Sorry, this is a short chapter. I broke it up for motivation reasons. But I'm hoping to have Part Two up by Monday or Tuesday. In theory, at least.
Also note that I'm updating and editing old chapters. This won't really change much except to make them more cohesive.
There is a significant change in Ch. 2; Fourteen Months. If you don't go back and reread it, you won't miss much, but I completely redid Buffy's conversation with Jack because I changed my mind about something that will happen in future chapters.
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Chapter Nineteen: The Hemovore
Part One
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"Damn it!"
I ducked and tried not to laugh as a bundle of discarded wires went flying past my head. The Doctor was on his knees by the console, head and torso shoved down into the floor grating, causing his butt to stick up comically into the air. There was a great clatter of things being shoved around. I raised my eyebrows.
"Did you get it?" I asked.
"No," he snapped, sounding cross as ever. "It went back under the plating."
I crossed my arms across my chest and leaned casually against the railing. "How did a mouse even get into the TARDIS, anyway?"
"Must've wandered in when we kept going in an' out on Meta-Gra Four. The colonists there kept complaining about the mice eatin' all the grain. Should've taken 'em more seriously."
I shook my head in amusement. We first noticed the tiny intruder about an hour ago when it came scurrying out from around one of the Doctor's many toolboxes and began running along the wall of the console room. The Doctor had been trying to catch it ever since, armed with a piece of cardboard and an empty cup. Since there were so many nooks and crannies in the console room, the small brown creature had been able to make its way under the console.
The Doctor was on a warpath trying to catch it. He tore up grates and ripped out wires and storage boxes, cursing in all sorts of languages as his frustration grew. It didn't help that the TARDIS seemed to be getting even more amusement out of the situation than I was. New little mouse sized hide-y holes kept appearing and disappearing just as soon as the Doctor seemed to have it cornered, all the while the room buzzed with little whirrs and hums that I was beginning to associate with the TARDIS laughing, which only served to make the Doctor more sour and more determined to catch the 'little fiend.'
"Can't you just use your alien psychic powers or whatever to talk to it and ask it to leave?"
"I tried!" He complained, his voice muffled by the floor. "I told it I'd find it a nice field somewhere an' let it go. It didn't believe me!"
"Well, yeah. It's a mouse."
A series of faint, indignant squeaks twittered from somewhere under the console as the mouse put in its two cents.
"It thinks I want to eat it," The Doctor translated.
"Yeah, it's a mouse," I repeated. I gave up standing and went to flop down in the jump-seat. "Can't we just leave it and go somewhere?"
"I can't leave knowing there's a mouse in my TARDIS!" He whined. "Mouse on a spaceship. Ridiculous!"
"How do you think all those other mice got on another planet?"
"In little cages in the livestock room on the colony ship. They brought them on purpose, and what did it get 'em? Chewed up feed bags an' nibbled veggies!"
"Yeah, but this one's not hurting anything," I pointed out. I personally didn't care whether there was a mouse or not. As long as it wasn't in my food or under my feet, it could roam around the TARDIS to its heart's content. God knows we had plenty of room.
"You can say that. You won't be the one having to replace all the wires it chews up."
I sighed. As entertaining as this was, I was getting restless. "Well, obviously what you're doing isn't working. We can set some mousetraps out for it while we're out. You probably have some somewhere."
"I don't wanna kill it!" The Doctor protested, horrified.
I rolled my eyes, but smirked all the same. "I mean, we could always get a cat."
"Absolutely not."
"Fine, fine. What about some no kill mouse traps. People sell those, right?"
The Doctor went quiet for a moment as he pondered the statement, which told me I had a point. Things clattered around as the Doctor clambered out from under the panel, cursing as he banged his head on the underside of the console. He rubbed the spot ruefully before setting the TARDIS into motion, talking as if it hadn't happened.
"Humane mouse traps. Catch and release. I could just build something, but-"
"We'd be here all day."
He shot me a withering look. "But it's not worth the effort. There are plenty of catch and release traps to be had."
"So we're going shopping?"
"Yep, an' I know just the place."
"Thank God." I clung onto the console, bracing myself as the TARDIS began to roll and shake. "Hang on, Geronimo!"
"Geronimo?"
"It's a good name for a mouse."
"Good Rassilon, don't name it!"
"Too late."
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I stepped out into the pale grey light, the Doctor on my heels. We were on a city street. Grey buildings stretched high above our heads, vanishing up into dark grey clouds, heavy with the threat of rain. Crowds of people streamed by, almost as colorless and bland as the city they lived in. A few cars and motorcycles droned by, sleek and shining despite the dull light.
"Where are we?" I inquired as the Doctor closed the door and locked it.
"Portland, Oregon." He paused to sniff the air and wrinkled his nose. "I think."
I surveyed our surroundings with a curious eye.
"I've never been to Portland," I commented, "but I never imagined it to be this… gray."
"Oi, give it a chance," my companion chided.
"No, I mean… I've seen pictures of Portland. It always looked more like Atlanta." I sniffed the air like he had, but got absolutely no information. "Trees and parks. This looks more like... New York, I guess. Concrete jungle."
"Have you ever been to New York?"
"No."
"We'll have to visit there next," he mused. "Cos' this is nothin' like New York. And this is Portland, it's just not the one you remember."
"Oh, future Portland?"
The Doctor nodded. "Future to you. 2057. February, I think. There's an outdoor shopping spot not too far from here. Got started up a few years back. It should have what we're looking for."
The Doctor ambled off down the street, melding effortlessly into the crowd while I struggled after him. I lost him twice and nearly got knocked down once before I caught up and was able to snag onto the back of his leather jacket. He cast me the scarcest glance and plowed on, pulling me along without the slightest hindrance.
Portland had grown a lot in the forty or so years since I'd seen a picture of it. Despite the Doctor's dismissal of me likening it to New York, it was definitely similar in size, if not bigger. Nearly all the buildings were skyscrapers made of grey stone and shining metal. The cars were smoother and more streamlined than I was used to, and there were a lot of them. Upon closer observation, now that walking was easy with the Time Lord breaking through the crowd, I could tell that the fog and mist that hung from the clouds weren't mist at all. It was smog. The air tasted wet and dirty, like chewed up gum and car exhaust.
Future Earth, indeed.
One that I would've lived in. If I lived a natural life, I would only be 57 or 58. But now, who knew?
The Doctor suddenly swerved, nearly jerking my arm out of the socket as I was dragged along with him, only to smack roughly into his back when he came to an abrupt halt.
I grumbled under my breath and rubbed my nose ruefully before poking my head around his shoulder. As promised, we were in some kind of outdoor shopping center, a conglomerate of semi-colorful buildings, potted plants, and outdoor restaurants underneath retractable awnings. I took a deep breath of the variety of food, drink, and perfume to cleanse my senses of the other smells of the city.
The Doctor turned to face me."Right, I'm gonna go to the farmer's supply for rodent control. You go do whatever it is humans do at the shops. I'll meet up with you later. You got your card?"
I nodded. The psychic credit card that I had woken up with nearly two years ago. That, my psychic paper, and my sonic pen were always in my bigger-on-the inside bag, stashed beside my knife. I always jumped on the opportunity to use them. The Doctor had his own sonic and psychic paper and usually used them before I had a chance to try out mine.
"Good. See ya."
And with that, he melted away into the crowd. As much as this Doctor liked people, he hated shopping crowds, especially when he had a friend to keep up with. I preferred to wander and look at everything while he generally had something specific in mind, which usually led to the Doctor leaving me to explore on my own as soon as he got impatient. Not that I particularly minded, though it would be nice to have someone to shop with.
A nervous pang gripped my chest, and I wasn't sure if it was from excitement or dread. Rose. She would be joining us soon. I had absolutely no idea when, but it had to happen eventually. Yeah, it would be nice to have another girl around, especially in situations like this, when things were just a bit too human for the Doctor.
But the thought of sharing the Doctor didn't sit very well with me, either.
I knew I was being selfish and maybe just a tad bit insecure, but I loved the dynamic the Doctor and I had. I liked being the companion. I liked being, arguably, the Doctor's best friend. He was definitely my best friend. In all honesty, he was my only friend.
But then there was Rose.
Rose was supposed to be the best friend. He was supposed to fall in love with Rose.
The thought made my gut twist horribly.
I tried to shake the feeling off, but it lingered as I wandered aimlessly through the shops. There was a part of me, deep down, that hoped we'd never have to live out the episodes. That maybe we'd never go back for her, and the events of the show would never kick off.
But then this universe would surely burn.
A sense of foreboding settled over my heart. The weight of oncoming events, which I had shoved to the back of my mind, resurfaced, making me queasy. And suddenly this was no longer about Rose, it was about all of the other trials and terror that lie ahead.
I paused briefly in front of a wall of televisions, made of thin transparent glass. Most of them were showing a variety of news broadcasts while a couple played a cartoon I didn't recognize. I tried to read one that caught my eye; some report about a recent murder. Victim stabbed in neck. Suspect white, male.
I shuddered and turned my attention to a display of elegant silver bracelets. One with an adorable cat design caught my eye.
I'd been with the Doctor for nearly eight months, and he hadn't mentioned Rose once. I honestly thought, or at least hoped, that he'd forgotten about the blonde altogether. Though that left me the dilemma of deciding whether or not I should mention it.
Was it my responsibility to make sure things happened the way they should? Or allow them to happen, regardless of how I affected the timeline?
I swallowed nervously. I knew perfectly well how disastrous things could be if they were left unchecked.
I pushed the thought out of my mind, deciding to ponder over it later. 2057 was at my fingertips. One of the many things I learned from the Doctor was that I shouldn't let the future ruin the present.
"How much for the cat bracelet?" I asked the vendor.
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An hour or so later I wandered back to the area I had last seen the Doctor, laden with bags and tired from browsing. The Doctor had explained to me that the psychic credit card worked by drawing pennies from well-endowed bank accounts at nearby banks. It wasn't legal, but as long as I was inconveniencing the rich and not taking from people that needed it, I didn't have a problem with buying things for myself.
I settled down at one of the rough concrete tables to wait. The heavy clouds were starting to clear, allowing some hazy sunlight to filter through the smog, chasing away some of the early springtime chill. Sunlight glittered on my new silver bracelet; a cat elegantly prowling along a sparkling silver chain. It was pretty. People floated in and out of shops. A woman got into a squabble with a vendor selling hats. A child started screaming over a dropped ice cream and his father tried to pacify him.
I slipped into a doze.
The wailing of sirens jolted me out of my drowsy state. Two police cars came roaring down the street and began nosing carefully onto the wide sidewalk that divided the shops of the outdoor market. The path was only wide enough for them to proceed one after the other. The one in front honked its horn impatiently at the crowds as people scrambled to get out of the way. A third police car, followed closely by an ambulance, swerved onto the walkway as well. And then another three police cars.
People crammed into the shop entrances, trying to stay out of the way while maintaining a good place to gawk at the spectacle.
I stood on my tip toes, struggling to see what was going on, but I was short and whatever was happening was a fair way down the street.
Shopping bags forgotten, I lept to my feet and took off at a brisk jog. Because whatever was happening, the Doctor was sure to be at the center of it.
No wonder he had been taking so long.
By the time I reached the center of the disturbance, the area had already been blocked off. I fought hard to struggle through the crowd. It wasn't easy, a handful of police were keeping the crowd back with temporary barriers and bright yellow tape while the crowd strained forward to get a closer look.
I shoved past a middle aged woman and nearly ran smack into one of the police officers.
Stand back, ma'am," the officer said, holding out a hand in warning. He was tall with a buzz cut and a hooked nose. His beady eyes gleamed at me with both interest and disdain, making my skin crawl. There was a speck of red at the corner of his mouth, but my mind was elsewhere.
Because from around the officer's arm I caught a glance of a familiar leather jacket.
The Doctor stood stiffly as officers swarmed around him. He kept calm, allowing one of the officers to cuff his hands behind his back despite the fact that another was keeping a gun trained squarely on his chest.
"That's my friend!" I demanded as I tried to peer around the man to get a better look at the Doctor. The Time Lord was trying to reason with the men holding him, but didn't seem to be having any luck.
"Ma'am, I insist," the officer warned, voice dropping dangerously low. I glanced nervously at his hand as it dropped to the baton strapped to his belt.
"What are the charges?" I demanded, not as easily intimidated as I might've once been. "What's going on?"
"I can't answer any questions. Ma'am," the officer gritted out. "Please return to your previous activities."
I then remembered my psychic paper and was about to dig it out when I made eye contact with the Doctor. He was being shepherded to an armored police car when his keen eyes picked me out in the crowd. He quickly gave a sharp shake of his head, indicating that I should keep out of it for the time being, because he was getting arrested no matter what.
The officer behind him pressed the Time Lord's head down to shove him unceremoniously into the car. The door slammed shut.
I backed away from the commotion, allowing myself to be swallowed up by the crowd, wondering just what the hell to do next.
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Responses to Comments
GhostlySights ; oODaniJadeOo ; That's Balderdash ; CrystalAris ; MollyBites : Thanks so much guys! I'd never get anywhere on these fics without your support!
iFluffySquirrel : I get where you're coming from, cause I'm kind of on the fence about how he would react to this kind of stuff. But I am going to keep going with this interpretation of the Doctor cause I've got some stuff I want to do with it. Let me know if I get too far OOC, because even though you might not 100% agree with it, I'd like your input.
treesofsilverleaves : I agree with you completely. I'e always been drawn to the psychological aspects of the Doctor that are hinted at both in the show and by the actors, so I'm eager to play with it. I'm glad you think I'm doing pretty well with it because when I'm writing scenes like the one at the end of Ch 18, I sit there and stare at it forever like 'is this REALLY how he would react?' I think I've rewritten tat part like five times and I'm still not entirely happy with it. It makes me feel much better to know someone else is on the same page as me.
C. S. Stars : Believe me, the blanket is on its way. Angst and fluff go hand in hand ;)
bored411 : The vial will be coming back soon, I'm afraid. ;)
savethemadscientist ; Thank you! I'm trying to get the growth in. Buffy has change a good bit in the few months that I skipped. And yes, the vial will be making another appearance :)