Meet The Traveler, best friend of the Doctor, little sister of the Master and the last of her kind.
Or so she thinks.
"I'm The Traveler, and I'm the Last Time Lady"
[Book one of The Traveler series]
[SEASON 1 OF DOCTOR WHO]
OPHELIA MAE CARTER
With a sharp gasp, the female jolted awake her breathing hard and chest heaving rapidly. The same damn dream happened again. Groaning, she grabbed her head and tried to take the pain away. For the longest time, the same dream or memory happened day in and day out. Ever since she was old enough, though she was probably around thirteen or fourteen years old. It revolved around the same people, never really getting into who they were. All the female wanted to know is why she was having these dreams.
What could they possibly mean to her?
Why couldn't she just have a normal life?
Was something so simple so hard to ask for?
There was a war going on, and safe to say that four hundred year old Ophelia Oakdown was absolutely and utterly terrified. Her mother was fretting over her, and just for a second Lia found herself missing her older brother. Her mother had told her that Koshei had died in the early days of the war. Of course Lia believed her mother, not having seen her older brother in a century or two. She was the only daughter of the House of Oakdown, younger than her brother by a hundred years. He and Theta had graduated when she was three hundred and eight years old, and she hadn't seen them since.
Mother said they had gone off and were going against what they were taught. Her mother always thought that her brother and his friends were a bad influence on her 'sweet innocent Delta'
Delta believed her, her brother had never been the same since he started hearing the drums in his head. Of course, no one besides her and him knew about that.
She was so close to graduating the Academy, and to choosing her title, but as it would seem the universe was against her. And, somehow she was still on her first regeneration cycle. That within itself was a rare sight. Most of her classmates were already on their second or third. She was brought out of her thoughts, as her mother grabbed her by the hand and pulled her along from her room and down the hallway.
Where were they going?
They entered her parents bedroom.
She watched as her mother pulled out the safe that held all the important things, along with family valuables. Her mother then pulled out a pre packed bag, and regrabbed Lia's hand, things in her arms. Her mother placed everything in the bag, it seemed to be bottomless.
They stopped at a door, and with a key her mother unlocked it. Inside was a TARDIS, how they had one, she could not tell you. And wouldn't find out til later.
Luckily, she knew how to fly one if it came to it. Well, she knew enough she supposed so.
After all, she had been specializingin the care of TARDIS'
Her mother, in one last act of love, strung the wedding band and her house crest on a band and placed it into the bag. Pulling her daughter into one last hug, she whispered the first name she had given her.
The sounds of war grew closer, closer and then their door was shot open. Her mother finished up whatever commands she was typing in, and hurried her daughter in. Placing the chameleon circuit on her, she placed the watch into the slot.
But before she could press the button, Lia was shot.
She could feel herself dying. Sheer pain racked her body and she hunched over at the waist.
Her mother slammed on the button, and left the TARDIS before she was shot twice. As the TARDIS drifted through the vortex, screams left Lia's mouth as she fell unconscious.
And that is where Ophelia Mae Carter's story starts.
Her phone ringing from her nightstand caught her attention and she reached over and grabbed it. It was her best friend, Rose Tyler.
"What do you want? " She asked, her voice raspy. From the other end she could hear a laugh.
"You got the job," she said, and the black haired girl smiled.
"I did? " she asked, astounded that she'd got the job. She had applied where Rose worked at Henrik's last week since they had a spot opening. She never really expected to get it. Honestly Ophelia really only applied just so that she would have something to do on the weekends when she was on a break from starting something to keep her busy and to make some extra money.
She had just finished secondary school, graduating at the top of her class with high marks in all of her classes. The female had actually been allowed the graduate early, finishing in late February instead of June like the rest of the classmates. She was going to start university that fall but decided to take some time off from school. Perhaps travel the world. All she knew is that she would be taking at least a year off or so.
"They want you to start today, so I'll be there within the next thirty minutes"
"Wait, where are you?" She asked Rose, as she heaved herself up, pushing her hair out of her eyes. It fell back into her face and she sighed.
"In town. I went to have breakfast with Mickey."
"Ah okay."
"Better be ready when I get to your place." Rose said and hung up. She fell back onto the bed and sighed. Today was going to be a long day. A feeling of dread was starting to build in her gut. Lia pushed her hair out of her eyes.
March 4th stood out to her on her calendar, today's date.
She pushed it aside, willing it to go away.
The female finally managed to force her body to get up and got up slowly, yawning and popping her back slightly. She had the same memory, seeing the woman die, feeling whatever she was feeling. Who was she?
Her black hair was a wreck, thanks to the nightmare. she sighed softly and turned the shower on, hoping that would wash her problems away. The water was hot against her skin, as she reached for her shampoo and applied into her hair. Showers have always been a way to calm her down and help her relax. Especially the last few years, with all the memories or whatever they were started.
It was times like this that she was glad she had her own flat. Her parents had passed when she was sixteen, and she had been emancipated a few weeks after. Luckily her parents had left everything to her, and she inherited a large sum of money. Enough that she wouldn't have to work for the rest of her life if she didn't want to.
And she was glad she had Rose. They had met when Lia and her family moved to the estate when she was four and Rose was five. They had clicked and were inseparable since then. Rose had been the first one she told about her parents and had been the one to encourage Lia to get her own flat a short way from her own.
Twenty minutes later, she was stopping the water and grabbing her towel. Wrapping her robe around her, she set on getting dressed. Slipping on a black short sleeved and the first pair of black jeans she grabbed from her dresser, Ophelia grabbed her makeup bag. Music blared as she sat at her desk, and pulled her mirror closer and turned it on. Her fingers opened the bag and grabbed her favorite foundation.
Moving on to her concealer, she placed it under her eyes, blending it in carefully. She was starting to get less and less sleep each night, the nightmares happening more and more often. Hence why the bags under her eyes were getting darker and deeper as each night passed. Hopefully she could figure out what was causing all of these dreams and what they meant for her.
Grabbing her eyebrow brush she filled in her eyebrows and put concealer to make them look sharp.
Hearing a knock on the front door, she placed the brush down so that she could answer.
"Doors open" She yelled out since she was still getting ready. As she was applying her dark red lipstick Rose popped her blonde head in, a grin on her face. Placing the cap back on the lipstick, she turned to face her friend, an equally big smile on her face.
Ophelia and Rose headed out of her flat and caught one of the first buses that went to a few blocks from where she worked. They made it to Henriks by a quarter to nine, which was good considering that their shifts were from nine to four.
The manager decided it was best for Rose to teach what the black haired girl would be doing for her job and Rose showed her well. By the time noon rolled around, she was stocking the clothes like she had this job for more than a day. She had worked in retail before. It had been when she was about sixteen but experience was experience. It was easy really. Lia didn't mind it one bit.
They had a quick lunch break around two in the afternoon with Mickey. Ophelia watched as Mickey joked around, rolling her eyes. Where could she find someone that looked at her like he looked at Rose? Rose had been acting distant towards Mickey, she noted then. She had noticed it happening over the last three months or so. Perhaps Rose wasn't as in love with Mickey as he was with her. Hopefully Rose would find a way to break it up between the two of them without hurting Mickey too much.
The rest of the day was easy enough. Lia had been given more paperwork to fill out. She would have to turn it in tomorrow, but something had her thinking that it wasn't going to happen.
Finally, it was closing time.
As they finished closing and were about to head out, the lottery bag with the money inside was thrusted at Rose.
"You head out Lia, I got this." Rose spoke softly. There was something similar to a scowl on her face.
The feeling of dread came back and Lia knew she had to go with Rose, something big was going to happen. She had to go with Rose, something just urged her to.
"No can do Rose, I'm coming with." Lia spoke as she grabbed her hair tie off of her wrist and pulled her hair up and out of her face.
"Another one of your feelings?"
She nodded. "I just need you to trust me on this." Ophelia spoke, moving her hair out of her eyes. Ever since she was young Ophelia always got gut feelings with certain things. Like the one time that she and Rose wanted to go on a trip to Spain with Jackie. They had even gone as far to book tickets and made it to the airport and through the gate before Lia stopped them. It took a little time to convince them that something was going to happen to the plane and they didn't board the plane. True to her words the plane had suffered an engine failure about an hour into the flight and had crashed.
No one made it out alive.
With a sigh, Rose and Ophelia headed down to the basement to give the money to Wilson.
They both breathed out softly and the black haired girl went first, slinging her black bag over her shoulder and went to the basement door and opened it. The door was heavy, and she struggled to keep it open.
"Rose! Hurry up." She called out and she watched Rose run through the opened door, which she quickly got through, letting the door shut with a slam. The air was musty and damp, which caused the female to gag. The duo walked down the hall, which was lit by some small and rather dim lights.
They made it to Wilson's door and Rose raised her hand to knock on the door.
Nothing.
As she knocked once more a loud crash echoed through the hall. Their heads snapped down that way as Rose dropped the money through the slot. Lia and Rose slowly backed up as the sound they heard grew louder as they seemed to walk closer to it.
"Anyone out there?" Ophelia yelled out, voice strong and that too echoed. Her and Rose came into a room full of mannequins. They walked a bit faster, trying to get out before anything happened. Out of the corner of her, Ophelia could of sworn that she saw one of the heads move and look at her.
"Rose.." her voice trailed off for a second, "We gotta get out" She must have seen them too for she screamed. They ran.
Somehow the two got trapped by a pipe. Ophelia was shielding Rose with her body. One of the mannequins was raising its arm, when suddenly a man in a leather jacket grabbed Ophelia by the hand and spoke.
"Run!"
The three of them ran down the hallway, Ophelia's hand firmly grasped in the unknown man's. They came to the elevator that was at the end of the hallway and got in.
She knew those eyes.
They were so familiar.
Where did she know them from?
Why did they look so sad and like he had seen enough war to last a lifetime?
A mannequin's arm got trapped in the closing doors, and with a few pulls, the man managed to pull it off. The door's then shut quiet and they started assencing the floors.
"You just pulled the arm off." She spoke, a frown on her lips.
How was he so calm about this?
"Yep, Plastic" He replied, somewhat of a smirk on his face.
"Nice trick, who were they then, students? Is this a student thing?" Rose asked, Ophelia glanced over at her, concern starting to grow. The knots in her stomach grew, and she let out a breath. She tried to calm herself down although it seemed futile as her breathing started to pick up.
"Why would they be students?" The man asked them, curiosity in his voice.
Pain started to build in her head. The pain started in her temples and ran down her head and her neck. It seemed that another flashback was coming on and quick.
She didn't even realize that her legs gave out, only that the floor was suddenly a lot closer than it was before.
It all went black.
[Gallifrey,age:207]
"Come on Delta!" She could hear Theta call out quietly to her from outside her room. She huffed, before going to her door and opening it. She had been up reading for the last couple hours. She couldn't have been however, since lights out was two hours ago but she found herself getting really deep in the new book that she was reading.
"You know, we have exams in the morning, and unlike some, I want to pass." She quipped, a smirk growing on her face as she glanced at her friend. A pout formed on his face.
"Come on! It's just a little adventure to the fields! I'll have you back in a bit! I promise!" he begged her, his voice quiet. Sighing softly, the young time lady grabbed her robe from the hook, slipped her shoes on and closed the door softly.
"Better have me back in an hour or so." She told him, before letting him grab her hand and leading her out of the building and to the fields.
"Have you thought about whether you would want to be with someone?" The question came out of nowhere. Pausing to think about it, Delta glanced up at the stars, curling closer to the boy.
"I mean, if the time is right, then I suppose. There's really only one person I could think about being paired with." She softly said, looking up at him.
"What about you?" She asked.
"Only one person in mind, he looked down at her, a smile on her face. "It's you, you know. You're the one that I could see myself being with for all of eternity." a blush overcame his face. Her own made her cheek flush.
"I- Theta, I want you to be the one I bond with too. Nobody understands me like you. No one makes me happy like you do, and no one takes us on adventures like this. What if, say by the time we're both five hundred and we're both not paired , we'll do it." She states as he pulls her closer to him, his lips pressed to her forehead.
"Deal!"
Rose could see her friend, blacked out on the ground, eyes rolled back into her head. Small whimpers and tears starting to fall down her face.
"What's going on with her?" The man asked.
Rose shrugged, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. "Sometimes she gets these sort of vivid flashbacks. I don't know what they are but it might be connected to her dreams that she has."
With a groan, Ophelia stumbled back into the present and her eyes snapped open. The doors to the elevator have long since opened and she grasped the rail to pull herself up.
"Are you okay?" Rose asked, as she pulled her friend in for a hug.
"Yeah, gonna have a huge headache for the rest of tonight." She said, as she rubbed at her temple. Her head was already starting to pound behind her eyes.
The man, Theta or maybe that was a nickname or something, it seemed. He was looking at her, an unrecognizable look on his face and in his eyes. Snapping back into focus, he took off, leaving the two to follow him, trying to match his long strides.
They stopped at the door that would lead them outside.
The man, a mad smile on his face, straightened his jacket and smiled at us before going through the door. Then he came back and stuck his head through the open door.
"What are your names?"
"Rose"
"Ophelia"
"Lovely to meet you two. Now I'm going to do something very dangerous, so off you pop go have your lovely beans on toast" He said, but before he could leave again, Ophelia spoke up.
"Who are you?"
His reply was short.
"I'm the Doctor"
Her feet hit the ground not more than two seconds before an explosion sounded. Looking back, she could see the store now in flames, small debris such as glass and rocks starting to fly around. Turning to face her almost shell shocked like friend, Ophelia sprung to her feet.
There went her job.
"Rose, we gotta go. Now. Before the police arrive." Ophelia spoke out to her blonde friend. She looked back at the blonde haired girl and stood up, grabbed her hand and made their way back to Rose's place since her own was too far at the current moment. Police sirens sounded as they ran from the store, no doubt heading to the now burning building.
They made it back to Rose's flat, Jackie was on the phone, and on the telly showed the store in flames.
Seems the news traveled fast.
"I know. It's on the telly. It's everywhere. She's lucky to be alive. Honestly, it's aged her. Walking in" She noticed Lia, "With Lia and now you'd think I was her daughter. " Jackie rambled, hand going through her hair.
"It's Debbie on the other end. She knows a man with the Mirror. Five hundred quid for an interview." Jackie said, while looking at Rose. Ophelia turned and went into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.
"That's brilliant! 'ive it 'ere." Rose said, and grabbed the phone and hung up.
Her friend smirked to herself, and covered a laugh with a sighed softly and sat on the couch, placing her feet up on the coffee table. Shrugging out of her jacket, she placed it on the seat beside her, and toed her shoes off.
Reaching over, the black haired female grabbed a nearby book that she had left and started to skim it. Ever since Ophelia was young, books have always fascinated her. Books were her escape from the real world. It was no wonder that led to her having a room in her flat completely dedicated to books.
There was a knock at the door, then Rose yelled out. "I'll get it." She went and opened the door, the night breeze coming in along with her boyfriend, Mickey. He waved at the girl on the couch and she grinned back. She and Mickey had become best friends in the short amount of time that she knew him.
"I've been calling your phone, both of you. It's on the news and everything. I can't believe that your shop went up!" He exclaimed as he pulled Rose into a tight hug and shot Lia a wink and a wave.
"Her phone died. She didn't bring the charger." Ophelia pointed as she glanced up from the TV. "And weirdly enough I don't have your number still." She shrugged her shoulders.
"That's on you Lia." Rose spoke, shoving her shoulder lightly against her friends.
"Do you and Ophelia want to come down to the pub to have a drink?" He asked them with a smirk on his face. Rose arched an eyebrow, her head turning toward her boyfriend.
"There's a football match, isn't there?" Ophelia questioned, wincing as her voice came out a little bored. Mickey always was trying to get Rose into his favorite sport but Rose had no interest in liking it. Lia on the other hand love football and would gladly spend her night watching it with Mickey.
"Yeah." He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. Ophelia shook her head, grinned and turned her attention back to the TV.
He waved the plastic arm around and Rose let out a laugh. "Nah, I'm alright. You can go on and watch it. I'll stay here with Ophelia. Take the arm please." She said with a soft smile.
He waved the arm again, and then left, letting the door shut behind him. Jackie came back into the room and sat on the couch across from the girls. Jackie had dinner made up and they ate as they watched the news, words left unspoken between the three of them. That night, she went back to her own flat, even though Rose offered that she could stay the night. She would feel more comfortable in her own bed.
The TV was still on, volume down almost all the way. Somehow the window was left open, She walked over and slammed it shut. The lights flickered on and off for a second before coming back on. Grabbing a cold water bottle, she chugged half of it before heading back to her room.
And once again, she fell into another flashback.
Gallifrey age 100
Today was the day she had been looking forward to since Theta and Koschei had told her. Her and her class would be going in a TARDIS and seeing the birth of a star! They had been preparing all month for it, diving deep into the science part of it and Delta was fascinated by it.
It was gorgeous. Seeing it go from a prototype star to a star that just started nuclear fusion. The star would become bigger no doubt. That was what she wanted to see, she decided as she came back to her room that night. That's what she wanted to do. She wanted to travel the stars and the universe and see everything.
The next morning she woke up to her alarm clock blaring, She groaned and pulled herself up. She might as well get up now, though she now had no job to go to. Not that it wasn't a new thing to her. Besides, maybe she could start a small business selling things online. Lia made herself at home in the kitchen, set on making breakfast. While plating some pancakes, she heard the cat flap rattle. Strange, since she didn't have a cat. But the neighborhood did have some that liked to sneak in.
She peaked over and saw the stupid plastic arm that she thought Mickey had thrown out when he left Rose's. Guess not. Tapping the flap, she watched it flap back.
Hmm.
She kept the flap open and nearly screamed when she saw familiar grey eyes.
Quickly getting up, she opened the door, seeing his confused expression which had to mirror her own expression.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, his head tilting to the side as he scanned her quickly with his sonic.
"I live here, and since I don't have a job to go to anymore, thanks to you, I have nothing else to do. But to be fair I did only have the job for a day so it's not like im not used to staying home all day." She replied, leaning against the doorframe.
He made his way past her.
"Oh, please come in." She muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes.
She shut the door and walked back into the kitchen and finished eating breakfast, then poured a cup of tea from her electric kettle that she had just bought the week before. . He sat on the couch, flipping the pages of a book when she walked back into the living room.
"Want tea? Coffee? Water?" She asked as she moved into the kitchen, glad that she had the insight to brew a pot of coffee when she woke up.
"Coffee with a splash of milk please." was his reply.
She made the coffee and brought it back out to him. He had a smile on his face.
"The news said that they found a body." She spoke up as she sat on the couch across from him.
"Ophelia Carter." he read off of an envelope. Reaching over, she grabbed it from him, a smile on her face. After she had finished her tea, She grabbed their cups and walked back into the kitchen.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw the arm move. Weird. She shook her head and cleaned out the cups and placed them on the rack to something smashed. Lia ran in finding the man on the now shattered coffee table, the arm's hand clutching his throat.
"What happened here?" And then the thing was moving, and it clutched onto Ophelia's neck. She struggled and gasped for air. The Doctor managed to grab his tube thing, and point and press at the arm. It stopped moving, he grabbed it and threw it to the floor.
"What the fuck was that?" she gasped out, her chest now heaving as she tried to regulate her breathing again.
"It's alright. I stopped it. It's armless." she grabbed it from where it was on the floor and whacked him with it, not hard as she could.
"Ya think? Nice pun though." she sassed, a grin on her face. He smiled and grabbed the arm out of her hand, and walked towards the door and opened it. She slipped on her shoes and grabbed a light jacket.
What was he on?
"Hey, you can't go running off like that." She said, a frown on her face as she sped up her strides to catch up with him.
"Yes I can. Here I am. This is me, running off." He called back to her, and she could just hear the smirk in his voice.
"But that arm was moving. It tried to kill me. And it also tried to kill you." She yelled out, walking a bit faster, cursing herself for being so short.
"Ten out of ten for observation." He sassed as he walked a bit faster.
Why was she still following him?
Did she feel the connection between them like he felt it?
"You can't just walk away. That's not fair. You have to tell me what's going on." She called out.
"No, I don't." He said, a bit softer.
She walked closer and caught up with him.
"At least not yet." He said.
"What do you mean by that?" she said and pulled on his jacket and stopped him. He glanced at her, an amused expression clearly on his face.
"If I told you, you wouldn't be able to handle it. It'll come to you over time." He said and looked down.
"Overtime? I need a hint here Doctor." She let out a sigh and ran her hand through her hair. He let out a sigh of his own.
"Do you have a watch? And the dreams and flashbacks you're having? They might mean something. I just don't know yet." He spoke. She nodded.
Ever since she could remember she had a watch, well a pocket watch. And every time she went to open it, she could hear faint voices saying it wasn't time yet. She must have frowned so he went on. She had been found on the steps of her parents house when she was two months old with only the pocket watch with strange symbols on it.
"When the watch opens, you'll know. You'll know." With that he turned on his heels and was about to walk off when she spoke up.
"Wait, before you go. Who are you?"
"Like I said, I'm The Doctor."
"Yeah, but Doctor Who?"
"Just The Doctor."
She smirked. "The Doctor." She spoke slowly. It had to be some sort of nickname.
He grinned. "Hello!" and waved his hand at her.
She walked a few paces forward, then turned back to him, looking him in the eyes.
"Is it supposed to sound impressive?"
"Sort of."
"I've seen enough. Are you the police? But then why would you be at the store at just the right time to save Rose and I?" Her mind starting running a million miles an hour.
"No, I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home." Was there a sad look in his eyes?
"But what have I done wrong? How come those plastic things keep coming after me?"
"Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you. You were an accident. You and Rose just got in the place at the wrong time!" His sass level was very high and very amusing, at least if it would have been if it wasn't making her slightly upset.
"It tried to kill me!" She exclaimed, an eyebrow arched, hands going up in the air.
"It was after me, not you. Last night, in the shop, I was there, you and Rose blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down, it was tracking me down. The only reason it's fixed on you is 'cos you've met me." He spoke, arching a brow in response.
"So what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you." Ophelia sassed, her hands going to run through her hair, tugging slightly on the roots.
"Sort of, yeah." He grinned and walked closer to her.
"You're full of it." She said with a laugh and felt her phone vibrate in the back pocket of her jeans, she turned back to the Doctor. He had this sort of far away look in his eyes.
"Sort of."
"All this plastic stuff. Who else knows about it?"
"No one."
"You mean you're on your own?"
A slight pain flared in her chest.
Why did she feel like she's known him before?
Why does she feel like she could cry?
"Well, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed. while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on."
"Okay. Wait, I need you to please start from the beginning. I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic, and I find it hard to believe that there is such a thing, but if we do, how did you kill it?"
"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal then it's dead."
"So it's basically radio control?" She spoke, her tone questioning.
"Thought control. Are you all right?"
"Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then?"
"Long story."
"But what's it all for? I mean. Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?"
"No."
"No?" She asked.
"It's not a price war. They just want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me?" He said, a slight grin on his face.
"No, not really. It's just a lot to try to wrap my head around ya know?"
"But you're still listening." He sassed again. Her phone buzzed again.
"No, but seriously, Doctor. Tell me, who are you really?"
"Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it." He spoke, turning a bit serious.
"The turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, I can feel it.. That's who I am. Now, forget me, Ophelia . Go home." He turned on his heels and walked off. She stood there in shock, teeth biting into her bottom lip. She then grabbed her phone out of her pocket and looked at it.
Two messages from Rose
Rosie: Where are you?
Rosie:Ophelia please answer.
She sighed softly and replied.
Ophelia:Heading home now. Ran into a friend. Be at your place soon
Then pressed send.
As she turned the corner, she heard a whooshing noise. Turning back, Ophelia saw that the blue box that was on the corner was no longer there. Strange. When she walked into Rose's flat ten minutes later, She saw Rose hunting for the Doctor.
"Anything good?" She asked as she poured herself a cup of tea and placed some sugar in it.
"Found this guy, said that he knows a lot about the man we met. Mickey's taking me to go meet him and then probably for dinner or something."
"Alright if you just chill here, your mum is still at work right?" Lia asked as she made herself comfrotable on the couch, turning the telly on to a rerun of an old show.
"Yeah, she should be back around nine or ten."
A while later she heard Rose call out to her from the living room. "I'm leaving to go meet up with someone. I'll be back soon!" She yelled, and left with a slam of the door. When she turned back to her phone, her stomach growled, reminding her that she really didn't eat much at breakfast. Deciding to go get some pizza, she slipped her slides on and her sunglasses headed out to her car.
When she got there, Mickey and Rose were a few tables over. Ophelia couldn't really hear what they were talking about. Except Mickey looked a lot like plastic.
Like, a lot like plastic.
Nestene Consciousness, she heard in her mind. The voice was soft, and femimine.
How did she know that?
What the fuck.
"Whatever." She muttered under her breath.
She texted one of her friends while she ate, catching up with them. Then, something happened. She looked up to see The Doctor coming her way. Rolling her eyes, she looked up at him as he went up to Rose and Mickey.
They didn't see him come up, he saw her and sent her a wink. Her cheeks flared red.
Then shit went down.
There must have been an exchange of words because what happened next surprised her.
Plastic Mickey got up and turned his hand into a flat paddle.. Rose got up as Mickey smashed the table into two. The Doctor grabbed him and popped off the head.
Was this how she would die?
"Don't think that's going to stop me." The head said, making her shudder.
The body gets up and starts flailing around. Rose got up and walked over to the alarm and pulled the lever down, buzzing filled the room.
"Everyone out! Out now! Get out! Get out! Get out!"
Rose and the Doctor ran through the kitchen carrying the head, Ophelia caught up with them as they made it to the back exit. Doctor pulled out the sonic like thing and clicked on the button, the blue light flashing as a lock sounded out. Turning around she saw the familiar blue box. A humming filled her head and the box strangely felt like home.
"Rose, Ophelia in here." She ran into the box. Rose followed a few seconds later, took one look inside, then stepped out again, then ran back inside.
"It's bigger on the inside." She let out a small gasp, and her black haired friend laughed. The doors snapped shut, and Ophelia walked a few more steps in, and leaned against the consol. Her hand went up to stroke the console, feeling it warm under her touch.
"It's alien."
"Yeah."
She stood back and watched it unfold.
"Are you alien?" Rose spoke, her tone soft, Lia could detect disbelief in her voice
"I am. Is that alright?" A smirk grew on his face.
"Yeah." She said softly, and looked over to her best friend.
"It's called the TARDIS, this thing." He started.
"It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space." Ophelia said, finishing with a grin.
Wait, what?
That just slipped out of her like she's said it before.
"How.. How do you know that." The Doctor asked, a shocked look on his face. She burst out laughing.
"I don't know. It just came to me." Ophelia shrugged and walked around the consol.
Rose suddenly burst into tears.
"That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to all of us."
"Did it kill him? Mickey? Is he dead?"
"Oh. I didn't think of that." She snorted and shot him a look.
"He's my boyfriend." he was probably cheating on her. No offense Rose.
"You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just going to let him melt?"
"Melt?" He asked, and then turned to see the melting head.
The plastic head was melting on the console, where it was attached by cables.
Poor TARDIS.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no!"
The Doctor moved around, flipping random switches.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked, getting closer, her eyes wide.
"Following the signal. It's fading. I've got it. no, no! Almost there. Here we go!" She yelled out, and flew around and flipped more switches, that she didn't know what they meant. Only knew she had to press them.
Like she had to help him.
The Doctor stood aside. She looked at him over her shoulder.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just. You're human, and you can fly the TARDIS."
"Are you complaining?"
"Not at all." He said with a wink.
They would be talking about that later. For now she settled in and helped him fly the ship with him pointing out the things that needed to be pressed or held down.
They landed and the Doctor flew out the door with the two following close behind him, Ophelia making sure to close the doors softly.
"You can't go out there. It's not safe." Rose stated. Oh. she must've forgotten her. Funny that it happened again.
"I lost the signal, I got so close." He whined, a pout on his lips. Lia let out a laugh, her lips curling into a grin
"You'll get it next time." .
"We've moved. Does it fly?" Rose started to rapidly fire questions at him.
"Disappears there and reappears here. You wouldn't understand it Rose." Ophelia spoke, words spilling out of her mouth before she could think. .
"If we're somewhere else, what about that headless thing? It's still on the loose?" She could hear Rose questioned, panic clear in her voice.
"It melted with the head. Are you going to bicker all night?"
"I'll have to tell his mother. Mickey. and you just went and forgot him, again! You were right, you are an alien."
"Look, if I did forget some bloke called Mickey"
"Yeah, he's not a kid." Lia spoke up, a frown on her face as she stared at him. She couldn't help defending Rose a bit. He had no right to treat Mickey like that.
"It's because I'm trying to save the life of every stupid ape on top this planet, all right?"
Did he just? Call them an ape?
"Yeah, sure" she muttered, and kicked a rock down the sidewalk as she looked at the River Thames.
"All right." she heard Rose say.
"If you are an alien, how come you sound like you're from the North?" Ophelia asked as they walked along the sidewalk. For some reason he just sounded like he was from the north.
"Lots of planets have a north."
"What's a police public call box?" Rose asked, as she caught up with Lia.
"It's a telephone box from the fifties. Or it might be the sixties. It's a disguise." She said, and kicked another rock. She was just wondering how soon he'd get rid of her.
"Okay. So this living plastic. What's it got against us?"
"Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. It's just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. It's food stock was destroyed in the war, Earth, dinner!"
"Any way of stopping it?" Ophelia asked as she let out a breath.
The Doctor holds up a tube of blue liquid. It looked familiar.
"Anti-plastic."
Ah! So that's what it is. Makes sense.
"Anti-plastic." Rose repeated, as they came in front of the London Eye.
"Anti-plastic. But first I have to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?" He pondered
"Hold on. Hide what?" Ophelia piped in, drawing herself out of her thoughts.
"The transmitter. Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."
"What's it look like?" She tuned in and looked at him.
"Like a transmitter. Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London."
"A huge circular metal structure like a dish. Radial. Close to where we're at. Gotta completely invisible." Rose had a smirk on her face
"What? What?"
The Doctor turned and looked at what Rose was staring at.
"What? What is it? What?" He asked stupidly
He finally catches on to what Rose is looking at. The London Eye, Ophelia had only been there a handful of times, but it's lovely.
"Oh. Fantastic!" He said and bolted down the street.
She and Rose quickly ran after him, over the Westminster Bridge.
"Now that I think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables."
"The breast implants." Rose and Ophelia said at the same time, looked at each other then burst out laughing.
"Still, we've found the Consciousness has to be somewhere underneath."
"What about down here?" she pointed down to the ground where there was a big pothole that was covered.
She look over the parapet and could see a large manhole entrance at the bottom of the stairs
"Looks good to me." He spoke up as he glanced down at it.
"You know we could be going to our deaths." She spoke, wringing her hands together, nervously biting down onto her bottom lip.
"I won't let you get hurt. I promise." The Doctor said with a wink.
They run down, and The Doctor opens up the hatch. Ophelia went first, and gagged at the stench that came from it.
"Gross." She spoke and her nose wrinkled up, and she made a face. Rose followed quickly, and then The Doctor.
"The Nestene Consciousness. That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature." She snorted and giggled. It was a vat of a ugly swore that she could see a face in the vat.
"Well, then. Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go." Rose said quickly, rocking on her heels. Knowing that it wasn't going to be that easy, Lia let out a sigh.
"I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance." Nice man. She walked so that she was beside him.
He went down to a catwalk overlooking the seething vat. She wasn't going to let him go alone.
"No, Ophelia stays up with me." she could hear Rose say. She ignored it and walked behind the Doctor.
"I seek an audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation." He spoke steadily, rocking slightly on his heels.
The glob moved.
"Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?"
She tuned it out, as she glanced around the area. They were underground all right, deep underground at that.
"Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy." She heard the Doctor reply. She turned and saw Rose with Mickey. Why was she so surprised he was still alive?
"You knew that and you never said?" Her tone turned icy and cold, something that Lia had rarely seen in the years that she had known Rose.
"Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" He questioned, and Lia could hear anger starting to seep into his words.
If she could slap him, she would.
The Doctor continued walking downwards
"Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect, that you shunt off?" She laughed at that, head going back, and tears welling in her eyes. Rose tried to say something to her, but she found herself tuning the voice out.
The plastic tried to make a face. Or at least that's what Ophelia thought it was trying to do.
"Oh, don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights. I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go." He did have a point.
"Doctor!" Rose suddenly yelled out, and Lia flipped her body around to see a pair of shop dummies grab the Doctor. One took the vial of anti-plastic from his pocket.
"That was just insurance." Anyone could see through the lie. Even the plastic it seemed.
"I wasn't going to use it. No, I was not attacking you. I'm just here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not." He pleaded.
The vat pulled a face, creepy and she swore she heard it talk, but she shook it off.
"What do you mean?" He questioned, She could see that Rose got Mickey to his feet.
All of a sudden a door slid back to reveal the TARDIS. The Doctor's demeanor changed as he saw what was behind the door.
"No. I mean. Yes, that's my ship. But that's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. I couldn't save your world!"
What was he talking about?
What war?
"What's it doing?" She heard Rose yell, then the vat let out a roar.
"It's the TARDIS! They have identified it as superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase, and it's starting the invasion! Get out, Rose, Ophelia. Go!" He yelled at them, and shoved her towards Rose and Mickey.
As she turned back and saw Rose dialing her mum's number. Energy bolts start to go everywhere. Something was happening, and it didn't seem like it was going to be good.
"It's the activation signal. It's transmitting!" He said, eyes filled with worry.
She wasn't going to leave him. Not now, not ever. The plastic grabbed the both of them, and were trying to shove them into the vat.
"Get out, Rose! Just get out! Run!" They both yelled at the same time.
"The stairs have gone." She called back, and indeed the stairs were gone. Ophelia let out a frustrated groan.
She saw Rose and Mickey run to the TARDIS.
"I haven't got the key!" She spoke, and tried to open the doors.
"We're going to die!" Mickey scream as he clutched on to Rose like his life depended on it.
As She struggled to break free of the hold on her, Rose started looking around for other possibilities.
"No!" The Doctor yelled at the Vat. What? Was the vat saying something?
Then it spoke.
"Time Lord."
Rose stood up and looked at the Doctor and her best friend before running onto the upper ledge.
"Just leave him! There's nothing you can do!" Mickey yelled, and she scoffed.
"I've got no A Levels, no job and no future."
She grabbed a nearby axe.
"But I tell you what I have got. Jericho Street Junior School under 7s gymnastic team. I got the bronze!"
Rose chops through the rope holding a very long chain to the wall and takes firm hold. She then runs and swings out along the side of the catwalk, kicking the two mannequins that were holding onto the Doctor and Ophelia, into the vat and the anti plastic went with them.
The vat screams as it starts to turn blue.
It worked.
Rubbing her aching wrist, Ophelia knew that there would be bruises there tomorrow morning.
"Rose!" Ophelia yelled as she saw her friend start to slip from the chain.
Thankfully The Doctor grabbed her as she slipped down.
"Now we're in trouble." He said, looking her dead in the eye.
The Doctor, Rose and Ophelia made into the TARDIS, where Mickey was holding on for dear life. Rose grabbed him and brought him in with them. As soon as the doors shut, she released Mickey and started helping the Doctor fly the still had no idea how she could fly it.
"Press that one down." He commanded softly, pointing to a round lever. She did so and then pressed another button. Finally a couple minutes later, they landed. When she went and looked outside, we were outside Rose's flat. Mickey was the first one out and he stumbled a couple of times trying to get as far away from the ship as he could.
Rose went over to Mickey, who was trying to hide behind a pallet. The Doctor and herself stayed inside, Ophelia leaning against the now opened door.
"A fat lot of good you were." She spoke, a brow raised in his direction.
"The Nestene Consciousness? That was easy."
"You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me. And Ophelia" Rose let out a scoff. The black haired girl snorted and stroked the side of the Box. It hummed both in her mind and under her fingertips.
'Yes, I would. Thank you. I'll be off, unless you want to come with me. This box isn't just a London hopper, It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge." He told Rose, was he thinking Ophelia was going to go? She shrugged to herself, a smirk was starting to grow on her face.
"Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing."
Was Mickey really going to try to stop her?
He was just a bloke and Ophelia loved him and all, but seriously, he needed to let Rose live her own life.
"He's not invited." He said sharply, sending a glare at Mickey.
"What do you think? You could stay here and fill your life with work or you could go anywhere that ever was or anything that will be." He said and leaned against the doors. Ophelia stood there, hands crossed over her chest. She knew that she was going to go.
She had to.
Something told her she had to.
Lia would finally be getting her chance to see the stars, something that she had dreamed about since she was a little girl.
"Is it always this dangerous?" Rose asked, hands on her hips as she turned her gaze to the Doctor.
"Yeah. But this was easy. We can take on the bigger stuff now." Rose let out a sigh and smiled at them.
"Yeah, I've got to go and find my mum, so." She said and tapered off as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Oh, Okay." He sent her a smile, grabbed Ophelia's hand and pulled her into the TARDIS. Together they set course for a far off planet. A grin appeared on her face as the force of the TARDIS taking off moved her body. She held on tightly to the rail. They stopped, and then he looked at her, a grin on his face as he held out his hand for hers.
Stepping out of the box, she could see they were on a planet that had two suns. It was absolutely amazing. How she wished she could take pictures. Maybe the Doctor had a camera in the TARDIS somewhere, he had to.
"This is just like Star Wars, this is so cool!" She could help but say as she spun around, taking in the sight. They were in a flower field, one similar to the ones that were in Denmark. The flowers swayed in the slight breeze. Turning to look at the Doctor, who was staring at her, a soft smile on his face. He couldn't help but look at her like she was the center of his universe.
"Everything will be okay," He spoke, "It's going to be hard but everything will reveal itself, but when it's ready. For now, just enjoy being able to go anywhere you could possibly want to go."
"I know, and this is probably the best thing that has happened to me. Thank you," She couldn't stop herself from throwing her arms around the man's neck in a hug. He tensed for a second but wrapped his arms around her tightly. She took in a few deep breaths. "I just want to know what all this means, for me and I guess a little for you. What do the dreams mean?" Lia asked as she felt her breathing shudder. His hand rubbed her back softly.
"I wish I could tell you, Lia, I really wish I could. But I'll be there when you find out. I promise."
She didn't know how long they stayed in the embrace for before he pulled back and grabbed the picnic basket that the TARDIS must of prepared for them.
"Shall we?"
They stayed out there the rest of the afternoon and evening, only turning in once the suns had got down and the air turned cold. Lia fixed the flower crown that he had made for her and turned to him as he shut the doors quietly behind him. The quiet hum of the TARDIS filled the air and Lia let her hand run along the column.
"Wanna go get her?" He asked, referring to Rose. Lia bit down on her lip and nodded. Although traveling would be fun by herself, just her and the Doctor, she knew that it would be better with her best friend by her side.
It only took a couple seconds to input the coordinates for a couple seconds after they left and soon they were back to the estate. When they got there, she opened the door, and saw Rose still on the ground. She got up and hugged Mickey.
"Wait, I have to go get something." Ophelia said and ran out of the Box and to her flat down the block. When she made it to her room, she grabbed her bag and packed a spare change of clothes and shoes, pocket watch and her journal.
But then, something told her that she would be gone for a while.
A long while.
Call it a gut feeling but she knew she had to trust herself on this one.
She sent off a text to her landlord saying she would pay off her lease and that she was moving that night. Sending off a text to Rose asking for them to wait a bit, she started packing. It didn't take long for her to get everything packed away and it helped that she had a suitcase that was bottomless. Don't ask how she got it, only that she found it one day at the thrift store.
All of her books went into that one.
The only thing that remained in her flat was the furniture that it came with, everything else was packed up.
When she returned back to the TARDIS, multiple bags with her, the Doctor shot her a confused expression. Lia shook her head and mouthed 'later' at him. He nodded and went back into the TARDIS with the two.
Lia went and placed her bags into the room that the TARDIS had given her it seemed. She followed the lights down the hall a ways and landed in front of a door that had her name on it. She didn't really look at the room, more so shoved her bags in it and went back to her friend.
She figured that the Doctor could pilot the TARDIS by himself just this once.
"Where do you want to go?" He asked her, sending a glance her way. She tilted her head to the side in thought, then got an idea.
"Future, Let's do that." Rose quickly agreed, wrapping her arm around Lia's shoulders.
"How far." She heard Rose say.
"Let's do 400 years." Was her reply, and started to swing her legs. A few seconds later, and after she landed on the floor, we landed.
"You know," she started as she took a look outside. "That's a bit boring."
"Fuck it, let's do fivemillion years into the future."
"You sure?"
"Dead positive on this one! Let's do this."
"That sounds fantastic!"
With a few switches flipped they were flying through the Time Vortex and into a new adventure
AUTHOR'S NOTE;
Okay!
Hello to all you lovely readers. This is the third (?) time re posting this fanfic and this one is here to stay. I've been looking for a good timeline to use when writing and it's actually hard to find one. I also have decided that each episode that i cover will be once chapter instead of splitting it up into many. Also, I have gone back and editing this chapter heavily, took out some scenes and added a couple in its place, as well as just overall editing. I'm excited to see where this goes and I hope you all enjoy this version.
dont forget to leave your thoughts in the reviews!
theflowercrowns