Alright Ya'll, this chapter is kind of a short bridge chapter. It's also from the POV of the Doctor, just to shake things up a bit. I'll probably have a few of these sprinkled in here and there where I think it's beneficial. It also gives me a chance to write in 3rd person just so I can have a break from writing in 1st. Chapters like this will always be labeled 'Meanwhile - _' so you know what I'm doing. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter Warnings: None
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Chapter Seven: Meanwhile - Concerning Buffy
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The Doctor closed the TARDIS door and paced around the console. He pressed a lever and the TARDIS trembled, but only for a moment. When the machine went still again, the Doctor grabbed the monitor and dragged it over to him so he could peer at the screen through narrowed eyes.
He'd dropped off Healrig and Plumkig off at the IAT headquarters without any trouble. He'd even gotten the right spot in the timeline, allowing the two sole survivors of the expedition to return home just before a search party was sent. No one else at IAT would die at the hands of the natives.
Healrig had been grateful, shaking the Time Lord's hand and swearing to update the IAT security systems that had caused the catastrophic failure. He also swore to look after Plumkig, who was quickly taken to a psychiatric facility.
Now that two of his charges had been taken care of, the Doctor was faced with the issue of his third.
He sighed as he considered the readings on the screen. There was nothing simple about Buffy. Or her situation. Or what she meant for the rest of the universe. All in all, it could turn out to be very, very bad. Situations fluttered through his head, bad outcome after bad outcome, followed by catastrophe; and there was so little he could do to stop it.
The Doctor grit his teeth in determination. He wasn't going to let any of them happen.
He took a last, long look at the light blue diagram of the universe before switching the screen over to a black one with a bright red line and green numbers that relayed the heart rate and body temperature of the TARDIS's other passenger.
Her heart rate was slow, suggesting she was asleep.
Then he frowned. Her body temperature was a smidge too low. Not enough to cause alarm, but enough for him to worry. What if she'd gotten sick? Humans didn't handle diseases well. A simple virus could have them bedridden for weeks. What if he'd been wrong about the soup he'd given her in the cage? What if she'd gotten food poisoning or parasites?
He shook his head and tapped the side of the screen thoughtfully. None of her other vitals suggested anything wrong, she was probably just cold.
A wave of pity washed over him. It had been a rough few days, hadn't it? They'd watched people be slaughtered mercilessly. The Doctor was no stranger to death, but seeing Glagig ripped to shreds had been enough to leave him trembling. Not to mention that he had nearly vomited when the Chieftain had dropped the dead man's head at Buffy's feet. The poor girl looked like she was going to pass out.
The Doctor pushed the monitor away and strode purposefully down the corridor towards the hall of bedrooms. He hadn't been there in a long time, not having had any companions on board to make use of the extra rooms. His own bedroom had always been kept separate so as to dissuade nosy passengers from poking into his personal things.
Darker than I remember, he mused as he rounded the corner that led to the bedrooms. He paused to survey the condition of the once-regal passage and made a mental note to work on the maintenance circuits. They were probably still stuck on Low Power Mode from the War.
The Doctor shuddered at the thought, a chill running down his spine. Then he shook his head and pushed forward to the door labeled 'Buffy' in loopy gold print.
He paused, his hand resting on the handle. She probably wouldn't appreciate him coming in her room without an invitation, humans were very particular about personal space. The Doctor raised his hand and knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again. "Buffy?"
Still no answer.
He stood there for a few more moments, debating. The mental image of Buffy in the console room floated through his head. Even though she had been caked in white clay, he had recognized the look on her face. It was the same expression he had seen a thousand times on the faces of young soldiers that had just survived a firefight; terrified and close to breaking, if they hadn't already. The Doctor had noticed his young companion's tears and how terrified she'd been at the very suggestion of going back outside.
That was bad. Very bad. He'd been careless; taken a kid to a place he'd known was dangerous. Buffy was new to all of this; chucking her straight into a gorey mess was enough to scare anyone away, culture shock, and all that.
The Doctor turned the handle and edged inside, his mind made up.
"Buffy?" He whispered softly as he edged into the large, cool room. It was dark, the only light coming from the holographic stars overhead and a lamp that had been left on in the corner. "Buffy?"
He peered over at the bed inquisitively, surprised to not see her in it. His quick eyes scoured the room for a moment before spotting her in the sitting area. She was curled up in the giant bean bag chair beside the couch, plainly fast asleep.
The Doctor edged over, careful not to wake her. She needed all the sleep she could get. He knelt down in front of the chair cautiously.
She was curled up into the fetal position, hands tightly twisted into her damp red hair like she was trying to cover her ears. Streaks of chalky white clay still decorated her arms and matted strands of her hair together despite her best efforts to get it out. She had changed from the extremely revealing outfit the Natives had given her and into a loose fitting t-shirt and pajama pants with adorable little penguins on them.
A soft smile twitched onto the Doctors face.
The smile disappeared as he took in the rest of her features. Her face around her eyes were red and puffy from crying, contrasting sharply with how pale and drawn the rest of her face was. Alien food or not, she looked sick. Sick and sad.
The Doctor briefly considered what could be making her ill. He was fairly sure that the food had been safe… but what had she eaten before that? He felt a pang of worry. They had been in the alien village for two days, and the only thing he was certain she'd eaten was that one measly bowl of soup, and he hadn't the faintest clue of what her last meal before that had been. He'd been so caught up in trying to see if she was sensitive to interdimensional distortions that it hadn't even crossed his mind.
"I'll do better next time, Buff. I promise," he murmured to the sleeping woman, reaching out to press his fingertips to her temple. "Just good dreams tonight, alright?"
He pulled his fingers away, leaving her with a pleasant afternoon in the purple grass fields on the moon of Jaboon running through her head; one of his own memories from lifetimes ago. Some of the tension melted from Buffy's shoulders as she settled into a much more restful sleep.
The Doctor retrieved the soft grey blanket that lay folded up on the couch and draped it over his sleeping companion, tucking her in securely before making for the door. Tomorrow he would have to make sure she took in enough nutrients to make up for the last few days, she was thin enough as it was.
He paused thoughtfully in the doorway, looking back at Buffy's sleeping form. Somewhere safe, too. He knew he needed to make up for a terrible first trip. She was already on the verge of demanding that he take her back to London. Obviously he would if she asked, but the thought made his stomach sink.
She needed to stay close to him. Whatever she was, he needed to keep an eye on her. Now that Buffy had met him, had been exposed to the Time Vortex, she was in more danger than ever.
The Doctor made a silent vow to keep Buffy safe, and closed the door softly, leaving her to wander the fields of purple grass without a care in the world.
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Responses to comments:
GhostlySights : Lol thanks XD my first shot at an original adventure (i.e. the previous chapter) wasn't really my fav, but there will be plenty more original bits in the future, so hopefully I'll do a better job with them
That's Balderdash : I'm so so glad you think so! Thank you for reading!
scarlet rose white : Lol you took the words right out of my mouth! Don't worry, plenty of TLC will be coming up soon, even if it isn't really in this chapter :D
HalfPastEleven : Omg thank you! I'm glad that all this writing is paying off bc one of the main reasons I started writing fics was to work on my narrative writing skills. It means a ton to hear that. And I'm glad you like that she has anxiety and self esteem problems, because I was thinking something similar when I started writing this. Some people handle stress and stuff well while others don't and it seems unrealistic to believe EVERYONE the Doctor meets would be mentally healthy and good at handling stuff. With Buffy, I'm hoping to show that those kind of barrier can be overcome and that people can still be brilliant without being uber-confident about everything. Thanks for reading and i hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Phoenix004 : Thanks! I'm working hard to make her as realistic as I can, so I love to hear that I'm doing it well :D
time-twilight : :D Don't worry, Buffy will be with the Doctor for a long time. And you know how the Doctor left for a minute after he asked Rose to travel with him, and then came back a few seconds later? Well, I've seen a lot of stuff about how he probably went traveling around by himself for a while before coming back to tell her that it travels in time. So We're in that little time period now. Buffy will travel with him alone for a while and then Rose will be back in the picture. The Doctor and Buffy will bond pretty quickly.
IAmMurphy'sLaw : I'm glad that I still managed to get some emotions out in that chapter. I kind of realized halfway through it that it was already longer than I wanted it to be and that if I didn't rush it it would be 2 to 3 times longer than it is. Since it really wasn't all that important to the overall plot, other than the general trauma and the distortions Buffy was seeing, I decided to just go ahead and smush it all together. If I have the time/Motivation I may go back and work on it some more, but until then I just figured that we can move on with our lives. And I'm happy you picked up on the turning point thing, because that was really all this chapter was about. I kind of figured that it would be better for her in the long run to be thrown head first into something terrible so that she could handle the slightly less terrible things a little better. This won't leave her mind soon. As always, thanks for reading/reviewing!