Yikes. Wall of text, here we come. It's just a little early but I've got a long day ahead of me and was on a roll. I'll most likely keep posting for this story until I get my head around writing in my Hetalia units story again. It's an older style I haven't worked with for a long time and at the same time, I'm debating if I should change it all together. It wasn't exactly the most effective way to write but then comes the problem of how to write to make it feel like it's in a specific person's point of view?
Thanks again to all my beta readers for helping me with this!
Disclaimer as always. Goodness. Do I have to write one every chapter or can I say it once and be done?
Do you sleep well at night? Ever?
While there might have been no sunlight to speak of entering the room, Caligo eventually woke feeling about as well rested as she normally did on any given day back at Blackridge. The room seemed to still be lit by the strange, glowing flowers hanging off the ceiling and once again, the Doctor was nowhere to be found. As she sat up and stretched her stiff muscles, she almost felt a need to ask herself if she wasn't actually still back at her post like she ought to have been, dreaming very lucidly at this point. The idea that she had abandoned her duties for some madman stumbling about the universe in a box sounded unbelievably preposterous to her even now, but the décor of the room and the slight strain in her neck told her that this was her current reality. "One step at a time, lieutenant," she scolded herself softly as she got off of the bed. Caligo discarded her jacket and gloves before heading toward what seemed to be a bathroom and hopefully a shower. She hoped for ample time to figure out how to work what she assumed to be alien technology before the Doctor found his way back to their room because not being able to figure out one's own shower was still about as demeaning to her as any other person.
It went without saying, when she came out not long after, that her scenario had played out more or less exactly as she thought it would. There sat the man in the steel blue suit at the edge of the bed right next to her jacket, gloves and boots. He had a small ceramic mug of tea in his hands and what looked like a newspaper, or at least whatever passed for one in these parts. The Doctor didn't even need to look up to know that she was staring at him, but he couldn't even guess what sort of look it was like he could with most normal humans. "Sleep well?"
"It did its job," she answered. Caligo retrieved her jacket from beside him on the bed and threw it back on, not the least bit perturbed about needing to wear the same clothing again. It was something that, while she had never consciously thought about, she had become desensitized to, thanks to many other instances. She could've cared less about the social implications of it as well if it ever came up in conversation. All business as usual, she turned to him and asked, "Where to next?"
The Doctor finally glanced up from the paper – titled the Saturn Sojourn, she noticed. Where did he find things like this? – mid sip of his tea as if he were actually caught off guard by the question. "What's the matter? Don't care for spas?" He finally completed his sip and Caligo took notice of his glasses.
"I'm surprised those don't fog up," she gestured briefly to his face, "And it isn't that I'm not fond of it. It just isn't my element per say. You did mention alien technologies and this is probably the one place I've been that has very little of it I must say."
"Nice change of pace for you, I thought. But maybe you're right." He got up and placed the mug down on a small table next to the head of the bed before straightening out his suit. "Maybe it was a little too much too fast for a first time trip? Or more likely than not, just out of your time period."
She caught the jab at her lack of tolerance for the quite literally alien environment and shot him a barely concealed look of irritation that he pretended not to catch. The Doctor folded the paper, tucked it under his arm and motioned for her to follow him. "Back to the city then~"
"You mean Pillar?"
"Well if you really want to, I suppose we could…"
Caligo scowled at him just a little and gave him a look as if to say 'really? What do you think?' "No. I was simply curious. Pillar is often referred to simply as 'the city' so I suppose that's a reflexive mistake on my part. But I don't want go back with you withholding your end of the agreement."
"Can't get anything past you," he half admitted with a grin. He sincerely meant it, though he hadn't been trying to pull any tricks. "So let's get going before you faint from sheer anticipation~"
"Something like that can't make me…!" She stopped short as he suddenly strolled out of the room, prompting her to follow. His strides were much longer than hers, now consciously aware of it when she finally caught up to him. "Doctor, I'm not about to faint from anything. I feel fine. I'll adapt just fine." Minus the attitude she thought irritably.
That was something she really needed to work on if she was going to be traveling with him for an extended period of time. Ah, there it was. Another thing she had neglected to address both with him and herself before she had hopped onto this crazy train. Just how long was she planning on staying with him? As they entered the Tardis again, she glanced at the Doctor and took note of the ever present excitement and amusement on his face when he began doing some strange thing or another with the ship's controls.
Caligo carefully began to search for all the variables in the situation: Her effect on him. His effect on her. Time: how long did they have? The sheer differences between them in both biological and personality aspects. Their skills? Well, she couldn't quite be sure of what he had up his sleeve and she was never fond of the habit of assuming things. Then there was the fact that he was a civilian and that directly affected her in a major way. The primary function of a Draugr is to protect and fight the battles that civilians can't or won't. The Doctor has no military rank and therefore is a civilian no matter which way I look at it. I'm still part of the Earth armed forces, more or less… Therefore…
"My primary function, when I am around you, is to keep you safe from harm," she concluded just barely aloud.
"Did you say something?" He threw the switch down before turning to face her with once swift and fluid motion, that boyish smile still stuck on his face.
"No, Doctor. You might be imagining things." He had told her in the very beginning that his ship was a time machine which made the time portion of her equation virtually pointless. All the time in the universe was more than she would possibly ever need. All that time meant that she could go back whenever she wanted. Time wasn't an issue with him.
How did she affect him? She would be a voice of logic and reason, she figured. This man may be a genius alien of sorts but just because one was intelligent doesn't mean one is smart. There were certain things that science didn't equip one to handle and she while had learned that lesson so long ago it had carved out its own personal hovel in her mind where it couldn't possibly be forgotten. How did she truly affect the Doctor? Only time would tell - if they had that much together - and with some semblance of an answer to that question, she moved on to what should've been a simpler one.
How did he affect her? It had only been perhaps about a day but, while she was sure the effect wouldn't be limited to this alone, she had determined that one of the greatest effects he could ever have on her was causing tension, frustration, general concern and a worrying curiosity. He was also reintroducing her to culture and socializing with the general population that didn't rely solely on strict rules and regulations to give their lives some sort of order.
Caligo felt an intense urge to correct the statement her instructors had drilled into them during training: There was no survival if one didn't follow the orders given to them. That was how they survived war. Conflict. That was why Pillar existed. Yet that was probably also why the city's population was often filled with discontent. The Doctor, she already had a feeling, wanted her to believe that there was more to life than simply working. More to life than eating, drinking and sleeping. Caligo had seen many places, met many individuals and indeed knew that there was a fundamental difference between surviving and living. The Doctor was perhaps the most 'alive' individual she had ever met and in this respect, Caligo might have sincerely hoped for what must have been the first time in her entire life that she would not have any sort of impact on someone's rebellious and debatably childish spirit. Things just wouldn't be the same. The Doctor wouldn't be the same.
Speaking of same, was there even the slightest similarity between them other than that they both looked humanoid? She knew nothing of his physiology except that he was clearly male and she female. Their tastes in activity, clothes, food, hobbies and just about everything else were drastically – almost painfully – different from one another. How long, she wondered, would they last together when she merely wanted to look at technology and he wanted to frolic in the forest with six-legged deer or something equally free-spirited and plausible?
Skills. She had a plethora of mechanical, biological and technological skills from which she could pick and choose as she pleased, not including her combat training and… other skills she had picked up during her active duty service.
The Doctor? He was clever and perhaps his personality wasn't always so… Rude. Rude was honestly the only thing that came to her mind other than sassy but then again, she knew that some civilians found such behavior endearing or amusing. He was a social person. She was not. That was something that could work out very nicely if they worked out some team dynamics.
The Doctor wasn't sure what to make of the way she leaned against the railing in such an unstable stance while the Tardis was on the move and the blank stare she kept with an ever growing frown. In truth, he was beginning to worry that she might actually not be enjoying herself and her grumpy attitude was far more transparent than she probably thought. "You've been awfully quiet over there. What's on your mind?"
Her response to him had been immediate and she shook her head in his direction with little hesitation. "I'm merely trying to put a number on my time here. I know how to work with numbers and once I have all of my information sorted out I can find the missing variable and move on from there."
He half snorted, trying and failing miserably to hide how ridiculous he thought she sounded just then. How long had it been since he traveled with someone who acted so much like a computer? His laugh certainly hadn't been appreciated but he just couldn't help it. "Y'know, when you say it like that I feel like something doesn't…" He paused and his grin grew wider.
"Doctor, if you say-"
"Compute~!"
Caligo rubbed at the bridge of her nose with an exasperated sigh and shook her head. What an awful joke to make! What's worse is that he sounded like he had more ready for her too! A muttered 'unbelievable' was lost under his laughter and objecting to her lacking a sense of humor punctuated the stopping of the Tardis. They'd arrived, wherever it was.
"So since you like numbers and computers so much I thought this might make you feel a little more comfortable."
Caligo might've doubted him a little even though she was fairly sure that he couldn't be that thick and waited almost expectantly for him to open the door.
"Behold, Miss Engineer!"
Just like their first stop, Caligo was forced to shield her eyes from the bright light outside the doors. Only this time, the light didn't have that same pleasant warmth as the suns at the resort. It might've even felt a little...cold? Regardless, none of that stopped her from stepping out into the alien metropolis that greeted them. There were buildings as far as the eye could see. Each one varied in size and height yet even the humblest looking structure still managing to make her existence seem insignificant, towering over crowds of people like the forests of the Amazon. Glaring sunlight reflected off of the chrome exterior of the skyscrapers, forcing her to use both hands to cope with the overwhelming brightness.
Something strategically placed just above her brow landed gently on the back of her hands and when she moved them aside to see what it was, her sunglasses fell onto her face. It took a couple of blinks to adjust to the minute lack of light but when she finally did she noticed that she could see everything – including the ocean of people parting around the Tardis like the Red Sea.
She looked up at the Doctor who seemed to have seen the need for eye protection as well and found a pair of sunglasses for himself. To her, they looked like a pair of poorly made plastic sunglasses that civilian businesses handed out for free for the sake of advertising. She supposed that he couldn't quite see the scrutinizing look thanks to her glasses and smiled at her.
"Like them? Got these from a cereal box mail-in thing when I visited the late 90's. Junior spy edition. Look! It's even got little mirrors on the sides of the lenses so you can see behind you without needing to turn around~ It's a bit crude nowadays but quite clever for kids, don't you think?"
He turned his back to her, maintaining mock eye contact from the hidden mirrors on his glasses. It definitely made him look a little strange to any passerby, thinking that he might be smiling at them, but neither he nor Caligo took any notice of it.
It took a moment for the lieutenant to formulate what was probably the most acceptable response that would appease him and nodded briefly. "I'm sure children were highly amused by it. Every child must dream of being a super spy at least once in their lives."
"Like James Bond~"
Now who was James Bond? "Yes. Very much so, I would think."
Suddenly it felt as if neither of them were breathing as he continued to stare at her. She could feel it in the space between them, the tension building up until he suddenly spoke.
"You've never even heard of James Bond before, have you?" Caught her red handed. Again.
On instinct, a lie quickly formulated in her mind and managed to get part way out of her mouth before she caught herself. Why was she lying to him? This wasn't an undercover assignment. There was no façade or charade for her to keep up. She was allowed to be herself, whatever that was. Do I trust him enough to…not lie? "Ah, no. I probably haven't. I would most likely have found some way to break him down and analyze the pieces if I had. You most likely wouldn't have enjoyed that."
Most people didn't when you tried to disassemble even the metaphorical as if it were a piece of machinery. It was too cold. Too impersonal. How dare she do that to something that was so coveted by another. It came to her as no surprise when he shook his head, the smile having left him, and turned back around to her.
"Lieutenant Valgus," he addressed with a very serious sounding tone, "You are not at your post. You're off gallivanting across the universe with an alien."
A part of her really did want to ask him the purpose of continuing to point out things that she very well knew.
"That's something that has absolutely nothing and I mean nothing to do with work!" The Doctor prodded the insignia on her sleeve with a long finger, causing the malleable alloy to ripple slightly. "So stop acting like a work drone and act more like someone who's on a vacation~"
Her eyes widened slightly when a hint of playfulness poked through his stern façade. That damnable grin seemed to return with full force when he found her to be speechless and once again held his arm out to her like a gentleman.
"But do me a favor and stay close this time, alright? Don't want to be standing on some random beach all night waiting for you to find your way back."
I don't want to. I'm perfectly fine on my own. I'm supposed to be the one protecting you.
He was still waiting patiently and as if her mind had simply stopped working up until that point, she hadn't moved an inch.
Caligo was sure that he didn't mean anything beyond keeping her close. She certainly didn't want a repeat of the beach, but the last thing she wanted was to be too close. What was the old saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But the Doctor was not her enemy, at least not yet, and so she quickly looped her hand around the crook of his elbow while keeping a respectable distance between them. This much she could bear. "Just so that we have our story straight, it was youwho wandered off and left me on the sand bar."
"Well then hold on tight to me, right? Allons-y!" It really didn't feel like it mattered who was right or wrong at the moment as long as this particular trip got off on the right foot. "Lots of technology here. Very clean place. Salty sea like the Earth but we're pretty far from the water so no need to worry about being stuck on any sand bars!"
"That is rather high up on the list of traumatizing experiences with water," she told him dryly.
He didn't need to be able to see past her sunglasses to understand the look she was giving him. "Right. Too soon?"
"Can't say that it particularly unnerves me for the moment…"
Neither of them could seem to keep their eyes in one place for a long time as they strolled through the amazingly clean streets. Not even Central could hold a candle to this chrome metropolis. "All this," she gestured vaguely to everything around them, "It's very bright. Feels like metal…"
"It is~"
I don't quite like it. It's just too much at once, don't you think?
"It's like there's no such thing as plants or animals here… I don't even see any dogs walking around with their masters as pets."
"Yeah, I'm not a hundred percent sure about that but they have robotic animals~"
"That can't honestly be considered the same," she muttered indignantly. Somehow, she found that to be extremely unsettling, a belief that machines could replace living entities. Caligo knew full well that this was far from true. Shame on those who think such things and yet here they were, living in one large, technologically advanced mega city.
"No really. You might not be able to tell the difference yourself when you see it! The animatronics are something else you know."
She let him take the reins, taking her wherever it was he wanted and without a doubt it had something to do with these animatronics. Caligo found herself realizing that she really didn't like the idea but couldn't bring herself to say anything. This was what she had asked him for and this was what he was giving to her. The chance to see impressive alien technologies.
Caligo barely suppressed a frown as they entered a shop filled with a variety of animatronic skeletons in the windows and display cases. The hustle and bustle of the outside city was completely cut off, leading her to assume that the shop had some very impressive soundproofing and a gray haired man greeted them with a friendly smile that she just couldn't bring herself to trust.
"Welcome~ Are you kids looking for a pet?"
She managed to keep her incredulous look down to a minimal amount of blinking so as not to put the old man off. Kids? What did they look like to him? He didn't look terribly old himself for someone with hair as gray as his.
"Oh we're just looking around for now thanks," the Doctor quickly answered with a polite smile, patting her hand as if to ease her… Oh, what could he honestly call it? She didn't seem distressed or terribly insulted from what he could tell. But then again, he certainly didn't understand her well enough to assume such things. Best to err on the safe side in this case.
"Why don't we take a look around, eh Cal?"
"Yes, why not." Caligo found herself actually needing to remind herself over and over that she had asked for this. Surely she could manage to be more pleasant about it. I can feel. I know I can. I just don't find myself feeling a lot… It didn't help her any that she knew why this was as well, strange as it seemed. Knowledge was power, but she realized quickly that she didn't have any in the grand scheme of things.
"Cal?"
"Yes?"
"So what do you think?"
"About what?"
He turned to her more fully, a slight frown on his face and a few worry lines showing on his forehead. "Are you alright?"
It was her turn to frown. "Of course. Why do you ask?"
"Because you've been drifting in and out of conversations ever since we left Barcelona earlier."
So that's where they had been, not that it mattered to her now…
"Now we're here for one of the things you've been dying to see and you're not even paying any attention to them." The slight tilt of his head directed her attention to a small white kitten with little brown paws staring up at her with big, sparking eyes just like any other. The fluffy tail just behind it swayed as it patiently waited for her to acknowledge it.
If the context of the planet and its inhabitants hadn't been given to her when they had first arrived, she might've assumed that he really had taken her to a pet shop. Caligo felt her gaze soften a little when the very real looking animatronic nuzzled her hand and began to purr, desperate for affection. She merely continued to stare, unsure of what to do with the fake realistic animal.
"I'm sorry. Everything makes me think of…something. I've lost the focus I had from when I was in use…" Her hand slowly retracted from the kitten, who mewled sadly and clasped its paws around her wrist. It was almost comical, seeing a kitten dangle from her arm like she sometimes saw on children's artwork on her rare trips to the city. The Doctor caught the kitten before it slipped off her arm and cradled it carefully.
"Well there's nothing wrong with thinking," he said, shrugging and rubbing the ears to console the kitten. "I think a lot too. Different things, places, people… But I find when you do it too much you lose sight of the things around you or you can miss even the slightest detail that turns out to be imperative later on. Things you'd never want to forget in a million years. Like this guy~" He held the kitten up to her face and the furry thing seemed to want to climb on top, trying to get its footing on her nose. She twitched it at the kitten before hesitantly rubbing its ears.
It's still…a kitten. It was made that way. It didn't ask to be. It just was and that doesn't put it at fault for what it is… It felt silly to need to justify petting a robotic cat, but it made her feel just the slightest bit less unsettled by it. The Doctor was certainly happy to see her giving it a try, and so she found some small comfort in the fact that she managed to at least succeed part way in her goal for the day.
"You wouldn't even know if you were petting a real cat, right~?" He grinned at her, handing the small thing off and wandering off quickly to look at the other animals sitting rigidly on the shelf for the moment.
It wasn't quite true. She could tell, but it wasn't because the feel of the fur was different or the mannerisms of the kitten seemed terribly wrong for it. She supposed that the Doctor didn't need to know unless the situation called for such information to be shared, but real, living animals simply didn't like her. Perhaps they didn't always bite or growl or snarl at her, but they certainly didn't come up and rub against her like this one.
"They say that animals have an innate sense of what is considered evil," she casually mentioned, more aloud simply because she could than to him or anyone else in particular. In fact, Caligo doubted that he had heard her at all with the level of attention he was giving what seemed to be a snake endoskeleton.
It coiled around and slithered up his arm into his coat before coming out the front with his sonic screwdriver in its mouth. He casually plucked it from the robot's tiny mouth and did a quick scan of it. "Most living creatures do, but sometimes that feeling is wrong." Removing the slithering endoskeleton from his coat and replacing it on the shelf, he turned back to her and gestured to the kitten now nestled against her bosom. "These animals don't have that sense. They've got software and hardware that help them assess what's a threat and what isn't and that tells them how they're supposed to react to it. If something goes outside of their program's parameters, they can't do anything about it."
With a sort of reluctance, she handed the furry thing over to him and that too was placed back in its proper place on the shelf. Caligo watched as it suddenly returned to a statue-like state, continuing to stare up at her with those large begging eyes… "As fond of machinery as I am, it's no substitute for the genuine article, even if it isn't what you hope for or expect. I believe that you're trying to show me this, correct?"
The Doctor shrugged again. It was starting to become somewhat of a habit of his… "Just trying to show you something fun and interesting and it just so happened to have come up." He turned to her with that cheeky grin of his, as though he had in fact orchestrated the entire conversation, and added, "But we know where we both stand on the subject, don't we?" He honestly hadn't been making any attempt to lure specific information out of her nor direct the flow of the conversation, at least not consciously. Somewhere in the back of his mind was a tiny voice telling him that he had the power, the skill to direct most anything and that his current company was not among that post-it note list of people who were able to detect it before it was too late, so why not? I'm not trying to be controlling… I don't do it on purpose. I'm just good at it. Yet nothing could change the fact that it felt like such a crime to be…
Caligo gave the Time Lord an almost appreciative look as his features quickly adopted what he must've seen in her not moments before and took the chance to commit it to memory. In those few moments, she decided that it was not a look that quite suited him. "I believe it's you who is easily reminded of a great many things, Doctor," she spoke, breaking the ever strengthening hold the deeper confines of his mind seemed to be gaining on him. "You have that look on your face. Like an old man who comes to realize that his grandchildren are growing up and showing him his age."
"I am old… I'm very old…"
She caught a glimpse, brief as it was, of something. Some sort of emotion that she just didn't quite recognize pass over him at the mention of being old. Age and time had an obvious correlation. That, she could see. The effects often took their toll on people emotionally, physically and mentally. The basis of change in all life. The implications of a long life and the menagerie of things that people could do during that span of time, emotions that were felt, how long such feelings lingered… "Well you act very young by general human standards." It was meant to be a compliment. In theory, it should've been. It was supposed to make him feel better but somehow she got the impression that it still managed the opposite. Still, the Doctor smiled at her.
"It's the face, isn't it? I've noticed that I tend to look much younger than nine hundred and three. Don't quite think that's a problem but it doesn't always make me feel like a young man." The laugh just fell out of him before he could stop it when he caught sight of her face. Whatever kind of look it was, it was funny, like a deer caught in the headlights snorting ground pepper or something equally confused and bothered. "A number like that usually has that effect on people, lieutenant. Don't look so put off by it!" He laughed when she returned to her usual pouty self.
"Nothing is being taken personally," Caligo grumbled. It was hard to believe that she wasn't, and she honestly wasn't sure of the feeling other than that she didn't care for him laughing at her. "After all. What do I know of Time Lords and such things?"
He gave her a very casual shrug as they meandered their way back out into the blinding streets. "Well you know I look human, for a start."
"Hmm… Yes, well, looks are superficial at best." She seemed very unimpressed so far, something he was definitely not quite used to.
"I speak a variety of languages, not all of them human in origin mind you." As they exited the little shop, he made a quick gesture to a few of the local boutique stores, endoskeletons in the window modeling the latest and greatest fashions. "Sleek, functional, nice bright-"
"Blinding," she corrected almost tersely as they passed by a youth sporting what looked to be a crinkly length of tin foil around his neck. "I prefer darker colors. My clothes are comfortable. Theirs might be as well, but to them. Not me."
"Fine, fair enough… But don't you ever want to wear anything that isn't 'standard issue'?" He briefly peeked into the window of a shoe store and cringed a little at the dangerously high heels on display. How someone didn't hurt themselves in those would be a mystery to him.
Caligo didn't even spare the shop a passing glance. "Only my insignia and boots are issued to me. My stand by commission gives me the freedom to dress as I please, though within reason, of course."
"Why do I get the feeling your definition of reason tends to vary?"
"I attribute that to different levels of knowledge of different walks of life. That disconnect is common between civilians and those of varying ranks in my service as well. Different information means common things may be redefined under certain circumstances and prompt different actions."
He couldn't help scrunching his nose at what almost sounded like philosophical tech talk coming from the lieutenant. She proved to be as thoughtful as he believed but it just managed to sound totally wrong coming out of her mouth. "I wouldn't expect you to be so understanding. Most soldiers I've met are rather stubborn, not meaning any disrespect to them. Not really anyway."
"I'm sure none is taken by them. Many typical soldiers are. Humans in general are set in their ways after a certain point. I am being neither understanding nor stubborn, but on that particular subject, I am also no soldier. I've simply processed all the information from various angles on the subject so that the reasoning behind whatever happens is clear to me. Understanding gives me the upper hand in manipulating the situation in a favorable direction."
Ah yes, a common theme. Manipulation. The Doctor was already mentally flicking through a list of professions that would require and encourage such a skill. He wouldn't be surprised if she used to be a spy or specialized in extracting information on the sly from people. But, on the other hand, she very well could've just been a control freak. "So if you're a lieutenant," he started, partly thinking out loud, "why do you worry so much about having control of a situation? Shouldn't that be your commanding officer's problem? I mean you're just there to follow orders like everyone else after all." There was the slightest hint at trying to get a rise out of her with the tail end of that statement, but it didn't seem to register. It was definitely bothering him, how she suddenly seemed so much stiffer, robotic even like when she had first seen the inside of the Tardis or having woken up this morning.
"You're right, in a sense. However, my superior often treated me as his second in command. In the end, my constant consultation resulted in my thoughts on any particular subject being just as significant as his. I gave both him and my colleagues no reason to distrust my judgment and no one opposed. I suppose it's simply a habit that carried over after all those years of it. That doesn't mean I didn't follow his orders though…"
The Doctor shrugged a little and glanced down at her briefly. "I find that hard to believe." Down the street they walked seemed to be a fair of sorts. Perhaps more of an open market with merchants peddling their machines. Many of them were androids, hound shaped endoskeletons with shining red eyes and things reminiscent of Caligo's drones with much larger guns on their 'forearms' seemed to be in season so to speak. Caught up in sensing the new trend, he missed the frown that she gave him.
"Do I somehow come off as the delinquent type to you, Doctor?"
"Cal. You don't mind if I call you Cal, right? Do me a favor and look around for a second. Tell me what you see." If he was paying any mind to her reaction after ignoring her question, the Doctor gave no indication and despite the slightest hint of indignation toward it, Caligo did as he asked.
"A lot of machinery… Drones. Hunting drones. It seems to be hunting season on this planet."
"Yeah, but what would they be hunting on a settlement that's nothing if not technologically based…"
"There are such things as nature preserves. That aside, this is just one city. There's nothing to say that the rest of the planet is in a similar state. Though, I suppose the level of armament on these machines is rather…excessive…unless they're attempting to hunt something roughly the size of an elephant." Caligo followed as he ventured further into the crowd near a stand of hunting drones.
"The latest and greatest," the man atop the polished steel platform bellowed, the grin on his face looking far too pleased with what one would assume to be his latest creation, "Nothing can escape it once it has you in its sights. The great giants of the Cylliad Mountains refuse to face it because they know that this machine here…" He gestured grandly to the spotless, gleaming robot with its crab-like tripod legs and variety of guns and cannons mounted all over its appendages. "This is a real predator."
"Sport hunting," Caligo commented dryly as ever. If it was one thing she held a strong distaste for, it was the lack of subtlety in machinery and the lack of finesse in the design. This was a walking tank, not a predator. Just a single glance told her that it was made for nothing more than mass destruction and she was just about to say so to the Doctor when she caught sight of the way his expression dropped further and the muscles in his jaw had tightened. "I take it this is something you find no amusement in. I don't think I could blame you." But for very different reasons, I'm sure. Truth be told, she didn't feel one way or another on the subject since she knew nothing of these 'giants of the Cylliad Mountains' or the struggle between man and native beast on this planet.
"That is something that will destroy not just anything, but everything in its path…"
Caligo could only nod in agreement, despite the fact that he probably wasn't paying her the least bit of attention. His statement seemed to be more of his own opinion than anything else, but she certainly saw what he saw when she looked at the hunting drone. "The man who made this did not have a predator in mind when he designed it. Do you see how it moves?" She gestured to the machine's legs as it trounced around on its stage, loud and heavy steps were audible even above the din of the marketplace chatter. "It's made to conquer the terrain it travels. Predators are silent, graceful and do not aim to dominate, but move in tune with their environment."
The Doctor couldn't help a look of surprise, but he found it hard to hammer down the reason for it. A lack of concern for whatever this machine was built to destroy might be one, but her sheer appreciation for something natural was on the list too. He truly did like the sound of the latter much more and a sort of revelation hit him then. "You don't really like machines, do you," he asked with a half-smile creeping across his face.
"I do like machines. Far easier for me to work with and understand." She replied coldly and calmly, crossing her arms over her chest once more. She caught his gaze in the corner of her eye and tilted her head just a little to signal him that she wasn't yet finished speaking. "But in different aspects of life, I've come to appreciate a balance of letting certain things such as the natural world be its own mystery. Seven years has shown me that technology will never be able to perfectly replicate all aspects of the natural world. Humanity, among other things, would not survive in a fully artificial environment. Not to the extent humans believe…"
"Physically, all your needs would be met but there would always be something that you're missing… All the comforts of living but you're never satisfied." That smile couldn't be moved from his features when she gave a low hum of agreement. He knew there was a good reason why he liked this one. "I know what you're trying to get at, but trying to understand people is half the fun because it isn't easy."
"Not quite the case for me, I'm afraid." Caligo focused once more on the man beginning his demonstration the features of his drone that were 'to die for', something in the back of her mind liking the way he said it even less than she did.
"Now, see here. Even if you're in a real jam - Say you've gotten yourself into a bit of a sticky situation and you don't have the firepower to even scare off all those nasty little things out there in the wilderness or say there is one among your lot that wasn't there before, but you can't be sure who that is…" The man let a hush fall over the crowd before a trickster's grin broke across his face. "My machine here has just the thing for that. Anyone or anything that isn't human in origin can be targeted and detained or eliminated right on the spot. Not even shape shifting aliens like Zygons can beat this beauty~"
The more or less anti-alien campaign he suddenly seemed to be driving caused a sense of alarm between the two and Caligo gave the Doctor a very subtle glance. He could easily read the concern, the questioning in her expression, as vague as it was. The Doctor kept the drone and the man in the corner of his eye as he leaned a little closer to her ear. "Honestly, I didn't know they were like this…"
"I believe you, but perhaps we should move along. I don't like the idea of standing amidst a crowds so easily rallied by alien hunting." As subtly as they could manage, they maneuvered through the throng of shoppers and onlookers to something they hoped would be a little less intense…
The Doctor was nearly sent flying back into Caligo when something, for lack of a better term, exploded and left a gaping scorch mark on the ground just a foot or so in front of him. The crowd of screaming people quickly dispersed as the drone leapt from the podium and began pursuing them.
"I don't think I need to say that now's a good time to-"
"Run!" She practically bellowed at him, taking firm hold of his coat lapel and bolting into the remaining shoppers that had yet to flee. "It thing must have been scanning the crowd the entire time that fool was running his demonstration…!"
"Probably! There probably isn't another alien lifeform for miles let alone in this city!" Another blast brought down a sign from one of the larger booths selling jewelry of some sort, forcing them to turn down into a series of alleys. "It's running us into a corner!"
"Unless you've memorized a map of the city and can tell me where to turn, just keep running!"
"If it corners us we're dead!"
"We don't exactly have the luxury of stopping and asking for directions! At least if we're moving it gives us a little more time to-"
The Doctor pulled back roughly on the arm still gripping his lapel and managed to cushion his more or less impact with the dead end they suddenly found themselves face to face with. Down the trail they had just sprinted, the mechanical menace rounded the corner and had its sights trained on him with a red dot aimed right between his two hearts as if to make its point. He could feel them thrumming wildly in his chest, drowning out the sound of everything else around him, making his body feel heavy and numb…
"Doctor."
Caligo. "Cal," he murmured, eyes still focused on the ammunition cycling through the drone's left arm, "I want you to move slowly. Follow the alley back out into the main street. You're human so maybe this thing won't attack you."
"That's not necessary. I can-"
"You do as I say, alright? If only one of us walks away from this, it has to be you."
"That's a demolition grade, shaped miniature explosive it has loaded. It's not going to-"
"You go back to the Tardis right now and let her take you home! I'm not going to let you-"
The hunting drone was within feet of them when it fired on him, all the light and sound accompanying an explosion present and accounted for but the funny thing was that the only thing he felt was a good amount of weight knock the wind out of him and his ears rang like bells. It squished him against the wall. Not crushed. Whatever it was, it wasn't terribly massive… Coughing up dust and probably a lung, the Doctor reached forward to grab hold of whatever lay against his chest and push it aside when he caught sight of the mess of dark hair and the feel of cool leather beneath his fingers. There's no way, he thought, hearts sinking into his stomach, She couldn't have been in the way of that. There's no way she would survive! His grip on her shoulders tightened to an almost bruising level when he felt the weight that was her shift against his chest.
As the dust settled more, he caught sight of the electrifying blue glow in front of them. His mind was slowly putting the pieces together. "A shield…. Brilliant…!" She knew what kind of firepower it was packing. She had a shield. She didn't run because she knew they would survive if she used the shield. His curious nature got the better of him while she steadied herself more and he reached out to tentatively touch their saving grace. A small, almost electrifying chill hit his fingertips on contact with it and slowly, he moved along toward the supports generating the barrier. Long, slender and very solid metal beams started out at the frame and gradually became thicker as they traveled up the length of her arm…
Her arm. The shield that had protected them was Caligo's arm and the revelation left him speechless for a number of reasons.
"Are you alright Doctor…?"
His gaze shot back to her face in an instant and he had managed to find some words, they'd formed into so many questions perched precariously on the tip of his tongue. The Doctor barely managed a nod and suddenly the shield had retracted, taking the shape of an anatomically precise forearm and hand of a human female with thick, leather flaps dangling off her bicep.
Caligo looked him over for a moment before nodding in approval, seeing that he was free of any sort of life threatening physical injury and turned to assess the pile of scrap that was the hunting drone. "It looks like I successfully deflected the projectile's force back onto it. If anyone were to look at it, they would think it destroyed itself," The mechanical menace twitched some ways away from them, sparks jumping from the exposed, damaged circuitry of its body. "Well, for the most part at least." As if still unsatisfied by the state of the drone, she made her way over and reached into its torso, only to rip out what looked to be a spherical hard drive. "It certainly won't be getting up anytime soon now," she spoke with finality.
"What did you take out? The data core?" He gave it one last wary look before joining her in examining the device, finding his glasses to get a better look before she handed it off to him.
"Yes. If this thing scanned you, then any data on you would be stored in here along with whatever programming it was given. If the people of this city are as hostile as we've assessed them to be, then the last thing we want is for them to have any proof that you are, in fact, an alien."
"Unless of course they decide to scan me and they find out I have two hearts," he mentioned flippantly. He just missed Caligo whirl around on her heel to look at him, brows furrowed and half glaring at him as if he'd said something particularly offensive. In reality, she was just surprised to find that she had been right, despite the fact that it had been little more than a wild guess.
A slight shake of her head, she muttered, "Unbelievable," under her breath and pocketed the device. "I have the sneaking suspicion that the man who was attempting to sell this machine did not build it himself. No engineer worth their salt would dare call this a "predator". The very idea of a bull in a China shop though."
"If I didn't know you any better I'd say this makes you more than a little cross."
She took a few moments to identify his tone as teasing and another few to figure out what he meant by "cross" but when she was all caught up, she caught him trying-and failing rather miserably-not to laugh at her.
"Does the poor craftsmanship upset you~?" He asked with a hint of amusement.
"In a matter of speaking, yes." She continued grumbling under her breath whilst reaching to her bicep and tugged at the straps connecting the two rogue flaps of leather that eventually reformed her sleeve. It was only then that he remembered the shield.
"So what kind of shield was that?" He asked, gesturing to the appendage that now seemed like nothing out of the ordinary, save for the metallic look to it.
She shook her head at the mess one last time as if still lamenting the scene before turning back to him. "Energy shield, kinetic setting. Anything that hits this barrier will only make it stronger, provided that it isn't stronger than the shield the first go around… I designed and built this myself since I needed a prosthetic and figured that there would always be a time when it could be useful. Something that I'm actually rather…glad? Yes, I suppose the word would be glad… I'm rather glad to see that it has become standard issue for those with substantial injuries like my own…" There was an obvious look of discomfort when the word "glad" came out of her mouth, like it left a strange taste on her tongue or she just hardly ever used it.
The Doctor just thought that maybe talking about feelings was like a foreign language to her. "Well… Any moment now someone ought to come looking for this thing. Best make ourselves scarce, right?"
The suggestion looked like it bothered her, but she simply nodded in agreement and tiptoed her way around the broken machine with him.
"I really do owe you now. You're just full of surprises, you know that? I bet you're hungry. I'm a little peckish myself. How about lunch? Or is it time for breakfast?" He glanced back over his shoulder and grinned. "Well what does it matter, right? Time machine and all that."
"You're very indiscriminate about who you share that information with you know… Seven years ago, I might be more than a little concerned about that, but I suppose that it's all fairly relative now."
"What, humans still haven't completely wrapped their heads around time travel in your century?"
Caligo, on an almost completely unrelated note, had finally come to expect the teasing as part of the Doctor's personality and might even go as far as accepting it, but it really would take some time go get used to the griping about humans. "No, I don't know of anyone who's been focusing their research and resources on that… Certainly not Central."
"Well then what exactly is Central focusing on?"
"Classified, Doctor. Although I feel as though that may not exactly be something that deters you from sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."
There was a hint of humor in there somewhere…
The sound of footsteps – heavy and thunderous – echoed off the alley walls and the two quickly slipped down another path to avoid the party that had most likely come looking for the drone and maybe them as well.
"They must've went down this way."
"How can you even be sure? Stupid machine didn't leave any tracks and neither did they!"
"Shut up! I'm in charge, remember? I'm the one who's got more hunts and successful kills under my belt than you!"
The angry exchange of words between those of varying age and even gender prompted Caligo and the Doctor to exchange looks which neither of them could quite read. She took the lead and peered around the corner, cautiously reentering their previous course back out into the street. "We should leave. I have the feeling that they know who they're looking for or at least what we look like and they're likely to question how we survived the attack, much less destroyed their machine…"
"Shield arm prosthetic?" He offered, seemingly in an attempt to be helpful. "Not like it's the most farfetched thing in the universe, though it's the first I've seen before."
"You are not helping. Besides, I appropriated their machine's data core and I'm not too keen on returning it…"
"Right. Point taken. Time to disappear."
He quickly grabbed her hand and set off running in the direction of the general population. It was rather refreshing to have someone around that could keep up with his pace after such a long time, but the height difference still left her a little way behind him.
"Doctor, we can't just go back the way we came. The crowd may recognize us."
"Fine, fine! Left or right?"
"Right," she called, just before she took a sharp turn down another alley and pulled him along behind her. Her metal fingers dug into the corners of buildings now falling behind them and occasionally he could spot the little dents they left on the surface.
"I meant the next right!"
"You just said left or right."
One way or the other, he couldn't deny that they'd still ended up back in the main street in a place they didn't recognize and the chaos from earlier was practically nonexistent. The Doctor glanced around at the people going about their morning grocery shopping, wondering if anyone else had weapons hidden on their person or if it had just been that particular district they happened to wander through… "I'd say we may have overstayed our welcome a bit, don't you?"
Caligo said nothing, but nodded briefly at him. It seemed to be an unspoken agreement that after the ruckus their presence had caused further up the path that they would need to find an alternate route back to the Tardis from wherever they were. "I suppose now is as good a time as any to ask someone for directions."
"Be even easier if we knew exactly where we'd come from though."
"Could we not just try walking around the block? This city seems to be more or less of a similar layout to those in 21st century Earth's cities. Aside from the chrome, that is."
"Don't feel up to running today?" He asked, glancing back up the way they had come. It seemed that the search party still hadn't picked up on their trail thankfully (not that there really was one to be left in a city this sterile, but they didn't see things the way hunters did) and thought about whether or not they'd be recognized running up the street to a big blue box.
"Not from lasers, no." Caligo grabbed hold of his arm and sternly led him down the street to the next corner.
Sometimes she really reminded him of Donna but with far less sass. What would you be like with a little more attitude, he wondered. He might've been an alien, but he wasn't that dense. The whole killer robot fiasco seemed to have put her in a rather amiable mood too and he certainly didn't want to ruin that. It would just take the fun out of the whole trip if the amount of danger he attracted didn't deter her already… But it isn't. In fact, it looks like it's the opposite. What's worse is that she's prepared for it! Though he couldn't quite understand what unnerved him at least a little about the last bit. If anything, being able to protect herself ought to be a good thing. Yet the Time Lord could barely fend off the feeling of guilt that knotted in his chest. The story always started out the same. A man unlike any other had crashed into their lives – in most cases quite literally – and whisked them away to see the stars. His companions were always capable individuals in the face of danger and risk in their own right…
And he always had to say goodbye sometime…
"I think I found a map."
"Brilliant. Where'd you find that?"
"There was an information stand by the crosswalk we just passed. Do you recall what street you parked the Tardis on?"
"What, I drive and I need to remember where we parked? What about you?"
The unamused look on Caligo's face spoke volumes to him and he nodded, seeing his error right away. "Right. Sorry. Not the time for that I know but I mean you can't tell me that between a Time Lord and an engineer neither of us thought to look at the street signs until we got lost?"
"Let's try to get to the pet shop and go back from there." Her mood didn't improve the more he spoke. He was loud enough to draw some looks and the off color comments he made were hard to ignore, coupled with the fact that the two stood out very much against what seemed to be the fashion trend here. To her, the Doctor either didn't understand the concept of keeping a low profile or just thought that humans were so unobservant and dim that just looking human would be enough amongst the general public. Considering that she wasn't stupid enough to believe that he was that stupid, she concluded that he was simply just that arrogant. "Doctor, once we get back to your ship you and I need to have a proper discussion about how not to blend into a foreign and potentially hostile environment."
He merely shrugged in response as he searched for any street signs that might help them. "Would be nice to just have a conversation. Maybe something calm, relaxing, without robots shooting lasers at us of course. Whimsical might do, even." The Doctor glanced from the map they'd managed to swipe from a tourist somewhere along the way to a holographic projection of a map landmark (that really looked more like a giant Tetris piece) and back again. "Promise it won't be too out of character for you though. Blimey. First humans are overcomplicating something simple like a map or engine schematics and then slide over to the stick-figure-on-a-post-it end of the spectrum. How does anyone find anything here…!"
The lieutenant could feel her brow twitch at the unsubtle remarks about humans and searched the crowd for the easiest person to grab. "Excuse me." She grabbed the attention of two adolescent boys on a crash course toward a busy intersection teeming with speeding vehicles, their noses buried in their phones.
"Yeah? What's shakin'?" One with a Mohawk so high and spikey that it was most likely illegal somewhere in the universe replied. It didn't matter what planet they were on, human behavior never seemed to change…
Ignoring the perusing eyes of the younger looking boy, Caligo set her cold gaze on Mohawk-boy. "My friend and I," she started, already uncomfortable with setting a defined relationship between herself and this snarky alien, "Are looking for a pet shop. Would you be able to give us directions?"
"Yeah, reckon we could."
She would later allow herself to fume about how easily she had walked into that particular trap when they were safely back inside the Tardis but for the time being, Caligo simply stood there and waited for one of them to answer her.
Mohawk-boy wasn't too fond of the way she just stood there and stared at them so expectantly. His friend, however, seemed to be a fair amount smarter than him and finally spoke up. "Are you from Prime?"
"Prime? I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean."
"Prime. Y'know. Earth. The first Earth. You're not from around here I know that and you don't look like you've got alien in you," he laughed.
There was nothing good natured about that laugh, she mentally noted, as there was when the Doctor laughed at her. Caligo's expression remained utterly uninterested when she tilted her head to get a better look at the smartass one. "I am from Earth. Answer my question or stop wasting my time."
"Well that depends. Y'know I've always wanted to kiss a country girl~" Not a second after leaning in toward her face, he found himself being hoisted onto the tips of his toes by two ice cold fingers jammed up his nostrils.
Mohawk-boy noticed her cold expression turn into a full on scowl and promptly took about five steps back from her and his friend. Whatever trouble had just found him, Smartass was on his own.
"I thought I made it clear that I don't care to have my time wasted. Directions. Now."
"D-Down two blocks and take a left at the distillery…!"
Caligo nodded in approval at Smartass's panicked answer and carefully set him down before reclaiming her fingers from his nose. She made certain that there were no substantial injuries on him before addressing them both. "Thank you for your time." She left the two to nurse Smartass's most likely sore nose and promptly walked over to the Doctor who looked as if he were putting very minimal effort into hiding his amusement.
"Getting to know the locals Cal?"
The scowl on her face came back full force at the memory of the encounter not moments before. "Two blocks down this way and a left at the distillery. We don't ever speak of this again."
"I'm sorry, what are we not speaking about?"
"I am not falling for that."
The Doctor shrugged and quickly followed after her, something that he noted he certainly wasn't used to, but he was having too much fun to pay it any mind. "Why do you make it sound like I'm trying to trick you? I'd never do that." It was a good thing she wasn't walking next to him or else she might've caught sight of the shit eating grin on his face.
The journey to the distillery was quick, the building blending in with every other one within its vicinity and yet it still somehow seemed a little out of place to Caligo. "I honestly didn't think there would be a distillery in a city like this, but after my experience here I'll certainly think twice." Even in a place like Pillar, a distillery or even a bar wasn't the shiniest and brightest of places like here. "Well I suppose it's been a fair amount of time since I've been to any sort of drinking or alcohol related establishment."
"Let me guess," he said, glancing at her, "Seven years?" To say that he felt accomplished when he noted an expression on her face that clearly stated 'I'll be paying you back for that one' as opposed to 'I'm not going to entertain your childish behavior' would be an understatement. The Doctor mentally chalked that up to the short but still developing list of entertaining expressions he'd seen on his newest companion's face. Only two days and he was on a roll! "Well then the Tardis ought to be nearby. No time to waste, right?"
"I never thought you would be so conscious of it." She stopped for a moment to think about that. "Although timing is important if you want to avoid certain situations. I would think that this most recent event would be on that list but I'm sure even you couldn't have known that this would happen."
He had to think about whether or not that was supposed to be some sort of jab at him, but she looked a little too thoughtful to be mocking him at the moment. Letting the comment slide, they rounded the corner to see the pet shop and quickly retrace their steps from the pet shop back to the Tardis.
Only complication was that they weren't the only ones that had found it.
The population was no longer simply walking past the big blue box, but had now begun to crowd around it. The crowd was so dense that even Caligo and her battering ram of an arm barely managed to get them close enough to see what had drawn the formerly uninterested crowd to the ship.
"I don't like this," the Doctor murmured, trying to get a better look over the few people still in their way.
"Agreed. I have a sneaking suspicion that-"
Her thought was cut short by what sounded like someone knocking on a door, if the sound of someone failing to punch a hole through it could still be considered such a thing… A tall brunet man carrying a rifle was more or less pounding his fist against the door of the TARDIS, gruffly demanding that anyone inside come out immediately. Others, also armed, were keeping the crowd at a distance and thoroughly inspecting the outside of the ship.
"They're being amazingly invasive and they're still on the outside!"
One man tapped the side of the Tardis with the butt of his rifle and set the Doctor into motion before Caligo could stop him. Pushing past the crowd, the Doctor practically ran up to the man, quickly spun him around and pushed the rifle as a whole away from his dear ship. "Excuse me! That's quite rude. I'm gonna have to ask you to step away."
"This your thing?" The tall brunet jabbed his finger in the direction of the TARDIS and pinned the two with a look that made Caligo wonder if they'd caused him some great inconvenience as she stumbled into their midst as well.
"Yes, it is," the Doctor answered, clearly annoyed by so many people poking and prodding his beloved ship with guns. "So if you could be kind enough to point your guns somewhere else or better yet get rid of them!"
The lieutenant's gaze quickly snapped up to him when he made no attempt to hide the irritation in his tone. Sassy was an understatement. He could be downright rude when he wanted to and even if she didn't very much care, it certainly wouldn't help them if he managed to irk the men who obviously had the upper hand at the moment. Old habits just couldn't be helped and she gave the man a timid smile. "We'll move it. It won't be a problem in a moment." Caligo gave the Doctor a brief glance, silently hoping that he would keep his snarky mouth shut long enough for her to talk their way out of this tricky situation. He seemed to understand her intentions so far, something she attributed with just a hint of suspicion to his 'brilliant Time Lordness' and kept quiet, though he certainly didn't look any happier. "We're very sorry for the inconvenience mister…?"
The brunet man's eyes narrowed at her as if inspecting her under a microscope for any hint at a flaw or lie hidden in her words but soon learned that he would find none. Still, he didn't seem terribly ecstatic about giving her the benefit of the doubt. "What is this thing anyway?"
"It's an antique police box. We're from Earth Prime, as I'm told it's called. I built it as an art display of sorts. Thought it would be nice to see a little color in a place like this. He tried to convince me that it wasn't a good idea, but…" She gestured back to the Doctor and gave a nervous laugh, lacing her fingers together behind her back and rocking slightly on her feet. "What can I say? Once I get started on something there's just no stopping me." There was the slightest element of truth to the statement. The best lies often had them in there somewhere. It made it easier to stick to the story one was telling and not to stray from the character that was taken on.
"Earth Prime, huh?" The man asked gruffly. That seemed to be a sort of reassurance for him and whilst neither had much of an inkling as to why that was, the Doctor was the one who was suspicious of its significance. But that could come later. Right now, it was time he focused on the way this man was looking at the lieutenant.
"Well miss, while I give you credit for the stunt, care to explain how you got it all the way out here? I don't imagine him being much help at all." He gestured to the Doctor with little more than tilting his head in the Time Lord's direction, his eyes still focused on her.
Aside from being a little more than insulted by what he was insinuating, he didn't like the way he focused solely on Caligo. He had the physical traits of a bloke trying to be respectful when talking to a woman, but his gaze was predatory in every sense of the word. Like he never thought of anything other than the hunt or being related to the hunt and Caligo suddenly playing the role of the unsuspecting, easily intimidated young woman, well… Suffice to say he wasn't fond of the idea of his companion being the fish on the wrong end of the pole. "Work smarter, not harder or so the saying goes, correct," he suddenly cut in. The Doctor gave his cheekiest grin just to make his part as the begrudging colleague seem convincing, or so he told himself.
The irritation on her face was not faked when she glanced back at him but it certainly didn't have the usual venom behind it. The whole look of things seemed to put the brunet in a better mood. His deep, almost bellowing laugh was hard to miss and Caligo swore she could feel the vibrations of it from where she was standing. She flicked a lock of her bangs out of her face and pouted at him. "I'm stronger than I look, really."
"How strong sweetheart," one of the others hollered.
There was just the slightest twitch in her brow when she turned to address the offending individual. Of course it would be the young ones she thought dryly. Some things about humans never changed… All of the crowd watched her as she walked over to the young man who was also holding a hunting rifle, grabbed the barrel with her left hand and promptly bent it downward. She actually allowed herself to smile a little when he recoiled with a mixture of shock and horror on his face. "It's a prosthetic, but it does the job," she said, wiggling her silver digits at him in an almost flirtatious manner.
The brunet man's smile dropped away as he nodded at her. The barrel of his rifle was perched on his shoulder, tilted back slightly as if wanting to keep it far out of her reach. "That's a pretty serious injury for someone who's just an artist. What gave you that?"
"Ah, well…" Caligo rocked on her feet again and looked at her prosthetic hand. "I know a good doctor and engineer… Accidents at work you know? Got my arm caught in some machinery and there it went before I knew it."
Perhaps pretending to be uncomfortable with on the subject wasn't the best idea or perhaps the Doctor simply didn't make a good impression on the man but it quickly became evident that he was eyeing him in a less than friendly way. She couldn't be sure what the man or his associates were thinking when she looked up to the Doctor in a silent attempt to ask for help but apparently that had only made matters worse. He placed a hand on her shoulder and slowly began guiding her over toward their party.
"I think you'd better come with us miss." He glanced from the Doctor, to her and back again, ignoring their protests. The man nudged her over to one of the others, that same unpleasantly wary look on his face again.
"Now hold on just a moment. You're not taking her anywhere without me!"
The rifle on his shoulder was suddenly tilted down in his direction, one finger already on the trigger and the barrel situated about an inch from his chest. "I think it's in all of our best interest if she came with us and you cool your jets mister," he all but growled in response.
Caligo would later swear she felt her heart stop for a brief moment before she pushed her way between the two and forcefully directed the weapon away from the Doctor. The sudden and forceful movement shoved his finger against the trigger and a shot rang out, a single high powered energy blast flying from the gun hitting the Tardis just above the door frame and muddling out the word 'police' on it.
That wheezing, almost sputtering sound might as well have been the nails in their coffins when the Tardis suddenly began to fade from site.
"No. No! Nonononono!"
"Doctor!"
He made a break for the big blue box and latched onto it with a grip that would put the Jaws of Life to shame. He couldn't risk losing the Tardis on a planet like this. There had to be some way to keep the ship from taking off!
"Doctor!"
His stomach dropped when he heard her yelling for him again. His head whipped back to see her just breaking free of the big brute's grip and running toward the almost nonexistent ship. "Cal!" He threw his hand out to her to help close the distance. If she could at least grab onto him then maybe-
She stumbled when one of them caught her by the arm, her fingers just passing through his before he and the Tardis were gone.