The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 22
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, if I did, Idris would have stayed permanently and she and the Doctor would be a total power couple.
A/N: Here's the second chapter for The Fires of Pompeii. I was originally going to do one chapter for this episode but it kept writing itself until it was over 12000 words, so I just split it into two. And you got to me a 100 reviews! YES! As promised, a snippet for my TimeLady!OC fanfic is at the bottom of the chapter. Enjoy and let me know what you think.
Notes on Reviews:
Mionerocks: I'm glad you liked the chapter! Hope you like this one as well
YingWhiteyWolf: I know the predictions did seem a bit melodramatic, but Rhea's role in Season 4's finale is sort of complicated, that's why I felt the need to do that. I had a look at a few other versions of this chapter, you know, with OCs and Rose included, and the predictions for them have been quite extensive. That prediction was really a two-part prediction for Rhea. Only the second part will happen in Journey's End, the other one will happen in a different episode, I can't tell you yet My Indian knowledge comes from the fact that I am Indian, myself, but to be honest, a lot of research as I go along. A sari is an Indian garment that wraps around a woman's waist (it's tucked into a petticoat) and then draped over the shoulder. I know, I know, I did promise the Eleventh Doctor soon, and you will get it. It should be Chapter 25, I will be doing an episode with the Eleventh Doctor and Rhea will get to meet Amy and Rory.
Tooclosefortety: Rhea will be on the Doctor's side in The Fires of Pompeii. Actually, that will be a point of contention between the two.
Nights Eternal Dream: A part of me didn't like Donna in this episode either, because Donna didn't ask him to explain what would happen if they tried to change a fixed point in time, but the Doctor didn't tell her either when he saw that she was upset by letting 20000 people die, so, in my opinion, I didn't like the way either of them acted in the first part. I did like the sense of companionship they formed at the end. Donna was willing to sacrifice herself for Pompeii and that was important for the Doctor, and she did change his mind in the end. I'm not really fussed about telling people things about me. If your actually interested, then I don't mind saying (unless, of course, you want to know things like my address and phone number). I'm going to be studying Law in university. I'm both absolutely terrified and ecstatic to do it. I think it'll be interesting but really heavy, so I'm afraid of how often I'll be able to update this story, but there's a note about that in the end-of-chapter notes.
I'mtakingallyoudownwithme: I'm so glad you like the story. And I'm happy that my chapter made you feel better. Hangovers must suck. Wow, I can't believe you think this is the best you've ever read. That's one of the nicest compliments I've ever gotten. And I am hoping you're an Aussie as well. It's nice to know I get bonus points for that. Yeah, I do get quite a bit of holidays, but my week is fairly empty, so I will have some spare time in the first few weeks, but after that, I'm not so sure.
Warnings: Swearing
The Fires of Pompeii: City of Dust
"They're footsteps." The Doctor murmured.
"It can't be." Quintus shook his head.
"Footsteps underground." The Doctor said, staring at the underground with amazement.
"What is it? What is it?" Quintus said, panicking.
The Doctor turned Quintus around, forcibly, and they continued running. As they passed vents, steam blew up like geysers.
The Doctor and Quintus ran back inside Caecilius' villa. "Caecilius! All of you, get out!" The Doctor shouted at Metella and Caecilius, who were gathered in the main room.
"Doctor, what is it?" Rhea asked, coming into the room.
The Doctor looked at her, grimly, gripping her arms tightly. "I think we're being followed."
Suddenly, the grill covering the hypocaust was flung into the air.
"Just get out!" The Doctor shouted, trying to herd them out the door.
The ground beneath the hypocaust cracked and everyone could hear a loud growling. Everyone stood still. A massive creature made of magma and stone forced its way through the crack.
"Oh, my god." Donna whispered.
"The gods are with us." Evelina sobbed.
"Fuck." Rhea breathed. It's like a burning Transformer.
"Water! We need water! Quintus, all of you, get water! Donna! Rhea!" The Doctor shouted, moving forward so that he stood in between Caecilius' family and the creature.
Rhea, Donna, Quintus and one of the servants ran out of the room. One of the servants towards the creature.
"Blessed are we to see the gods." He said, nervously.
The creature blew out a breath of fire and the servant was turned to ash. The Doctor approached, hesitatingly, hands out in a surrender.
"Talk to me! That's all I want! Talk to me. Tell me who you are. Don't hurt these people." The Doctor pleaded.
Rhea and Donna brought bag jugs full of water, when Rhea was struck from behind with something hard, sending her to the floor, unconscious. Donna was looking at her with alarm, when red-robed women silenced her by covering her mouth with their hands and dragging both women off.
"Talk to me. I'm the Doctor. Tell me who you are." The Doctor repeated.
The creature prepared to breathe on the Doctor just as Quintus and the servant returned with urns. Quintus dipped the urn in the pool, slowly.
"Doctor!" Quintus shouted and the Doctor grabbed the urn as well.
The Doctor and Quintus threw the water at the creature and it seemed to freeze before falling and crumbling to pieces.
"What was it?" Caecilius asked, softly, terrified.
"Carapace of stone...held together by internal magma. Not too difficult to stop. But I reckon that's just a foot soldier."
"Doctor...or whatever your name is...you bring bad luck in this house." Metella hissed, glaring at him.
The Doctor gave her a quick look. "I thought your son was brilliant. Aren't you going to thank him?" Quintus looked at him, amazed that he had actually said something.
Metella's face softened and she reached out to hug her son. Caecilius approached as well, running his hand through his son's hair, affectionately.
"Still…" The Doctor shrugged. "Guess there are aliens at work in Pompeii and it's a good thing we stayed. Donna!" He turned around and saw neither of the two women he had come with. "Rhea? Rhea!"
"You have got to be kidding me." Donna said, as the two women were tied down to a sacrificial altar, while two red-robed women stood above them, holding identical daggers over their bodies.
"You're telling me, Red." Rhea sighed, glaring at the woman holding the knife over her body.
"The false prophets will surrender both their blood and their breath." The women intoned.
"I'll surrender you in a minute. Don't you dare!" Donna shouted.
"Let me out of these ropes and we'll see who surrenders, you twisted bitch!" Rhea spat, thrashing in her restraints."
"You will be silent!" The women snapped at them.
"God, what is this, The fucking Shining!" Rhea groaned.
"You might have eyes on the back of your hands but you'll have eyes in the back of your head by the time I finish with you! Let me...go!" Donna shouted.
"This prattling will cease...forever." The women raised the daggers, about to bury them into their chests.
"Oh, that'll be the day." The Doctor mused, leaning against a pillar.
Rhea looked over and glared at him. "Hey, 007, nice of you to show up." She said, sarcastically.
"No man is allowed to enter the Temple of Sybil." The woman, who was holding the dagger above Donna's body, hissed.
"Oh, that's all right, just us girls." The Doctor waved. He started to walk towards them. "Do you know, we met the Sibyl once." The Doctor ignored Rhea's growl of "spoilers" and continued. "Hell of a woman. Blimey, she could dance a tarantella. Truth be told, I think she had a bit of a thing for me. I said it would never last. Rhea would just shoot her. She said, "I know". Well, she would." He remarked. He stopped in front of the altar. "You all right there?" He asked, looking at Donna and Rhea.
"Oh, never better." Donna said, sarcastically.
"Honey, while I am a total fan of bondage, I'd rather it be you tying me down and not the rejects from the Ya-Ya Sisterhood!" Rhea growled, struggling in the restraints.
"I like the togas." The Doctor said to Rhea and Donna, but specifically eyeing Rhea's one, flushing a little after her comment about the restraints. Rhea and ropes, must try that out sometime…
"Thank you. And the ropes?" Donna asked, acidly.
"Eh, not so much."
"Get. Us. Out. Of. Here." Rhea said, slowly and dangerously.
The Doctor rolled his eyes and used his sonic screwdriver on the ropes, loosening them so that the two women could get out.
"What magic is this?" One of the priestesses whispered, staring at the screwdriver in the Doctor's hand.
He flipped the sonic screwdriver and put it away. "Let me tell you about the Sibyl...the founder of this religion. She would be ashamed of you. All her wisdom and insight turned sour. Is that how you spread the word, eh? On the blade of a knife?" The Doctor asked, mockingly.
"Yes...a knife that now welcomes you!" The priestess screeched, raising her knife.
But Rhea was too quick for her.
She grabbed the priestess' wrist with both of her hands and twisted it to the left and pushed down. The heel of her foot came down in a graceful arch and slammed into the priestess' back, sending her to the floor with a scream. Rhea pushed her arm forward, breaking the priestess' arm and pressing the knife against the priestess' back. The priestess dropped the knife with a scream of pain and Rhea let the woman go, sobbing on the floor. She picked up the curved dagger and threw it away, out of anyone's reach.
"Try and hurt either of them again and this will be less Charmed and more Sorority Row." Rhea snarled.
"What the bloody hell was that?" Donna asked. Rhea turned on her feet and saw the shocked and admiring look on her face.
She sighed. "That was a bit of Krav Maga and Aikido." She shrugged. "I improvised."
The Doctor ran a hand through his hair, surprised by the viciousness in her attack against the priestess. "You have to stop doing that." He warned Rhea.
She gave him a withering glare. "You stop getting soothsayers trying to stab you and policemen in the 1950s from punching you, and then I'll think about it." She said, patting him on the cheek, affectionately.
"Can you teach me how to do that?" Donna asked her, pointing at the priestess.
Rhea shrugged. "Sure."
"Show me this man and woman." A raspy voice echoed through the hall from behind a curtain.
They all turned towards the curtain and everyone except for the Doctor, Rhea and Donna kneeled.
"High Priestess, the stranger would defy us!" A priestess protested.
"Let me see. These ones are different. They carry starlight in his wake." The high priestess said, hoarsely.
The Doctor, Rhea and Donna approached the curtain, slowly.
"Ah, very perceptive. Where do these words of wisdom come from?" The Doctor asked.
"The gods whisper to me."
"Oh, they've done far more than that. Ah, might I beg audience, look upon the High Priestess?" The Doctor asked.
The curtains parted and Rhea swore.
Donna gasped. "Oh my God! What's happened to you?"
The High Priestess sat upon a bed, her body nearly converted completely to stone.
"The heavens have blessed me." The High Priestess said.
Rhea rolled her eyes. "You look like one of Medusa's victims." She said, bluntly.
The Doctor levelled her with a glare, which she ignored. "If I might..." The Doctor motioned that he would like to move closer.
"Well, aren't you a diplomatic one." Rhea muttered under her breath.
The High Priestess raised her arm and the Doctor kneeled and touched it. "Does it hurt?"
"It is necessary."
"Who told you that?"
"The voices." She rasped.
"Is that what's happening to Evelina?" Donna asked and then turned to the other sisters. "Is this what's gonna happen to all of you?"
A priestess approached, the sleeve of her red robe pulled back. "The blessings are manifold."
Rhea touched the priestess' arm. "It's stone."
"Exactly." The Doctor said, standing and walking back over to them. "The people of Pompeii are turning to stone before the volcano erupts. But why?"
"This word...this image in your mind, this "volcano", what is that?" The High Priestess asked.
"More to the point, why don't you know about it? Who are you?" The Doctor asked.
"High Priestess of the Sibylline."
"No, no, no, no. I'm talking to the creature inside you. The thing that's seeding itself into a human body, in the dust in the lungs...taking over the flesh and turning it into...what?"
"Your knowledge is impossible."
"Oh, but you can read my mind. You know it's not. I demand you tell me who you are!" The Doctor roared.
"We...are...awakening!" The High Priestess said, hoarsely, her voice changing into more like an echo.
"Okay, this is less like Clash of the Titans and more like The fucking Exorcist!" Rhea hissed at the Doctor, gripping his hand tightly, her skin crawling when she heard the rasp of the High Priestess. "I bet if we sprinkled holy water on her, she'd burn."
"The voice of the gods!" The priestess shouted.
"Words of wisdom, words of power. Words of wisdom, words of power." The Sibylline sisters chanted.
"Name yourself! Planet of origin, galactic coordinates, species designation according to the universal ratification of the Shadow Proclamation." The Doctor ordered.
"We...are...rising!" The High Priestess echoed.
"Tell me your name!" The Doctor growled.
The High Priestess threw back her hood. "Pyrovile!"
"Pyrovile. Pyrovile." The sisters chanted.
"What's a Pyrovile?" Donna asked.
"Well, that's a Pyrovile...growing inside her. She's at the halfway stage." The Doctor explained.
"And that turns into?" Rhea turned to the Doctor.
"That thing in the villa, that was an adult Pyrovile."
"And the breath of a Pyrovile will incinerate you, Doctor." The High Priestess said.
"I warn you...We're armed." The Doctor pulled out a clear yellow pistol and Rhea parted the skirt of her toga at the side and pulled her blaster out of the holster she had strapped to her thigh. "Donna, get that grille open."
"What are...?" Donna trailed off, looking at both of them with shock.
Rhea narrowed her eyes at the gun in the Doctor's eyes, recognising it as a water gun. She resisted the urge to laugh, and instead wondered what the Doctor was planning to do with it.
"Just…" He jerked back his head and Donna moved over to the hypocaust. "What are the Pyrovile doing here?"
"We fell from the heavens. We fell so far and so fast we were rendered into dust."
"Right. Creatures of stone shatter on impact. When was that, 17 years ago?" The Doctor asked.
"We have slept beneath for thousands of years."
"Okay, so 17 years ago woke you up and now you're using human bodies to reconstitute yourself, but why the psychic powers?"
"We opened their minds and found such gifts."
"Yeah, okay, fine. You force yourself inside a human brain, use the latent psychic talent to bond. I get that. I get that. Yeah, but... seeing the future, that is way beyond psychic, you can see through time. Where does the gift of prophecy come from?" The Doctor asked.
The High Priestess moaned.
"I got it!" Donna said from her position at the grill.
"Go down." Rhea ordered.
Rhea and the Doctor moved towards Donna's reaction, their guns pointed at the High Priestess and the sisters.
"What, down there?" Donna asked, incredulously.
"Yes, down there! Why can't this lot predict the volcano? Why is it being hidden?" The Doctor demanded.
"Sisters, I see into his mind. The weapon is harmless." One of the priestesses told the others.
"Mine isn't." Rhea raised the gun but the Doctor shoved her arm down.
"Yeah, but it's got a sting!" The Doctor said, pulling the trigger of the water gun, which shot water at the High Priestess, making her scream in pain as she smoked. "Get down there!" Rhea and Donna dropped down through the opening and the Doctor followed.
"You fought her off with a water pistol. I bloody love you." Donna crowed, once they were inside the tunnels of the volcano.
Rhea laughed. "I was right. I said she'd burn when you poured water all over her." She paused. "Does this mean she's a demon?"
The Doctor got up. "This way." He pointed.
"Where are we going now?" Donna asked.
The Doctor looked back. "Into the volcano."
"I'll kill you for this." Rhea told the Doctor, making him grin at her.
"No way." Donna said.
"Yes way." The Doctor twirled the pistol around a finger. "Appian way."
"Don't you just hate him sometimes?" Rhea muttered to Donna as they followed him.
The Doctor, Rhea and Donna walked through the tunnels towards Vesuvius.
"But if it's aliens setting off the volcano, doesn't that make it all right? For you to stop it?" Donna asked.
The Doctor shook his head. "Still part of history."
"Well, I'm history too. You saved me in 2008. You saved us all. Why is that different?"
"Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed."
Donna frowned. "How do you know which is which?"
The Doctor stopped, forcing the other two to stop as well.
"Because that's how I see the universe." The Doctor said, quietly. "Every waking second, I can see what is, what was...what could be, what must not. That's the burden of the Time Lord, Donna… I'm the only one left." He murmured, the pain in his eyes reflected in his words.
Rhea reached forward and wrapped her arm around his waist, nuzzling her head into his arm. She pressed her lips to the inside of his arm, trying to offer him a tiny bit of comfort, just to make him feel better.
"How many people died?" Donna continued once they started walking on.
"Donna, stop it!" Rhea warned.
"Doctor!" Donna shouted. He stopped, reluctantly, and turned to face her. "How many people died?"
"Twenty thousand." The Doctor said, through gritted teeth.
"Is that what you can see, Doctor? All 20,000? And you think that's all right, do you?" Donna asked.
Suddenly, the screech of one of the Pyrovile echoed through the tunnels.
"They know we're here! Come on." The Doctor growled, directing them forward, ahead of him.
The Doctor, Rhea and Donna arrived in a huge cavern in the volcano.
"It's the heart of Vesuvius." The Doctor murmured, as they watched a few Pyroviles walking around a great sphere, made of rock, in the centre of the cavern. "We're right inside the mountain."
"There's tons of 'em." Donna breathed.
The Doctor eyed the sphere and pulled out a small, collapsible telescope. "What's that thing?"
Rhea swallowed hard and looked back, hearing the vibrations from the ground grow closer. "I think you'd better hurry up and think of something, 'cause I think Optimus Prime's heading our way."
The Doctor could see the interior of a ship on the side of the cavern. "That's how they arrived...or what's left of it. Escape pod? Prison ship?" He paused. "Gene bank?" He collapsed his telescope.
"But why do they need a volcano? Maybe...it erupts and they launch themselves back in space or something." Donna mused.
"No, it's worse than that." The Doctor said.
Rhea snorted. "How could it be worse?" She heard a Pyrovile roar. "Doctor, it's getting closer."
"Heathens!" They heard a male voice shout and looked up to see Lucius standing up in a higher platform in the cavern. "Defilers! They would desecrate your temple, my lord gods!" He shouted.
"Oh, that's just wonderful." Rhea said, sarcastically, before the Doctor grabbed her and Donna's hand and pulled them along, shouting "Come on!"
They ran across the cavern floor, towards the Pyrovilians.
"We can't go in!" Donna protested.
"We can't go back." The Doctor countered.
Rhea and Donna held the skirts of their dresses over their ankles as they ran forward.
"Crush them! Burn them!" Lucius roared.
The Doctor, Rhea and Donna were halted as one of the Pyrovilians rose in front of them. The Doctor pulled out the water pistol and pulled the trigger, spraying water all over the Pyrovile, making it writhe in pain as it shied away. The Doctor took a look at Lucius and the three continued to run.
"There is nowhere to run, Doctor...and Daughter of Arabia, Daughter of London."
The Doctor stood in front of the sphere in the middle of the cavern. "Now then, Lucius. My lord Pyrovillian...don't get yourselves in a lava." He looked at the two women who gave him exasperated glances. "In a lava...no?"
"No." Donna and Rhea said, simultaneously.
"No. But if I might beg the wisdom of the gods before we perish...once this new race of creatures is complete...then what?" The Doctor asked.
A Pyrovile stormed towards them, crushing boulders in its path.
"My masters will follow the example of Rome itself, an almighty empire, bestriding the whole of civilization." Lucius said.
"You have all of this technology, why the hell don't you just go home?" Rhea asked him,
"The heaven of Pyrovillia is gone." Lucius said.
The Doctor frowned. "What do you mean "gone"? Where's it gone?" The Doctor asked, incredulously. How could a planet just be gone?
"It was taken. Pyrovillia is lost. But there is heat enough in this world for our new species to rise." Lucius explained.
"Yeah, I should warn you, it's 70% water out there." The Doctor said.
"Water can boil and everything will burn, Doctor!"
The Doctor put his water pistol away. "Then the whole planet is at stake. Thank you, that's all I needed to know. Rhea! Donna!" He pushed them into the pod and followed, using the sonic screwdriver on the door to lock them inside.
"Could we be anymore trapped?" Rhea asked, sarcastically.
The heat increased inside the pod. Donna fanned her face. "Little bit hot."
"See, the energy converted takes the lava, uses the power to create a fusion matrix which wields Pyrovile to human. Now it's complete, they can convert millions."
"Can you fix it? Can't you change it with the controls?" Rhea asked.
"'Course I can, but don't you see? That's why the soothsayers can't see the volcano. There is no volcano. Vesuvius is never going to erupt. The Pyrovile are stealing all its power. They're gonna use it to take over the world."
Rhea's eyes widened as she realised where he was going with this. If the Pyroviles are the reason why Vesuvius won't erupt. If Pompeii has to be destroyed, we have to be the ones… Jesus Christ….
"But you can change it back." Donna continued, not realising the emptiness in Rhea's eyes as her shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Well, I can avert the system, so the volcano will blow them up, yes, but...that's the choice, Donna. It's Pompeii or the world." The Doctor finished, looking at Donna in the eye.
"Oh, my god." Donna whispered, in shock.
"If Pompeii is destroyed, then it's not just history, it's me. I make it happen." The Doctor murmured, still as stone and his eyes flat.
"But the Pyrovile are made of rock. Maybe they can't be blown up." Donna protested.
The Doctor started working on the controls. "Vesuvius explodes with the force of 24 nuclear bombs. Nothing can survive it." He looked at Rhea and Donna. "Certainly not us."
Donna gave him a heartfelt look. "Never mind us."
He looked at Rhea. The last thing he wanted to do was put her in danger. "Don't look at me like that! Who cares about us?" Rhea said, shrugging, her eyes swimming with emotion that only he could understand.
He smiled, sadly, at her and entwined their fingers together.
The Doctor put his hands on the lever, letting go of Rhea's momentarily. He wanted her to spare having this on her conscience. "Push this lever and it's all over. 20,000 people." He whispered.
The Doctor paused, still unwilling to be responsible for so many people's deaths, even if it was at the cost of the planet. Donna put her hands on the lever above is. Rhea exhaled and she wound her fingers in the Doctor's and Donna's hands, the three of them looking at each other before pressing down.
The mountain shook and erupted, sending ash and the pod into the air.
The Doctor, Rhea and Donna frantically tried to grab onto something to hold onto as they were thrown about.
Once the shaking had stopped, the Doctor climbed out of the pod, lifting Rhea and Donna out of the pod as well, all three shaken.
"It was an escape pod." The Doctor said, the surprise clear in his voice.
Rhea looked behind and saw a massive stream of ash heading straight for them. "Never mind that, run!" She shouted, and the Doctor grabbed her hand and Donna's hand and they ran for it.
As the ash began to fall on Pompeii and blotted out the sun, the Doctor, Rhea and Donna rushed into the marketplace, amidst people panicking and screaming as they tried to escape the town. They tried to make their way back to the TARDIS despite all of the chaos and Donna tried to warn whoever would listen.
"Don't! Don't go to the beach! Don't go to the beach, go to the hills! Listen to me! Don't go to the beach, it's not safe! Listen to me...!" Donna shouted, her voice going hoarse by the end of it. She spotted a little boy, crying and alone, and went over to him. "Come here."
But before she could take him in her arms, his mother snatched him away. "Give him to me!"
Donna just stood there, crying and devastated, and Rhea and the Doctor took one of hands each, pulling her away.
"Come on, we have to go!" Rhea shouted over the screaming.
When they arrived back at Caecilius' villa, they saw that the entire family was huddled in one corner.
"Gods save us, Doctor!" Caecilius shouted.
The Doctor stared at them for a minute, an unreadable look on his face, before he pulled Rhea along back to the TARDIS.
"You can't! Doctor, Rhea, you can't!" Donna screamed at them, just standing there.
The Doctor was at the console, Rhea standing motionless next to him, just leaning against the console, her eyes closed. He pressed a button and prepared the TARDIS for dematerialisation.
"You can't just leave them!" Donna shouted, storming into the TARDIS.
The Doctor looked up and glared at her. "Don't you think I've done enough?" He spat. "History's back in place and everyone dies."
"You've got to go back! Doctor, I am telling you, take this thing back!" Donna screamed.
But the Doctor wasn't listening. He released the brake and the TARDIS started to dematerialise. His face showed no emotion, whereas Donna's face was streaked with tears, that were still streaming down her face.
"It's not fair." She whispered.
"No, it's not."
"But your own planet, it burned." Donna said, unable to understand why the Doctor was willing to let this family burn.
The Doctor looked at her. "That's just it. Don't you see, Donna? Can't you understand? If I could go back and save them then I would, but I can't. I can never go back! I can't! I just...can't!" He looked down, pursing his lips, his voice growing softer with weariness and pain. "I can't."
Rhea's hand slid across the console until it was barely touching his. He gratefully took it, clutching onto it like a port in a storm. Rhea didn't take her eyes of the time rotor, not confident that she would be able to control herself if she looked at Donna or the Doctor. Tears didn't glisten in her eyes, but they were pained. Her posture was stiff and uncompromising. She was willing to go along with whatever decision the Doctor made.
"Just someone. Please." Donna begged. "Not the whole town. Just save someone."
The Doctor looked down at Rhea, begging with his eyes for her to say something, to stand by his side as he let more people burn, as she had always done, or for her to argue, take Donna's side, force him to be a human being when she knew he wasn't, show him that sympathetic, trusting, sweet girl he knew she could be when she wanted to, not that hardened, dangerous, elegant woman with ambiguous morals and a seductive mask, who was more likely to shoot someone in the head before letting them hurt someone she cared about. But he knew she wouldn't. She wouldn't change. Not this Rhea. This Rhea would wait and let Pompeii burn, just as he would.
Those were the reasons he was surprised when she turned to stare at him with unreadable, dark green eyes.
"I studied a man named Caecilius in school. He did a lot of business with Egypt after the destruction of Pompeii." She paused. "Maybe Pompeii has to burn, but that doesn't mean everyone has to die." Rhea murmured.
And the Doctor made his decision.
Caecilius and his family huddled together as ash fell, the terror on their faces evident. They heard a groaning and wheezing sound and a bright white light filled the room as the TARDIS materialised. One of the doors opened and the figure of the Doctor could be seen, silhouetted by the white light. He held a hand out.
"Come with me."
Caecilius reached out his hand and grasped the Doctor's.
A cloud of ash and smoke flew over the town like a tsunami. The Doctor, Rhea and Donna, along with Caecilius and his family, watched from a hill overlooking Pompeii.
"It is never forgotten, Caecilius." The Doctor said. "Oh time will pass, men will move on, and stories will fade, but one day...Pompeii will be found again...in thousands of years..."
"And everyone will remember you." Rhea finished, resting a hand on Metella's shoulder.
Donna turned to the grief-stricken young girl. "What about you, Evelina? Can you see anything?"
She shook her head. "The visions have gone."
"The explosion was so powerful, it cracked open a rift in time." The Doctor explained, lightly, as if it were normal to be discussing 'rifts in time'. "Just for a second. That's what gave you the gift of prophecy. It echoed back into the Pyrovillian alternative. But not anymore. You're free."
"But tell me...who are you, Doctor...with your words...and your temple containing such size within?" Metella whispered.
The Doctor smiled, wryly. "Oh, I was never here. Don't tell anyone." He warned.
"The great god Vulcan must be enraged. It's so volcanic. It's like some sort of...volcano." His voice broke off from the extent of his grief. "All those people..." His hands reached out to bring Metella into an embrace.
Rhea looked over and saw Quintus take a step forward and take his sister's hand, offering the girl comfort, as the four watched their home be swallowed by fire and smoke. The Doctor, Rhea and Donna slipped back into the TARDIS, unbeknownst to the others.
"Thank you." Donna said, carefully, after a few moments.
"Yeah." The Doctor paused. "You were right. Sometimes we do need someone. Welcome aboard."
"Yeah." Donna whispered.
They smiled at each other.
Rhea was sitting on her bed, staring at nothing. She looked down at her hands, the ivory-white gun clutched in her hands. She glared at the weapon for a moment, before tossing it away onto the bed, next to her. She stood up, abruptly, and started to pace around the room, her hands running through her black curls, frequently, as she tried to cope with the stress of travelling with the Doctor. Donna had been noticeably upset after they had watched Pompeii burn and had retreated to her room after a cup of tea. Rhea had gagged at the mention of tea. She was a stickler when it came to drinks. She only drank ginger tea, and only when it was made by her grandmother or her father. Her mother was the only one who got her coffee order correct and she was the only one she trusted to get her coffee from Starbucks. She nursed the cup of tea she had made in the kitchen of the TARDIS. She put the cup down on the table and her pacing resumed.
"You stupid bitch." Rhea muttered to herself.
There was a series of knocks on the door and Rhea called out for whoever was on the other side to enter. The Doctor opened the door just a bit, sticking his head through the gap and smiled when he saw her face, a complete contrast to her mood. The Doctor walked into the room and took a seat on the bed, bouncing a little.
"Why did you leave the kitchen?" The Doctor asked, a frown on his handsome face.
She picked up her tea and took a sip, not willing to say anything without something in her body, and it was a little too early for alcohol. "I prefer drinking tea alone." She said, a grim expression on her face.
The frown on the Doctor's face remained, though. "Are you angry at me, Rhea?" He asked, hesitating, dreading the answer.
She smiled, wryly, at him. "Should I be?" Rhea asked, lightly, not willing to give anything away.
The anger began to rise in the Doctor and he tensed. This was so like Rhea. The walls and the stupid, breezy comments that only served for her to widen the distance between them, so she could pull away and put her mask back on. "Rhea, for once in your life, would you give me a straight answer?" He said, sharply.
Rhea's eyes darkened in anger. "Oh, please," She scoffed, her own anger evident in her voice. "You're the fucking king of no-straight-answers." She hissed.
"Why are you angry at me?" The Doctor snapped.
"Because you think I'm a monster!" She shouted.
The Doctor reared back, as if she had slapped him. He had never thought that. Nine hundred years, give or take, of knowing her, of being with her, he had never thought she was a monster. Where the hell did she get that idea from? "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh, don't give me that crap." Rhea snorted. "The way you looked at me after I knocked out that policeman in 1953 or after I broke that soothsayer's arm after she tried to stab you. The fact that I was willing to burn Pompeii along with you." Rhea shook her head. "I don't need a fucking sign to see your disappointment in me." She said, ashamed at how weakly she spoke. I don't need his goddamn approval. I can be as violent as I like. Who the hell is he to look down at me?
The Doctor shook his head and stood up, abruptly, walking over to her, so that there was barely any distance between them. "I never said you were a monster." He growled.
"Oh, but the Rhea you know isn't one, right?" Rhea asked, sarcastically. "She's probably sweet and nice and you can't stand to see the difference, can you?" She asked, mockingly, determined to push his buttons, but it only served to make her angrier. "I asked you on Nari VI and you told me that I wasn't a replacement."
"You aren't!"
"Of course I am!" Rhea snapped and she didn't know why it hurt. "You can't have her, so you're making do with me." She glared at him. Her chest actually ached. "I'm not that kind of girl anymore." She finished, quietly, looking away.
The Doctor let out an exasperated growl and gripped her shoulders tightly, forcibly turning her towards him. "You are not a replacement." He enunciated, slowly, trying his hardest to make sure those words were imprinted in her mind. If this was a different time and a different Rhea, he might have moved his fingers to her temple and actually shown her what he meant, but it was too early in her timeline for that. "You silly, stupid girl, how could you ever be a replacement." He said, earnestly, pulling her closer, so that she was pressed against his body.
"You want a girl I can't be." Rhea said with an intentional hard edge to her voice, determined not to give in, despite how nice his body felt against his. "And that's never going to happen."
"You're never the same." The Doctor explained as sincerely as he possibly could. "Every time you show up, I never know what to expect. You're the only one I've ever met that constantly keeps me on my toes."
Rhea faltered, slightly, hearing no criticism in his words. Well, there goes my theory about being the replacement. She ripped herself away from his grasp and stalked back over to the table, taking a long swig of her drink. "It doesn't matter, you still don't accept me the way I am." She accused. "How else am I supposed to take that?"
"I don't condone violence." He agreed. "But, you, you only act violent when someone you care about is in danger." He said, softly. He smiled at her. "Especially when it's me."
She smacked her lips, unsure of how to proceed now. She could retreat into her warm, safe mask where no one could touch her, especially not this larger-than-life guy who was responsible for an unknown ache in her chest. Oh, great, he's reduced me to quoting 'Holding Out For An Hero'. Or she could buck up, swallow her pride, apologise and smack herself for being so damn maudlin. When have I ever picked the right way?
She swallowed hard. "I don't want to be that girl. The kind of girl that's okay with burning twenty-thousand people without a second thought."
"I wouldn't want you to be that girl, either." The Doctor said, quietly.
She gave him a sad smile.
He walked over, cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips to her forehead for a few seconds. Her eyes closed when she felt his lips on her skin and she rested her hands on his hips. When they broke away, she smiled a bit shyly at him and silently cursed herself for her sentimentality.
In her eyes, feelings made you weak, and being weak got you killed pretty damn quick.
A/N: And there's the end of The Fires of Pompeii. I hoped you like the way I did this chapter. And she's pulling away again. It's like one step forward, two steps back with Rhea. Poor Doctor. I wanted to add a different dynamic between Rhea and the Doctor in this chapter, and it's something that Donna brought up in The Runaway Bride. Rhea is violent, she's quite remorseless sometimes, and a dark side sometimes and that's something that she's made herself to be, she wasn't always like that. And that does conflict with the Doctor's lifestyle, and it will be a point of contention between this Doctor and Rhea. Of course, it will be interesting when we get to The Doctor's Daughter. Rhea did get angry with the Doctor in this chapter. She felt like the Doctor was only using her as a replacement until he got the Rhea he wanted.
And I have some bad news… unfortunately, this will be the last update for a few days, probably around a week. I've only written so much and I want to get ahead, especially since I start university in two weeks. I want to have at least five chapters written ahead, then only will I update. But, don't worry, I'll still be posting some pictures to do with the story on my Tumblr, so go and check it out!
And below is the sneak preview for Bad Moon Rising.
Doctor/OC
The Doctor clenched the edges of the console and then rubbed the tracks of tears on his face away, roughly, with his hands. A cool hand settled on his shoulder and squeezed and he closed his eyes, as the comforting thrum in his mind spread across his whole body. A slender, feminine arm wrapped around his waist and he felt her presence curled into his side.
"She told me she was in love with me." The Doctor said, gruffly.
"I know, I heard." She said, lightly but sympathetically. He wondered if it were a mask. She never used to wear a mask with him. There was a pause. "What did you tell her?"
He abruptly turned so that he was facing her. Fury coursed through him and bile rose in his throat. He gripped her shoulders tight, staring at her unflinching face, intently. Her unflinching, accepting face. He tried to find a small piece of the woman who had trusted him above every person in the universe, known him better than anyone else. His hearts cracked into tiny million pieces and he wondered what had happened between the two of them in the last two years, what he had done to her, to make her doubt what he would have said to Rose on that beach.
If his ninth regeneration was here, he would have been knocked out cold for putting this kind of hesitancy and distrust in her.
"What did you think I would say to her?" The Doctor asked her, his eyes cold and his mouth set in a firm line.
"I don't know." She murmured, looking away from his dark eyes.
"Why not?" He asked, his voice a low growl. "Since when do you not know?" He let out a harsh, brittle laugh. "You know everything, remember? That's why they took you away from me."
His small triumph fell short when he saw the fear and pain in her eyes, desiring with both of his hearts to wipe it away completely. He realised with horror, what he had just said, what he had just thrown in her face. The familiar, all-encompassing need to protect her from anything that might harm her, harm someone who belonged to him, warred and emerged victorious over all other emotions.
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