The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 4
Disclaimer: Doctor Who doesn't belong to me, unfortunately. However, Rhea Adwani does.
A/N: Thank you all again for the continued support. I hope you like the ending to Voyage of the Damned!
Warning: There is a swear word used in this chapter, so if that offends you, please skip over it.
Voyage of the Damned: Iceberg
Mr Copper looked up. "I'm afraid...we forgot the tradition of Christmas-that angels have wings!" He pointed upwards.
The Host glided down from above and encircled them.
Rhea and the Doctor just stood there, shell-shocked.
"Information: kill." One of the Host said, with each one of them reaching for their halos.
Rhea's eyes widened. "Well, fuck." She whispered.
"Arm yourselves! All of you!" The Doctor shouted.
Rhea grappled for two long pieces of pipe and threw one of them to the Doctor, who caught it with one hand. She steadied herself on her heels and held the pipe as if playing baseball. She said a silent prayer to her cousin for teaching her how to play when she was younger and gripped the pipe tighter. Focus, Rhea. Stay confident and make every hit count. She chanted in her head.
The Host threw the halos down at them, the Doctor and Rhea batting each one away with the pipe as they came close enough. Rhea saw, out of the corner of her eye, as Astrid struck one of the halos with a cry, falling to her knees. Rhea swore as one struck the Doctor in the arm and his resulting cry of pain, abandoning her defense and rushing over to him, gripping his arm. She heard Mr Copper's pained scream as one of the halos struck him in the knees.
"I can't." Rhea heard Astrid sob weakly.
There was a clanging of metal and then Bannakaffalatta's voice. "Bannakaffalatta stop! Bannakaffalatta proud! Bannakaffalatta, cyborg!" The alien shouted.
There was a massive discharge of energy, electric blue, disabling the Host and all but one of them fell towards the engines. Rhea felt the energy fly past her, the resulting shockwave sending her hair in different directions. The one that was left fell onto the strut behind the Doctor.
"Electromagnetic pulse took out the robotics. Oh, Bannakaffalatta, that was brilliant!" The Doctor shouted.
Just then, the small, red-skinned alien fell and Astrid went over to him.
"He's used all of his power!" She shouted.
"Did good?" Bannakaffalatta asked, weakly.
"You saved our lives." Astrid said. The Doctor and Rhea stepped forward, but made no attempt to rush over to the alien.
"Bannakaffalatta happy."
"We can recharge you, get you to a power point and just plug you in!" Astrid said, desperately.
Bannakaffalatta shook his head. "Too late."
"No, but...you gotta get me that drink, remember?"
Bannakaffalatta smiled. "Pretty girl."
His eyes closed and his face went slack. Rhea closed her eyes and murmured a prayer under her breath. She felt the Doctor take her hand once more and she entwined their fingers in a show of mutual comfort and loss for someone who had saved all of them by sacrificing himself.
They watched as Astrid went to button his shirt when Mr Copper reached for the cyborg's power source.
"I'm sorry. Forgive me." Mr Copper whispered.
"Leave him alone." Astrid hissed.
"It's the EMP transmitter. He-he'd want us to use it." He removed the transmitter. "I used to sell these things. They'd always give me a bed for the night in the cyborg caravans. They're good people. But if we can recharge it, we can reuse it as a weapon against the rest of the Host. Bannakaffalatta might have saved us all."
"Do you think? Try telling him that." Slade said, pointing behind them. They all turned to see the Host that had fallen onto the platform beginning to move.
Rhea swore and pulled herself and the Doctor back in order to put some space between them and the Host. She reached for the metal pipe that she had abandoned, keeping it close by her side in case the Host made a move to attack them.
"Information: reboot." The Host said.
"Use the EMP!" Slade shouted.
"It's dead!" Mr Copper shouted.
"It's gotta have emergency-" Astrid started before taking the device from Mr Copper.
The Doctor confronted the Host. "No, no, no. Hold on. Override loophole security protocol... Ten! 666! Oh. 21, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Um, I dunno, 42!" The Doctor was trying random numbers at this point in time.
"One!" Rhea shrieked, deciding to give it a go.
The Host stopped mid-movement and stood passively, as if awaiting instructions.
Rhea turned and punched the Doctor in his uninjured arm, lightly. "Of all the numbers you try, you conveniently forget the most obvious one!"
"Information: state request."
"Good...right. You've been ordered to kill the survivors, but why?" The Doctor asked.
"Information: no witnesses."
"But this ship's gonna fall on the Earth and kill everyone." Rhea said.
The Doctor realised the point Rhea was trying to make and continued for her. "The human race has nothing to do with the Titanic so that contravenes your orders, yes?"
"Information: incorrect."
"But why do you want to destroy the Earth?" The Doctor asked.
"Information: it is the plan."
"What plan?"
"Information: protocol grants you only three questions. These three questions have been used."
Rhea's shoulders slumped and she threw her hands up in the air.
"Well, you could have warned me." The Doctor said.
"Information: now you will die."
Rhea raised the pipe to strike the Host just as it prepared to strike the Doctor, when a lasso was thrown over its head and was tightened around its body by Foon.
"You're coming with me." She hissed, her eyes wet but determined.
Foon shut her eyes tight and threw herself off the bridge, taking the tied up Host along with her.
Rhea's eyes widened and she yelled. The Doctor shouted "No!"
They all watched helplessly as another one sacrificed themselves to save the others.
"No more." Rhea heard the Doctor's determined hiss through gritted teeth.
They eventually made it past the bridge and the engine room and came out the other side into another set of maintenance corridors, the Doctor kicking away a beam that was in his way.
"Right. Get up to Reception One. Once you're there, Mr Copper. You've got staff access to the computer. Try and find a way of transmitting an SOS. Astrid, you're in charge of this." He said, holding out the EMP. "Once it's powered up, it'll take out Hosts within fifty yards but then it needs sixty seconds to recharge. Got it? Rickston, take this." He gave him the sonic screwdriver. "I've preset it. Just hold down that button. It'll open doors. Do not lose it! You got that? Now go and open the next door. Go on! Go!"
"All right!" Slade said and went.
The Doctor took down a first aid kit and handed it to Mr Copper.
"Mr Copper, I need you fighting fit. Astrid, where's the power point?" The Doctor asked.
"Under the comms." She said.
They ran to the power point and the Doctor showed her how to recharge the EMP.
"When it's ready, that blue light comes on there." The Doctor told Astrid.
"You're talking as if you two aren't coming with us." Astrid said, looking at them both.
"There's something down on Deck 31. We're gonna find out what it is." Rhea said.
"What if you meet a Host?"
"Well, then we'll just...have some fun, eh?" The Doctor said, smiling at Rhea.
"Sounds like you two do this kind of thing all the time."
"Not by chance. All we do is travel. That's what we are, just travellers. Imagine it. No tax, no bills, no boss, just the open sky."
Rhea swallowed hard. The way he talked about her. That wasn't her. Not this her, at least. This Rhea was a woman driven by duty and determination. A woman broken by her past and a woman who hid her pain under a mask, which she showed to the world. What had made her change her into the woman that he talked about? The woman that he knew. The woman that he cared about, according to the way he looked at her, the way he talked about her. She realised that it could be him. In fact, there was a very good chance that he was the reason for the change.
"I'm sort of...unemployed now and I was thinking the blue box is kinda small for three, but I could kinda squeeze in. Like a stowaway." Astrid said, hopefully.
"It's not always safe." The Doctor warned.
"If today's any proof." Rhea added.
"So you need someone to take care of you two. I've got no one back on Sto, no family, just me. So what do you think? Can I come with you?"
The Doctor looked at Rhea and she shrugged. It was his ship, she was just a constant visitor, but she liked Astrid. The girl reminded her of herself before her life had taken its toll on her.
"Yeah, we'd like that. Yes."
The ship rocked and lurched again and the Doctor stood and spoke into the comms.
"Mr Frame, you still with us?" The Doctor asked into the device.
"It's the engines, sir. Final phase. There's nothing more I can do. We've got only eight minutes left!"
"Don't worry, we'll get there." The Doctor said.
"The bridge is sealed off!"
"Yeah, yeah, working on it. We'll get there, Mr Frame, somehow." There was a high pitched noise from the EMP device. "All charged up? Mr Copper, look after her. Astrid, look after him. Rickston, um...look after yourself. And we'll see you again, promise."
They started to leave.
"Hold on!" Astrid called. She then threw herself into their arms, hugging them both tight. Both the Doctor and Rhea were a bit shocked but hugged her back warmly. Rhea squeezed her hand before going, like a promise.
They ran off.
"See you later!" Astrid called after them.
They turned around.
"You betcha, sweetheart!" Rhea said, blowing her a kiss.
They ran back the way they came, back into the engine room and across the lofty bridge.
The Doctor and Rhea ran into a small kitchen but were soon surrounded by four Hosts. The Doctor grabbed a pot by its handle and Rhea a rolling pin and prepared to use the utensils as weapons.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Security protocol one! Do you hear me? One! One!" The Host stopped advancing and relaxed. "Okay, that gives me three questions. Three questions to save my life, am I right?"
Rhea swore suddenly. "Information: correct." One of the Hosts said.
"No, that wasn't one of them. I didn't mean it. That's not fair. Can I start again?" The Doctor asked.
"Information: no."
Rhea shrieked and smacked the Doctor on the arm. "Shut up!" She hissed.
"No, no! No, no, no. That wasn't one either. Blimey. One question left." He dragged a hand across his mouth in exasperation. "One question. So, you've been given orders to kill the survivors but survivors must therefore be passengers or staff, but not me. I'm not a passenger. I'm not staff. Go on, scan me. You must have bio records." There was continuous beeping as the Host scanned the two of them. "No such person on board. I don't exist therefore...you can't kill me. Therefore, I'm a stowaway and stowaways should be arrested and taken to the nearest figure of authority." He threw away the pot and Rhea followed suit. "And I reckon the nearest figure of authority is on Deck 31. Final question: am I right?"
"Information: correct."
"That was amazing." Rhea whispered to the Doctor. "Like really amazing."
He made a pleased sound at her praise. "Brilliant." He said to the Host. "Take me to your leader." Rhea groaned and he turned to her, his smile wide and showing teeth. "I've always wanted to say that."
The Doctor and Rhea were escorted to the Host storage facility on Deck 31. There was a great deal amount of wreckage after the meteors and fires burned above them.
"Now that is what you call a fixer-upper. Come on then, Host with the most, this ultimate authority of yours, who is it?"
There was the sound of mechanical doors parting and the Doctor and Rhea spun around.
"Ooh, that's clever. That's an omnistate impact chamber. Indestructible. You can survive anything in that, eh?" The Doctor said, his hands shoved in his pockets.
A vehicle rolled out of the chamber.
"Sit through a supernova or a shipwreck. Only one person can have the power and the money to hide themselves onboard like this and I should know, 'cause..." Doctor started.
Rhea's eyes widened as she realised who exactly was sitting on the rolling vehicle.
"My name's Max." The head of Max Capricorn smiled.
And his gold tooth dinged.
"Oh, it really does that." The Doctor said, shocked.
"Who the hell is this?" Max asked the Host.
"I'm the Doctor, and this is Rhea. Hello!" The Doctor said and Rhea waved, deciding the best thing in her circumstances would be to follow the Doctor.
"Information: stowaways." The Host said.
"We-ell…" The Doctor said, cocking his head.
"Kill them." Max said.
"Oh, no! No!" The Doctor shouted, throwing his hands out on either side of him and making sure to keep Rhea behind his back. "But you can't, not now, come on, Max, you're giving me so much good material! Like... how to get a head in business." He tried. Max raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, so he's a funny alien." Rhea hissed. "Are you seriously punning now?"
But the Doctor ignored her. "D'you see? Head? Head? No? Head?" He looked to the Host, seeing their blank faces. "Probably not one of my better ones."
Max smiled. "Ah, the office joker."
He trundled towards the Doctor and Rhea, wheels clanking, gears grinding, the box hissing steam. He gave a ghastly smile.
"I like a funny man. No one's been funny with me for years."
Rhea snorted. "I can't think why." She said, eyeing him.
"One hundred and seventy-six years of running the company have taken their toll."
"One hundred and seventy six?" She hissed.
"Yeah, but…nice wheels."
Rhea looked around and almost cursed aloud when she saw Astrid sneaking through a gap in the wall. She watched the blonde crouch down, hidden by debris, watching.
"No, a life-support system in a society that despises cyborgs. I've had to hide away for years. Running the company by hologram. Host, situation report." He ordered the angel.
"Information: Titanic still in orbit."
"Let me see…"
He turned, whirred, clanked and went over to the edge, the Doctor and Rhea only narrowly missing his advance.
"We should've crashed by now, what's gone wrong..?" He looked down below at the engines. "The goddamn engines are still running, they should have stopped."
"But when they do, the Earth gets roasted, I don't understand, what's the Earth got to do with it?" The Doctor asked.
"This interview is terminated-" Max said.
"No, no, no, no, no, no!" The Doctor shouted. Rhea caught sight of Astrid peeking from around a corner.
"Hold on! Hold on! Hold on! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!" The Doctor shouted, running and stopping in front of Max Capricorn. "I can work it out. It's like a task. I'm your apprentice. Just watch me." He said, winking at Rhea. "So... Business is failing and you wreck the ship so that makes things even worse. Oh yes! No. Yes." His fingers curled into a fist in the air. "The business isn't failing, it's failed. Past tense."
"How do you do that?" Rhea whispered into the Doctor's ear.
"Ah, it's a gift." The Doctor said, nonchalantly.
"My own board voted me out. Stabbed me in the back."
"If you had a back." He said quickly. "So…"
Rhea watched as Astrid moved closer, jumping from one corner to another.
"You scupper the ship, wipe out any survivors in case anyone's rumbled you and the board find their shares halved in value." His eyes widened and his mouth formed in the shape of an 'O'. "Oh, but that's not enough. No, 'cause if a Max Capricorn ship hits the Earth, it destroys an entire planet. Outrage back home. Scandal! The business is wiped out."
Rhea's eyes widened as well as she realised where the Doctor was going with this.
"And... the whole board thrown in jail for mass murder." Max said, lightly.
"While you sit there, safe inside the impact chamber." The Doctor said through gritted teeth.
"I have men waiting to retrieve me from the ruins and enough off-world accounts to retire me to the beaches of Pentaxico Two where the ladies, so I'm told, are very fond of...metal." Max said, looking down at himself.
Rhea looked at the Doctor. His brown eyes were wide but cold, his mouth was set in a firm line. His fists were clenched. She swallowed hard as she realised the absolute raw power he exuded, just when he was angry.
"So that's the plan." The Doctor said lowly. "A retirement plan. 2000 on this ship, 6 billion underneath us, all of them slaughtered. And why? Because Max Capricorn is a loser." The Doctor said, angrily, his voice getting deeper and more agitated with every passing word.
Max strode closer to the Doctor. "I never lose." He hissed.
"You can't even sink the Titanic!" The Doctor shouted.
"Oh, but I can, Doctor. I can cancel the engines from here." Max said. Rhea thought his tone was reminiscent of a poorly-written James Bond villain.
The Doctor's eyes widened as alarms blared and the room trembled. Rhea spun around and looked around upwards.
"You can't do this!" Rhea shrieked.
"Host, hold them." Max ordered.
The four Hosts flanking the Doctor and Rhea grabbed their arms in their iron grip. Rhea writhed in the Host's grip, trying desperately to figure out a way to escape the tight hold they had on her wrists. She relaxed after a minute, realising that she wouldn't be able to fight them and she would need herself in peak condition.
"Not so clever now, Doctor. A shame we couldn't work together. You're rather good. All that banter yet not a word wasted. Time for me to retire. The Titanic is falling. The sky will burn. Let the Christmas inferno commence. Oh! Oh, Host! Kill him."
"No!" Rhea screamed as one of the Host holding the Doctor removed his halo, preparing to strike the Doctor.
"Mr Capricorn." Astrid's voice called out from inside a forklift. "I resign."
She started the forklift and rushed towards Max, a determined look stamped across her face.
"Don't do it, Astrid!" Rhea screamed, thrashing around as she realised in growing horror what Astrid's intention was.
"Astrid, don't!" The Doctor shouted, trying to escape the Hosts in vain as she drove over to Max, the forklift latching onto the bottom of Max.
Astrid was thrown back from the sheer force of the impact, but she pushed again. She strained against a machine that was radiating the exact same force she was applying, neither one about to give up.
Rhea saw a Host aim a halo at Astrid and the blonde flinched, but the halo struck the metal side of the driver's seat, sending sparks. Astrid cranked the gears up and turned around, looking at Rhea and the Doctor.
Rhea shook her head, twin trails of tears falling down her cheeks as she realised what Astrid was about to do. She heard the Doctor exclaim "No!" but she was entirely focused on Astrid. She cranked the gears up to the maximum, pursed her lips and slammed her foot all the way down on the accelerator. The forklift wheels shot forward and fast and scooped up Max and raced forward. It shot towards the edge, shattering the railing and Astrid was tilting fast and then she was dropping.
The Host released Rhea and the Doctor, jerking their hands up in a surrender motion, and allowed them to rush forward, crouching near the edge.
"Astrid!" They both shouted.
They watched as Astrid, free from the forklift, looked up at them as she fell, down, down, down, her hands reaching out. There was a last flare of fire from the engine and Rhea spun and hid her face in the Doctor's shoulder, unable to watch any longer.
He clutched onto her arms desperately, as she sagged, and she just shook in the Doctor's arms, not crying, just shaking.
The Doctor and Rhea walked back into the room. Rhea stared at nowhere particular as she walked, her hair was matted and damp and hung around her face. Her eyes were empty and the fight seemed to have drained out of her. The Doctor reached for her hand, attempting to offer solace and comfort through the single gesture. She looked at their joined hands and her eyes travelled up to see his face. She bit her lower lip and rested her head on his arm, his hand leaving hers to come up and wrap itself around her back.
They stalked forwards as sparks streamed around them, as fire soared and as bits of rubble and debris broke apart and fell around them. They held their arms out and the Host linked their arms around them. The Doctor snapped his fingers and the Host fly upwards, gaining speed. With arms raised, they managed to break through the floor of the bridge, causing Frame to shout.
Rhea and the Doctor pushed themselves out of the hole, ignoring their sore limbs and the rubble that surrounded them.
"Ah! Midshipman Frame, at last!" The Doctor said.
"But the Host-" Frame protested.
"Controller dead, they revert to the next highest authority. And that's me!
"There's nothing we can do, there's no power, the ship's gonna fall." Frame stuttered.
"What's your first name?" The Doctor asked Frame.
"Alonso."
The Doctor's eyes widened. Rhea rolled her eyes, this must be another one of his 'things'.
"You're kidding me." The Doctor whispered loudly.
Frame's eyebrows furrowed. "What…"
"There's something else I've always wanted to say. Allons-y, Alonso!" The Doctor shouted, gripping the wheel and spinning it, as the whole room lurched.
Oh, dear god. Rhea thought. What was she going to do with him?
Rhea grasped something sturdy as the Titanic titled downwards at a steep angle, suspended for a moment, and then dropping, hurtling towards the Earth.
"Are you insane?" Rhea screamed at the Doctor as she was rocked around.
"You tell me. You're the psychologist." The Doctor said to her.
Wind blasted through the whole room. The Doctor was at the wheel, like a maniac, as he spun it. Rhea could barely hear anything over the roaring in her ears but she saw Midshipman Frame holding onto the computer banks for dear life and she saw his mouth open in a shout.
A fierce red light flared up, filling the room as the Titanic plummeted through the upper atmosphere, burning, with the hull growing red.
The Doctor was at the wheel, yelling with exertion as he spun it, the tilt of the room lessening a fraction. An alarm rang through the bridge and the Doctor used his foot to check. The computer showed that the impact zone was a particular spot in London, marked with a red DANGER sign. The Doctor held the wheel with one hand and grabbed an old-fashioned, Bakelite phone receiver off the computer bank.
"Hell, yes, um…could you get me Buckingham Palace?" The Doctor shouted into the phone.
"Listen to me, Security Code 771, now get out of there!" He yelled.
The Titanic levelled and levelled and levelled, but still raced downwards. The Doctor was heaving at the wheel, teeth gritted, as if he were physically pulling the Titanic upwards, the room slowly levelling towards the horizontal.
The Doctor started grinning and laughing madly once he realised that the room was now level and the Titanic was beginning to tilt upwards. Midshipman Frame slumped against the back wall, shattered, recovering. Rhea sank to her knees in exhaustion, her head resting on the wall as well. The Doctor slid down to sit with them.
"Used the heat of re-entry to fire up the Secondary Storm Drive. Unsinkable. That's me." The Doctor said.
"Oh, I could think of a few other words to describe you." Rhea murmured her head hanging.
"We made it." Frame said, smiling.
Rhea pursed her lips. "Not all of us." She said, hoarsely.
There was a pause. Then suddenly, the Doctor jumped up.
"Teleport! She was wearing a teleport!" The Doctor shouted.
And he grabbed Rhea's hand, yanked her up, and started running.
They ran into the same room where Rickston and Mr Copper were and the Doctor held his hand out.
"Rickston! Sonic!"
Rickston threw it and he caught it.
"Mr Copper, the teleports, have they got emergency settings?" The Doctor asked.
"She fell, Mr Copper. She fell." Rhea whispered.
"What's the emergency code?" The Doctor asked, hurriedly.
"Let me…" Mr Copper ran to the plinth and helped the Doctor, both frantic.
Frame entered, still clutching his side in pain.
"What the hell are you doing..?" Frame asked.
Rhea went over to him and grabbed him by the arm and pushed him to sit down. She went over to the blood-stained area and ripped open his white shirt to expose the wound.
The bullet hadn't got in deep but she felt his back to make sure it hadn't gone through. She tore off another strip of his shirt and grabbed a nearby piece of cloth on the floor. She balled up his torn shirt and pressed it over the wound and then tied the cloth around him, so that constant pressure would be applied.
"Just keep holding that there." Rhea whispered to Frame and went back to join the Doctor.
"We can bring her back!" The Doctor shouted.
"If a passenger has an accident, on shore leave - if they're still wearing their teleport, their molecules are automatically suspended and held in stasis... if we can just trigger the shift..." Mr Copper explained.
"There!" The Doctor shouted, pointing.
And they looked, in awe, at the centre of the room, where Astrid appeared with a beautiful blue star-like shimmer. She just stood still, her voice faint and troubled.
"…I'm falling." She said.
"She looks like a ghost." Rhea whispered.
The Doctor was whipping out wires and using his sonic screwdriver like crazy, but Astrid remained transparent.
"…I keep falling." Astrid repeated.
"...feedback the molecule grid...boost it with the restoration matrix, no, no, no! Need more phase containment..." The Doctor was muttering.
"Doctor…" Mr Copper began quietly and kindly.
"No, if I can just link up the surface suspension.."
"Doctor, she's gone." Rhea murmured.
"I just need to override the safety, I can do this, I can do it-" He said, earnestly, looking at Rhea.
"Doctor. Let her go." Mr Copper said.
"I can do anything!" The Doctor shouted. And he kicked the plinth savagely. And then stopped and looked across the room.
Astrid began to fade a little. "…stop me falling."
"There's not enough left, the system was too damaged. She's just atoms, Doctor. An echo, with the ghost of consciousness. She's stardust." Mr Copper said.
The Doctor and Rhea walked forwards. "Astrid Peth. Citizen of Sto. The woman who looked up at the stars and dreamt of travelling."
Rhea swallowed hard and watched as the Doctor pulled out his sonic, somehow knowing what he was about to do.
He pointed it at the porthole on the wall. "Now you can travel forever."
The porthole opened.
"You're not falling, Astrid. You're flying." Rhea said, smiling sadly.
Astrid dissolved and became a shimmer of blue light, like tiny little stars, blowing gently across the room, towards the porthole.
The Doctor, Rickston and Mr Copper just stood there, recovering, stunned. Rhea and Midshipman Frame entered, having left to apply proper bandages to Frame's wound and to alert the rescue ships to come collect them.
"I've sent the SOS. Rescue ships should be here within twenty minutes. And they're digging out the records on Max Capricorn, should be quite a story." Frame told them.
"They'll want to talk to all of us, I suppose..?" Mr Copper said.
"Should think so, yeah. Is there any of that water left?" Frame asked.
Rhea walked over to the Doctor, taking his hand in hers.
Mr Copper came back to them. "I think one or two inconvenient truths might come to light. Still. My own fault. And ten years in jail is better than dying."
"Doctor…" Slade said, walking over to them. "I never said... Thank you." He said, tearfully, broken and honest. He suddenly hugged the Doctor and Rhea tight.
When he pulled away, Rhea could see a glint of the old Slade back in his eyes.
"Funny thing is, I said Max Capricorn was falling apart. Just before the crash, I sold all my shares. Transferred them to his rivals." He smiled. "It's made me rich. How about that?"
Slade walked away, on his vone. "Salvain? Yeah, I know, just listen - check the Stock One Thousand, tell me the price on Majestic Cruises…"
The Doctor and Rhea just stared at him. Anger rose in Rhea and she had the urge to run over and punch the guy in his face, but she stood still.
"Of all the people to survive. He's not the one you would have chosen, is he?" There was no reply. "But if you could choose, Doctor. If you could decide who lives and who dies. That would make you a monster." Mr Copper said, quietly and wisely.
The Doctor looked at him and smiled.
"Mr Copper." He said, handing him a teleport bracelet. "I think you deserve this."
Mr Copper realised what he means, putting on the bracelet, as the Doctor got two more bracelets, giving one to Rhea, and they both put theirs on their wrist.
Then, the Doctor looked across the room to where Frame was standing. Frame stood tall and saluted the Doctor and Rhea.
They saluted back and then, there was a glow and the three of them disappeared.
They trudged across the barren, empty hillside, the Doctor, Rhea and Mr Copper.
"...so, Great Britain is part of Yooropee, and just across the British Channel, you've got Great France and Great Germany..." Mr Copper said.
"No, just France and Germany, only Britain is great." The Doctor corrected him.
Rhea elbowed him in the side. He had given her his tuxedo jacket to swallow her small frame, coming up to the tops of her thighs, to protect her from the cold. "Hey, watch it, alien boy."
"And they're all at war with the continent of Hamerica?" Mr Copper asked.
"America." Rhea corrected.
"No, well, not yet, you could argue that one..." Rhea rolled her eyes and she caught sight of the TARDIS. "There she is!" The Doctor exclaimed with glee.
The Doctor patted the blue box, wiping snow off. They stood on the brow of the hill and they could see the lights of the distant city.
"Survive anything, huh?" Rhea said, stroking the blue walls with a smile.
"Between you and me, I don't even think this is proper snow, I suspect it's the ballast from the Titanic's salvage, entering the atmosphere." Mr Copper said.
Rhea sighed. "Way to ruin the mood!" She complained.
"Yeah. One of these days, it might just snow for real." The Doctor said.
"So! I take it, you'll be going?" Mr Copper said to them both.
"The open sky." The Doctor said, wistfully.
"And…what about me?" Mr Copper said, hesitatingly.
"I travel with Rhea only." He looked down at her at his side. "It's best that way."
She gave him a bright smile, all teeth.
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Mr Copper asked.
"Give me that credit card." The Doctor stated.
Mr Copper handed it over. The Doctor studied it and then used his sonic screwdriver on it.
"It's only petty cash. Spending money. All done by computer, I didn't really know the currency, I thought a million might cover it."
Rhea's eyes widened.
"A million pounds?" She asked. At his nod, she turned to the Doctor. "I'm not good with currency exchange, but a million pounds is a lot, yeah?"
The Doctor smiled. "Mr Copper, a million pounds is worth fifty million credits." He said, slowly.
Mr Copper's eyes practically bugged out. "How much?!"
"We-ell," He drawled, scratching the back of his neck. "Fifty million and fifty six."
"…I've got money." Mr Copper said, stunned.
"Yes you have!" The Doctor said.
And Mr Copper took the card, incredulously. He stood back, exultant, laughing to the skies.
"Oh my word. Oh my vot. Oh my goodness me, yee hah!" He roared to the sky.
"It's all yours. Planet Earth. Now that's a retirement plan. Just you be careful, though!" The Doctor said that last part as a warning.
"I will, I will, oh I will!"
"No interfering. I don't want any trouble. Just... have a nice life."
"I can have a house! A proper house! With a garden! And a door! Oh, Doctor, Miss Rhea! I'll make you proud!" Mr Copper exclaimed with tears in his eyes.
He grabbed the Doctor, kissed him on the cheek, and pulled Rhea in for a hug and she embraced him back warmly. He ran off, into the snow, towards the city.
"I can have a kitchen! With chairs! And windows! And... plates!" He yelled.
Rhea frowned. "Where are you going?" Rhea called.
"No idea!"
"Nor me." The Doctor murmured. He turned to the TARDIS, pulling out his key.
They heard Mr Copper's voice and they turned back around. "Oh, and Doctor, Miss Rhea!" He paused. "I won't forget her."
Rhea watched as the Doctor just nodded and looked up. "Merry Christmas, Mr Copper." The Doctor called out and pulled her into the TARDIS alongside him.
They strode into the TARDIS and Rhea pulled off his dinner jacket and placed it on one of the large corals that sprung from the floor.
"Is life with you always like this?" Rhea asked, going over to him and leaning on the console.
"A bit." He said, sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck. She looked at him, fondly, his adorably quirky nature worming its way into her heart.
"I bet more than just a bit."
"Are you all right, Rhea?" The Doctor asked.
Rhea looked at him, shocked at such a direct question. She exhaled. "I'm not used to the whole X-Files thing yet, but I suppose I'll have to get used to it." She ran her tongue over her lips, which stung from the numerous bites she had given it over the course of the night. "…but I realise that you meant specifically tonight and not generally the whole alien thing."
At his nod, she continued. "I'm not good at this." She looked him straight in the eye. "I'm not the kind of girl who spills her guts about her feelings to anyone. I haven't been for a long time. I-" She broke off, realising that, once again, she was telling him too much. "Astrid's death hit me hard…not just because she was someone who died to save us," She ran her hands through her hair, bunching them up. "Because she symbolised everything I was at 16-17, bright, hopeful, caring…but I can't be that girl anymore…and I'm spilling my guts again."
She looked away from him. She didn't want to see the look in his eyes. This man, this terrifying, amazing man, who knew entirely too much about her already. She didn't want to add fuel to the fire. She knew that some time in her future, she would tell him all of those things that were the stuff of her nightmares, but not now. She would deal with that and what he meant to her, if he was able to get that out of her, later. Not now.
She turned back once she had been able to compose herself. "Time Lord, huh? Are there many of you out there?" She asked, her voice hoarse, trying desperately to change the subject.
That same look that had crawled into his eyes when she had asked about his home planet on the Titanic came back. She suddenly wondered if she had overstepped her bounds. She should have more tact than this. She was good at broaching areas that people didn't want to talk about. It was in her job description. She drew back, quickly.
"I'm sorry if I've offended you." She murmured and meant it wholeheartedly. She wasn't trying to be spiteful for him pushing her buttons. She had honestly been curious.
"No." He said, suddenly. "You don't know yet. You should know."
She frowned. "Know what?"
"There was a war." He looked at the console hard. "We all lost." He gripped the edges of the console tightly.
"Is that what you meant by 'homeless'?" Rhea asked, her mind going back to when the Doctor said the Earth had been there for him.
"I'm the only thing that remains of Gallifrey." He said the sentence as if he couldn't believe himself and it made her ache for him even more, if that were possible. "We-el, there's you." He said, looking at Rhea with the same expression he had gifted her with on the ballroom floor.
"There's me." She intoned, guessing that this was the point where she chipped in for the long haul. She leaned her head and rested it against his shoulder in a show of comfort and genuine emotion.
She moved slightly over and covered one of his fists with her own, squeezing tightly. He looked at her hand and his eyes dragged up her body till they meet her green ones. They just looked at each other. Nothing else was said. Maybe they didn't need to be.
A/N: So, I hope you liked this chapter. It got a bit tedious in the middle, but I pushed through it, so I hope you liked my effort. I tried to make it seem that the Doctor was only so passionate about bringing Astrid back because it would mean so much to Rhea, and because she had died saving them.
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