Two Hearts Chapter 13
Sirius
Scourgify is the favorite charm of messy and clumsy witches and wizards everywhere. With a simple incantation and flick of the wand, the grimiest messes and smelliest smells are magically eliminated! It's like Febreze but better! Sirius just wished he could get away with using it. He couldn't risk it though because he was pretty sure that the officer, who introduced herself as Officer Reeves at the start of the walk to the station, had no idea about the existence of magic.
Then again, Sirius saw some different-looking beings in the marketplace that were definitely not human so maybe she would just attribute his magic to him being a different species than her?
No, Sirius thought. It was best not to risk it. No magic until he got into a dangerous situation. Wait, unless he got into a dangerous situation, not until. No. He was right the first time. Sirius knew his luck; he would be in a dangerous situation. Sirius just hoped that he wouldn't drag anyone else into it. He just needed to get Martha and get back to Harry and if he had to stop a few bullets with a shield charm or knock out a few people with a stupify along the way then so be it, but he didn't need to involve anyone else in the dangerous part.
Sirius looked over at Reeves. He hadn't noticed at first how tired she looked. Her curly hair stuck up out of her ponytail and dark circles hung under her eyes. She didn't need the extra stress of dealing with Sirius. After he got the coordinates from the teleporter at the station, he'd leave Reeves be, get Martha, and get back as quickly as possible.
Speaking of the station…
"How far is the station from here?" Sirius asked.
"We're almost there," Reeves said. "Why? You get tired from your time above?"
"No," Sirius said. "I just need to get Martha and get back to my godson as fast as possible."
Reeves huffed.
"Well, you're lucky that you ended up close to the main hub," Reeves said. "There are only three outstations left other than the one stationed inside the motorway. If you would have landed anywhere else you might not have gotten an officer to respond to any call you made. Even if you did, it could have been a few hours to get to a station. Plus, only our station has the tech left to track the history of a teleporter."
That didn't sound right to Sirius. Only four police stations for the entirety of the undercity when it could take hours to get to one of them? Even the auror office was more organized than that and that was a low bar to meet.
Sirius tried to think of a way to ask about the lack of local stations without sounding rude. It would be beneficial for him to know about the local law enforcement while he was there but it wouldn't be worth it if he angered his only lead to finding Martha.
"Do you all get help from other stations?" Sirius asked.
"We haven't in years," Reeves said. "Old case files have reports of big shots from the main police hub in the upper city coming down and using our facilities to run their cases. There hasn't been anyone from other stations since I've been here though. Not that we haven't asked for help." Reeves mumbled the last part under her breath.
That's when it hit Sirius.
Reeves didn't know. She didn't know about the upper city. She didn't know about the skeletons.
Sirius wished he didn't know about them either. As soon as he saw them back in the upper city, he felt his chest tighten. His brain acted on its own and gave the skeletons familiar faces. Old classmates, old friends, James and Lily, all gone. All dead. All of them nothing but skeletons in a grave. All his fault somehow. No. Not his fault. But of course, convincing your brain that you aren't guilty can be harder than convincing a jury of your innocence.
Instead of dealing with his emotions then, Sirius blocked them off and plastered on his trademarked cocky attitude that had gotten him through his falling out with his family, the death of his friends, and his unjust imprisonment. He was still riding that attitude in the undercity which is why he responded "They've probably got their own issues," to Officer Reeves.
The station, Sirius thought once they arrived, could use a scourgify as badly as he could. Or maybe just some organizing. The need for organization applied to both the station itself and the officers in it.
Most officers ran around answering phone calls and running out. Others that seemed to be higher up sat behind their desks sipping coffee. It looked like New New York took their police model from the Auror department.
"This way," Reeves directed Sirius into a room filled with loud music and scattered with enough tools and computers to make Arthur Weasley faint from excitement. Sirius wondered if he ought to steal some to bring back to the man.
"I've finally got a lead and I need you to reverse a teleporter ASAP, Mitch," Reeves yelled over the music.
The music shut off and a large pair of glasses worn by a grease-smeared face popped out from behind a workbench.
"Heh?" The owner of the glasses asked, wiping a hand across their forehead to try to remove some of the grease but only smearing more on.
"This man gave me a massive lead on my case," Reeves repeated slowly. "And I need you to track his teleporter's last programmed locations so that I can find the gang's location."
"A new lead, huh?" Mitch asked. "This lead isn't going to result in me having to go undercover as a performer, is it Angie?"
"That was once, Mitch. One time and we would have gotten farther if you had been a little bit better."
"Oh, yes," Mitch touched their hand lightly to their chest over their overalls as they widened their eyes. "Next time I'll wear the glitter instead of the feathers." They then rolled their eyes.
Sirius chuckled. Mitch already seemed like a person to befriend.
"Hello, Lead," Mitch said. "I'm Mitch. Officer, mechanic, tech person, and failed performer. Stay in school, kids, and one day you too can be overworked and underpaid! I would shake your hand but then we'd both be covered in grease and whatever it is you're covered in."
"Oh no," Sirius said. "No need for a handshake. I couldn't take grease on me. I'm on a strict garbage-only skincare routine. Sirius Black. I could use your help with finding my friend that's been kidnapped."
"By Angie's gang?"
"No, Mitch, by ghosts." Angie snapped back.
"Someone's got an attitude," Mitch sang. "How 'bout this, Black. I'll take your teleporter for a bit so I can get into its last few programmed locations and you can go get cleaned up in our bathrooms. I'm sure Angie wouldn't mind showing you how to get a change of clothes."
Sirius looked to Officer Reeves for approval. The teleporter was his only link to Martha. Maybe handing it off to a person that the only form of help he had hated wasn't in his best interests. Upon Reeves nod, Sirius took off the teleporter and handed it over to Mitch.
"Thank you kindly," Mitch said. "I'll drop the other twenty-nine projects I have to get this worked on, Ange."
"That would be great since this is time-sensitive."
"I know. I know." Mitch waved her away. "Now get out of my office. Your lead is stinking it up."
It was on the way out of the room that Sirius noticed that Mitch's hair was made out of feathers. Interesting.
"Mitch does some amazing work and is one of my best friends," Reeves said. "But sometimes I'd like to strangle them."
"I've got a few friends that would say that about me," Sirius smiled.
"Well," Reeves said. "Here's the bathroom. Showers are in the back to the right. Push the button on the wall in the changing room outside the shower to get a fresh set of clothes. You'd probably be best just binning your current ones. They've got enough junk on them to be a biohazard. I'll be in Mitch's office when you're done. Got all that?"
Sirius nodded and went into the bathroom. Sterile metal walls and tiled floor. It seemed like no matter how far into the future someone went muggles still liked simplicity in their public bathroom designs.
Just like Reeves said, Sirius found three showers with changing room in the fronts of them on the back right of the bathroom. All three were unoccupied so Sirius went into the one in the very back of the room. He made sure the door was locked before allowing his leather jacket to fall to the ground with a mix of a plop and a thump. He then peeled the gooey clothes off of his body, shivering as the cold sterile air of the bathroom hit his still wet skin.
He didn't know what liquid he was swimming in in the third dumpster he searched. He hoped he'd never have to find out.
Sirius opened the container on the wall marked "trash" and let his shirt, pants, and undergarments fall into a shoot. Then he stared at his jacket, still lying in a heap on the floor.
Maybe it could be cleaned?
He picked it up by the collar, pinched between his finger and his thumb. He brought it up to his face to examine it. As soon as it was eye level he gagged. The lining was soaked through with the same goo that had covered him.
"Goodbye dear friend," Sirius said in all his melodramatic glory as he let his favorite leather jacket he bought since being released from prison slide down the garbage shoot. "Gone too soon."
His boots and socks followed the jacket. He laid his wand down on the bench in the changing area.
Still shivering, Sirius stepped into the shower stall. It didn't look entirely like a shower stall he was used to but it didn't look entirely foreign either. Instead of a singular shower head their were four large openings at the tops of the four walls of the stall. There wasn't a knob to turn on the water.
As Sirius fully entered the shower the door sealed shut behind him with a hiss.
"Commencing first rinse." A feminine robotic voice echoed through the stall.
"Who said tha- ahck!"
Before Sirius could finish his sentence, lukewarm water blasted out of the four opening soaking him.
"Commencing disinfecting wash."
Another stream of something shot out at Sirius.
"Commencing second rinse."
"Drying. Drying. Drying."
Sirius though he might be dying, dying, dying, as warm air gusted in circles around him so violently that he could barely keep his balance.
"Shower complete. Please rate your experience on a scale of one to ten."
"One!" Sirius shouted.
"What can we do to improve your next experience? Please state your response clearly. To skip the survey, simply say skip."
"Skip! I'm standing here naked of course I don't want to take a fu-"
"Thank you for your feedback. Please exit."
The shower door hissed open again and Sirius didn't have to be told twice to get out.
"I should have just used a scourgify," Sirius said as he put his wand into the pocket of the badgeless uniform that had come out of the compartment on the changing room wall.
He caught his reflection on the way out of the main area of the bathroom and almost cried when he saw his hair. It was wilder than Harry's. And he didn't even have a brush. Oh, how the beautiful must suffer.
"Please tell me you know where my friend is," Sirius said, walking into Mitch's office. "Before I destroy your violent shower."
Reeves doubled over laughing louder than the quieter music when she saw the sight of Sirius's hair.
"You selected the deep wash for him?" Mitch asked Reeves. "Did you at least warn him about it?"
Reeves continued laughing and shook her head.
"You chose it?" Sirius glared at Reeves.
"Angela Ruth Reeves," Mitch scolded as if they was Angie's mother. "You're a terrible person."
"Please tell me you have access to the shower's audio!"
"I'm a busy avian, Angie," Mitch said.
"Whooo," Reeves stood up and wiped a tear from her eye, trying to catch her breath. "That was the best laugh I've had in years."
If Sirius wasn't in such a rush to find Martha he'd initiate a full on prank war, but as it was-
"The teleporter?" Sirius prompted again.
"I got past the protections a few minutes ago," Mitch said. "The location it was supposed to go to is fully wiped. But! It's loading all the past locations from the past month and I'm getting data from other teleporters on the same network! I'm wading through them to find what location keeps reoccurring. That ought to be the base."
Just then the ringing of a phone cut through the office.
"Could you check that?" Mitch asked Reeves.
Reeves moved aside some papers on Mitch's desk to reveal what must have been a phone. She looked down at the display before silencing the phone and walking away.
"Aren't you going to see if those people need help?" Sirius asked.
"It's from the motorway," Reeves said as if that explained everything.
"And," Sirius prompted.
"The motorway isn't out division," Reeves said. "Or even our jurisdiction. We just keep getting calls from people there. I sent it over to the station inside the motorway. They have little outposts throughout the bottom of the motorway that are always staffed. They'll be able to handle it faster than we ever could."
That was a reasonable explanation, Sirius supposed. Officer Reeves followed the correct protocol and it would be handled. Probably.
"So the teleporter?"
The phone rang again.
Reeves sighed as she walked over to it.
"The same number again," She said. "They probably got put on hold and got impatient and called us again." She pushed the same button as before and walked back over to Mitch and Sirius.
Just as Reeves made it back across the room the phone rang again.
"I'm answering it," Sirius said, running in front of Reeves to grab the phone. He picked it up and said "You've reached the police station. How can we help you?"
"You've got to come quick!" A woman on the other end yelled. "It's going to get us. It's already gotten the car ahead of us!"
"You're going to have to explain," Sirius said, utilizing his Auror training to stay composed. "What got the car in front of you?"
That got Reeve's and Mitch's attention.
"Give it here," Mitch said as they put the phone on speaker.
"I- I don't really know," the woman's voice shook. Panicked voices could be heard yelling behind her. "They're like- crabs. Giant crabs. They're covering the entire bottom of the motorway and they're going to get us. I don't want to die. I just wanted a better life for my baby. That's all I wanted. Ahhh!"
Metal crunched, people screamed, and the line went dead.
Womp. Womp. Womp. Womp.
The phone chimed until Mitch laid it back down on the receiver.
The three people in the office stood there, Mitch's music the only sound until Reeves said, "What's happening on the motorway?"
Mitch ran over to a computer and typed faster than Sirius could follow.
"They're gone, Angie," Mitch finally said.
"I knew that after I heard the line go dead."
"Not just those people, Ange," Mitch said. "The police department down there and everyone that entered the carpool lane is gone. Something is killing people on the bottom of the motorway. And it's been happening."
"But the upper levels would have responded by now," Reeves said. "Right?"
"Er," Sirius said.
"What do you know, Black?"
The conversation was hard. It took Mitch digging into encrypted files to confirm that the upper city was gone before either Mitch or Reeves would believe it.
"No wonder we haven't gotten help," Reeves said. "We're on our own."
A moment passed before Reeves said, "We've got to help the people on the motorway. If the upper city is dead then all those people on the motorway are trapped in there in complete gridlock, just waiting to be picked off by whatever got that woman's car."
"That's a breach in policy," Mitch said. "I know how much of a stickler for the rules you are, Ange."
"Screw the rules," Reeves said. "How many of those calls have we ignored because it's protocol not to answer? How many people have died because we're following the rules? I got into this profession to help people and all that I've accomplished is making myself jaded. Now, I'm going to need all the help I can get. Are you in?"
"Of course," Mitch quickly responded. "Black?"
"How close are you to tracking that teleporter?" Sirius asked.
"It will at least be another hour," Mitch said. "It takes time to convert space data into a written form."
"Then I'll help while I'm here," Sirius told Reeves. "What do we need to do, Officer Reeves."
"We're going to take a car down to where the motorway station is and see if we can get the gates to the upper city open," Reeves said. "Mitch, can you change the signal on the car to let us through to the fast lane and to get the other cars to let us through?"
"That's the easiest thing you've asked me to do in weeks," Mitch said.
"Black, you're riding with me," Reeves said. "And since we're working together, feel free to call me Angie."
"Only if you'll call me Sirius," Sirius smirked.
~Line Break~
The police car was surprisingly nice. The interior was made of the same sterile metal as the station's bathroom. It had two chairs up front and one closer to the middle of the car. In the back, there was a set of bunk beds.
"Where would you put the people you take into custody?" Sirius asked as they zoomed to the nearest entrance to the motorway.
"A force field can form around the chair," Reeves explained. "You ready with the codes to let us in?"
"I had those loaded five minutes ago," Mitch said through the communicator on the dash.
"We're headed in. Stay on the line, Mitch."
If Sirius thought the undercity was gloomy, the motorway was straight up full of despair. Cars lined up bumper to bumper, leaving no space in between each other. Though the cars might have once been another color, they were now all an almost identical shade of beige. Sad beige cars for sad beige drivers. The cars were likely stained that color by the thick brown smog wafting through every millimeter of the motorway.
"Put us on autopilot and take us to the station, Mitch," Angie said.
The cars moved out of the way as the police car cut through in a diagonal line.
"How do all the drivers know to move out of the way?" Sirius asked.
"They don't," Mitch's voice came through the com. "All the cars are connected to each other to prevent accidents and allow for easy passage of carpool and emergency vehicles."
"They're also all linked to the same power source once they're in here," Angie said. "One of the biggest benefits of traveling the motorway has always been that the cars link together and continue producing fuel. No clue how it works but it's convenient. Especially in a standstill like this."
"You'll reach the station in thirty-two minutes," Mitch said. "Until then, please enjoy your ride on ground Mitch."
"Maybe later," Angie said.
"Is that a promise?"
"Officer's honor."
~Line Break~
Harry and the Doctor
The best thing Harry could say about the senate was that at least the ridiculously tall stairway didn't move.
The elevator was out with the rest of the power in the building which meant that that unmoving stairwell was the only way to get to the top floor where the mysterious Face of Bo was.
"Who is the Face of Bo?" Harry asked. The unasked part was why is this person so important. Why were they more important than Sirius and Martha? Why was this person more important than him?
"No one really knows," The Doctor said. "I mean, sure I know him. I've met him a couple of times. Once at a very nice party. Almost died at that party. But no one knows the entirety of his history. A bit strange if you ask me."
"You are being hypocritical, Doctor," Hame said. "After all, no one fully knows who you are. You simply come in and leave chaos and healing in your wake."
"Well, can't argue that," The Doctor said. "The Face of Bo is known for his wisdom though. Often offers advice to those that seek him out. And apparently, we're old friends. Isn't that right, Hame?"
"He often asks for you."
"Time travel is tricky like that. You can meet a person once at one point and again at another and suddenly find that you're married. Not that that's happened to me. Well, at least not that often. There was that one time with Cleopatra though."
Harry laughed a bit at that.
"How are you holding up Harry?" The Doctor asked. "Do you need to slow down a bit?"
They were practically sprinting up the stairs. Harry wasn't sure how Hame, who had grey showing around her muzzle, was able to continue at this speed. He suspected that a human would be winded by now but maybe the Doctor would chalk Harry being fine up to magic.
"There is no time for breaks, Doctor," Hame said. "If the child cannot keep up he will be left behind."
"That won't be happening," The Doctor said in a tone that let Hame know that if she even suggested something like that again, the Face of Bo would be dying alone.
Harry felt something well up inside him at the Doctor's words. No one other than Ron and Hermione had ever stood up for him like that. And despite being the boy-who-lived, he'd never felt more like an important person genuinely cared about his well-being more than he did at that moment. Because Harry was sure that the Doctor could and would protect him.
"It's alright," Harry said with a small smile. "I'm fine anyways."
"Then we shall continue on," Hame said.
~Line Break~
The floor of the senate was in the same shape as the building Martha had been taken from. That is to say, full of skeletons.
Surely the senators weren't high on those patches while they were working, Harry thought.
"What happened?" Harry asked Hame. "I know that bliss caused this somehow, but how did it take out everyone?"
"Bliss created a virus," Hame said. "It spread within a day and killed just as fast. The last act of the senate was to close the motorway to protect the undercity and to put the planet into quarantine."
So maybe the senators did try their best.
"Come," Hame said. "The Face of Bo waits."
"Coming, Harry?" The Doctor asked.
"The Face of Bo only requested you, Doctor."
"Harry didn't walk up all those steps to not at least get to meet him," The Doctor said.
Hame looked resigned for the third time that day.
The Face of Bo appeared to be sleeping when Hame led The Doctor and Harry into the antechamber.
Harry's eyebrows slightly rose at the sight of the giant floating head residing in the tank. It wasn't the strangest thing that Harry had seen, but it was up there.
"The Doctor has arrived," Hame said to the face after she laid down her gun.
The Face of Bo opened his eyes and The Doctor walked in front of him with Harry following.
"Ah, Doctor, Harry, I have been expecting the two of you," The Face of Bo said.
The Doctor diverted his gaze from the Face of Bo to Harry. He looked at the boy. Properly looked at him for a few seconds. His brown eyes cut into Harry's green.
"Ah," The Face of Bo said. "You are not there yet old friend. Regardless, we must talk. I do not have much time left."
"I'll wait in the other room," Harry said. "It was an honor to meet you, sir."
"You have great things ahead of you, Harry Potter," the Face of Bo said. "Be strong."
Harry didn't like the sound of that at all but just nodded and thanked the Face of Bo. He then walked into the main room of the senate to allow the Doctor to have a conversation with the Face of Bo.
Was it wrong to hope that an ancient giant head would die quicker, Harry wondered. He was sure that this moment was important for the Doctor. Although he met the Time Lord less than a week ago, Harry knew that he wouldn't leave people in danger for things that weren't important. But Martha was still kidnapped and Sirius was still gone. Anything could have happened to them by now. Perhaps it wasn't wise to walk amongst skeletons while he worried about the safety of people he cared about.
Harry decided that he would go back into the antechamber to see if he could at least talk to Hame. She had a teleporter. Maybe she could get Martha and Sirius back while the Doctor had his conversation.
When Harry got close to the doorway, he heard the Face of Bo's words ring out. Although they were directed at the Doctor, they held seemed to cut right through Harry.
"You are not alone."
Harry stumbled back into the antechamber.
~Line Break~
Martha
"You aren't fully human, are you," Martha asked after only a little while.
"Not fully," Elizabeth gasped out.
It wasn't looking good, Martha hated to admit. Twins were tricky enough. Twins coming early, while not uncommon, was worse. Add on top of that that Elizabeth wasn't fully human and had internal anatomy that Martha couldn't be sure about and you were heading towards disaster. Martha had already learned from dealing with Time Lords that just because someone looks human, it doesn't mean that they are. It wouldn't even help to ask what other species was in Elizabeth's family tree because Martha wouldn't know what it was.
Martha had so many questions she ought to have the answers to before continuing. The point of being a doctor is to do no harm but she could easily do more harm than good if she proceeded with her current knowledge level.
Before Martha could do anything else, Elizabeth started shaking. One of the machines went off. Then, to make a bad situation worse, Finn came in.
"Why aren't you helping my sister, healer?" Finn demanded.
"I can't," Martha said. "I tried to tell you before you even kidnapped me that I wasn't the best choice. The Doctor was. Hell, his name is literally the Doctor."
Finn glared at her for a second before swerving around to the door.
"Find where there's been movement in the upper city!" Martha heard Finn yell.
Not even a moment later, Finn returned carrying a gun.
Martha flinched back.
"You better be right about this, healer," Finn said. Then he turned to Elizabeth who had fallen unconscious. "Don't you worry, Lizzy. This Doctor fellow's in the senate building. I'm gonna bring him right back to you." Then he patted his gun. "And I'll kill anyone that gets in my way."
Then he activated his teleporter and left.
Everyone would be fine, Martha tried to comfort herself. They needed the Doctor alive and the Doctor and Sirius would be with Harry. None of them would let him get hurt. Then the Doctor could come and help Elizabeth. It would be ok.
After calming her mind, Martha turned back to Elizabeth.
"It'll be fine, Elizabeth," Martha said. "Everything will be fine."
~Line Break~
Sirius
When Sirius returned to Earth and was able to take his vacation, he was going someplace that served crabs. He was going to crack them open, rip them limb from limb, and eat them. All of that still might not be enough vengeance for the trouble the giant crab monsters had put him and Angie through on the way to the station in the motorway.
Their police car sat outside the station with a chunk missing from it. Sirius hoped that the motorway had a cabbie service because they certainly wouldn't be able to take the car anywhere again.
"There's got to be a way to get the doors to the upper city open," Angie said to Mitch through the communicator.
"The doors are powered from the city side," Mitch explained. "I doubt there's been enough power generated up there to open these doors for years."
A sound beeped from somewhere on Mitch's end.
"Ope, let me check that real quick," Mitch said.
They weren't going to find the power to power open the doors in the station. The whole place was lit up by the red lights of an emergency power generator. The only things that seemed to work were those lights and the air filtration system. The computer wouldn't even power on after the inch of thick dust was brushed off.
"How long could these people have been on their own down here?" Angie wondered. "I can't believe we've been letting this happen. The head of my station must have known."
Corruption in the name of keeping the peace ran deep everywhere, Sirius thought. Once they got those doors open and the people out of the motorway and back into society he could see major changes happening in the system. Speaking of the motorway...
"What about the motorway?" Sirius asked.
"What about it?"
"You said that all the cars are linked and gather power through that link and their own movement, right? What if you pulled all that power into the doors?"
"That could work!" Mitch's voice came through the communicator. "Give me two minutes!"
"I haven't heard them this excited in a while," Angie said.
A quiet "vwirp" sounded behind Angie and Sirius. The two turned around in time to see Mitch appear out of thin air with a bag on their shoulder and a generator at their feet. The feathers on their head were standing up straight.
"Pew," Mitch said. "Teleporting will get you when you're not used to it. Help me hook this stuff up."
As the three of them hooked up the generator and small computer Mitch pulled out of their bag, the avian explained what they was planning.
"I'm plugging into this station's access to the motorway power system. Wonderful idea on your part, by the way, Lead. I'm going to pull power from every car on the motorway and direct it towards the doors. As soon as they're open I'll lock them in place. Easy peasy!"
"That's brilliant!" Angie said.
"Oh!" Mitch added, looking at Sirius. "This is your teleporter. I got the information on the other teleporter on the same network. One just left for the base of the senate building. I've got this one locked onto the same location."
Mitch handed the teleporter to Sirius with a nod.
"Give me your comm, Mitch," Angie said.
"What?"
"Your communicator."
Mitch did as they was told.
"Take this and call me as soon as you find out more," Angie gave the communicator to Sirius. "As soon as I'm done freeing all these people I intend to finish my first assignment and find the people that have had access to the upper city and have caused chaos down here. Also, you might need some help."
Sirius thanked both of them as he activated the teleporter.
Sirius squinted as his eyes attempted to adjust to the bright sunlight of the upper city. A tall building rose above him. Sirius walked to the door and was thankful to find it unlocked. He walked in and was greeted with…
"Stares. Of course."
So, Sirius started up.
~Line Break~
Harry
Harry paced between the skeletons lost in thought.
What could the Face of Bo have meant by his message, Harry wondered.
Of course the Doctor wasn't alone. He could go back to his planet at any time. Plus, he was traveling with three people at the moment. That couldn't have been what the Face of Bo meant though. There had to be something more.
Why wasn't the Doctor traveling with his own people? Harry wondered. He had said that they left for one reason or another. He'd also said that one of his old friends had tried to kill him. Maybe that was it. Maybe the Face of Bo was telling the Doctor that one of his old friends was looking for him.
But that still didn't sit right. It was something deeper.
Harry reached the end of his circle and stood by the antechamber door again. He could hear the Doctor and the Face of Bo still talking. The Doctor was questioning him about the meaning behind his words.
So the Doctor didn't fully know either.
At least Harry wasn't the only one in the dark.
Harry turned back around to make a second lap and worry about another problem when a man burst through the other end of the senate chamber brandishing a gun. It wasn't just any man either. It was the man that took Martha and threatened to kill Sirius.
"Where is the Doctor?" The man yelled as he sprinted towards the other door.
Martha must have failed, Harry thought. Martha must have failed and knowing how the furious man was, Harry was certain that she must be dead. Which meant that Sirius either didn't reach her in time or had failed to save her when he got there which meant…
No.
No no no.
This same man was now on his way to do Rassilon knows what to the last person left with Harry on this trip. If he took the Doctor or if he, schism forbid, killed the Doctor…
Harry would be alone.
He had had enough of being alone.
So, without thinking, Harry drew his wand and ran in front of the man.
He pointed his wand towards the man but before Harry could get past the first syllable of a "stupefy," the man fired his gun.
Harry saw the blast come towards him in what seemed to him slow motion. The silvery-blue beam from the gun hurtling straight towards his chest. Despite seeing it coming, there was no way to move out of its way enough to not get hit. But maybe if he could avoid a hit to the chest…
Harry jumped and as time returned to normal he felt the blast connect on the left side of his body, just below his left hearth. It felt like a fire ripped through him tearing through skin, bone, organ, and skin again.
"Harry!" He heard someone yell before he hit the ground. The world went black.
~Line Break~
The Doctor gasped out Harry's name as he saw him go down. The shock turned to anger as he turned his attention to Finn.
"How could you?" The temperature in the room dropped as the Doctor's eyes narrowed.
"First you threaten to kill one of my friends."
The Doctor took a step towards Finn.
"Then you kidnap one of my friends."
He moved forward again.
"And now," The Doctor was closing the distance between himself and Finn. Finn was too frightened to move. "Now you killed someone I care about. You killed that child. He did nothing to you and you shot him dead!"
The Doctor may have forgiven Finn before that moment, but this version of the Doctor didn't believe in second chances. He ripped the gun from Finn's hands and aimed it at him with the practiced ease of a soldier. The Doctor slightly lowered his head, still glaring at Finn, preparing to shoot.
Finn raised his hands and tried to take a step back.
"Doctor!" Hame called out to get the Doctor's attention.
"He is not dead," The Face of Bo's voice rung through the chamber. "He can heal and is starting to already."
"What do you mean?" The Doctor asked, his gaze not leaving Finn. "It doesn't matter how magical he is, that shot would kill any human."
"Human?" The Face of Bo asked. "Look at him, Doctor."
The Doctor pulled his attention away from Finn and looked at Harry's body, lying on the floor.
Harry didn't look good. He wasn't moving and blood was already pooling around his abdomen. It hurt the Doctor to look at the teen that he had grown protective of in that state. When an ancient and wise head tells you to look though, you look.
And, as the Doctor looked he noticed something more than just the injury and the blood. Golden curls of light drifted around the spot Harry had been shot. Golden curls of light that looked just like…
"What?" In his shock, the Doctor lowered his gun.
"Don't tell me you do not recognize a healing comma of your own species, Doctor," the Face of Bo said.
The gun slammed to the ground as the Doctor's arms went limp. His mouth fell open as his jaw and shoulders shook.
"No," He whispered. "I thought… no."
The Doctor covered the short distance to Harry's side and slid down into the floor next to him. He hovered his hand over Harry's wound and felt the light reach out to caress his hand. His own energy came to the surface in response, recognizing Harry's.
"It's him," the Doctor breathed. "It's the young Gallifreyan I felt in the TARDIS."
Seeing that he was no longer in immediate danger, Finn reached for his gun off of the ground.
"Not so fast," Hame was quicker, drawing her gun and aiming at Finn.
"Please," Finn raised his hands again. "I just need help for my sister. She's about to die."
Hame threw a glance at the Face of Bo who said, "Go. You have served me well all of these years. Your penance is repaid."
Hame nodded but didn't lower her gun as she walked over to Finn.
"Take us there then," Hame pointed the gun at his head. "Best be fast before the Doctor decides to kill you again before I do."
Finn nodded as much as he dared before activating his teleporter and disappearing with Hame.
"I can't believe it," the Doctor whispered, stroking a hand through Harry's hair. "I have to get him back to a healing room in the TARDIS. He may not be stable enough to move, though. What do you think…"
The Doctor turned to look at the Face of Bo, but the head had gone quiet and still.
He was gone, but at least the Doctor wasn't alone.
"Best to leave him here and help him along," the Doctor said mostly to himself. "Being this young, he probably hasn't done this before."
The Doctor put his hands to Harry's temples and closed his eyes. Harry had the energy to heal himself. The Doctor would simply offer him mental guidance.