A/N: new chappie! sorry...new job has been keeping me busy. enjoy!
Chapter 25: Twenty-five Words
"Sherlock!" Olivia grinned, racing toward him and John. "John! It's so good to see you!"
She hugged John as the Doctor stepped toward Sherlock to shake his hand.
"Doctor, I have a bone to pick with you," Holmes warned, making the Doctor frown in wonder. "You kept such a delightfully distracting mystery all to yourself. That's not very sportsman like."
"Now, Holmes, remember, young women have died," Watson chided. "Not too delightful."
"Told you we should've called them," Olivia muttered toward the Doctor as she stepped next to him, taking his arm.
"Yes, Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson have been regaling Jenny and I with the story of your first meeting," Vastra explained, pulling her veil up to reveal her face. "The Phantom of the opera, I believe you called this story, Dr. Watson."
"Yes, I did," Watson nodded, then chuckled nervously as he added, "Well, that's the name of the book, in any case."
"Alright, enough chat," Holmes broke in, making Watson shake his head as the taller man looked to the Doctor. "Madame Vastra tells me you know who is behind this."
"We all know him, Mr. Holmes," the Doctor replied, and it seemed to dawn on the pair instantly.
"The Phantom rises again, eh?" Holmes nodded.
"Only now he goes by Jack the Ripper," Vastra reported, stepping toward the table where the maps were spread out. "How far have you gotten, Doctor?"
"Well, with help from Strax, we have a place to start," the Doctor replied, turning to head toward the table as well, Holmes right behind him. "Olivia recalled that he said he was going to be a soldier and that we needed to think like one, so she asked Strax where he might set up a headquarters."
"Very clever," Watson commended Olivia who gave a nod and smile of thanks.
"A park?" Holmes frowned in wonder. "I suppose it's plausible. Madame, if I may see the letter?"
Vastra handed Holmes the letter and he instantly began examining it as everyone else watched him.
"This paper has been exposed to the elements," Holmes explained. "And this ink is primitive. Watson, if this the same handwriting as the Opera Ghost letters?"
Watson stepped closer to examine the writing and nodded, "Yes, quite similar."
"That's settled then," Olivia guessed, making everyone look to her in wonder. "It's Talik. We know where he is. Let's get to the park."
"And what do you suggest we do, Ms. Felton?" Holmes wondered, sauntering toward her as the Doctor watched, silently. "Barge in without any plan of attack?"
"Maybe, if I talk to him, we can figure out his motive?" she insisted.
"Oh, yes, because that worked so well the last time, darling," the Doctor shot back, making her glare at him.
"Perhaps we should focus on who his next victims are before we go after him?" Vastra suggested, making Holmes and Watson frown at her in wonder.
"You know who his next victims will be?" Watson asked, flabbergasted.
"Ah, of course," Holmes sighed in exasperation at himself before turning to Olivia, adding, "Miss Olivia is from the future. How could I have forgotten? So, this case is infamous, is it?"
"You have no idea," Olivia replied, stepping up to the table to look over the maps. "The first of the two victims, Elizabeth Stride, will be found here, in Dutfield's Yard off Berner street."
"Olivia," the Doctor called chidingly, making her look up at him in wide-eyed wonder, but he only shook his head in warning. "I think we've given them enough already, don't you?"
"No," she said, bluntly as she stood tall, and his eyes widened in shock at her. "In fact, I don't think we've given them enough."
"If the two of you are going to start a domestic, please don't," Holmes chimed in, irritably. "We have a case to solve, and we have no time for squabbling."
"Now, Holmes, don't be so rude," Watson chided.
"No, John, he's right," Olivia nodded, looking to the Doctor with her hands on her hips. "If we're going to stop Talik, there's no time to lose."
The Doctor said nothing as he sailed around the table to grab Olivia by the arm and pull her toward the door leading into the hallway and nearly slammed it shut behind them once they were outside. Olivia yanked her arm from his grip so that she could face her burning glare into the one he was giving her in return.
"What do you think you're doing?!" he growled low so the others wouldn't hear.
"I'm helping them find Talik!" she hissed back. "Look, I know this is history, but if you took this on then it must not be a fixed point, right? Nobody knows what really happened. Maybe we can stop him before he kills these three women!"
"Liv, you know that letter is dated three days before they found the bodies," he reported, solemnly, making her angered expression drop at his softened tone. "And you know when the bodies will be found, as I do. It's too late for them. And if we save Mary Kelly, we'll just make things ten times worse."
Olivia's eyes welled with tears as she tried swallowing the lump in her throat, with no success, then shuddered, "But…we have to try."
"I'm sorry," he murmured, stepping closer to her to pull her into his embrace as she shuddered with sobs. "We can't."
Some time after midnight...
The Doctor lay on his back in the bed, staring at the ceiling of the room he and Olivia were sharing at the inn as she lay next to him, sleeping. He sighed, loudly before looking over at her, watching her for a moment to be sure she was deep in sleep before slowly pushing the covers back and shifting, silently to stand from the bed. He had been restless since they'd gone to bed, and hadn't slept a wink, thought Olivia seemed to sleep soundly.
Watching her the entire time he dressed, he slipped on his blue suede shoes and slowly stood from the bed to grab his jacket then tip toe toward the door, shutting it quietly, behind him. He made his way out of the inn and onto the street, knowing exactly where he was heading…and knowing he really shouldn't be heading there.
"Really shouldn't be doing this," he voiced to himself, glancing around the street as he turned a corner. "After the fuss I made to Olivia about fixed points and all that, and then I go trudging through the night to try saving Elizabeth Stride? She'll kill me."
"You are most certainly correct, Doctor."
The Doctor whirled around to see a blur as tall as himself move past him, then looked ahead at the figure.
"Well, come along, Doctor," Holmes called, marching down the street at a fast pace. "Dutfield's Yard, yes? Off Berner Street, I believe your wife said. No time to lose! If we hurry, we may be able to save Ms. Stride."
The Doctor rushed after Holmes, smirking at the sense of déjà vu. Another mystery with Sherlock Holmes, and they were working together once more to stop the same villain as before.
"It seems things are a bit different this time," Holmes observed, making the Doctor frown at him in wonder as they marched.
"Different?" the Doctor questioned.
"Perhaps I should rephrase that," Holmes guessed. "You seem different, according to Dr. Watson, in any case."
"Do I?" The Doctor looked to his feet in thought before looking ahead as they continued on. "Well, I suppose Olivia and I have been through a lot since we last met you, Sherlock."
"Indeed? Well, as I said, Watson noticed it sooner than I did. He's quite attuned to the domestic side of things."
The Doctor chuckled, knowing that he could be clueless at times in that area as well before coming to a stop, nearly ramming into Holmes before he did. He frowned at the consulting detective before noticing that something had his attention at the end of an alley. A cloaked figure was hunched over a body.
"Stop there!" Holmes shouted, bolting toward the figure, who seemed to look up at them.
"Sherlock, wait!" the Doctor called, rushing after him as the figure fled.
Holmes raced after the cloaked figure as the Doctor came to a stop next to the body and knelt down. The woman's eyes were wide in terror as she looked at him, blood coming from the wound across her throat. He lifting her up on his knee and pressed a hand to the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but he could see it in her eyes that it was too late. His heart clenching tightly as he realized he really couldn't do anything to change this course of events, as he had hoped.
"Elizabeth," he whispered, making her eyes widen as she choked, slowly dying. "You will not be forgotten. I will stop the man that hurt you, I promise."
She gave a choked cough before her eyes glazed over and her head fell sideways as she finally lost the will to live. The Doctor swallowed the lump in his throat before laying her back on the ground and gently closing her eyes. He stood, still staring down at her, knowing she had to be found in this exact spot, his rage growing before he turned and raced into the direction Holmes had chased the cloaked figure.
Sherlock Holmes followed the figure closely, determined not to lose it. The figure swept around a corner and he heard a clattering just as he rounded the corner as well. The figure had tripped over a stack of wooden boards and staggering away, but it had given him an advantage. He caught up with it and gripped one of its hands to force it to look at him.
Auburn hair tumbled from under the hood of the cloak as frightened blue eyes stared at a shocked Holmes.
"A woman?" he breathed, and in his disbelief, his grip on her arm loosened, allowing her to shove him back, into the approaching Doctor, who caught him. She disappeared around another corner as the Doctor raced past Holmes to follow her, but when he rounded the corner, she was nowhere to be found. The Doctor marched back toward a still confused Holmes with a frown before the consulting detective explained, "It was a woman."
"What?" the Doctor frowned even deeper.
"It wasn't our Phantom," Holmes said again. "It was a woman. She had auburn hair, almost red, and blue eyes. In the conventional sense, one might consider her quite attractive."
The description of the mystery woman instantly brought the Doctor to a realization, making him sigh, hopelessly.
"We've been looking at this all wrong," he murmured, making Holmes frown at him in wonder, but he only turned to march back toward the inn just as they heard the whistle of a beat officer sound through the cold night air, having found Elizabeth Stride dead and bloodied. "We need to tell Vastra and the others. Come along, Mr. Holmes."
Back at the inn...
"We've been assuming Talik is working alone," the Doctor began as he and Holmes now faced Vastra, Jenny, Strax, Watson and Olivia in their room. "But what if he had help? Look…" He spread the map of the surrounding area out and gestured to the two points on it where they said they would find the next two victims. "Given the time frame, there's no way Talik could cover this distance in that amount of time. He would need to run the entire way."
"That's not impossible, Doctor," Watson replied.
"For a Cathulian it is," the Doctor argued. "They don't run. Their skin doesn't let them sweat and they don't have the lung capacity for it. It would be like trying to breathe under water for them."
"He could've ordered a carriage," Jenny suggested.
"He could have a portable teleport, like the Vortex Manipulator," Olivia chimed in.
"Or, the girl you saw was there to distract us," Vastra guessed. "She went after an insignificant victim, while Talik went after his preference."
"Catherine Eddowes," Holmes nodded.
"A commendable battle tactic," Strax praised. "Meant to draw the enemy to you."
"So who was she?" Olivia questioned, looking squarely at the Doctor who matched her gaze, but didn't answer. "I know you know who she is. I can see it in your eyes. Who's the girl doing his dirty work?"
The Doctor looked to Holmes and nodded, letting him give the explanation to the entire group.
"We believe the young woman I nearly captured to be Mary Jane Kelly," Holmes finally replied, making Olivia shoot her gaze to the Doctor in disbelief. "I'm told she is the fifth and final victim of Jack the Ripper's."
"How is that possible?!" Watson gaped.
"He could be threatening her life," the Doctor explained. "If she doesn't do what he tells her to, he kills her."
"And what if she's doing this of her own free will?" Vastra wondered.
"She's not," Olivia breathed, drawing everyone's attention to her, but she kept her gaze on the Doctor. "But then again…she is. He could be using that hypnosis he used on Christine and I when we last met him."
"Could be," the Doctor nodded.
"If he is, it's stronger than before," Holmes noted. "Her eyes were clear, not the way theirs had been that time."
"He's had time to improve," Olivia replied.
"There is…one more thing," the Doctor reported, hesitantly, his gaze on Olivia before he looked to the papers over the table, lifting a few to look them over. "I've been looking these photos of the victims over, and it seems he has a type. All short, two of the three brunette…and the features bear a striking resemblance to someone we all know. Wouldn't you agree, Mr. Holmes?"
"Yes, Doctor, I concur whole-heartedly," Holmes nodded, making everyone frown at him in wonder, but he kept his gaze on Olivia as he continued, "Mrs. Felton, these women seem to resemble your likeness."
Her frown fell as her gaze shifted from Holmes to the Doctor, who returned her gaze. Vastra and Jenny stepped toward the table to look over the pictures the Doctor had been looking at, Olivia afraid to look at what she might find as Watson and Strax remained where they were, Watson watching her carefully.
"It appears the Doctor is correct," Vastra reported, glancing toward Olivia, then back at the photos she and Jenny were looking over. "The three of them are strikingly similar to you."
"So—" Olivia choked, clearing her throat before continuing, "What are we saying? He's targeting girls who look like me? That he's actually after me?"
"In my investigations, I've found that killers such as Talik choose a specific type because their victims represent someone who has wronged them in some way," Holmes reported.
"But why me?!" she questioned in a high-pitched tone.
"Forgive me, Mrs. Felton, but you did betray him and send him down that trap door to his death," Watson recalled.
"What was I supposed to do?!" she retorted. "Was I supposed to let him take Christine and bring down the opera house?! Because that's what would've happened if we hadn't stopped him."
"In any case, I believe it goes without saying that Olivia should stay out of harm's way," Vastra suggested. "Perhaps in the TARDIS?"
"Yes," the Doctor nodded.
"No," Olivia shook her head.
They looked to each other in wide-eyed shock at the other's answer as everyone glanced between them, wondering what would happen next.
"Are we really gonna do this again?" Olivia scoffed at him.
"We're not doing anything, because you're gonna listen to me this time," the Doctor retorted.
"Oh, joy," Holmes groaned, sinking into a chair at the table. "Another domestic."
A knock on the door caught everyone's attention and Strax stepped toward the door to answer it while Olivia and the Doctor glared at each other. When the door opened, it revealed a young footman that glanced around the room in surprise at the group inside, Vastra quickly turning away to cover her face with her veil.
"I'm sorry," the footman panted from running. "I was told to tell Madame Vastra and her assistants that the bodies of the Ripper's new victims are ready for Doctor Watson to examine them."
"We're going right now," Holmes assured him, shooting out of his chair and sailing toward the door. "Coming, Watson?"
"Now see here, Holmes! Wait for me!" Watson ordered before looking to Olivia, setting a hand on her shoulder and catching her attention. "I know an independent woman when I meet one, Mrs. Felton, but in this case, I think you should listen to your husband. It would be terrible if you ended up a victim of this mad man."
Olivia blinked at him in surprise before giving a nod of understanding, and Watson nodded in return before racing after Holmes, who was calling for him to hurry.
"I think someone should investigate that park," Vastra chimed in, glancing between Olivia and the Doctor as their gazes met. She was about to do something she was sure the Doctor wouldn't like. "Strax, Jenny…go with Olivia and the Doctor to Altab Ali park and see what you can find. "I'll be going with Mr. Holmes and Dr. Watson for some insights on how these poor women were murdered."
"Olivia is staying here," the Doctor objected as Strax and Jenny nodded to Vastra before all eyes turned to him.
"Like hell," she scoffed, sending all eyes her way and the Doctor glared at her.
"Don't you start with me, Olivia Felton," he warned in a low tone.
"Oh, I haven't started yet, trust me," she shot back, keeping his gaze.
"I don't have time to argue with you on this."
"Never stopped you before. If you think I'm just gonna sit back and let this homicidal maniac get away with this, you have another thing coming."
"You don't quite get it, do you? If he's killing people that look like you, his next step is to go after you! I have to keep you safe, and if you don't like that, then I can take you home, and you can tell Joyce what a terrible husband I am for it – I don't care. I'm going to keep you safe!"
"That's enough!" Vastra interjected, making all eyes shoot to her in surprise as she glared between the couple. "I knew something was different between you two. Whatever it may be is none of my concern, but you can resolve it. You always do. But we have a terrible case on our hands now, so I suggest, either you resolve this issue now…or bottle up your grudges and leave them to open at a later date."
Olivia and the Doctor glanced at each other, knowing she was right.
"Well, I guess we don't have any other option," Olivia sighed.
"I suppose not," the Doctor nodded, standing tall at the table. "We should deal with this later."
"…deal with this now," Olivia decided just as the Doctor made his decision, making their gazes meet again in surprise as the other. "Oh, no. You're not getting out of this. We're settling this now."
"Liv, we don't have time for this," he warned. "Talik is on the loose, and you want an argument?"
"It won't be an argument," she objected, calmly, making him frown at her in wonder as she only leaned forward on the table as he had done earlier. "Just a discussion. We say what we need to say…in twenty-five words."
"Meet us outside," Vastra informed the couple as the Doctor's frown deepened at Olivia. "Come along, you two. This won't take them very long."
Vastra, Jenny and Strax stepped out of the door to head outside as Olivia and the Doctor remained on either side of the table, staring at each other for a moment longer. Olivia pushed off the table to cross her arms, waiting for him to begin, and he knew it. The wheels in his head turned as he tried to find only twenty-five words to explain to her why he was more than protective and 'off' lately. He could come up with an answer that only took two words, but he knew she'd need more than that. She deserved more than that.
"Twenty-five words?" he asked again.
"Twenty-five words," she nodded.
He took in a breath and rolled his shoulders before lifting his chin to look at her, evenly, her own gaze meeting his.
"I'm going to keep you safe. I can't let you get hurt again. The Master hurt you and I was helpless. It won't happen again."
Olivia swallowed, tears welling in her eyes before she took in a breath as well, biting her lower lip to think of how to make her response in twenty-five words, as he had done.
"You always keep me safe. What happened with the Master wasn't your fault. You can't take responsibility for everything bad that happens to me, Theta."
The Doctor's heart clenched, knowing she was right, but this was who he was now. Protective and overbearing about her safety…the safety of his wife and the mother of his child.
"I know," he murmured with a small nod. "But that doesn't help ease my guilt about it."
"I know," she echoed with a nod as well, stepping around the table to take his hand when she reached him. "And we'll talk a bit more about this later, I'm sure, but for now, can you trust me?"
"Only if you listen to me and stick close to me while we're there," he nodded, lifting his hands to cup her face. "I can't lose you, Liv."
"Alright," she nodded. "I promise."
He smiled and brought her face closer to kiss her forehead before taking her hand and pulling her toward the door.
"That was a bit more than just twenty-five words," he noted as they stepped into the hallway, making Olivia laugh.
"Well, we're both talkers," she shrugged, shutting the door behind them.
"That we are, Olivia Felton," he grinned before launching into a run down the hallway. "Andiamo!"
A/N: reviews?