The Dread of Tomorrow and Yesterday – Chapter 42
A/N: Okay, because I've been a bit lax with the Eleventh Doctor, I thought I'd give you all another one of his episodes. Hope you like a Season 7 episode with the Ponds! I wonder if the Doctor and Rhea will make up.
And I've decided something about updating. I've decided to update this story on Sundays and Dream Weaver will be updated on Wednesdays, that way you all get two updates a week! Which is better than quite a few weeks that I've had this year. So, I'll update this on Sunday and Dream Weaver next Wednesday.
Replies to Reviews:
setsuna1415: Sorry :( No Sarah-Jane just yet, but School's Reunion is coming up, I promise.
grapejuice101: You'll have to wait a little while for more River episodes to see what she meant, I'm afraid.
NicoleR85: With luck, Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords will be the first season finale I get to do. Rhea and the Master will have a very interesting relationship, I promise.
DRWfangirl: I'm so glad you liked it and happy birthday!
Marmalade1512: I'm glad you liked the relationship between Rhea and River and Rhea and the Doctor so much! Hope you like my choice of episode!
lostiesgirl: I wanted the Amy-Doctor kiss to happen when Rhea feels a bit better about the Doctor. I have a great reaction planned for her, don't worry. I don't think I'll be doing a breather episode until after the Doctor and Rhea get together :(
beulah2013: Wow, that was such an amazing review! Thank you so much. I was really interested in writing an OC who's a bit broken because I think it brings out so many possibilities with the Doctor, who's just a bit 'fucked up' himself. Rhea tries to portray herself as strong on the outside, but she is still quite broken on the inside. And some of the things she sees send her back to that mindset. We'll see one such example in the next chapter, which is a doozy, I promise. As for Amy and Rhea. I think that Amy and Rhea will mellow out a bit with the maternal role, because Amy is still close to Rhea's age and I think it would make it awkward in the long run. Maybe early in Season 5 and regarding River, Rhea might take a maternal role, but I thought they'd end up as really good friends. I'm trying to have Rhea form a dynamic with each of the companions. Rose and Clara take the little sister role, Rory's the older brother, Jack's the older brother/best friend, Amy's the best friend, Donna's the older sister/best friend, Martha is the student/little sister/colleague. River is the hardest to classify in my books. She's the romantic interest/kindred soul for Rhea. I find that Rhea and River get each other in a way that not even the Doctor can get Rhea. And the Doctor is like everything all in one for Rhea, she's just beginning to realise that ;)
J: Wow, those were such lovely comments, thanks! I was afraid that I had written Doctor/Rhea/Rose as more than platonic and you frightened me! Yep, Rhea and River just kissed. The shipping moments await. We might even see a threesome in the future, for all you know ;) I don't think it'll be completely unrequited, I think Rhea will almost just as hard for River as she does for the Doctor, but the Doctor just has that extra hold over her. We should see more kisses and more flirting between Rhea and River, I promise, I love writing them too much to stop! I know I'm going really slow with the romance and really heavy with the angst, I'm just trying to make Rhea's journey more believable. I don't like to write love-at-first-sight unless there's already a pre-existing relationship there, which you might see in my Time Lady OC's story. That's why I'm going really slow with Rhea, she's my baby and she still has a long way to go to get there. And no problem with the spelling errors, I'm just happy that you really wanted to review :)
yashendra2797: I'm so glad you like the story! Yes, I am Indian. I thought it would interesting to have a non-white OC in Doctor Who, because there never seems to be one, except for Martha.
Jess Mindfreak: Wow, two days and forty chapters! Thank you so much for your avid interest! I know, Rhea's quite complicated, but I'm glad you like that!
Guest 1: Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it!
Guest 2: Happy 4th of July! Even though I don't celebrate it.
ScrewLogicScrewYou: I love your username, it's epic. And I'm glad you ship River and Rhea, because we'll see more of them in the future, I promise. That's an interesting idea, but I'm still debating whether Rhea will ever say the dreaded three words or not.
Tiara Peterson: Oh, wow, I'm glad you think it's perfection! I'm glad you like Rhea as well.
TheGirlWhoLives: No problem, I love updating ;) He is a bit of a hypocrite when he goes off at people for killing. But, I would like to point this out to you and to anyone else who's reading this reply, he never said anything about Rose destroying half a million Daleks. I hope others see the double standard here. For someone who gets so antsy when others kill, he has absolutely no problem with Rose doing it. I mean, look at the way he treats UNIT and 10.2 and compare it to the way he treats Rose. Even Donna didn't escape his disappointment in The Unicorn and the Wasp, but for some reason, Rose does.
Warnings: Swearing, some sexual innuendo, flirting.
A Town Called Mercy: Cowboys and Aliens
In her agony, she didn't recognise the Doctor yanked her up, lift her into his arms and carry her, bridal style, practically running to the captain's chair and placing her on it. She resisted the urge to dig her nails into her eyes and gouge them out in a sick, twisted urge to relieve her pain. Her skin felt hot and itchy and clammy, , her limbs felt heavy and ached and she felt as if someone were taking sharp steak knives and strategically slicing into her head. Her eyes fell shut, despite all of Rhea's attempts to keep them open, and the bright white light began to rise from her heated skin, enveloping her and momentarily blinding the Doctor and Amy, who simply stared at Rhea in wonder, shock and worry.
And she was gone.
When Rhea opened her eyes, she was standing in the TARDIS, alone. The TARDIS didn't look much different than it had the last time she had been in here. To be honest, she was hoping that the Doctor was out or was on an adventure, so that she wouldn't have to encounter him just yet. She still felt raw from her experience on the Byzantium.
Of course, her luck would have the Doctor stride into the console room just at the moment, bounding down the staircase and up to her, lifting her up into a hug. "Hello, beautiful." He said, sweetly, bending down and kissing her cheek.
She startled, pulling back slightly, and looked at him with wary confusion. "Okay," She cleared her throat. "What's with the touchy-feely shtick?"
The Doctor reeled back, shocked. "What's wrong, Rhea?" He asked, worriedly. He reached down and cupped her cheek in his hand. "Where were you?"
Rhea pulled away, uncomfortable by the affection. "On the Byzantium with Amy and River." She explained, her voice tight, shoving her hands into the pockets of her studded tights, mourning the loss of her black blazer as extra protection.
The Doctor flinched and took a step back. His hands fidgeted and his eyes shifted from side to side, wondering what he should do now. He remembered that day, the things he had said to her. It had been so long ago for him, over two-hundred years, but for her it had just been a couple of hours. He had no idea what to say to her now.
He sighed and pulled her into a hug, trapping her against his chest, even though she struggled. He knew that if she really wanted to get out of his embrace, she would have tossed him to the floor or broken his ribs with her elbow. His Rhea was strong like that. She knew how to get herself out a tough situation if she had to. Of course, the fact that she wasn't doing anything of a martial arts nature made him feel hopeful again. He tightened his arms around her, pressing his lips to the top of her head.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Rhea. Beautiful Rhea. I never meant to hurt your feelings. Really, I didn't." The Doctor said, sincerely.
Rhea shoved herself away from him, shutting down any possible emotion that might have crept onto her face. She stared at him, blankly, and cocked her head. "You don't need to apologise to me." She said, lightly, her voice not betraying anything. "You haven't done anything wrong, honey."
The Doctor pursed his lips and took a step closer to her. "Don't you get it, though? I have. Back in the Secondary Flight Deck with the crack, I made you think that you didn't mean as much to me that your future self did. And that you were a horrible person before you became your future self. And that isn't true."
He stared at her with those sad, soulful, puppy-dog grey-blue eyes and she hated to admit that she did soften. Her hand shook at her side, the urge to wipe that look off his face and soothe him striking her fast and hard. But she gritted her teeth and forced her hand to stay still.
The Doctor hadn't finished his apology though. "I don't care how old you are. I don't care if you met me just a few hours ago. Although, that day is probably going to be hell for me and I'm really not looking forward to it. You might want to help me prepare for it. You're still my favourite psychologist."
Rhea snorted. "I'm probably the only psychologist you know."
"You know that's not what I mean." The Doctor chided, gently. His long fingers touched the bottom of Rhea's chin and tilted her head to look up at him. "You're my reckless, defiant, dangerous, morally sketchy, gun-slinging, beautiful beyond belief Golden Girl, remember? I don't want you any other way. I promise you. And I know you have my back at all times. You're the only one I trust with it." He said, softly, his voice earnest and heartfelt.
Rhea swallowed hard at the sentiment, biting her lip and feeling everything that she had tried to convince herself to believe slowly draining away. And that was bad. Because it left her vulnerable in front of him. She could feel herself start to believe him.
"You're the Marion Ravenwood to my Indiana Jones, yeah? I don't look down on what you've done in your life. How could I? I already know everything, remember?" The Doctor reminded her, quietly. "I wasn't talking about you, not really. It was only about River. River… back then, River used to annoy me a lot. I had only met her once before that and we had some problems. Won't go into much detail 'cause you haven't done it yet, but it wasn't pretty. I was really just looking for a reason to not trust her and I jumped on the Stormcage wagon. I'm glad you were there. You're always there to keep me honest and stop me from, in your words, 'being an insensitive, hypocritical bastard'." The Doctor grumbled the last bit, but then he brightened. "But I do appreciate the meaning behind it. I'm glad River had someone on her side back then." He quietened, his eyes closing in grief, briefly.
"What's wrong?" Rhea asked, quietly, not knowing what to say after hearing the Doctor's speech.
A quickly growing part of her wanted to believe him. Wanted to trust him. And that was the part of her that was slowly starting to have feelings for him as well. But there was already a strong part of her which was dead against any attachments of any kind. She couldn't, no, wouldn't get hurt again. She didn't know if she'd survive it this time. But she cared about him. She cared about him a lot. She trusted him more than she did most people, even more than some members of her family. She wasn't so stupidly in denial that she would disagree with that. An ache began to grow in her chest and spread across her body, the urge to wrap her arms around him and sink into his comforting weight almost making her dizzy with the strength of the suggestion.
She cleared her throat, awkwardly. "Okay, can we end this chick-flick moment now?" She looked everywhere in the vicinity except for the Doctor's sad, soft eyes.
"Have you forgiven me?" The Doctor asked, hopefully, not willing to let it go until she did.
"Yeah, yeah." Rhea muttered in reluctant agreement, but she resolved to be wary around him. She wouldn't keep making the same mistake of getting close to him again and again.
"Great!" The Doctor exclaimed, clapping his hands together and looking like a proud little boy that had managed to wring a bar of chocolate from his mother. He grabbed her hands and twirled her around, tucking her into his side and pressing his lips to the side of her head. "My girl." He muttered, huskily, against her silky black curls.
She reached up and stood on her toes to kiss him on the corner of his mouth. "Thanks for not giving up on me, mystery man." She murmured against his skin, feeling his lips quirk up under hers in a smile. She cleared her throat, awkwardly, once she pulled back. "Where are we now?" Rhea asked, unable to stop the fond smile forming on her lips, as she stared at the bubbling energy of the centuries-old Time Lord. "How old are you?" She asked him, carefully.
"Twelve hundred." The Doctor answered, immediately, winking at her. "Look good, don't I?" He said, proudly, striking a pose as he leaned against the TARDIS.
Rhea rolled her eyes at his vanity and swung around in a circle, having a feeling that he was lying about his age. Now that she looked, correctly, she could see that the TARDIS did look quite different to the one she had just jumped out of. The lights were definitely dimmer in this TARDIS, but most of the structure still stayed the same. The same staircases that led across the entire TARDIS. The same clear glass floor that led to the wiring of the TARDIS. She frowned through the glass, realising that there was a swing tied under the bottom. The console room seemed a bit bigger than usual as well. The TARDIS always looked beautiful, so it wasn't like she could complain about anything. As if hearing the compliment that Rhea had awarded her, the TARDIS glowed under her fingers, practically preening under the praise Rhea had given her.
"Who are you travelling with now?" Rhea asked, carefully. This was a much older Doctor she had met. Getting close to the Doctor that would meet her for the first time. He had just said that he hadn't done that yet. He could be travelling with Clara. She hadn't seen the short brunette in months, not since the Cybermen in that amusement park.
"Oh, the Ponds." The Doctor said, happily, fiddling with one of the controls on the console.
"The… Ponds?" Rhea clarified, confused. "But there's only one Pond, isn't there? And that's Amy."
"No, the Ponds." The Doctor stressed the last name. "Amy and Rory."
"Rory?" Rhea exclaimed. "I don't think I've ever seen you travel with a guy for an extended period of time." She said, slinking up to him and leaning against the console. "Since when are Amy and Rory married? They were dating and then we came back after two years and she never mentioned him on the Byzantium.So, when did all of this happen? And why are they called Ponds, I thought Rory's last name was Williams. Unless, I'm missing a significant change in human history, don't the wives usually take the husband's last name?" She asked. "Not that I'm advocating that, of course, but I did spend like three years of my life as Sunehri Moretti, and I'd hate to think that was all for nothing." She grimaced.
"Do you have to question everything? I can't tell you anything because you haven't done it, so let's just leave it at that." The Doctor grumbled, bopping her on the nose, affectionately.
She pouted. "I hate not knowing things." She whined.
"I know, beautiful. But we need to pick the Ponds up and then we'll go for a trip, okay." The Doctor soothed. "Leadworth, 2013." He said, cheerfully, dancing around the console to pull down levers and twist knobs.
"2013?" Rhea's eyes widened. "Are we honestly that close?"
"Yes, Dr Adwani, we are. Although… are you even a Doctor in 2013?" He asked, teasingly.
Rhea huffed and turned her back on him. "Of course I am." She said, lightly. "I came back to California in 2013, remember? Was a very good girl, finished all of my studies and started work."
The Doctor smirked and bounded over to her, leaning against her until he was pressing her against the console. "I don't think you've ever been a good girl." He growled into her ear.
Rhea sniffed. "I'll have you know I'm always a good girl." She purred, her fingers tugging at his bowtie.
"I find that hard to believe." The Doctor murmured, his hand curling around her hip, dragging her away from the console, momentarily, to flick a switch. "And Leadworth it is!"
Rhea raised an eyebrow. "With your track record, I'd better check… just to be on the safe side." She muttered.
The Doctor's jaw dropped in offence and glared at her. "Oh, yeah, well, you, well…" The Doctor fumbled to come with the words.
She smirked and strode down the stairs, opening the doors with a flourish, only to be greeted by a brightly lit living room. She whistled, stepping out. "Nice place." She commented.
Suddenly, a very familiar, red-headed woman walked into the room, glasses perched on her nose. Rhea frowned, narrowing her eyes at the woman. "You've got to be kidding me." She breathed in wonder, looking at the woman as if she had never before seen her in her life.
Amy's eyes widened when she saw the blue police box suddenly in her living room, but blinked only once, so used to the sight. The most shocking thing about it was a very young Rhea standing in front of the police and box and staring at her in shock. She eyed the brunette, noticing that the clothes she was wearing looked very similar to the ones Rhea had been wearing on the Byzantium. But she couldn't be that young, could she? "Rhea!" She called out and wrapped her arms around the small woman, a usual occurrence every time she saw Rhea nowadays, the times so far and few in between.
Rhea, hesitantly, hugged the woman back, her arms wrapping cautiously around the woman, words escaping her for a few moments. "Now that's what I call surreal." She muttered. "You look old, Legs."
Amy snorted. "This coming from the perpetual twenty-seven-year-old, right?"
"I am not 'perpetual' and you look like you're thirty. How can you be thirty if it's 2013? I wasn't even thirty in 2013." Rhea protested, looking at the Doctor and Amy.
"Well…" The Doctor drawled from behind them. "Time goes differently in the TARDIS, you see. It's all wibbly-wobbly and you don't age the same. Hello, Pond!" The Doctor hugged Amy, tightly, and moved to stand next to Rhea, his hand casually wrapped around her waist as if it had been there the whole time.
"Again, she's a Williams now, isn't she?" Rhea asked, sarcastically. "And speak of the devil…" She trailed off when a familiar man entered the living room, wearing light blue scrubs.
"I'd say this is a surprise, but we were sorta expecting you." Rory said, apologetically, walking over and hugging Rhea, quickly.
"Ooh, you grew buff, Rory Williams. Who knew you had all of that going for you under those scrubs?" Rhea teased, making Rory blush and the Doctor glare at them, jealousy skirting along the edges of his eyes.
"Be careful, Ponds, be very careful with what you tell her, she just came from the Byzantium." The Doctor warned, hastily. He chuckled. "She's practically a baby." He crooned and a pained gasp left his throat when she strategically aimed her elbow into his solar plexus.
"So," Amy looked at the Doctor. "Just before we-"
"No, remember?" The Doctor corrected, quickly. He looked at Rhea, guiltily. The last thing he needed was for Rhea to find that Amy had kissed him after she had jumped. He was already on shaky ground with her, he didn't need anything to jeopardise it. "Before that." He said, pointedly.
"Okay, so where are we off to?" Amy asked.
"Mexico, apparently." Rhea said, chancing a look at the Doctor, who grinned at her. "We're going to go see the Dia de los Muertos."
"In English, please." Amy ordered, impatiently.
Rhea sighed, disappointedly. "What, you never learned Spanish in high school?" She rolled her eyes. "The Day of the Dead. It's a Mexican holiday where they remember friends and family who have died."
"Cheery." Rory said, sarcastically.
"Went there a couple of centuries back." The Doctor mused. "They thought Rhea was the 'Lady of the Dead'. Of course, I think that's bit of an exaggeration. I mean, Rhea's a goddess and she's a bit violent, but I don't think that classifies her as a death goddess. And she's so beautiful. She's hardly a de-fleshed body with a gaping jaw like Mictecacihuatl."
"Wait, what, why am I the 'Lady of the Dead'?" Rhea asked, incredulously. "What about you?"
"You two get into those sorts of situations a lot, don't you?" Rory asked, smirking.
The Doctor had a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, there was a time where this tribe trapped us in a tomb because they thought we were fertility deities and the only way that their crops would grow was if we had-" The flush rose in the Doctor's cheeks and he broke off that thought.
They strode down the sandy road, all of them changed into something more appropriate. Rhea was wearing a strapless red and black striped top that flared out at the waist, blue jeans and orangey-pink sandals. Amy wore a pineapple patterned black dress with a leather jacket on top, while Rory wore a murky green jacket, black shirt and jeans. The Doctor wore his signature tweed jacket and red suspenders and no one gave a second thought to his choice of clothing.
They stopped when they came to the entrance of what seemed to be a town. The Doctor crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at the sign marking the entrance to the town. The population etched into the wood had been crossed out and added to. But what was more interesting was the 'Keep Out' sign nailed to the post.
"'Mercy, 81 residents.'" The Doctor said aloud, reading the sign at the top of the post.
Rhea narrowed her eyes and she, Amy and Rory looked at a line of stones and branches that seemed to create a ring around the entrance, as if a deterrent or a barricade to the town.
"Doctor, come and look at this." Rhea called out. "It's a bunch of stones and lumps of wood."
The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and flashed it at the barricade.
"Well?" Rhea looked at him, curiously. "What is it?"
"A bunch of stones and lumps of wood." The Doctor said, flatly, and stepped over the line, nonchalantly.
"Er," Rory started, uncertainly. "The sign does say, "Keep out."." Rory reminded him.
The Doctor looked at Rory, strangely. "I see keep-out signs as suggestions more than actual orders. Like dry clean only." He said, cheerfully.
Rhea laughed. "Come on then, Sundance."
The Doctor rubbed his hands together before turning and heading into town, his arm around Rhea, while Amy and Rory followed them.
They walked down a sandy street and were stared at, curiously, from behind windows and doorways, like the beginning of a showdown in an old Western movie. A woman clutched her daughter to her, staring at them with terror. Streetlamps lined the road and one sparked as they got close.
"That's not right." The Doctor muttered and scanned the lamp with his sonic screwdriver.
"It's a street lamp." Rory said, raising an eyebrow at the Doctor.
"An electric street lamp about ten years too early." The Doctor explained.
"It's only a few years out." Rory shrugged, not thinking too much of it.
The Doctor glared at him. "That's what you said when you left your phone recharger in Henry VIII's en-suite."
Rhea rounded on him. "You went to see Henry VIII!" She shrieked. "I've been telling you for ages that I wanted to see Anne Boleyn and you go without me?!"
"Ouch!" The Doctor exclaimed when she punched him hard in the arm. "You were there!" He said, defensively. "Don't blame me if you haven't done it yet!"
"Oh." Rhea murmured, softening. "Okay, then." She brightened and ignored the snickers of Amy and Rory and the Doctor's glare at her back.
"Doctor, um…" Amy began.
The Doctor sighed and turned his attention back to the street lamp. "Anachronistic electricity, keep-out signs, aggressive stares... Has someone been peeking at my Christmas list?" He nudged Rory in the side. He took a toothpick from his jacket pocket and put it into his mouth, biting into it.
Rhea rolled her eyes. "Can we keep going, Billy the Kid?"
"Doctor! Rhea!" Amy called out.
They entered a dingy saloon, filled to the brim with people sitting around the tables, drinking, playing poker and chatting, animatedly, while a man played the piano in the background. The Doctor pushed open the bat-wing doors and the music and chattered stop, filling the room with silence as everyone turned to look at the four dressed in strange clothes. The Doctor sauntered over to the bar, unconcerned by the wary looks, and slammed his hand down onto the bar, his voice dropping into a very husky, very fake American accent.
"Tea. But the strong stuff. Leave the bag in." He growled.
Rhea smacked her forehead. She turned to Amy and Rory, shaking her head in dismay, before looking at the Doctor. "All you're missing is the serape, John Wayne."
The Doctor tried to flip the toothpick, but it got stuck in his teeth.
The woman eyed him with wary and concern. "What you doing here, son?" She asked.
The Doctor's eyes widened. "Son?" He laughed. "You can stay."
Behind the four, a man stood from the table, his hands clutching his lapels.
"Sir, might I enquire who you is?" The man asked.
The Doctor turned. "Of course. I am the Doctor, this is..."All of the men in the saloon stood, immediately, some of the chairs knocking to the floor. "No need to stand." He said, hastily, before turning to Rhea, Amy and Rory. "You see that? Manners." Another man walked up behind the Doctor and pulled out a measuring tape, taking the numbers of his shoulders. "Oh, thank you, but I don't need a new suit." The Doctor said, confused.
"I'm the undertaker, sir." The man deadpanned.
"Fuck," Rhea cursed. "It's like we crashed a Clint Eastwood movie." She glared at the Doctor. "What the hell did you do?"
"Nothing." The Doctor said, hurriedly. "I swear. Cross my hearts. Nothing."
A young man stepped forward, narrowing his eyes at the Doctor. "I got a question. Is you an alien?"
"Well, um... Bit personal." The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortably. "It's all relative, isn't it? I mean, I think you're the aliens." He babbled. "But in this context, yes. Yes, I suppose I am." He said, reluctantly.
Suddenly, all of the men rushed at the Doctor, lifting him up onto their shoulders and carrying him outside. They stared to carry him down the street, back the way they had come, with Amy and Rory restrained by others and being dragged out in the direction of the Doctor.
"Don't you dare touch her!" The Doctor snapped, angrily, seeing a man make a move for Rhea.
The minute a man made for and grabbed Rhea's wrist, her other hand, the one not restrained, reached over and applied pressure against his shoulder blade, shoving his body down and to the side of her. She turned, slightly, to the side and her arm that was on his shoulder slid across his neck, her arm applying pressure against his throat. She placed weight on that arm, shoving the man back first. She slammed her foot into the backs of his knees and the man crumpled, his knee dislocated and his larynx bruised. All in all, she felt pleased that she had managed to restrain herself that much and not actually killed him. The rest of the men who were not holding onto the Doctor, Amy or Rory, stared at her in wonder and fear and backed off, their hands held out in front of her in a surrender position. She rolled her eyes and ran after the Doctor, Amy and Rory and the rest of the angry mob.
"A little insulted that you think I'm that easy to drag around, honey." She called out. "I'm only that easy with you." She teased. She glared at the mob. "Put him down." She said, darkly, her eyes promising hell if they didn't do as she asked.
"Don't think we won't kill you." One of the men warned her.
"Rhea!" Amy cried out, worriedly.
"Leave her alone!" Rory snapped, struggling against the men who were holding onto him.
Rhea rolled her eyes. "Still insulted, honey." She smiled, fondly, at Rory. She turned to the man who had threatened her. "Seriously, I just severely injured him in thirty seconds flat," She pointed at the man who had tried to grab her. "You think I'm afraid of you? What makes you think you can kill me?" She asked, cockily, her right hand sliding into the back of her jeans and pulling out her blaster, keeping it by her side just in case.
"Don't worry, Rhea! Everything is completely under control!" The Doctor called out, still hoisted on the shoulders of the men, who were carrying him to the exit of the town.
"Get off me!" Amy shouted, fighting those who were holding her.
Rhea rolled her eyes for what she thought was the tenth time and her fist reared back and sank into Amy's guard with a sickening yet pleasing whack, making him clutch his nose, which was gushing blood, and let go of Amy, who rushed over to Rhea's side. Rhea raised an eyebrow at Rory, who simply nudged himself to the side, slightly, and threw his captors over his shoulder, one by one, the men hitting the ground and cringing into themselves. Rory walked over and joined the two women, his face not betraying the fact that he had managed to significantly wallop both men.
"Wow," Rhea exclaimed, impressed, eyeing Rory with a newfound respect. "Good job, Bruce Lee."
Rory grinned at her. "You taught me that."
"Of course I did." Rhea flirted, smirking at him.
Amy looked displeased. "Do you mind not flirting with my husband?" She asked, jealously.
Rhea winked at her. "Are you getting jealous, 'cause I could totally flirt with you, if you'd like?"
"Guys! Guys! Oh, dear." The Doctor moaned as he was thrown over the line of rocks and wood. "Whoa!" He exclaimed as he stood and cracked his back. "Argh. Ow." He complained.
Rhea walked over and stood next him, checking him over for any injuries he might have. He brushed off any sand that had stuck to his tweed jumper and she patted him on the shoulder, sympathetically. They both turned back to the town and all of the men drew their guns and aimed the barrels at the two. The Doctor pulled Rhea behind him, despite her protests, and raised his hands in surrender and she raised her gun at them as well, her eyes shifting madly as she tried to figure out the best way to escape.
Amy and Rory took a step forward when they saw a big man with a computerised eye and arm that was remade as gun approaching the town, teleporting across short distances.
"He's coming. Oh, God. He's coming." One of the mean moaned.
"Preacher... Say something." A young man urged.
"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done..."
As the preacher continued to pray, the Doctor and Rhea turned around, confusedly, wondering what the townspeople were so afraid of, and paled when they saw the man in question. The Doctor tried to pull himself and Rhea back over the line, but the men refused to lower their weapons. Rhea fired her blaster at the feet of the man in the front, just as another gunshot sounded. Everyone turned to look at the newcomer.
"You. Bow-tie, darlin'." The Doctor and Rhea pointed themselves, mouthing the word 'darlin'' to each other. "Get back across that line." He revealed his 'Marshall' badge. "Now."
The Doctor and Rhea stepped back over the line, both of them clutching onto each other, just as the strange cyborg stopped then disappeared.
"Isaac," The young man at the front protested. "He said he was a doctor... an alien doctor."
Isaac frowned. "That a reason to hand him to his death?"
"But, Isaac, it could be him!"
"You know it ain't." Isaac nodded at Rhea, respectfully. "Ma'am… nice shot." He turned and walked away with a nod to Amy as well. "Ma'am."
The Doctor brushed himself off again and straightened his jacket before he and Rhea followed after Isaac, Amy and Rory taking up the rear.
Isaac walked over to the desk in the Marshall's office as the Doctor, Rhea, Rory and Amy entered.
"What was that outside?" The Doctor asked, worriedly.
Isaac sat on the corner of the desk, staring at them, flatly. "The Gunslinger. Showed up three weeks back. We've been prisoners ever since. You see that borderline, stretching round the town? Woke up one morning, there it was. Nothing gets past it, in or out. No supply wagons, no reinforcements. Pretty soon, the whole town's going to starve to death."
"But…" Rory began, confused. "He let us in."
Isaac shrugged. "You ain't carrying any food, just three more mouths to feed. We'll all die even sooner now."
Rhea frowned. "What if someone does cross the line?" She asked, suspiciously.
Isaac tossed the Doctor a Stetson and he caught it with one hand.
"Ah, well..." The Doctor fingered the bullet hole in the middle of the hat. "He wasn't a very good shot then."
"He was aiming for the hat." Isaac said.
The Doctor frowned. "He shoots people's hats?!"
Rhea exhaled in dismay. "It was a warning shot." She explained.
Isaac frowned at her. "How do you know that?" He asked, suspiciously.
Rhea raised an eyebrow at his suddenly hostile tone. "I know bullet wounds like the back of my hand. The guy doesn't sound like he's someone to miss a shot. He hit the hat for a reason."
The Doctor passed the hat to Rhea, who looked over it for a moment before passing it to Rory. "Ah. No. Yes. I see. Hmmm."
Amy yanked the hat off Rory. "What does he want? Has he issued some kind of demand?" Amy passed it back to Rory, who passed it back to Rhea, who passed it back to the Doctor, who, finally, tossed it back to Isaac.
"He says he wants us to give him "the alien doctor"." Isaac explained.
"But that's you. Why would he want to kill you?" Amy asked, looking at the Doctor, worriedly.
Rhea snorted. "Well, he's probably met him."
"Oi!" The Doctor protested. "Are you saying that everyone who meets me wants to kill me?" He asked, wounded.
"No," Rhea corrected. "I'm saying that everyone who has met you has had the idea of killing you at least once."
Amy and Rory looked away, guiltily, as the Doctor turned his accusing eyes on them.
"And how could he know we'd be here?" Rory asked. His voice lowered to a whisper, addressing the other three travellers. "We didn't even know we'd be here." He pointed out.
Rhea gave Isaac an apologetic smile. "We were aiming for Mexico."
"The Doctor was taking us to see the Day of the Dead Festival." Amy added.
Isaac frowned and sat up. "Mexico's 200 miles due south."
The Doctor rounded on Rory. "Well, that's what happens when people get toast crumbs on the console."
"Yeah," Rhea chimed in. "You end up in Deadwood for some reason." She muttered under her breath, making Amy and Rory laugh.
"Anyway, I think it's about time we met him, don't you?" The Doctor sat on the railing, fixing Isaac with a knowing glance.
"Who?" Isaac asked, his voice strong, but his eyes betrayed his anxiety.
"The chap outside said I could be the alien doctor, but you said I wasn't." The Doctor eyed the flickering light for a moment. "So you already know who it is. Two alien Doctors!" He looked at Rhea, Amy and Rory, excitedly, his hand falling onto Rhea's thigh. "We're like buses. Resident 81, I presume." Rhea watched as Isaac stood from his seat and stepped closer to the Doctor, his back turned to the Marshall. "So beloved by the townsfolk, he warranted an alteration to the sign. Probably because he rigged up these electrics. And I'm guessing he's in here because if half the town suddenly wanted to throw me to my death..." He stood up. "This is where I'd want to be." He spun around and grinned at Isaac, before heading over to one of the cells.
"Who?" Isaac asked, coldly, wondering how the Doctor could possibly know any of this.
"It's all right, Isaac." A man said, reassuring Isaac, and pulling away a blanket that was covering him. He was dressed, decently, and had a swirly tattoo along the right side of his face, an older, middle-aged man with glasses. "I think the time for subterfuge has passed." He pushed himself off the bunk. "Good afternoon. My name is Kahler-Jex. I'm the doctor."
The Doctor shook Jex's hand, vigorously, the excitement clear on his face.
"The Kahler. I love the Kahler. One of the most ingenious races in the galaxy, seriously. They could build a spaceship out of Tupperware and moss." Rhea reached out and shoved the Doctor in a chair and he released Jex's hand.
"You might spontaneously combust, you fanboy." She muttered, before turning to Jex. "Fine. How did you get here?" She asked, suspiciously. If the Gunslinger was after an alien Doctor and he wasn't after her alien Doctor, then the Gunslinger had to be after the man in front of her. People don't just hunt others down without a reason. What did Jex do to the Gunslinger to make him this angry?
Jex sat behind Isaac's desk. "My craft crashed about a mile or so out of town. I would have died if Isaac and the others hadn't pulled me from the wreckage." Jex explained.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "And you stayed? As their doctor?"
Jex nodded. "On my world, I was a surgeon, so it seemed logical and it gave me an opportunity to repay my debt to them."
Isaac rolled his eyes. "Listen to him. Talking like it was nothing. Tell them about the cholera." He ordered Jex, slapping him on the back, conspiratorially.
"Now, Isaac," Jex started, uncertainly, eyeing the four with anxiety. "I'm sure our guests aren't..."
"Two years after he arrived, there was an outbreak of cholera. Thanks to the doc here not a single person died." Isaac explained, proudly.
Jex shrugged. "A minor infection we'd found a treatment for centuries ago."
"No, no, no." Isaac shook his head, shocked by the man's modesty. "What do you call them? The lectricks?"
"Using my ship as a generator, I was able to rig up some rudimentary heating and lighting for the town." Jex told the four travellers.
Both Rhea and the Doctor leaned forward, a suspicious glint in their eyes. "So why does the Gunslinger want you?" The Doctor asked.
"It doesn't matter." Isaac growled.
"I'm just saying," The Doctor shrugged, nonchalantly. "If we knew…" He trailed off.
"America's a land of second chances. We called this town Mercy for a reason." Isaac snarled.
"Yeah, must have walked into another America then, 'cause your friends out there don't seem big on second chances or mercy." Rhea snapped.
"Others…" Isaac began, reluctantly. "Some round here don't feel that way."
"Now, Isaac, we've discussed this." Jex said, sternly.
"People whose lives you saved are suddenly saying we should hand you over." Isaac shook his head in disbelief.
"I think you'll find that double standards and humanity go together like a house on fire." Rhea said, pointedly.
"They're scared, that's all. You can hardly blame them." Jex told Isaac.
"Them being scared, scares me. War only ended five years back. That old violence is still under the surface. We give up Doc Jex, then we're handing the keys of the town over to chaos."
"Did you try to repair your craft? Surely someone with your skills..." The Doctor stared, intently, at Kahler Jex.
Jex shook his head. "It really was very badly damaged."
The Doctor stood up, abruptly, the rest falling suit. "We evacuate the town. Our ship's just over the hills. Room for everyone." He sat on the desk. "I'll pop out, bring it back here. Robert's your uncle."
"Really?" Rhea asked, disbelievingly. The calm, rational approach to problems wasn't really the Doctor's forte. "Simple as that? No crazy schemes? No negotiations?"
"I've matured." The Doctor shrugged, innocently. "I'm 1200 years old now."
Rhea snorted. "Bullshit." She muttered.
"Plus, I don't want to miss "The Archers"." He said, sheepishly, and stood, picking up the Stetson and heading for the doors.
"Oh, so you're not even a tiny bit curious?" Amy called out, not believing a word of it, just like Rhea.
"Why would I be curious?" The Doctor asked, turning around to face Amy. "It's a mysterious space cowboy assassin."
Rhea sighed and looked at Amy and Rory. "I really miss conversations that didn't include "mysterious space cowboy assassin"." She mused, making the Doctor smirk at her. She turned to the Doctor. "Honey, you're always curious."
"Curious? Of course I'm not curious." And with that final sentence, he stepped outside.
"Son?" Isaac called out and the Doctor came back inside. "You've still got to get past the Gunslinger. How you going to do that?"
The Doctor put on the Stetson, making Rhea groan. "With a little sleight of hand." He replied and stepped back outside, Rhea, Amy and Rory simply looking at each other with mixed looks of anxiety and scepticism.
Rory and Isaac were running across the desert, Isaac wearing Jex's long coat and hat in an attempt to disguise himself as Jex.
"You okay?" Isaac asked Rory.
"Yeah, fine. Yeah. Keep moving." Rory muttered, looking around in all directions for any possible sign of the Gunslinger.
"Next time..." Isaac began, making Rory look at him with interest. "You get to wear Jex's clothes." He muttered.
The Doctor and Rhea walked up to the preacher, who was tying up his horse to a hitching post.
"Can I borrow your horse, please? It's official Marshall business." The Doctor said, and without waiting for a reply, he grabbed Rhea by the waist and lifted her onto the saddle, him mounting after her.
The preacher looked startled. But he recovered quickly. "He's called Joshua. It's from the Bible. It means 'The Deliverer'."
"Yes," Rhea said, impatiently. "We know." She scowled. "I am Christian, you know."
The horse, suddenly, neighed.
The Doctor leaned down and looked at the preacher. "No, he isn't." He protested.
"What?" The preacher frowned.
"I speak horse." The Doctor explained. "He's called Susan. And he wants you to respect his life choices." He said, sternly, making the preacher stare at him as if he were mad.
"Do you really speak horse?" Rhea asked, quietly.
"I speak a lot of things. Baby, horse…" The Doctor trailed off, pulling on the reins and the three galloping out of town.
Rory and Isaac were making their way along the base of a ridge when the ground in front of them exploded from a gunshot, making them reel back in shock as shrapnel, rocks and plants blew up in their faces.
"I, uh... I think he's seen us." Rory said, nervously, looking around for the Gunslinger.
Isaac grabbed Rory by the arm. "This way." He muttered, leading them along the ridge.
Jex looked out the window of the Marshall's office, while Amy sat on the desk, concerned about his wistful expression.
"When this is all done, do you want us to take you home?" Amy asked, carefully.
Jex smiled at her. "Thank you, but I have already given everything I have to the Kahler. My skills, my energy... all that was good in me. But here... I could start afresh. I could remember myself and help people. That's all I ever wanted to do. End suffering." He said, sighing.
Amy stood. "Here." She said, softly, placing his jacket over his shoulders.
Jex stared at her for a moment. "You're a mother, aren't you?"
Amy paled and started. "How did you know?" She asked.
"There's kindness in your eyes. And sadness. But a ferocity too."
Amy shrugged, sadly. "It wasn't exactly straightforward."
"It seldom is." Jex pointed out.
Amy raised an eyebrow. "And what about you? Are you a father?"
Jex's eyebrows furrowed, as if he were pondering the answer, seriously. "Yes." He paused. "In a way, I suppose I am."
Isaac and Rory took cover against the base of a rocky ledge in the desert.
"So, we wait here till the Doctor comes to pick us up in your ship." Isaac said, distrustfully.
Rory frowned at him. "Yes, I know. I was there when we agreed it."
"Yeah," Isaac nodded. "I said that more for my benefit more than yours." He explained.
The Doctor and Rhea were galloping along on Susan along a dirt road, Rhea's arms wrapped around the Doctor's waist and her face pressed into his back as smoke and dust billowed all around them, nuzzling into the tweed jacket, while they were on their way to the TARDIS. He frowned when he spotted something that attracted his attention and curiousity and slowed the horse to a halt.
"What is it?" Rhea asked, worriedly.
"Just saw something. I want to check it out." He told her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." The Doctor called out, tugging on the reins to stop Susan, despite her protests. "Yeah, I know we're in a hurry. I just want to check something out."
Rhea sighed. "I don't know what it says about your mental state that you're talking to a horse, honey."
The Doctor dismounted and helped her off the horse, despite her grumbles of disagreement. He tapped her on the nose, affectionately. "Two ticks. There's something niggling me." Susan snorted. "Yes." He got down on one knee. "Yes, it could be important." Susan whinnied. "Oi, don't swear." He said, sharply, glaring at the horse.
Rhea threw her hands up in the air. "This has to be the weirdest thing I've ever seen you do." She muttered. "Talking to a horse…"
The Doctor scraped away the sand and rocks to reveal a hose running along the ground, holding it up with both hands and sniffing it, much to Rhea's disgust. He then tugged it loose, suspiciously, following the line up and down with his eyes, one end leading into the desert and the other end going back down to Mercy.
A/N: There we go! Hope you all liked the chapter and the make-up between the Doctor and Rhea in the beginning. I have a feeling that my author's note for every chapter is way too long, so I'm trying to shorten it. I hope you all liked my rendition of Rhea's relationship with the Ponds. If it seems a bit awkward, it's not because Rhea doesn't like them, it's more because she feels very lost now. She was just with an Amy who was around 21 and now she's faced with an Amy who's older than her and married to a man she hasn't mentioned since the Doctor and Rhea first met Amy. I hope you liked the showcase of Rhea's fighting skills in this chapter. I thought it had been a long time since she got the chance to really clobber someone instead of just threatening them, so I tried to write it into this chapter. I wonder what will happen between the Gunslinger, the Doctor and Rhea in the next chapter. And, will Rhea be in favour of the Doctor killing Kahler Jex?
Anyway, hope you all liked the chapter and don't forget to leave a review!