THE TARDIS BOUNCED AROUND as the girls' fumble with the controls and did what the Doctor shouted over the racket. Rose was holding down one set of buttons when he cried out over the rumbling of the Tardis, "Hold that one down!"
"I'm holding this one down," Rose yelled back.
"Well hold them both down!" was his answering reply.
Rose looked around helplessly when suddenly Lyla's foot dropped down on the button. "You're welcome," the stretched-out girl said.
Rose looked back toward the Doctor and commented teasingly, "It's not gonna work."
"Oi! I promised you two a time machine and that's what you're getting. Now, you've seen the future, let's have a look at the past. 1860. How does 1860 sound?" He asked the two. Sounds like you get it wrong.
They looked back at him as Rose said, "What happened in 1860?"
"I don't know, let's find out," he pulled a lever, "Hold on, here we go."
Both girls held on tightly to whatever they could get their hands on as the Tardis whirled through the time vortex. With a final wheeze and shudder sending all the occupants to the ground, the Tardis landed. Talk about rough landing. This ship needs seatbelts!
"Blimey," Rose commented amidst all the laughter.
"Fucking hell that was rough," Lyla said between bouts of laughter. She picked herself up and brushed off her sore, most likely bruised ass. She reached down to offer a hand to Rose, who was still laying on the grates looking dazed.
"You're telling me. Are you two alright?" The Doctor asked as they picked themselves up.
"Yeah. I think so. Nothing broken," Rose said as she walked over to where he was looking at a monitor of some sort. "Did we make it? Where are we?"
"When are we?" Lyla asks curiously as she leaned against the railing watching the two.
"I did it. Give the man a medal. Earth, Naples, December 24th, 1860," he proclaimed with joy as he turned to look at the other two. Ha maybe a metal of participation.
"It's Christmas," Lyla commented as she finally walked over. I love Christmas!
"Christmas. 1860. Happens once, just once and it's gone, it's finished, it'll never happen again. Except for you," Rose looked over at the Doctor with a look of amazement and envy written on her face. "You can go back and see days that are dead and gone a hundred thousand sunsets ago," she chuckled in wonder, "No wonder you never stay still."
"What a life," Lyla said with admiration and a smile. Man after my own heart!
"Better with three though," Rose tacked on to the end of Lyla's comment.
Rose started making her way to the door when the Doctor stopped her, "Hey, where do you think you're going."
She turned and looked back at the two still standing by the console, "1860," she said with a large jubilant smile.
"Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella," he pointed off down the hallway, "There's a wardrobe through there. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your left. Hurry up!" Like I'm ever gonna remember that.
Rose rushed back to Lyla and grabbed her hand, "Did you pay attention to the directions?" She whispered to Lyla.
"Of course not," Lyla said with a laugh and shoulder bumped the younger girl. "I'm just gonna wing it and hope the Tardis likes us enough to show us the way."
oOoOo
The girls finally found the wardrobe room and stood stunned for a few minutes with appreciation. Oh, this is every girl's dream. And maybe some boys too. They split up to find dresses for this day and age. Rose found a black corset top with a deep red skirt. She paired that with a black shawl, period appropriate heels and some red flowers for the up-do twist that the Tardis did her hair in.
Lyla picked a royal blue dress that had long sleeves and a high neckline on the sides but opened in the front and dipped to show a tasteful amount of cleavage and had the right number of ruffles to be fashionable for this time, but not gaudy. She laced up her black low top converses with it because she knew that there would be running and snow. She grabbed a black shawl like Rose's before she skipped over to the hair machine that first intimidated her, but after seeing the beauty that was Rose's hair, she decided to trust the Tardis with her locks.
Her hair was pulled into a half up/ half down style. Perfect milk chocolate ringlets flowed over her shoulders and reached below her bodice. The top was twisted into a braid that flowed down the center in, what looked like to her, a very modern chic braided-mohawk. The braid ended at the nape of her neck and flowed down into the brown ringlets. She had no idea how the whole thing was staying but she gave some harsh head turns and bounced on her toes to make sure everything stayed in place. I need this in my everyday life!
Lyla turned to Rose with a smile, "You look beautiful Rose!"
"You are too! That hairstyle is amazing!" Rose gushed as she came up to finger a chocolate brown curl.
"Right!" Lyla squealed and turned back to the mirror, "We just might start that riot after all. We look sexy."
Rose nodded and linked arms with Lyla as they made their way back towards the Doctor.
oOoOo
The girls walked in laughing to see the Doctor shoulder deep within the metal grates messing with some wires. Hope he's not breaking it. They heard popping noises and the sound of the sonic as they walked toward the railing. When he finally realized that they were back, he looked up and did a double take. His eyes lingered on Lyla as he breathed out in astonishment, "Blimey." Lyla didn't miss the reaction and filed that information away for later. Well, that's interesting and good to know.
Rose gave a nervous giggle and looked down to smooth her skirt out, "Don't laugh."
"You two look beautiful, considering," he said looking down and away trying to cover his first reaction.
"Considering what?" Rose asked with trepidation.
"That you're human," he said while looking up from the wires he was handling.
"Why! Thank you, kind sir." Lyla said in her best southern belle voice with a small curtsy attached. The Timelords head snapped to the Texan, and she saw the faintest of blushes come over the Doctor at her words. Did he… Was he just… Really. He liked that thick southern twang? Gonna have to remember that.
Rose laughed and looked between the two before asking their driver with a raised eyebrow, "Aren't you gonna change?"
He pulled his sweater out away from himself and released it again as he said, "I've changed my jumper." He hopped out of the grate and gestured toward the door, "Come on."
Rose was quick in grabbing Lyla's hand and pulling her toward the door with a finger pointed at the Doctor, "You stay there. You've done this before. This is ours."
They reached the doors and Rose stepped out slowly listening to the crackle and crunch of snow under her shoe. As she looked up her face was bathed in wonder and excitement. Lyla was right behind her and made a mad dash out the door. She started to twirl and dance in the snow with laughter. She heard the Doctor ask Rose if she was ready to see history before they walked fully away from the entrance of the Tardis and closer to their laughing and overly happy companion. The Doctor laughed and had a soft look on his face as he watched her twirl in the snow. I'm in the PAST! This is amazing. Words can't describe how surreal this is, her thoughts bouncing off each other as she took in her surroundings at each turn.
Lyla stopped and faced them, out of breath she said to Rose, "I hate the cold but love the snow." She looked over at the Doctor with a wicked mischievous eye, "Come play with me Doctor." She grabbed his hand quickly before he registered what she had said and pulled him into an impromptu two-step. Her laughter grew when she looked up into his face to see an aspirated look, but he continued to dance with her anyway. She spun, twirled, and laughed cheerfully around him as he watched with soft eyes. I got the Doctor to dance!
"Alright, Alright. That's enough of that, let's go explore," he said as he pulled her to a stop and grasped her hand firmly, interlacing their fingers and held out his arm for Rose to link hers to his.
They walked down the street toward the hustle and bustle of 1869. The trio heard Christmas Carols being sung by a festively dressed choir. They dodged horse drawn carriages and watched the people mill about on Christmas Eve. The Doctor pulled the two toward a man selling papers on the street. He released them as he went over and bought one. Lyla leaned over and whispered to Rose, "I can't believe we are seeing 1860!"
Rose gave a small squeal and bounced on her toes as she replied, "I know. This is amazing." Her eyes eagerly sought out the area and time.
The Doctor turned back to the two girls, "I got the flight a bit wrong."
Rose linked their arms again and smiled as she said back, "I don't care."
Lyla walked beside the Doctor and snagged the paper before he could fold it. She read the date with a grin before stating, "What kind of driver are you to be 9 years off?"
He looked shamefaced as he said, "It's not 1860, it's 1869."
"I don't care." Rose said again with a smile.
Lyla, still reading the paper in her hands, laughed louder with tears almost streaming out of her eyes as she commented between breaths, "You even got the location wrong!"
He tugged the paper out of Lyla's hands with a scowl as she laughed at him. "And it's not Naples," he said to Rose.
"I don't care." This time she said it with a shake of her head.
"It's Cardiff." That stopped Rose in her tracks.
Lyla wiped her cheeks of tears as she calmed down but snorted again when she thought about how awful his driving really was. She calmed again and was finally able to comfort Rose and the Doctor, "But it's 1869. On Christmas." She paused and gave them both large smiles as she went on, "So, in exchange of Rose repeating herself a fourth time, we don't care." She gave another twirl in front of the two as she sang to an imaginary beat, her voice lifting and echoing around the road, "It's the past and on Christmas! Cheer up Humbug!"
Rose and the Doctor looked at each other with identical smiles and locked arms again as they followed their dancing and singing companion.
The other two now by Lyla's side stopped as they heard screams come from down the road and in the theater. The Doctor grabbed the girl's hands and looked at them with an overly happy grin, "That's more like it." They were off at a run toward the ruckus. And the running begins!
They made their way into the theater just in time to see the blue ghost figure zooming around the ceiling with an ethereal scream being heard. The Doctor smiled completely happy at the turn of events, "Fantastic."
"Only in this Universe would that be fantastic." Lyla said so quietly that no one heard her. She watched the Doctor run up to stage and start questioning Charles Dickens about the figure. Fun time is over. The real work begins.
They all watched as the corpse dropped to the ground. Lyla and Rose were swept up in the departing mob but could see that Sneed and Gwyneth had grabbed the old women.
"Oi! Leave her alone," Rose shouted at the two body snatchers. She turned her head to shout at the man in leather, "Doctor! I'll get them."
"Be careful." He said not realizing how desperate the mortician was.
Lyla looked back and forth between the two, trying to decide on who to go with. To stay or not to stay. Charles Dickens or a chloroform rag. Rose or the Doctor. Minnie Miney Mo. Her feet made the decision for her as she ran after Rose. She was just in time to see Sneed place the cloth over Rose's mouth. "Hey! Stop that!" She yelled as she barreled right into him, but Rose was already knocked out. Before she could take steps away from the desperate man, he had a firm hold of the cloth around her nose and mouth. Lyla jerked around and tried to fight the instinct to breath, but it was to no avail as she gasped for breath and promptly started to lose consciousness. Her last thought being a lame joke, hey does this smell like chloroform.
oOoOo
Lyla woke up to see that Rose was still out and they were placed in the viewing room of the funeral home. The answer was, yes. It did smell like chloroform. She looked around at the coffins with a shiver running down her spine. She turned to Rose and started slapping her face lightly to wake her up, "Wakey. Wakey. Eggs and bakey." When she still didn't stir, "Oh come on Rose. Don't make me slap you harder." Lyla reared back and slapped her forcefully across the face. Rose sat up. Her hand flew to her check, where a red handprint was starting to form. Lyla let out a breath of air with a whisper of, "Oh, Thank the gods."
"Did you slap me?" Rose rubbed her check as she finally saw what room they were in, "You could give my mother a run for her money." She said absentmindedly.
Lyla heard the gas hissing noise that signaled the presence of the ghost like creatures. She looked around to see where it could be coming from, her thoughts running through this episode trying to figure out timelines. OK right now, the Doctor is on his way with Charles, or they are already at the door talking to Gwyneth. We shouldn't be in here that long. The Doctor came to save Rose. Kicked in the door, so make sure Rose is away from the door but not in danger of the Gelth. Right! Game plan is a go.
Lyla was pulled from her thoughts as both girls turned quickly and with twin jumps of fright. They heard the god-awful moaning and groaning that happened behind them.
"Are you all right?" Rose said as the zombie started to move out of its coffin. "You're kidding me, yeah? You're just kidding. You are kidding me, aren't you?" The zombie finally stumbled its way out of the coffin and made a lumbering walk toward the two girls.
"Fucking great. I hate zombies" Lyla said sarcastically as she pulled Rose off the table and backed up towards the door.
Rose turned and started banging on the door, "Let us out!"
"Doctor!" Lyla screamed as she watched the old lady reanimate. This shit is scarier when you are here to witness it firsthand.
"Open the door!" Rose yelled as she twisted the door handle fruitlessly.
"Oh God, please Doctor. Open the fucking door." Lyla yelled as she kicked the door, getting the same results as Rose and a bruised heel. I really hate zombies! Top three evil things! Spiders, Zombies, and bathrooms with no toilet paper.
The zombies had now reached the two women and Lyla pushed herself in front of Rose but also closer to the out reaching hands of the zombies.
"Let me out! Somebody open the door! Open the door!" Rose kicked with her heel at the door as she tried to tug Lyla out of the zombie's grasp.
Lyla gave a scream as the man finally pulled her away from Rose and quickly placed his hand around her throat and squeezed to quiet her screams.
Just as Rose rushed forward, to get a grasp of Lyla again, the door came flying open. Rose was pulled back by a hand and quickly deposited behind the Doctor.
"I think this is my dance." The Doctors said while grabbing Lyla and tugging her free from the strangling hold. His arm stayed around her waist, fingers digging in just below her ribcage. She clung to his chest and rubbed her throat in a soothing manner. There was a flash of satisfaction that no one caught in her face as she faced the zombies. Part one done. Everything is still on track. Don't think about the end, just what comes next. She schooled her features again into a fearful and pained look before anyone noticed.
"It's a prank. It must be. We're under some mesmeric influence." Mr. Dickens said while staring in disbelief at the creatures.
"No, we're not. The dead are walking," he said, aiming the reply toward Dickens but looked back at Rose then Lyla. "Hi you two."
"Hi," Rose said faintly.
"Who's he?" Lyla asked in a strained whisper. Well, that's new and painful. First the burnt hands-on Platform One now bruised vocal cords in Cardiff.
The Doctor looked down at her in concern after hearing her voice but still answered the question, "Charles Dickens."
Lyla nodded while Rose answered for both, "Okay."
They all faced the zombie creatures when the Doctor finally addressed them, "My name's the Doctor. Who are you, then? What do you want?"
The ghostly voices echo throughout the room, "Failing. Open the rift. We're dying." The voices faded out then much quieter they continued, "Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us." They gave a scream when they exited the dead bodies and flooded back into the gas.
Lyla watched as Gwyneth poured tea for the occupants of the room, only keeping half an ear on what Rose was berating the undertaker for and running through the next part of the show in her head. Gwyneth in the kitchen with Rose while the Doctor and Charles talk in the viewing room over the dead. Her thoughts cut off as her vision fills with a concerned Doctor. He knelt in front of her and elevated her chin with two fingers to see her throat and the damage that the gas creatures caused. He ran the pads of his fingers against some of the forming bruises, causing Lyla's skin to pebble up with goose bumps and her to swallow harshly. He then moved the neck portion of her dress to the side to see further along Lyla's neck. Lyla, not normally a shy person, blushed when she watched his eyes flit from worry to want as they wandered further down then just the neck area. She cleared her throat and gave him a huge smile and a wink when he finally met her eyes. With ears turning a faint pink, he said roughly, "It's not bad. I'll fix the bruises back at the Tardis, but tea will help soothe the throat and help with talking."
She gave him a put-out expression and with a roll of the eyes she acknowledged the order that he gave and accepted the tea Gwyneth handed her with a helpless and thankful smile aimed at the young female servant. She gave the Doctor a pointed look as she took a deliberate drink. He threw a cheery expression her way and ran his hand down her neck again. He slipped his fingers into her curls and gave them a playful tug before walking across the room to lean against the mantle. That was not fair. Not fair at all. Don't jump the timelord. Do NOT jump the timelord. Lyla froze for just half a second trying not to groan and arch at the playful treatment to her hair. She took a couple of deep breaths trying to get her wayward thoughts back into line after the hair tug.
Lyla sat her tea on a low table beside the couch that she was sitting on, and crossed her ankles and placed her head in her hands massaging her temples to help alleviate the migraine that was forming. She ignored the conversations that flowed about the room. Ok news flash! Fun is over. For real this time, Sunshine. What am I going to do! I can't save Gwyneth. Or can I? UGH! I don't know! FUCK! Is her death fixed? Fuckity fuck town! She groaned quietly to herself as her fingers pressed harder into her skull. My head hurts. And my wrist is hot. Wait… what? She brought her hands down in front of her. She slowly fingered the wolf-etched bracelet just to feel that it was hot to the touch. Almost too hot. But once her fingers brushed over the metal it instantly began to cool. UGH. Tardis! She needs to explain! Lyla looked up at the room to just catch Dickens leaving and she heard Sneed talking about how he got the house so cheap. She ignored this and continued to look off into space as she played with the wolf bracelet, that was now almost ice cold, its normal temperature. She took notice that the Doctor left the room with Gwyneth following soon after. Lyla stood and took Rose by the hand as she spoke, "Lets help Gwyneth clean up."
oOoOo
They arrived just in time to see Gwyneth light the gas lamp on the wall. Rose made her way to the sink as she prepared to help with the dishes. Lyla hung back by some of the shelves and watched Gwyneth.
"Please, miss, you shouldn't be helping. It's not right." Gwyneth protested.
Rose turned back toward the sink and picked up a towel before she said, "Don't be daft. Sneed works you to death." Gwyneth took the towel from Rose's hands with a faint nod. "How much do you get paid?" Rose curiously asked.
"Eight pound a year, miss." Gwyneth proudly boasted with a cocked head.
"How much?" Rose said, shocked.
"I know. I would've been happy with six," Gwyneth confided as she gave a faint shrug of the shoulders. She turned back to the sink to start the washing again.
Rose continued to question the young maid, "So, did you go to school or what?"
Gwyneth turned back toward Rose, "Of course, I did. What do you think I am, an urchin? I went every Sunday, nice and proper."
"What, once a week?" Rose said in disbelief.
"We did sums and everything. To be honest, I hated every second." Gwyneth whispered to the other two.
Lyla just let the girls have their conversation. She looked around the kitchen as they rambled on about boys, Rose giving dating advice, and ended up at Rose's Dad. She started listening again when she heard Gwyneth bring up servants. Rose really shouldn't give dating advice seeing as she ran away from her boyfriend and dropped out of school for the other.
"No, no servants where we're from." Rose told the young maid.
"And you've come such a long way." Gwyneth intoned as she advanced on Rose slightly.
"What makes you think so?" Rose had a slight tremor in her voice when she replied.
Gwyneth's voice got low, and she stared Rose in the eyes when she spoke, "You're from London. I've seen London in drawings, but never like that. All those people rushing about half naked, for shame." She gave a slight disturbed look but continued on, "And the noise, and the metal boxes racing past, and the birds in the sky, no, they're metal as well. Metal birds with people in them. People are flying," she grimaced. "And you, you've flown so far." She stopped and pierced Lyla with her stare now. "But you've come the farthest. You've seen things that should never be uttered. The cracks, the creatures without a face, the crying angels, Yana, but you burn so bright. But a name follows you. The Big Bad Wolf." She backed away quickly from the brown-haired girl. With wide and fearful eyes, she started stuttering out apologies, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Miss."
Lyla stared in shock at the maid, what the fuck was that! I knew about Bad Wolf. That's the whole reason why I'm here but Yana and the silence. Does that mean I have to deal with River? Does that mean that I can't go home? Her thoughts tumbled around in her head as a single tear fell from her eye. She was panting trying to get air into her closing lungs due to panic.
Rose looked back and forth between the women, seeing the scared looks on both of their faces. She decided to answer Lyla, "It's all right."
"I can't help it. Ever since I was a little girl, my mam said I had the sight. She told me to hide it," she said, almost crying as she tried to explain.
"But it's getting stronger, more powerful, is that right?" The two younger women jumped and turned to look at the speaker that just made his presence known. Lyla, still in the grips of a panic attack, didn't even notice his entrance. She took several deep breaths and started counting random numbers, 2, 8, 19, 27, 43, 1, 5, 11. As she finished, her breathing had slowed, and her mind cleared of the impending black out of lack of oxygen. She wiped her eyes of fallen tears.
"All the time, sir. Every night, voices in my head." Gwyneth answered looking down with a slight pained look about her.
"You grew up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key." The Doctor explained.
"I've tried to make sense of it, sir. Consulted with spiritualists, table rappers, all sorts."
"Well, that should help. You can show us what to do." He approved. Rose was following the conversation like a tennis match. Lyla still had her back to the Doctor as she kept her eyes on Gwyneth trying to convey a silent message through whatever power that she possessed. Come on Gwyneth look at me!
"What to do where, sir?" Gwyneth questioned.
"We're going to have a séance," The Doctor concluded as he smiled faintly at the prospect of finding out about the creatures.
Lyla gave up trying to catch the young girl's eye and turned toward the Doctor and her fear had turned to anger like a flipped switch. Her eyes found his on instinct and she almost blew a gasket, but she kept it together as she walked out of the pantry and toward the living room again. She could hear the other two following behind them. The Doctor caught up to her and grabbed her hand to slow her fast-clipped walk that she was trying to use to escape from him. She yanked out of his grasp as they entered the living room and made her way to the couch where she sat in her earlier position of fingers to temples and ignored the room as they got ready for the séance. His fault. It's all his fault that I won't be able to go home. It's all his fault. Oh my god. Calm down. Think Lyla! Is it his fault really… no it isn't. Don't put blame where blame doesn't go. I am acting bipolar. Get your emotions under control. Calm down, breathe, and suck it up buttercup!
The Doctor followed Lyla and crouched down in front of her again lifting her head, with both hands on either side of her face, to stare into her eyes. She was still spitting mad, but her mouth was firmly shut as she started back with levels of rage that the Doctor was uncomfortable in seeing. "What's wrong?" He said concerned.
She gave a hollow laugh, that was still rough from earlier, and pulled her face from his hands. "If you have to ask, you'll never know," She quoted and looked over his shoulder to see that they had the table set up. She stood and stepped around the Doctor and took her place between Rose and Charles. What could I tell him? He's about to kill a young woman because of his survivor's guilt. Or that he will endanger everyone in this house. Or maybe that I kinda, sort of, probably shouldn't but do blame him for not being able to go home.
Once everyone was seated, Gwyneth explained with a smile, "This is how Madam Mortlock summons those from the Land of Mists, down in Big Town. Come, we must all join hands."
Charles rolled his eyes, "I can't take part in this."
"Humbug? Come on, open mind." The Doctor remarked.
"This is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Séance? Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeeze box concealed between the knees. This girl knows nothing," Charles objected.
"Now, don't antagonize her. I love a happy medium," The Doctor joked.
Lyla rolled her eyes and Rose admitted, "I can't believe you just said that."
"I can," Lyla spoke loud enough that only Rose and Charles could hear her.
"Come on, we might need you," The Doctor supplied while Lyla opened her hand inviting him back to the table.
"I don't bite Mr. Dickens. At least not unless you want me too," she winked, and Charles blushed at the implications. "Come have a seat and watch the magic happen," Lyla coaxed with a cheeky grin. Charles sat back down, a faint blush staining his cheeks and grabbed Gwyneth's and Lyla's hand.
The Doctor gave Lyla a confused hurt look but returned to the waiting physic with a calm small smile, "Good man. Now, Gwyneth, reach out."
Gwyneth began, "Speak to us. Are you there? Spirits, come. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden." She looked straight up at the ceiling suddenly and the whispering started to be heard around the room.
"Can you hear that," Rose gasped while looking around, trying to find the source.
"Nothing can happen. This is sheer folly," Charles said with exasperation.
Lyla squeezed his hand and nodded to Gwyneth as she instructed the writer, "But look. Use your eyes and look at her."
"I see them. I feel them," Gwyneth sang in awe at whatever she was seeing. Blue tendrils start floating and swirling above their heads.
"They can't get through the rift. Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it. Now, look deep. Allow them through," the Doctor quietly spoke to Gwyneth, getting her a little closer to achieving their goal.
"I can't," she cried.
"Yes, you can. Just believe it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link," he said in a placating voice.
"Yes," she cried. Her head jerked downwards and stared off into the distance as huge blue ghostly figures formed behind her. All participants of the séance looked at the figure in awe except Lyla, who kept her eyes alternating between the Doctor and Gwyneth. Don't look at the creepy child looking aliens. Don't do it, just stay focused and pay attention.
"Great God! Spirits from the other side," Sneed exclaimed.
"The other side of the universe," the Doctor corrected the old undertaker.
Childlike voices spoke over-lapping each other and Gwyneth's voice as they pleaded in unison, "Pity us. Pity the Gelth. There is so little time. Help us."
"What do you want us to do?" The Doctor asked the Gelth. Lyla growled under her breath, Idiot. That's not what you ask first.
"The rift. Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge," the childlike voices sang out.
"What for?" He questioned.
"We are so very few. The last of our kind. We face extinction," explained the Gelth
The concerned Doctor asked, "Why, what happened?"
"Once we had a physical form like you, but then the war came."
"War? What war?" Charles asked, getting into the séance.
"The Time War." Rose and Lyla shared a look before Rose paid attention to the Gelth again and Lyla turned back toward the Doctor. Lyla's eyes found his and without looking away she stared back at him with a closed off expression. "The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged. Invisible to smaller species but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state." And that's where you should stay.
The Doctor looked away from Lyla's penetrating stare and made a simple observation, "So that's why you need the corpses."
"We want to stand tall, to feel the sunlight, to live again. We need a physical form, and your dead are abandoned. They're going to waste. Give them to us," the Gelth reasoned.
Rose, speaking up finally, protested, "But we can't."
"Why not?" questioned the Doctor.
She fumbled with her words as she tried to explain her reasoning, "It's not- I mean- it's not-."
"Not decent? Not polite? It could save their lives." The Doctor interrupted.
"Enough," Lyla's voice rang out in the room as all eyes went to her. She kept her head lowered and her head tilted to the side like she was listening to something no one else could hear but she was just waiting for the rest of the speech from the Gelth. It's not over until the fat lady sings. Or in this case the creepy children voice a plea.
"Open the rift. Let the Gelth through. We're dying. Help us. Pity the Gelth." They faded out and Gwyneth slumped toward the table. Rose and Lyla were up in a flash to make sure the girl was alright.
oOoOo
The girls were around Gwyneth, who was laid up on a fainting couch, when she started to stir.
"It's all right. You just sleep," Rose cajoled while she patted her head down with a damp cloth.
"But my angels, miss. They came, didn't they? They need me," Gwyneth asked while she strained to sit up.
"They do need you, Gwyneth. You're they're only chance of survival," the Doctor interjected as he leaned up against the doorway.
Rose turned quickly and barked at the Doctor, "I've told you, leave her alone. She's exhausted and she's not fighting your battles." She turned back and offered Gwyneth a cup, "Now drink this."
Lyla heard the Doctor sigh and tapped his head on the door frame. She ignored that and turned to Rose, "I've got her." She pointed over her shoulder at the Doctor, who started explaining things to the other men in the room, and went on, "Go participate in that discussion for us will you."
Rose nodded and wandered off toward the others. Lyla turned to Gwyneth and wrapped her in a huge hug and spoke quickly and softly in her hair, "I know you saw what happens to you. I can find a way to stop it. I just need you to tell me and I will fight tooth and nail for you. But I will not object if you want to continue with this path. I know you know the dangers and the outcome. It's your choice. Tell me if there is any doubt, any hesitation, any at all and I will fight him for you." Lyla pulled away from her with tears streaming down her face.
Gwyneth reached up and wiped them away for her before speaking, "You're right, I do know. The Wolf and Time demands it of me. This is my duty and destiny. You have a big heart and a bigger soul. Let me do this for him," her eyes darted to the Doctor then went back to Lyla as she finished, "And for you."
Lyla choked back tears as she slowly nodded her head, "OK, but that doesn't let him off the hook. I'm still going to fight just a smidge. I have to keep up appearances and he deserves it." She gave a watery laugh to the faintly smiling girl.
They started listening again to the conversation that was happening around them.
"Do you own a donor card?" The Doctor set in on Rose.
"That's different. That's-," Rose started.
"It is different, yeah. It's a different morality. Get used to it or go home. You heard what they said, time's short. I can't worry about a few corpses when the last of the Gelth could be dying," the Doctor was practically shouting in Rose's face by now.
Lyla stood up and gained the attention of the room. Her voice was low with barely contained anger, she raged, "And who, my dear old Doctor, made you God? Who gave you the right to lease out old and dead family members?" She paused and looked up into his eyes to see surprise and anger building. Oh… am I going to get to see the Oncoming Storm. Does that make me special? "Who? Cause the way I see it, is that you're the only alien in here and you can't and don't speak for humanity. That's not your right." She advanced on him slowly, taking measured steps in his direction, his eyes now closed off, but Lyla could easily read that the anger had turned into rage and was building like a storm. She hissed quietly now in his face, "And don't think, I don't see what this is truly. Why won't you stop and use that brain that you so love to boast about." She sneered in his face, "Why is it that Humans, for a change, can see clearly but you can't?" She raised a finger and poked him in the chest with each word that she snarled next, "Guilt will be your death and everyone else's here." His eyes flashed like lightning and barely contained rage. He gripped her wrist with a bruising force, but she did not wince nor show her pain.
He was interrupted from saying anything and berating her by Gwyneth speaking up, "Don't I get a say miss."
Rose watched the two as if waiting for a bomb to explode when she replied to Gwyneth, "Look, you don't understand what's going on."
"You would say that miss, because that's very clear inside your head, that you think I'm stupid," Gwyneth stated matter-of-factly.
"That's not fair," Rose deflected, finally looking at Gwyneth.
The Doctor snarled in low tones that reached an octave lower than his regular voice, "We will speak later." He released Lyla's wrist and she took a step back.
With a roll of her eyes, a sneer that Loki would be proud of, and a defiant head tilt, she retorted, "Go fuck yourself." He gave a growl of anger but before he could reach out and grab her again, she was beside Gwyneth and holding her hand. Oh. My. God. He's gonna kill me. Drop me off at home like Adam. Why can't I keep my fat mouth shut! He deserved every word though.
The Doctor took a deep breath and looked at Gwyneth as he insisted, "You don't have to do anything," his voice still deep and gravelly from his anger at Lyla.
Lyla squeezed her hand and ducked her head. Her emotions on a roller coaster ride as the day went by. Gwyneth looked to Lyla and reminded, "They've been singing to me since I was a child, sent by my mam on a holy mission." She pulled her eyes away from Lyla and looked back to the Doctor, "So tell me."
"We need to find the rift. This house is on a weak spot, so there must be a spot that's weaker than any other." He pushed himself off the door frame and looked to the owner of the house and asked, "Mister Sneed, what's the weakest part of this house? The place where most of the ghosts have been seen?"
The undertaker thought for a moment then answered, "That would be the morgue."
oOoOo
They made their way down to the basement where it was dark and dank and smelt like dead people. Lyla soon found herself looking at sheet covered bodies that were laid out on tables.
"Urgh. Talk about a bleak house," the Doctor said lightly.
Rose, still trying to understand the mechanics of time, questioned him, "The thing is, Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed, 'cos I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869."
"Time's in flux, changing every second. Your cozy little world can be rewritten like that." He snapped his fingers and looked directly at Lyla when he stated, "Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing." Oh, I think that was supposed to be a threat or warning towards me.
"Was that supposed to sound like a threat, Doctor?" Lyla questioned him with a cold look.
A chill passed through the room stopping whatever the Doctor was about to say and prompting Dickens to state the obvious, "Doctor, I think the room is getting colder."
The Gelth appeared under the arch and sang out, "You've come to help. Praise the Doctor. Praise him."
"Promise you won't hurt her," Rose pleaded but got no confirmation to what she had asked. Is it just because I know what going to happen that I think everyone is being stupid? Is it just because I can see the flaws in all of this?
"Hurry! Please, so little time. Pity the Gelth." Pity my ass. Go suck on a tit, you evil dicks.
The Doctor stood before them and reminded, "I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer. Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?"
"My angels. I can help them live," Gwyneth approached the Doctor, waiting for her instructions.
"Okay, where's the weak point?" He asked.
"Here, beneath the arch," the childlike voices sang out again.
Gwyneth stepped beneath the arch and Rose rushed to her to try to persuade her one last time, "You don't have to do this."
Gwyneth just looked at her and intoned, "My Angels," as if that's all the explanation that was needed.
Lyla walked up to her and gave her a hug and a quiet thank you in her ear and subtly felt for a pulse. Having found none, a few tears slipped out and she said a quiet goodbye as well.
The Gelth, over Gwyneth's head, started getting louder as it cried out, "Establish the bridge. Reach out to the void. Let us through!"
Lyla stepped back away from the servant girl when Gwyneth answered the Gelth back, "Yes, I can see you. I can see you. Come!"
"Bridgehead establishing."
"Come to me. Come to this world, poor lost souls."
"It has begun. The bridge is made." Gwyneth opened her mouth and blue gas began to pour out into the room. "She has given herself to the Gelth. The bridge is open. We descend." The Gelth became red and appeared with sharp teeth as their voice growled out instead of the childlike tones of before, "The Gelth will come through in force."
"You said that you were few in number," Dickens gulped.
"A few billion. And all of us are in need of corpses," the Gelth responded. The dead began to rise, and the sheets started to drop.
Sneed approached Gwyneth, "Now, Gwyneth, stop this. Listen to your master. This has gone far enough. Stop dabbling, child, and leave these things alone, I beg of you." Before the corpse could grab Sneed, Lyla grabbed him firmly by his jacket. She gave a great pull towards her and then a shove towards Dickens. She quickly backed up away from the reaching dead hands until she could feel the Doctor's presence at her back. Lyla looked around at all the dead bodies that were starting to rise and shivered in revulsion.
Having seen what would have happened if Lyla hadn't been quick on her feet and grabbed Sneed, the Doctor commented lightly, "I think it's gone a little bit wrong."
"You think," Lyla retorted with a slight elbow to his gut in retaliation. Now the Alien gets a clue!
"We need bodies. All of you. Dead. The human race. Dead," the Gelth taunted as they approached the trio.
The Doctor attempted speaking to Gwyneth, "Gwyneth, stop them! Send them back now!"
The Gelth kept approaching the three as they continued backing up, "Three more bodies. Convert them. Make them vessels for the Gelth."
"Doctor, I can't. I'm sorry. This new world of yours is too much for me. I'm so-," he escaped through the door with Mr. Sneed hot on his tail.
Lyla heard a rusty door opening and felt hands clasp on to her hips as she was pulled into the alcove with the other two. She situated herself beside the Doctor after he released her and started looking around at the pipes.
"Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth." The gas aliens reached through the bars trying to get to the trio.
Lyla found the pipes and started opening as many as she could. Gas. Why did it have to be gas, she thought as she gagged, already feeling lightheaded.
"I trusted you. I pitied you!" The Doctor yelled at the Gelth.
"We don't want your pity. We want this world and all it's flesh," was the answer back.
"Not while I'm alive," he promised.
"Then live no more."
"But I can't die. Tell me I can't. I haven't even been born yet. It's impossible for me to die. Isn't it?" Rose questioned the Doctor. Worry and fear etched on her face. Grow up little blondie. Life isn't sunshine and lemonade.
"I'm sorry." The Doctor said with sorrow.
"Guys. I think I have a plan." Lyla said faintly but they either ignored her or weren't listening.
"But it's 1869. How can I die now?" Rose said dejectedly. Jesus! Will you too get your head out of your ass and listen to me!
"Time isn't a straight line. It can twist into any shape. You can be born in the twentieth century and die in the nineteenth and it's all my fault. I brought you two here," he apologized.
Rose faced forward after listening to his spill and assured the Doctor, "It's not your fault. I wanted to come."
Lyla gave a hacking cough and said faintly, "I have a fucking plan if you two are done bitching about dying here." They turned to look at Lyla as one, but she doubled over in a coughing fit and gagged at the end with the force of her coughs.
"Wait, what is that smell," the Doctor inquired.
Lyla gave up and instead intertwined her hand with the Doctors and held on for dear life as she tried not to pass out from lack of oxygen. He looked over at her with a small smile that fell quickly as he sniffed again. This time looking at Lyla as she struggled to breathe. "What did you do?" He questioned.
"Turned on the gas. I was a science major in college. Those aliens are gaseous, so fill the room with gas," she coughed again and leaned into the Doctor a little bit more and her voice had softened to a whisper as she said gently, "Suck them out of the host." Finally! Now concentrate on not passing out.
"What and kill us faster?," Rose demanded.
At that moment, Dickens ran into the room, "Doctor! Doctor! Turn off the flame, turn up the gas! Now, fill the room, all of it, now!"
"Brilliant you are," he cackled and leaned over Lyla and placed a passing kiss on her temple as he pulled the main gas line. "Plenty more!" Did he just… I think he did. Why? Maybe I'm already hallucinating.
The Gelth got sucked back into the air and the corpses dropped with a resounding thud. The trio rush out of the alcove and up to Gwyneth, "Gwyneth, send them back. They lied. They're not angels," the Doctor pleaded as he held Lyla up.
"Liars," she mumbled dreamily.
"Look at me. If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you strength. Now send them back!" The Doctor insisted as he tried to reason with her.
Lyla gave another hacking cough and swayed into the Doctor. He looked down with fear clearly on his face as he assessed the situation. "Get them out now!" The Doctor instructed Dickens. Lyla was passed to Dickens and he held her up as she faded in and out. Black spots appeared in her vision. I will not pass out. I will not pass out.
"Doctor! This poor girl," Dickens fretted
He looked over at Lyla but just continued begging to get them all out in time, "Remember that world you saw? Rose's world? All those people. None of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift."
"I can't send them back. But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here. Get out." Gwyneth sagged to the side as she pulled out a match box.
"You can't!" Rose yelled and rushed the girl to just be held back by the Doctor.
"Rose, get out. Go now. I won't leave her while she's still in danger. Now go!" The Doctor coaxed.
Dickens pulled Lyla through the hallways of the house, as he was supporting most of her weight by now, and they were quickly followed by Rose. They made it outside and sucked in massive amounts of oxygen to clear out the gas. Lyla turned around, still wobbly on her feet, and watched the house with trepidation as she waited for the Doctor. She saw him dive out seconds before the house exploded. I'm so sorry Gwyneth. Tears poured from her eyes in silent trails down her face as she watched the burning house.
Rose looked at the Doctor full of sadness. "She didn't make it," she sniffled.
"I'm sorry. She closed the rift," he consoled, looking back at the burning house.
"At such a cost. The poor child," Dickens sighed.
Lyla walked up beside the Doctor and took his hand, interlacing their fingers in a fierce grip. He looked over at her and saw the steady flow of tears down her cheeks as she looked up at him, he tried to comfort and explain gently, "I did try, but Gwyneth was already dead. She had been for at least five minutes."
"What do you mean," Rose sniffed.
"I think she was dead from the minute she stood in that arch," he solemnly answered her.
"But she can't have. She spoke to us. She helped us. She saved us. How could she have done that?" Rose ranted, confused on the mechanics again.
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Even for you, Doctor," Charles Dickens wisely stated.
Rose looked back at the burning structure, "She saved the world. A servant girl. No one will ever know."
Lyla sniffed and with a rough voice from the earlier choke hold, coughing up gas, and now from holding back sobs, "We'll know. That's all that matters."
oOoOo
They all walked back to the Tardis, "Right then, Charlie boy, I've just got to go into my, er, shed. Won't be long," informed the Doctor.
"What are you going to do now?" Rose asked the writer.
"I shall take the mail coach back to London, quite literally post-haste. This is no time for me to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family and make amends to them. After all I've learned tonight, there can be nothing more vital." Dickens chittered with a slight bounce at the prospect of seeing his family.
The Doctor noticed his change in mood from earlier and acknowledged, "You've cheered up."
"Exceedingly!" He chuckled, "This morning, I thought I knew everything in the world. Now I know I've just started. All these huge and wonderful notions, Doctor. I'm inspired. I must write about them," Dickens gushed with a smile and a writer's gleam in his eye.
Lyla laughed softly at his change of mood. At least one of us is happy.
Rose smiled, "Do you think that's wise?"
"I shall be subtle at first. The Mystery of Edwin Drood still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle. Perhaps he was not of this Earth. The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word, tell the truth," he boasted. Excited at the prospect of writing interesting new tales for the world to read.
The Doctor went up to him and shook his hand as he chuckled, "Good luck with it. Nice to meet you. Fantastic."
Lyla hugged him and whispered into his ear, "Thank you! And have a Merry Christmas, Charlie." She stepped away and back over to where the Doctor was standing by the doors.
Rose gave him a kiss on the check after she thanked him, "Bye, then, and thanks."
"Oh, my dear. How modern. Thank you, but I don't understand. In what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?" Charles questioned.
"You'll see. In the shed," the Doctor said cheekily.
"Upon my soul, Doctor, it's one riddle after another with you. But after all these revelations, there's one mystery you still haven't explained. Answer me this. Who are you?" The writer asked curiously.
"Just a friend passing through," he answered.
"But you have such knowledge of future times. I don't wish to impose on you, but I must ask you. My books. Doctor, do they last?" He inquired with a hopeful look.
The Doctor chuckled and gave Charles a big grin, "Oh, Yes."
"How long?"
"Forever. Right. Shed. Come on, Lyla, Rose."
"In the box? All three of you?" Dickens noted, with a naughty look at the doctor. Something close to praise and pride on his face at the notion of two females in a small box with the Doctor.
The Doctor gave him a cheeky smile, "Down Boy. See you." The three stepped into the Tardis and made their way to the console. Lyla flopped down in the Captain's chair with a sigh.
"Doesn't that change history if he writes about blue ghosts?" Rose asked the Doctor as they walked.
"In a week's time it's 1870, and that's the year he dies. Sorry. He'll never get to tell his story," the Doctor explained.
"He was so sweet though," Lyla said off handedly as she rubbed her temples again.
The Doctor looked over at the lounging girl, "But in your time, he was already dead. We've brought him back to life, and he's more alive now than he's ever been, old Charlie boy. Let's give him one last surprise." Lyla smiled and stood back up to help at the console as well as Rose. They dematerialized and they watched the shock and fascination take over Charles Dickens face as they flew into the time vortex.
oOoOo