The Caretaker
By the end of the day, Adelaide was soundly reminded why she'd not decided to stay a professor instead of traveling.
It was incredibly boring, at least if you were a Time Lady teaching human children. She supposed it'd be better if she was teaching young Time Lords, but Adelaide was not in the mood the test that theory.
There had been a reason she'd run out into the universe after all.
The Doctor seemed to be amused by Adelaide's annoyance and the fact she retreated to the TARDIS whenever she could in order to escape. He kept trying to say that it was because she loved to be in his presence.
By the time night had arisen, Adelaide was thankful for a chance to do something besides answering human childrens' questions or deal with a Doctor who was getting increasingly bored with waiting.
They exited the caretaker shed together, the Doctor holding up his sonic. "And we're off." He took Adelaide's hand, kissing it. "You sure you don't want to come?"
"One of us needs to be responsible and ensure that no one's in the school."
He made a face. "I hate being responsible."
"Which is why I'm the somewhat responsible one." She squeezed his hand. "Now, off you go."
The Doctor hurried off. Adelaide turned to go back into the school and set up the room they'd be using. Her sonic was set to tell her if anything changed about the devices, so she didn't feel that worried about monitoring everything from inside the TARDIS.
She was a bit annoyed it was the Doctor who got to be the one to lure the Blitzer instead of her, but she was conscious enough to know that it was a better division of labors to have them in these roles instead of reversed.
The logic didn't stop her from being a bit jealous.
Adelaide had just reached the room, placing the final device, when her sonic dinged. She frowned at it. That meant that something had happened to one of the devices, only there was no way she could know which one.
They probably should have swapped roles because the Doctor actually knew where he'd put the rest of the devices and what to do if some were missing.
She'd been a biologist, after all, not a time-scientist, as they'd established multiple times before.
Adelaide had just started to try and contact the Doctor via their sonics when it dinged again.
Another device was gone.
This was not good. This was very not good.
She didn't have a chance to do anything before the doors burst open, an invisible Doctor running in while turning off the watch. He froze when he saw the red lights on the circle of chairs. "What? Red? No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"
The Blitzer, sadly, was not far behind. "Range 1.49 scan complete! Problem. Problem!"
The Doctor, after exchanging a confused look with Adelaide, spun to face the Blitzer. "Listen! We're unarmed! We're peaceful! Don't you understand? We...we know that you shouldn't be on this planet but we can help you with that. We..."
"Problem solution." The Blitzer raised its weapon. "Destroy."
They didn't have a chance to do anything before the other set of doors opened, Danny Pink striding in with a device in hand. Clearly, the source of the issue. "I want a word with you."
"Get back!" Adelaide shouted as the Blitzer turned to Danny.
"Problem, solution. Destroy!" the Blitzer started to fire at him. Danny was able to duck out of the way, dropping the device and sending it sliding towards the circle of chairs.
Danny grabbed a chair, trying to attack the Blitzer with it. "No! Get away from me!"
The Doctor soniced the device Danny had dropped, activating the vortex. It instantly started to pull in things around the room, including the Blitzer and Danny. The Time Lords, thankfully, managed to hang on to things with enough strength that they weren't pulled in too.
"Temporal disrupt! Warning! Warning! Temporal failure!"
Clara ran into the room, rushing up to Danny and pulling him down, keeping him from being pulled in. "No! No, no, no, no! Doctor, stop! Adelaide!"
"Warning. System failure. Abort! Abort!" the Doctor turned off the vortex the second the Blitzer fell in, the Time Lords looking to each other before the Doctor picked up the device Danny had dropped.
"Oh, oh, well done, PE, brilliant work," he said, very clearly sarcastic. "What's this? A chronodyne generator? I'll just deactivate that, shall I? I've got a swimming certificate so that qualifies me to meddle with higher technology. Never mind that some people are actually trying to save the planet. Oh, no. There's only room in my head for cross-country and the offside rule!" the Doctor looked to Adelaide, still huffing, and was thankful to see that the Time Lady didn't bother scolding him.
Yes, this was one reason she'd traveled alone. Sometimes people meddled with things they didn't understand and it led to disastrous consequences.
"Danny, what are you doing here?" Clara asked the man.
"I was checking up on him!" he pointed at the Doctor. "He's been up to something, fiddling with the electric, but what the...no...what? Did you see that thing? Tell me you saw that thing."
"I saw the thing, yeah." Clara turned to the Time Lords. "Doctor, Adelaide, are we safe? Is the planet safe? It's gone?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, for the moment. But the thing is, you see, the chronodyne generators have to be precisely aligned to generate the vortex. But the sergeant here, he went and moved one."
"But the chronodyne worked. It's gone."
Adelaide scanned the center of where the vortex had been. "Not far enough." She showed the readings to the Doctor. "The vortex will open here again, but not in a billion years."
"Then when?"
"Er...seventy-four hours," the Doctor nodded. "Three days? Three days to think of something new because now it knows what to expect. Now it has scanned us" he gestured between himself and Adelaide, "and it will kill us on sight, thanks to PE here."
Danny shook his head at Clara, clearly still not quite believing everything that was happening. "Clara, why are you talking to them like that? Why are you using words like chronodyne? Was that thing a space thing? Oh..." he stumbled back. "Oh my God, you're from space. You're a spacewoman. You said you were from Blackpool!"
"It's a...play! For the summer fete."
"It's a what?" the Doctor asked, glancing up from the notebook he'd started jotting down in.
"Yes, it's a play." Clara looked to the Time Lords. "Shut up, it's a play. We are rehearsing a play. A...surprise play. And...er...you see, the vortex thing is...is a lighting effect. Very clever. And that thing is...is one of the kids. In fancy dress. Really, really good fancy dress."
Danny shook his head, crossing his arms. "How stupid do you think I am?"
"I'm willing to put a number on it," the Doctor offered.
"I'm not a moron, Clara. They're not the caretaker or the biology teacher. They're your parents. Your space parents."
"Oh, genius," the Doctor scoffed. "That is...that is really, really brilliant reasoning. On par with Adelaide's abilities. How can you think we're her parents when we all look exactly the same age?"
Adelaide raised her eyebrows at the Doctor. "We do not all look the same age."
"I was being kind to Clara." He grinned at her, winking, before stepping towards Danny. "Right, I'm going to hypnotize him. I'm going to erase his memory."
Clara hurried to stand between the two men. "Doctor, stop!"
"Tiny little brain, only take a moment."
"He's my boyfriend."
The Doctor hardly seemed phased. "Well, I'll try not to erase the whole thing. I'll leave the bits that..." and then his eyes widened as Clara's words really registered.
Clara nodded. "He's my boyfriend. I thought you'd figure this out."
"Him?" the Doctor pointed at him.
"Yes, Doctor," Adelaide said, nodding.
"No, he's not."
"Yes, he is."
Danny nodded. "Yes, I am."
The Doctor shook his head. "But he's a PE teacher. You wouldn't go out with a PE teacher. It's a mistake. You've made a boyfriend error."
"I am not a PE teacher," Danny reminded him. "I am a maths teacher."
"You're a soldier." He looked to Clara. "Why would you go out with a soldier? Why not get a dog or a big plant?"
"Because I love him!"
The Doctor frowned. "Why would you say that? Is this part of the surprise play?"
Adelaide stepped up to the Doctor. "Doctor, stay focused."
"Oh, it's a roller coaster with you tonight, isn't it? What about the handsome one, the one with the bow tie?"
Clara made a face. "Who? Adrian? No, no, no. He's just a friend and not my type."
Danny shook his head. "Clara, are you going to explain any of this? Who are these people?"
"The Doctor and Adelaide are..." but Clara paused.
"Go on," the Doctor nodded.
"Yes, explain," Danny agreed. "Who are they? Why have you never mentioned them?"
"Because they're aliens."
Danny eyed her. "Er...are you an alien?"
"No, no, no, I'm still from Blackpool. Me, Adelaide, and the Doctor, we travel through time and space."
"Exhibit A." The Doctor walked over to the small stage they'd left the TARDIS before going back to the caretaker's shed, pulling aside the curtains to reveal it to Danny.
"It's called a TARDIS, but it's disguised as an old police phone box," Clara explained as Adelaide walked over to join the Time Lord.
"It's bigger on the inside," the Doctor whispered.
"And it's bigger on the inside than the outside."
The Doctor opened the doors. "Voila."
"And we travel the universe in it."
Danny climbed up onto the stage, doing the classic look in and out that all the Doctor's companions did. "And what about that thing? Did you bring that here?"
"No, we're protecting you from that 'thing'," Adelaide said.
"You said it was coming back."
"Yes, it is coming back," the Doctor nodded, "thanks to you."
"This is a school. We have to evacuate, call the Army."
"And that is the most dangerous thing right there." The Doctor closed the TARDIS door. "Are you sure hypnotizing's not on the menu?"
"Yes," Adelaide and Clara said in unison.
"But we need to get help. This is an emergency."
"Look, take him away. Shut him up, shut him down." The Doctor waved a hand. "Up or down, it doesn't matter to me. Adelaide and I've got a lot of work to do. Again."
Clara looked between them. "Will you be okay?"
"Why wouldn't we be okay? We were fine till you two blundered in."
Danny frowned. "Am I just being ignored?"
Clara took Danny's arm, helping him down the stairs. "Come on, Danny. It's all right, it's...come on, it's all fine. You'll be okay. Let's er...get those legs moving. That's it, down those stairs. Yep, that's it. This can all be explained and everything will be fine."
"And when this is all over, you can finish the job."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, you've explained us to him. You haven't explained him to us." The Time Lords stepped into the TARDIS, closing the doors behind them.
|C-S|
Adelaide greatly regretted deciding to be a professor while they prepared for the Blitzer. She'd been all for it when they'd thought it was just for a day, but now she had to maintain the ruse for days on end. A few of the students made it worthwhile, but the majority of them didn't care about biology. It was all she could do to keep from snapping at them.
She'd always thought she was a patient person – at least, more patient than the Doctor – but even she had points of no return. She honestly just couldn't stand being trapped in one place for too long. A day she could manage, but more than that...her manners started to fail her.
Thankfully, the Doctor and she didn't tend to be stuck in one place doing nothing for days on end, but when they were...he enjoyed the fact she didn't bother correcting his manners.
He always tried to get the most out of it.
Though, by the end of the day, she honestly looked forward to being back in the TARDIS with the Doctor. It was strange to want to be with someone instead of alone at the end of the day, but Adelaide couldn't help but like being around the Doctor.
She'd just returned to the console room after taking a moment to change after another teacher spilt a particularly nasty smelling cup of coffee on her when Clara also entered the TARDIS. The Doctor was at the console building something for their plan.
"Good afternoon, Clara," Adelaide called to the human, nodding.
The Doctor glanced up. "Thanks for keeping out of our way. You haven't brought Dave with you, I hope?"
"His name's Danny," Clara corrected. "And no, I haven't. I've er...I explained it all to him. He gets it. He took it really well."
"Pass me that synestic, please." Adelaide passed it over from the box beside him.
"So, when the Blitzer comes back, are you going to catch him with that?" Clara nodded at what the Doctor was working on, coming up to the other side of him.
"It'll be a long, fiddly job. It's going to take me at least twenty-four hours. Even longer if people besides Adelaide keep talking to me, so do keep going."
"If it comes back Thursday night...are you sure about that? Cos you said the chronodyne is unstable."
"If you want to bother someone, go and bother PE."
"He's a maths teacher," Adelaide reminded him.
"That's a shame, I like maths."
"Not a soldier."
The Doctor looked up, frowning at Clara. "Interesting."
"What is?"
"I'm bored, Adelaide is bored." The Doctor stepped back. "Let's go somewhere fun. What do you say? Do you want to see the Thames frozen over?"
Adelaide nodded, both Time Lords having realized what Clara was doing. "Oh, those frost fairs are lovely." She moved around the console after the Doctor, turning off everything he flicked on.
Clara looked thankful she didn't have to do the same. "But you can't. The Skovox thing."
"It's a time machine," the Doctor shrugged. "We can get back straightaway like we always do on your dates. Remember when you had to eat two meals in a row?"
Clara looked at Adelaide. "I just think, with the school in danger..." But Danny shimmered into view off to the side. "Danny, why are you..."
"They already know I'm here. That's why they're talking like that. They're being clever."
The Doctor nodded. "Now you mention it, being Time Lords, we can feel a light shield aura when it's right next to us."
"Oh ho, ho," Danny scoffed. "Time Lords? Might have known."
"Might have known what?"
"Well, the accent's good," Danny gestured at the Doctor, "but you can always spot the aristocracy. It's in the...the attitude." Adelaide couldn't help raise her eyebrows at that. She did honestly agree with Danny, though she wouldn't have put it quite the same way.
"Danny..."
"Now, Time Lords, do you salute those?"
The Doctor's expression hardened. "Definitely not."
"Ah. Sir!" Danny stood to attention and saluted him.
"And you do not call me sir."
"As you wish, sir. Absolutely, sir."
Adelaide stepped forward, holding a hand out to stop the Doctor. "Danny, I am going to recommend that you leave. And" she pointed at him "don't you dare attempt to salute a scientist."
"Adelaide, Doctor, this is stupid," Clara shook her head, "this is unfair."
"One thing, Clara," Danny turned to her. "I'm a soldier, guilty as charged. You see him? He's an officer."
"I am not an officer."
"I'm the one who carries you out of the fire. He's the one who lights it."
"Danny," Adelaide said, "please leave now."
"Right away, ma'am."
"And don't you dare 'ma'am' me."
"Am I dismissed?"
"Yes, you are!" the Doctor snapped.
Danny pointed at him. "That's him. Look at him, right now. That's who he is." He stormed out of the TARDIS.
Adelaide pointed at the Doctor without looking at him. "Not the time for a comment." She pointed her other hand at Clara. "I expect you to scold your boyfriend as much as I am about to do the Doctor." Clara nodded, running after her boyfriend. "Even when someone speaks to you like that, Doctor, it is necessary that you not sink to their level."
"Don't tell me you're not upset..."
Adelaide looked to him. "You know you're a soldier, Doctor, and I know that I'm not. Those are facts we cannot deny."
The Doctor took her arm, turning her fully to face him. "Are you trying to defend him?"
"Danny assumes and generalizes. I do not like people who do either." She sighed. "Honestly, I really wish we could just run off..."
"We could..."
"You know, sometimes I hate to be the responsible one."
The Doctor grinned. "I thought I was a bad influence."
"And here I was hoping that I was a good one." She leaned closer, giving the Doctor a quick kiss before moving towards the TARDIS doors. "You can stay here and continue working, but I have to ensure that no one needs help for parents' evening."
"Are you actually going to be meeting the parents?"
Adelaide raised her eyebrows. "I'm a substitute. Katheryn's returning tonight for it." She and the Doctor had tried to extend the teacher's vacation for at least a few days, but they hadn't been able to keep the woman away from parents' evening. She waved goodbye to the Doctor and stepped out of the TARDIS, finding the girl from before. "Hello."
"What's in the box?" the girl frowned. "It's not really a policeman, is it?"
"Would you like to know the truth?" The girl nodded. "It's a time machine that travels in space. And it usually contains a man who wants to keep preventing the end of the world and a woman who tries to help him."
Adelaide wasn't that surprised when the girl nodded. "Cool. So, that's really a spaceship?" She stepped forward, but Adelaide held out a hand to stop her.
"No interruptions."
She shrugged. "End of the world for me tonight, whatever you two do. Parents' evening."
"What's your name?"
"Courtney Woods. Can I go in space?"
Adelaide smiled. "I'll discuss it with him. But not at the moment." She gestured the girl out with her. She and the Doctor had two days to figure out a new plan to conquer the Blitzer.
|C-S|
Adelaide was fairly certain it was a bit shocking for Danny to see her and Katheryn enter the gymnasium where they were holding parents' evening very clearly discussing things together. The adult was cleverer than the kids she taught – nothing compared to Time Lords, but better than what Adelaide had been experiencing for the past few days – and it was enjoyable to talk to someone who knew something about science for a bit.
But she did manage to convince the woman that there was no need for her to stay behind for parents' evening, as she'd only taught the children for little more than two days. She left Katheryn with her personal phone number and hurried off to find the Doctor as the various parents filed in.
However, she didn't get far before her sonic made a particular noise. A few moments later, she heard the Doctor hurrying down the corridors towards her. She hurried back into the gymnasium, stepping up to Clara. "Terribly sorry," she said, smiling at the parents, "but may I have a quick word with you, Clara? Rather urgent."
Thankfully, Clara didn't argue, hurrying out of the gym with Adelaide after taking a second to say one final thing to the parents. What she didn't expect was Danny coming out with them.
The Doctor gestured them all outside, as they didn't want to be overheard. "What's happening?" Clara asked both Time Lords, looking between them.
"The vortex is opening."
Danny shook his head. "You said Thursday night. Right, hall, quick."
The Doctor pointed at him. "PE, shut up." He pulled out his sonic, handing it to Clara. "Clara, it'll scan the area. If it gets to parents' evening, it'll kill them all."
Danny's eyes widened. "We've got to evacuate."
"Danny, quiet," Adelaide snapped.
"What do I do?" Clara continued.
"It'll be here any second. Get to the hall. Give it some squirts of helicon energy, setting number forty-one. No more than three seconds each, random pulses. Distract it, then you lead it away from the hall, give us two minutes."
Clara nodded. "Then what?"
"Run straight to the TARDIS," Adelaide said.
"But your gadget isn't ready yet," Danny cut in. "Twenty-four hours, you said."
"That has been revised to two minutes if we're lucky." Adelaide turned to Clara. "Clara, go, now."
"On my way." Clara ran off.
"You're using her like a decoy?"
"No, not like a decoy, as a decoy," the Doctor corrected. "Don't they teach you anything at stupid school?"
"Well, is there anything I can do?"
"Yes," the Doctor nodded. "Yes, and this is very, very important. Leave us alone!" He took Adelaide's hand and the two ran off. They didn't like having to use Clara like this, but it was the only option at the moment.
|C-S|
The Time Lords hurried out of the TARDIS as they heard the Blitzer burst through the doors, Clara shouting at them. "Doctor, Adelaide, now! It's got to be now!"
"Twenty seconds," the Blitzer said.
"Am I green?" the Doctor asked Adelaide, trying to see the light on his pack himself. "Am I green?"
"You're green!" Adelaide grabbed Clara, pulling her back as the Doctor stepped forward with a microphone in hand.
"Stop!" he ordered, his voice slightly altered. "Skovox Blitzer!"
The Blitzer paused. "Awaiting orders."
"Superior Skovox Artificer. Analyze stop. Analyze stop."
The Blitzer flashed blue. "Superior recognized. Pattern 1-1-0. Orders. Orders."
Clara frowned. "Why's it listening to him?"
"Rough copy. It thinks he's its general."
"Initiate input," the Doctor continued. "Commence shutdown protocol. No conflict. Conclusion?"
"Problem solution."
"Conclusion?"
"Final input code missing." The Blitzer went red. "Emergency terminate. Initiate self-destruct in 9...8..."
The Doctor's eyes widened. "The input code. I forgot the final input code." He began to frantically type, Adelaide unable to help him.
"7...6...5..."
"Do it now!" Clara cried.
"We need time," Adelaide said. "We need to distract it."
"What can we do?"
"3...2...1..."
Before Adelaide or Clara could move, Danny called out from behind the Blitzer. "Oi, Skovox! Over here!" Danny reappeared, having used the watch again, and ran towards the Blitzer, actually doing a somersault in the air above the Blitzer to land beside Clara and Adelaide.
"Under attack!" the Blitzer said.
"Artificier! Artificer! Stop!" the Doctor stepped forward. "Confirm stop, override final input code."
The Blitzer paused for a moment before it turned blue again. "Conde accepted. Abort self-destruct. Orders accepted. Stop. Stop. Stop." It powered down.
Clara turned and hugged Danny tightly, Adelaide moving over to take the Doctor's hand as well. "Oh my God!" Clara gasped. "Oh my God, you were amazing! Oh my God, you were so brilliant."
Danny laughed. "Well, yeah, I was okay, wasn't I? I was behind you every step of the way. Had to make sure you were safe." He looked to the Time Lords. "You okay?"
The Doctor nodded, maintaining a tight grip on Adelaide's hand. "Okay."
"Just okay?" Clara asked.
"It's all right, it doesn't matter," Danny looked back to Clara. "I don't need them to like me. It doesn't matter if they like or hate me. I just need to do exactly one thing for you." He looked back at them. "Am I right?"
The Doctor nodded. "Yes."
"What? What one thing?"
"I need to be good enough for you. That's why he's angry. Just in case I'm not."
Clara raised her eyebrows. She had known that this situation was difficult for the Time Lords, they'd made that clear enough. "He...er...he did just save the whole world."
The Doctor shrugged. "Yeah, yeah. Good start."
|C-S|
Adelaide stood by the console as the Doctor cast the Blitzer out into space, watching Courtney Woods with a bit of apprehension. The girl was hanging onto the door and looked either terrified or sick...or both.
"Farewell, Skovox Blitzer," the Doctor said, standing beside Courtney. "Have a nice war. So, Courtney Woods, impressed yet?"
"Actually, I'm feeling a bit ill."
"Ah, it can be a bit overwhelming." The Doctor nodded. "But look. The Olveron Cluster. A million stars, a hundred million inhabited planets." Courtney, instead of staying to look, gagged and turned to run...though she didn't get far. Adelaide winced as the Doctor turned. "Ah, yes. There has been a spillage."
"Which you are cleaning up," Adelaide said, moving to take his place staring out into space.
A/N: Even Danny could see that Adelaide isn't a soldier. And good thing too - Adelaide may have forgotten her own warning to the Doctor if Danny had dared...
Notes on reviews:
Nightingrave: You know, sometimes I can't either :)