripped, broke her nose and got tied up. She's not having such a good time as she expected. The Doctor has no other plan other than to rush in and grab the gold, and no one except Porky and Skinny knows where Stella is. Quite a predicament. Even I don't know how they'll get out.
I'm not kidding. I really don't know.
Crawdie: So how do you intend to write the next part?
I'm going with the flow, dear Crawdford…going with the flow…
First, a little word to my reviewers. Thank you very much for all your interest and support throughout this fic.
Morph: Glad you like. Here I am, updating for you. Hope you read it!
Shangri-la-gypsy: Beautiful name by the way. How did you come up with it? Yay, I converted another one! The last time, it was in the Pokemon realm, and someone didn't like fics that weren't based on the game…Eevee strikes again! I keep getting people's interest…let's hope I can keep it, eh?
Tear22: I love you! I knew you'd come through for me! I'm so glad you like it…description rocks! Thanks so much my mystic chum, hope you enjoy the other chappies!
Arysta: Heck yeah, her poor parents! Let's hope they don't find out…although her mum might get suspicious about the amount of blood on her fleece! I'm glad you like Stella! I must say, I like her too as a character. My OCs don't always turn out so well…except when I'm writing comedy! They can end up very boring and same-old, same-old…so thanks for letting me know you like her! Oh yeah…boost her ego…thanks for reviewing! Again, beautiful name! How do you people come up with these?
Scary miss mary: Again, nice name. I know, I know, it was risky…I'm glad you think I've managed to get away with it, huh? (winks) Why is everyone so surprised she isn't a Mary Sue? I have SOME pride. Very little, but some. Ahhh, more praise for my little Strawberry. Thanks, miss mary!
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Stella awoke in a bloody haze, blinking sweat out of her eyes. She moaned.
"Awww, man…" she said dryly. "How long have I been stuck here?" She tried moving her arms, which were bound painfully behind her back. "Ow…right…rope…check…" She glanced at the blood on her fleece. "Nose bleed…check…" She squirmed uncomfortably, thanking her lucky stars that her feet weren't tied. Obviously Porky and Skinny hadn't banked on her escaping. Which she intended to do.
Stella almost laughed when she saw her prison. Those imbeciles, she thought. Like a cage made of boxes is gonna keep me in.
"Time to get up Stella," she mumbled to herself. She caught sight of her face in the polished metal floor. "Woah…that's very unattractive…" Her nose, mouth and chin were covered in blood, not all of which was dry. "That's some bleed," she noted.
Getting up is a lot harder when your hands are bound behind you. Trust me. It is. Stella was already feeling…well, not her best, and she had nothing to support her as she vainly tried to rock into at least a crouching position. Managing to do this at last, she stood up slowly, trying to avoid falling on her sore nose. Blood rushed to her head and she leant precariously against the boxes for a while until they stopped spinning.
"OK…let's break out of prison then…" said Stella, charging at the boxes.
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"Doctor, we can't just grab it, we can't," hissed Rose urgently.
"We can and we will," replied the Doctor happily.
"Stop being such an idiot and think it through!" insisted Rose. "Even if we do get the gold, they'll chase us all the way back to the TARDIS, leaving no time for us to melt it down or find Stella."
"Do you think she'll need finding?" asked the Doctor worriedly. "I REALLY don't want to have to explain to her parents if we lose her 7000 years in the future. Just think what—"
"Will you just FOCUS for a moment, please!"
"Rose, listen," said the Doctor sighing. "If it makes you feel better, I do have a plan…sort of…" Rose sighed. "Look, it's very simple really…we just grab the gold and…" The Doctor looked at the shiny room for inspiration. Only one door. One way in, one way out. "And lock the door behind us," he finished, grinning. He took out the sonic screwdriver. "Now are you satisfied?"
"Definitely," said Rose. They simultaneously reached for each other's hands.
"You take the pretty necklace, and if needs be, I'll distract them. Then we seal the door and make like professional burglars." Rose glanced at him. He grinned again. "We escape."
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"I have to escape," said Stella woozily. She'd managed to knock down enough boxes to scramble out, but it had dawned on her that she had no way of finding the TARDIS. "Wish I had a photogenic…photowhatsit…a good memory." She staggered through the boxes and looked around blearily. "Big blue box…I need to find a big blue…the boxes…boxes can help me." She kicked one of the boxes to lie in front of her feet and managed to stand on it, swaying. She could just see above the others… "There!"
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"NOW!" yelled the Doctor. The Mahzart looked up, shocked…then angry.
"Guards!" he yelled in his hideously reptile voice. His two bodyguards charged towards the Doctor, giving Rose the chance to swipe the necklace from under Klideog's flat, snakelike nose.
"Doctor!" she cried, as he punched one of the guards and pushed the other.
"OK, OK, I'm coming," he said They ran for the exit, only to find Porky and Skinny blocking it.
"Sorry boys, no time to chat," said Rose, neatly dodging around them. Stella had been right: they were imbeciles. They paused to think just long enough for the Doctor to slam the door in their faces, sealing it with one buzz of the sonic screwdriver.
"Yes!" he yelled triumphantly. "See you later Klideog," he said through the glass, as they ran victoriously for the lift.
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"That was too easy," said Rose, a little breathlessly. "So what next? Back to the TARDIS?" The Doctor nodded.
"Let's just hope Stella meets us there," he said gravely.
"You don't really think she's in trouble do you?" asked Rose.
"I wouldn't put it past her," said the Doctor grimly. "Human females are all the same. Peril magnets." Rose punched him on the arm.
"I resent that," she said, looking more closely at the necklace in her hands. "It seems a shame to melt this down for the TARDIS to eat."
"Without it, we could land in a volcano," the Doctor reminded her.
"We could do that anyway," Rose shot back.
"Touché," mumbled the Doctor. "We won't need the jewels though," he said, pointing to the large emerald set into it and the various other precious stones surrounding it. "You fancy it?"
"Not the emerald," said Rose cautiously. "Those little rubies are nice…" The Doctor thought for a moment, then grinned as if nothing had been said. "We did it then. Fantastic, huh?" Rose smiled. The lift door opened and they strode out, hand in hand.
"This way," said the Doctor, taking a path through the boxes to their left. They walked on in silence until they heard, unmistakably, a Gaal growling and Stella screaming.
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Growly had returned. And by the looks of things, he wasn't too happy with the way Stella had disposed of him. He had a small bump forming on his yellowish forehead.
"Rose?" tried Stella nervously. "Doctor? Anyone?" She also desperately tried to pull her wrists apart, hoping that the Gaals' ability to build prisons was also reflected in their ability to tie knots. Sadly, they seemed quite adept at the latter. Good enough to keep her defenceless.
Stella shook her head slightly. She may have no hands and possibly a broken nose, but she was far from defenceless. She'd broken into the TARDIS, hadn't she? Granted, it was also broken at the time…but she snapped the lock at least. She got into the same lucky fighting stance that had helped her before and kicked the already sore spot on Growly's forehead with all her might. The Gaal had no time to dodge the blow or counter it. Usually things ran away when he growled. That was how this worked. People didn't fight back, especially girls.
He was still thinking this when he lost consciousness due to Stella for the second time that day. The Doctor and Rose arrived to her aid just in time to see her opponent well and truly floored. They gaped at her.
"How did you know that a Gaal's weak spot is it's forehead?" demanded the Doctor. Stella shrugged.
"Lucky guess?" she offered.
"Oh my God, your nose!" said Rose, thrusting the necklace at the Doctor and stepping closer to the teenager to inspect her injury. "What happened?"
Stella suddenly felt overwhelmingly tired. "I tripped and fell on my face. It was my fault…" Her eyes filled with tears, the stress of her time with these strange people finally breaking through. "They took my skates and tied me up." Rose turned her around gently and unpicked the tight knots binding her hands. Her wrists were cut and bruised from where she'd tried to pull free.
"Let's get you back to the TARDIS, OK?" asked Rose gently. "Then we can fix up your nose and wrists." Stella nodded dumbly, tears running down her cheeks.
"Nick gave me those skates," she said unhappily, stammering a little. "He ordered them for me, before he died. I got them two w-weeks later with a note saying 'Happy Un-B-birthday'." Rose made some comforting noises whilst the Doctor watched them, not sure quite what to say or do. Human emotions were incredibly fickle…he didn't understand them, and never hoped to. Finally, unable to bear feeling useless, he stuffed the necklace in his pocket and clapped his hands together like Santa.
"Right!" he said in a fake cheerful voice. "Back to the TARDIS for you, young Strawberry." Stella nodded again and allowed herself to be led back to the police box.
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Bit of a sad note to end on…it won't be discussed again, so I thought you might like to know that Nick was Stella's older brother. They were pretty close.
Another big WHOO-HOO! To all of my amazing reviewers…I love EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!
Crawdie: (singing) Let's take each other's hands, as we step into the final frontier!
That's right Crawdie, folks, the next chapter will be the last! I might add a little Epilogue to do the traditional 'five years later' jargon, but apart from that…we must wave goodbye to Stella soon! But Crawdie, why DID you sing the Mad About You theme tune?
Crawdie: I keep my affection in the closet.
Don't you mean the airing cupboard?
Crawdie: Haha, very funny Eevee.
I try…(big smiles)…see y'all next time!
Crawdie: Darn straight!
