Surprise!
I put together another chapter for you all. I was just too excited to wait any longer to post it. :D I hope no one minds. Enjoy!
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Chapter 19: The Adipose
The Doctor strolled along down an alleyway from his TARDIS, squinting his eyes from the early morning light that shone from just over the ridge of the buildings around him. Stuffing his hands into his brown-pinstriped trouser pockets, the building ahead, Adipose Industries, drew closer as the Doctor walked his brisk gate towards the set destination. After last night in having a failed attempt in tracking the anomaly with his handy detector device, and finding out more information from one of the users of Adipose capsules, Roger, the Doctor knew he needed to discover the secrets of Adipose Industries tonight.
Nothing seemed right about the place. A sudden 'easy' diet business that popped up out of nowhere? This had peaked his interest the moment he heard people in a coffee shop babbling on about the miracle diet pills. Apparently, the industry just came out of the blue, selling these magic pills that the humans seemed more than willing to buy. And the chemicals used within the Adipose capsules just screamed alien origin. He knew that he must investigate further into the company itself, break into it at night and see what other secrets the place might hold. Unfortunately, he would have to take the slow path in waiting. No jumping ahead in his TARDIS this time. Not only was he already tied in with the events of the time stream, but he had no idea what sort of security system the building might have installed. It might just pick up his TARDIS upon entry and put the place on high alert. No, it was best for him to sneak in and wait until night hours when the place was closed and empty.
He only wished though that he had someone around to keep him company. Mostly, he wanted Wanda here with him. He missed her. He never liked having her away from him for more than a day anymore. Being apart from her at any second just made his skin crawl, made him beyond on edge and twitchy. Especially after that long, long time they had spent away from each other during that . . . that damn year. That horrible, terrible year. The year that only he, Wanda, and a few others were cursed to remember. Oh how his dearly wished he could forget. How truly and most desperately he wanted to help Wanda forget . . . everything. To rid her of those god-awful memories. Those nightmares. Knowing of what she remembered . . . it broke his hearts every time he thought of it. And then knowing the truth to Alpha . . .
He slowed down in his steps, coming to a halt by a street corner as he stared up sorrowfully at the sky. All this time . . . if he had known the truth . . . Shaking his head, letting out a heavy sigh, he pressed onward, only focusing his mind on what he was meant to do currently. Dwelling on what had happened would only keep his mind distracted from what he needed to do to help here and now. There was nothing more he could do for Wanda. All he could try from now on was to attempt to ease her pain and sorrow in some way.
A flash of white light appeared right in front of him and a short blonde stumbled right into him. The Doctor reached out immediately, wrapping his arms around the young woman in an instinctive protection as her face practically pressed up right into his chest. His face lit up tremendously as Third Wanda blinked at him in surprise and returned his smile with a beaming face.
"Why, hello there!" she said merrily, giggling. "What are the odds of bumping into a stranger like you?"
"Oh, I'd say about fifty/fifty odds, really," the Doctor replied, giving his usual foxy grin. Leaning down, he gave the love of his life a tender kiss as she stood on her toes to meet him. Pulling away with a smack, they leaned their foreheads together as they grinned. "So, where have you been?"
"Been hanging around your future self for about two weeks," Wanda told Ten while running her fingers tenderly through his messy hair as she recalled the short-lived honeymoon with Eleven in the future.
After leaving Starship UK, she had arrived to Eleven who had very recently been married to her. As soon as he asked if they had gone 'swimming,' he immediately suggested a honeymoon to a tropical/beach planet in the luxury system built by the Viofraltz. Once there, they had booked a two-week stay for them to relax and enjoy their new found marriage. She blushed as she remembered the many, many times they had gone off on a sort of 'adventure' of their own. But it was more than that. They had really just enjoyed each other's company more than anything. And every night, each one of them had tried to one-up the other in making surprises for the day or night they would spend together. At one point, it had actually become a competition of sorts between the two of them. The Doctor ended up winning, of course, as he had made a whole fireworks display sing her a symphony in her name and even lit up the hotel they stayed in purple for her favourtie colour. Of course, she did surprise him quite a few times, like once by making a whole dinner party a game with bow ties and fezes.
"Oh? Anything of interest happen?" the Doctor asked curiously as she grabbed his hand.
"Spoilers," she replied coyly, giving him a playful wink. She swung his hand lightly in her grasp as she looked around to where they were. "What are you up to? Anything exciting? It must be since you smell like trouble again."
"Well, I'm investigating this company that arrived into town recently," the Doctor began to explain as they walked towards Adipose Industries. "You see, they're called Adipose Industries and—." He was cut off suddenly, alarmed by the loud squeal that Wanda had let loose. He blinked in shock, worried that something had made her frightened. "What? What is it? Are you all right? Is it something really bad?"
"Bad? Bad?! Are you kidding?!" Wanda exclaimed, turning to face him with a face full of pure excitement and giddiness as she bounced on her feet lightly. "This is my most favourite episode!" She let out a happy squeal, clapping her hands together in joy.
The Doctor blinked, letting a small frown appear on his face. "'Episode'? Wanda, you can't be seriously still treating this like your show after all these years."
"Seventy-five years or not, I can still fangirl over a few things. And this is one of those occasions." Snatching his hand again, she hurriedly pulled him along towards the building while still holding the most eager and brightest smile. "Come on! Time for the best adventure yet! It's going to be so amazing! I mean, not everything will be completely fine. Some bad things will happen . . . or better yet, have happened. But it still doesn't mean that I can't enjoy this day."
"Fine, fine." The Doctor gave a light laugh under his breath, finding Wanda's excitement contagious. Seeing Wanda laugh and be happy . . . it made him glad to know that she could still feel that joy in life. For now, that is. For future Wandas . . . he could only hope she would smile like this once more someday. But sometimes sorrow could just be too much for a person to learn to smile again.
Using the Doctor's sonic to break into the fire exit of the building, they snuck inside and carefully moved their way into the low levels of the building. Making certain the place around them was clear as they did not want anyone questioning their presence there or notice how two people were sneaking in to hide within a storage cupboard. As they walked closer to the cupboard, still seeing how the coast was clear, both the Doctor and Wanda held even stares as each seemed to be contemplating on something.
"You know . . . we're going to be locked away inside a cupboard for about eight hours," Wanda commented casually.
"Yep," the Doctor responded. "Eight hours of boredom while we wait for closing. Nothing more than time to ourselves . . . alone."
"In a very tight and . . . confined space," Wanda remarked, shrugging her shoulders slightly.
"Oh, yes, a very close space," the Doctor agreed, giving a nod.
Slowly, each grew their own cheeky smirk. Grabbing each other's hand at the same time, Wanda giggled as the Doctor swiftly pulled her along towards the cupboard. Checking to make sure the area was clear of any employees, the Doctor opened the small storage space to let them inside. And he was kissing Wanda passionately before the door had even finished closing behind them.
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Sometime after six-ten at night was when the two Time Lords emerged from their hiding place. Wanda shuffled a deck of cards through her hands, snickering under her breath as the Doctor pouted.
"I can't believe you beat me at poker," he grumbled, greatly disgruntled. "I think you cheated. You had to have cheated. No one has beaten me at poker in over . . . well, I don't know how many years exactly, but it's been a long time I can tell you that."
"What can I say? I was taught by the best," Wanda replied, giving him a cheeky grin. "My big sister really knows her way around a deck of cards." Stuffing the deck into a pocket of her brown capris, she grabbed his hand and entwined their fingers as they moved down the halls.
The Doctor ended up deciding that the best way for them to sneak into the main office of the company was to go from the roof. Miss Foster, the head of the industry, had her office located right in the middle of the large building. Luckily, the Doctor had gotten ahold of the building's design blueprints and knew that the office had a large window that the two could sneak into. The Doctor also knew that there was a window-cleaning crane on the roof from having spotted it earlier, making their break in much easier. They could sneak in and out, and none would be the wiser.
So, hopping into the basket of the window-cleaning crane, the Doctor activated the controls and sent them down. Wanda tried to stop herself from bouncing as her most favourite moment of this adventure was about to occur. She just could not wait to see Donna again! Grinning in excitement, Wanda gripped the railing of the basket she and the Doctor stood in as they were brought closer and closer to their destination. Finally, once they reached the right window, the Doctor stopped the crane in front of the windows. He peered inside the dark office.
"Looks like no one is in," he mumbled quietly, seeing Wanda nod beside him. "Better move quickly before anyone shows up." Reaching forward, he was about to open the window in front of them when Wanda stopped his hand.
"Actually, someone is about to arrive. We should get down out of sight," Wanda told him as she pulled his arm to crouch down with her. Nodding, the Doctor crouched just under the brim of the window ledge, keeping a sharp eye out for who would show up.
Each Time Lord held onto the edge of the window as they watched the lights of the office flicker on and the door burst open. In marched Miss Foster, along with two goons of hers that were forcefully pushing forward Penny Carter, a journalist who Wanda knew had hidden away within the building to gather up more information about Adipose Industries. The two security goons of Miss Foster's pushed Penny into a chair facing the large desk of the office and tied her up. Miss Foster came around, sitting down in her chair and stared evenly at the journalist across from her. Outside the window, the Doctor had pulled out a stethoscope, using it to listen in on what was being said within the room by pressing the end piece against the window.
Wanda, already knowing what was being said, did not pay the group in the room much attention as she instead focused on the office door on the other side of the room. There was a large, round window on the door and she knew that soon a certain red head's face would be peering through to gaze into the office. She glanced every moment or so over to Miss Foster, seeing how the woman had pulled out a small Adipose (a white cubby creature that was as small as a human child's doll) to show Penny the true secret behind the diet pills. Little children that were born from human's fat cells when the pills were used. Wanda had to admit, the little Adipose was rather cute as it waved its little hand at Penny. But of course, all children were adorable in their own way. And Wanda was glad to know that this time around, the alien children would not be hurt in any way. Not like . . . that other time during Christmas.
Wanda felt her hearts clench painfully as she turned her eyes away from the Adipose baby, with something red having caught her attention. The biggest and most eager smile yet grew on Wanda's face as she finally saw Donna Noble peeking her head up to the office door window. Grinning anticipation, Wanda then watched the Doctor slowing raise his head over the edge of the window to peer inside as well, taking the stethoscope earpieces out of his ears as the conversation inside was loud enough to hear. Oh, this was going to be just brilliant. Soon, the Doctor's eyes sort of wandered over, widening when seeing the red head standing on the other side of the doorway inside the building. Donna's mouth dropped in shock, staring at the Time Lord in complete disbelief at the sight of him, her eyes screaming in elation at finally finding the Doctor.
Wanda had to slap a hand over her mouth to keep the fit of laughter from bursting out as she watched the Doctor and Donna sort of excitedly mouth a conversation to each other. The Doctor still seemed completely blown away by seeing the red headed woman again while Donna only appeared beyond ecstatic. She had a smile on the entire time of mouthing a response in telling the Doctor how she had been looking for him, searching through many places to find him again. Then, when Donna saw Wanda still crouching there beside the Doctor, the woman's excitement only seemed to grow as she mouthed Wanda's name and waved merrily. Wanda beamed and waved back as she giggled in seeing Donna beginning to go into an explanation of what else she had been doing, gesturing around with her hands on conveying a story. But then Donna sort of froze in mid-gesture when seeing Miss Foster and the others inside the office were staring at them.
"Are we interrupting you?" Miss Foster asked calmly staring the trio with an unamused expression.
"Nope!" Wanda exclaimed, bouncing onto her feet fully now. "Just old friends catching up." She laughed, giving an awkward smile. She then turned her eyes urgently to Donna who still stood frozen behind the door. "Donna, run!" The Doctor whipped out his sonic and made the window-cleaner shoot upwards just as Donna took off running from the doorway. Wanda pointed her own screwdriver towards the office door, making it seal shut before they shot upwards from the window. This would give Donna a barrier between her and the security officers for a while.
Reaching the roof again, the Doctor and Wanda jumped out of the crane's basket and, once inside the building again, bounded down the stairs as quickly as they could. Eventually, they ran right into Donna, who had been rushing up to meet them. All three of them smiled in delight upon seeing each other face-to-face again.
"Oh, my god!" Donna exclaimed in a breathless gasp, giving each Time Lord a joyful hug. She stepped back, looking them up and down as she could not believe that she was finally seeing them again. "I don't believe it!" She pointed at the Doctor. "You've even got the same suit!" She suddenly frowned at the Time Lord as she could not believe to find him wearing the same exact brown pinstripe suit. "Don't you ever change?"
"Yeah, thanks, Donna not right now," the Doctor responded, rolling his eyes slightly at the woman pointing out his attire. Wanda bounced forward and gave the woman another hug.
"It is so good to see you again!" she exclaimed merrily, moving away to pat Donna on the arm. "You see? I told you that you would find us where there's trouble." Donna laughed, nodding happily. The Doctor suddenly grabbed Wanda and Donna's hands.
"Just like old times!" he said brightly, pulling them both along in a rush up the stairs as he heard the security guards coming up after them. They all ran as fast as they could, making their way up to the roof again. Donna began to ramble the moment they stepped onto the roof, too excited in seeing both of the Time Lords again to contain herself.
"I just knew I had to see you both again. And I thought, "Why don't I follow Wanda's advice? Look for trouble, and they'll turn up.' So I looked everywhere, you name it," Donna said in a quick breath as they made their way over to the window-cleaning crane. "UFO sightings, crop circles, sea monsters. I looked, I found them all. That song about the bees disappearing, I thought 'I bet they're connected.' 'Cause the thing is, I believe it all now. You both opened my eyes to all those amazing things out there. I believe them all. Well, apart from that replica of the Titanic flying over Buckingham Palace on Christmas Day. I mean, that's got to be a hoax!" She laughed at the very idea.
"Actually, that one is true," Wanda told her, giving a small smile. "Looks like you missed out again, Donna." The woman gave a disappointed frown, clearly peeved to have missed another big moment that had occurred over London.
"What do you mean, the bees are disappearing?" the Doctor suddenly questioned, turning around from sonicking the control panel on the crane. Wanda's face dropped slightly upon hearing about the bees. The warning sign of what would come for poor Donna in the future. She sucked in a breath and slapped a smile on her face again, wanting to continue being happy and not be a drag like she had been in the past.
"I don't know. That's what it says on the Internet," Donna explained, watching as the two Time Lords climbed into the crane's basket. "On the same site, there was all these conspiracy theories about Adipose Industries, and I thought 'let's take a look.'" The Doctor nodded, not really paying attention to the ramblings of the woman. Man, could she talk a person's ear off or what. She was actually worse than Wanda.
"In you get," he stated, waving a hand for Donna to climb up and join them in the metal basket.
"What, in that thing?" Donna responded, pointed at the basket with a scoff.
"Yes, 'in that thing,'" the Doctor said, waving a hand for the woman to get up.
"But if we go down in that, they'll just call us back up again," Donna countered, appearing confused as to why exactly the two Time Lords wished to go down the window-cleaner.
"No, no, I locked the controls with a sonic cage," the Doctor explained, continuing to gesture for her to get up the ladder. "I'm the only one that can control it. Not unless she's got a sonic device of her own, which is very unlikely." Donna nodded and started up the ladder towards them, hopping into the basket next to Wanda. The Time Lady next to the Doctor huffed, rolling her eyes.
"Great. And now you've just jinxed us," Wanda said sarcastically.
"No I didn't. The chances of her having a sonic device is a million to one," the Doctor interjected. "And besides, since when have I ever jinxed myself?" At the skeptical look of Wanda, the Doctor cleared his throat. "Yeah, don't answer that."
Pressing a button, he sent them down the side of the building. The crane went slowly, easing its way down towards the ground. Wanda felt anxious as she glanced down briefly, gulping when seeing how high up they were from the ground. Flipping heights. She hated them so much. Can't all their adventures just stay on the ground? Was that too much to ask? Probably, but she would ask anyways.
A buzzing sound from above caught her attention, making Wanda whip her head to stare up towards the roof. She saw the two security guards and Miss Foster standing right by the edge, with the woman holding a sleek black pen tool that matched her black suit perfectly. The tool's blue tip pointed straight the pulley system holding the crane together. Wanda gulped again, grabbing onto the Doctor's hand in a vice grip. Before the Doctor could ask what was wrong, the whole crane let them drop at a fast pace, making the basket plummet towards the ground. The three occupants within the basket held onto the railing tightly. Donna let out a startled cry as she saw them racing towards the ground below.
Getting his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor aimed at the pulleys and made the crane come to a sudden halt. The three fell to their floor of the basket, panting as they saw smoke coming from the pulley above. Wanda could only stare at him with her brows raised in a retort of sorts. The Doctor rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, okay, I jinxed us," he grumbled. He hopped up, beginning to try and unlock a window in front of them. But he found the building to be deadlocked, unable to open an escape route for them. Donna picked up a wrench from within the metal basket they stood in, trying to smash open the window instead. The tool did no use, though, as the window seemed too strong. A loud hissed was heard from above and only Donna paid attention enough to look up.
"She's cutting the cable!" exclaimed the companion in alarm. Before either the Doctor or Wanda could react, one of the cables to the metal frame snapped, making the whole basket they stood in tilt sharply sideways. Donna was flung out, falling down only to catch the end of the snapped cable in time. Wanda almost fell along with her, but the Doctor managed to grab ahold the Time Lady in time before she tumbled down as well.
"Donna!" they both exclaimed, looking over the edge to see if Donna was all right. They could see her holding onto a metal bar, that was attached to the cable, for dear life.
"Doctor! Wanda!" Donna screamed in terror.
"Hold on!" the Doctor shouted to her.
"I am!" Donna retorted sarcastically. The Doctor began trying to hoist up the dangling woman, hoping to get her back up to safety. Wanda gazed up sharply when hearing the buzzing of a sonic pen. Glaring and aiming her purple-tipped sonic up, she pointed her own tool straight at Miss Foster's and managed to make it short circuit within the woman's grasp. Miss Foster let go from the sharp pain she experience, allowing the tool to fall right into Wanda's open hand.
"Ha! That'll teach you!" she barked at the woman standing on the roof. Wanda knew most likely Miss Foster could not hear her from so far below, but it still felt good in saying that. Stuffing the sonic pen into her pocket, Wanda moved around, gripping onto the railing beside her tightly as the Doctor pulled himself up to begin climbing the still attached cable.
Wanda shivered for a moment, hesitant to follow after him. But hearing Donna's frightened cries from below, Wanda counted swiftly to three in her mind, pushing aside her fears as she gripped the cable in hand and shimmied up behind the Doctor. Her determination to save her friend overpowered any fears she had. Once she reached the edge of the window that the Doctor had climbed through, she reached out and he helped her inside. Letting out a shaky breath as soon as her feet touched solid ground, Wanda straightened and grabbed onto the Doctor's hand as they ran to go save Donna. They ended up in Miss Foster's office where Donna was dangling right outside from. Penny looked over her shoulder at the two, holding a completely annoyed expression.
"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" the journalist demanded in question at them.
"What are you, a journalist? "the Doctor countered in question as he and Wanda used their sonics to try and open the window.
"Yes," Penny told him.
"Well, make it up!" the Doctor retorted sarcastically. They managed to get the window open and grabbed ahold of Donna's kicking legs. She panicked for a moment, unsure of who exactly was grabbing ahold of her.
"Donna! It's us! Just let go and we'll catch you!" Wanda called out to her, trying to calm the panicking woman. Soon as Donna had calmed down, the Doctor and Wanda helped her get back inside the building. Standing in front of them with a disgruntled expression, Donna shook her head at the two.
"I was right. It's always like this with you two, isn't it?" she said, sounding breathless from the horrible fright she had just gone through.
"Yep!" Wanda grinned merrily. The Doctor holding his own foxy grin.
"And off we go!" he stated almost cheerfully. Donna could not help but smile along with the Time Lords' excitement, running after them as they sprinted out of the office. They all stopped short though when hearing Penny's calls.
"Oi!" shouted the journalist in annoyance. The Doctor poked his head back into the room.
"Sorry," he apologized. Aiming his sonic at the ropes around Penny, he made them fall apart, releasing the woman. Wanda came around as the Doctor rushed off again.
"You might want to go ahead and get out," the Time Lady said. "Don't stick around trying to get information. Seriously, just leave. Your job ain't worth your life." With that said, she ran off to follow after the retreating Doctor and Donna.
Soon, they ran right into Miss Foster and her gun-wielding goons down into the product selling offices. They halted in their tracks, staring at Miss Foster anxiously as she eyed the three of them coolly. Her demeanour completely leveled and calm. Nothing seemed to faze her much.
"Well, then," spoke Miss Foster, taking off her glasses to eye them all equally. "At last."
"Hello," Donna replied weakly.
"Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor," said the Doctor lightly.
"I'm the Wanderer," Wanda stated next, giving a light wave.
"And I'm Donna," added in the companion, figuring she might as well introduce herself, too. Miss Foster merely raised a brow, finding it strange for the trio to have such a light mood about all of this.
"Partners in crime," she stated smoothly. She raised one puzzled brow as Wanda suddenly let out a loud snort and chortle.
"Sorry, sorry. Inside joke. Do carry on," Wanda laughed, waving a hand for Miss Foster to continue speaking.
"And evidently off-worlders, judging by your sonic technology," Miss Foster spoke snippily, glaring at the Wanderer as she was not fond of someone laughing at her. Especially for no apparent reason. But Miss Foster kept her calm demeanour as always, eyeing the Doctor instead as she figured the Wanderer next to him was merely a fool. Wanda discreetly passed the Doctor the sonic pen behind their backs. He gripped it tightly, bringing it up around to wave it in his hand at Miss Foster.
"Yes, I still got your sonic pen. Nice. I like it. Sleek," he commented. He eyed the woman across from them carefully, watching as she slowly placed on her black-rimmed glasses. "And if you were to sign your real name, that would be . . .?"
"Matron Cofelia of the Five-Straighten Classabindi Nursery Fleet. Intergalactic class," Miss Foster told him.
"A wet nurse," the Doctor nodded in understanding. "Using humans as surrogates."
Miss Foster continued to eye him as she went on to explain. "I've been employed by the Adiposian First Family to foster a new generation after their breeding planet was lost."
Baffled, the Doctor gave a small frown. "What do you mean, lost? How do you lose a planet?"
"Oh, the politics are none of my concern. I'm just here to take care of the children on behalf of the parents."
"What, like an outer space super-nanny?" Donna questioned, confused by what exactly the woman was. Or even how exactly they were making children from humans in the first place. Really, all this stuff was still new to Donna, she could barely wrap her mind around it.
"Yes, if you'd like," Miss Foster nodded, giving a smile as she quite enjoyed that term.
"So . . . So those little things, they're made out of fat, yeah?" Donna asked, trying to make the woman explain everything. "But that woman, Stacy Campbell, there was nothing left of her."
"Oh, in a crisis, the Adipose can convert bone and hair and internal organs. It makes them a little bit sick, poor things," Miss Foster explained causally. Not sounding at all disturbed by some woman having died the night before, but holding concern for her Adipose foster children. Donna stared at her in disbelief, completely appalled that anyone would dismiss a life so easily.
"What about poor Stacey?" Donna retorted angrily. Wanda gave a curt nod, agreeing with Donna, eyeing Miss Foster strictly as the Time Lady felt just a disgusted with the woman. The Doctor felt similar as his eyes darkened while gazing at Miss Foster.
"Seeding a level five planet is against galactic law," he grounded out. Miss Foster kept her own gaze even, but there was a small spark of recognized fear.
"Are you threatening me?" she responded. Not responding for a short pause, the Doctor held a mixed demeanour of calm and anger. He felt irked that the Matron would be so brash and thoughtless as to use Earth for her own breeding ground. But . . . he knew he would have to go about his anger and punishing her another way.
"I'm trying to help you, Matron," he finally said. "This is your one chance. 'Cause if you don't call this off, then we'll have to stop you."
"I'd listen to him if I were you," Wanda spoke up, earning Miss Foster's attention as she had been about to retort to the Doctor's claim. "You've already had plenty of Adipose born. Stop while your ahead."
"Oh, but there's just so many more that can be birthed," Miss Foster replied coolly, having a confident smile on her face. "Besides, I hardly think you can stop bullets." With this said, the two security guards next to her raised their large guns, cocking them as they were aimed at the trio. Wanda stepped quickly in front of Donna and the Doctor in front of his Wanderer.
"No, hold on, hold on, hold on!" the Doctor said rapidly, holding out his hands to them. "One more thing, before dying. Do you know what happens if you hold two identical sonic devices against each other?" Wanda leaned over to Donna, watching as the Doctor held his screwdriver in one hand and Miss Foster's pen in the other.
"Donna, cover your ears," Wanda breathed in a whisper to the woman next to her.
"What? Why?" Donna whispered back.
"No," Miss Foster said to the Doctor from his earlier question. The Doctor grinned, holding the device firmly in his hands.
"Nor me. Let's find out," he replied merrily. He aimed the two tools at each other and turned them on at the highest setting.
The most ear piercing sound shot through the building, creating agony to everyone's ears. Miss Foster, the guards, and Donna gripped at their heads as the pulsing sound waves shook the air around them. Wanda grimaced as she tried keeping Donna up from falling to the floor in pain, ignoring her own aching ears as she held the woman up. Glass from decorations, offices, and windows began to shatter as the pulsing increased. Wanda tapped on the Doctor's shoulder to indicate that it was enough, he could stop now. He moved the tools away from each other, placing them back into his pockets in a flash and grabbed Wanda's hand as he began to run again. Wanda held onto Donna's hand as well, trying to help the woman keep up with them.
Soon, they made their way down into the lower levels of the building, heading towards the same storage cupboard of which the Doctor and Wanda had hidden before. Once they reached the cupboard, the Doctor began throwing out many items that had been placed within, such as different janitorial buckets and ladders.
"Well, that's one solution, hiding in a cupboard," Donna remarked as she watched in bewilderment the Doctor tossing out all the storage items. "I like it."
"We're not hiding. We're hacking," Wanda explained as she helped the Doctor move out the items. She stepped up behind the Doctor as he began opening up the hidden panel behind the fake concrete wall. "We sort of stumbled upon a computer core of the building. The Matron had it placed in."
"How did you 'stumble' onto it?" Donna asked as she stepped into the tight space with them, closing the door behind her. The Doctor in front put on his glasses as he stared at the green, alien computer.
"Sort of found it by accident," Wanda said, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, on the Doctor's part at least. I did remember it in the beginning, but it slipped my mind after I became . . . distracted." Wanda smirked lightly in remembrance, especially when seeing the red tint forming on the Doctor's face upon the mentioning of 'distraction.'
"How did you find on accident?" Donna questioned, baffled by what Wanda was trying to explain.
"It—it doesn't really matter," the Doctor suddenly said as he saw Wanda opening her mouth to answer Donna's question. He cleared his throat, the red tint on his face darkening. "After we found it, I've been hacking into this thing for most of the day. It runs through the center of the building. Triple-deadlocked. But now I've got this, I can get into it." He smiled as he held up the Matron's sonic pen.
He began working on the computer, trying to mess with the rest of the building's wiring. Knowing that the security guards would most likely come down where they were, the Doctor set up a trap for the men. If they were to cross the doorways anywhere near the storage cupboard, they would be shocked by the building's electricity and knocked unconscious for a while. Nothing completely harmful, of course. After assuring they would have the privacy they needed, the Doctor began to look over the rest of the computer.
"Why has she wired up a tower block?" he wondered aloud. "What's it all for?"
"It's an inducer," Wanda began to explain rapidly. "It's going to activate the parthenogenesis in all the humans who've taken that pill. Basically, doing the same thing to all those people like what was done to poor Stacey Campbell."
"No, no, they can't," Donna breathed in horror. The Doctor hurriedly started to grab wires, working with them as he formulated a plan of action.
Helping him along, Wanda started twisting many wires together as she knew what needed to be done. The computer suddenly announced, 'Inducer activated.' Sounding off an alarm noise of sorts as the program began. Working furiously, the Time Lords were racing against the clock now as the program would soon send millions of people to their deaths. The Doctor quickly pulled out the free pendant given to him by one of the Adipose salespersons, ripping the golden capsule in off and attaching it to the wires he had been working with. As the computer announced an increase in strength, Wanda reached into Donna's inside jacket pocket, pulling out the other pendant they needed. Donna was startled by the sudden intrusion, blinking in shock as Wanda pulled out the golden necklace.
"Thanks, Donna, you're just as brilliant as ever," Wanda told the woman happily, giving the woman a quick peck on the cheek. The Doctor beamed as Wanda handed over the necklace, quickly doing the same to it as he had to his own. Once attached to the wires, the computer shut off immediately. The three of them cheered, celebrating the success with a group hug. Then, the building suddenly rattled as a loud electric hum rang through the air.
"What the hell is that?" Donna asked, beginning to fear that something worse was about to happen.
"It's the nursery ship arriving to take the Adipose children away," Wanda explained, hurriedly opening up the door of the cupboard. "Come on, we better get to the roof again. We need to stop something bad from happening."
"Why? What's happening?" Donna questioned as they began running down the hallway again.
"The Matron's in trouble. The First Family know what they did was illegal, so they're going to get rid of their accomplice," stated Wanda quickly as they sprinted up the stairs.
Once they reached the roof again, they stared in interest to the sight outside. Over ten thousand Adipose children were being beamed upwards in a stream of light, right up to the large, brightly coloured ship hovering in the sky. They could hear the small squeals of glee the small, cubby alien babies were making as they went up to the ship, excited for their set destination to their new home and family. It was quite a sight, really.
"What are you gonna do, then? Blow them up?" Donna asked, sounding hesitant to what the answer might be. She feared a repeat of what happened to the Racnoss children last year. Wanda winced at this question and the Doctor held a heavy frown for a brief second before glancing at Donna.
"They're just children. They can't help where they came from," he responded to Donna's question.
"They deserve to have a life of their own," Wanda added in, nodding her head in happy agreement. Donna smiled and nodded as well.
"Oh, well, that makes a change from last time," she remarked lightly. They all smiled together for a moment longer, beginning to wave at the Adipose who squealed happily and were waving at them.
"Goodbye, little ones," Wanda breathed quietly, just under her breath so that neither the Doctor nor Donna could hear her. After a moment, she glanced over her shoulder, looking for something. Seeing it sitting in a corner for emergency use, Wanda moved away from the two as they watched Miss Foster coming up to hover in the beam just at the edge of the roof. The Doctor and Donna moved right next to the ledge.
"Matron Cofelia, listen to me!" the Doctor called out to her.
"No, I don't think so, Doctor," replied Miss Foster calmly. "And if I never see you again, it'll be too soon."
"Why does no one ever listen," the Doctor gritted under his breath. Holding out a hand, waving her to come towards the roof, he stared at her in urgency. "I'm trying to help! Just get across to the roof! Can you shift the levitation beam?"
"What, so that you can arrest me?" Miss Foster retorted.
The Doctor continued to try and get the Matron to listen and jump away from the beam, but she was persistent in thinking that they needed her. She was the nanny after all. But mum and dad did not need the nanny anymore. The light of the beam disappeared, leaving Miss Foster to open air. Her eyes widened in terror as she began to plummet down to the ground. Suddenly, Wanda rushed up beside the leaning Doctor and Donna, throwing over an end of an emergency hose. The heavy metal end swung down and, just in the nick of time, the falling Matron grabbed it. They heard her screaming as she swung against the side of the building, probably earning herself a nice bruise, but safe all the same. The Doctor and Donna blinked, stunned by the sudden save, while Wanda next to them grunted as she held onto the long hose tightly.
"Um . . . a little help here," she groaned as her arms felt strained in holding the Matron up. Luckily the end of the hose was attached to the building itself, or else Wanda knew she would have gone over the edge as well.
"Right, right, sorry," the Doctor said, coming up around Wanda to help her pull. The three of them grunted as they hoisted the Matron up to the roof. Overhead, the nursery ship disappeared, flying off as they assumed they had killed their nanny. After a while, a shaking hand reached the ledge, gripping on tightly for dear life. The Doctor reached forward, holding onto the hand and helping the Matron onto the roof. Miss Foster fell to the ground, trembling as she just experienced the worst terror in all her life. She looked up to the people standing before her, breathing in and out heavily.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"You're welcome," Wanda said gently, smiling as she helped the woman stand back up onto her feet.
"You saved my life . . . even after everything I've done?" Miss Foster asked; completely baffled by the sudden rescue she received.
"Well, of course. Couldn't just let you die, could we?" Wanda replied with humour in her tone. She stared pointedly at the Matron. "But don't think this lets you off the hook. You're still in trouble." The woman's face fell as she knew what would be coming. Though, she was startled in surprise once more at Wanda's next statement.
"Though, Doctor, we really can't have her arrested by the Judoon," Wanda told the Time Lord next to her.
"Oh?" the Doctor replied in interest, raising a brow.
"They'll just go to the First Family and destroy all those Adipose children because of the crime of breeding. We can't have that," Wanda stated, shaking her head at the horrible idea of all those children dying because of the Judoon's mark of 'justice.'
"True," the Doctor agreed, nodding his head. "We really couldn't have that happen. But the galactic law was still broken and Matron Coeflia here," he gave the nanny a cross look, seeing how the woman winced under his gaze, "still needs to be punished for almost killing a million people."
"Right. And I know the perfect place," Wanda said, smiling mischievously. She threw an arm around the Matron's middle, making the woman jump slightly as she began to be steered towards the stairs of the roof.
"What exactly is it you're going to do to me?" she queried, sounding almost nervous.
"Nothing too bad. Just to be stuck here raising some Earth children is all," Wanda said slyly, patting the woman's shoulder. "You see, there's this child care center that can really use a good nanny." At the Matron's confused stare, Wanda grinned sassily. "Oh, don't think this isn't punishment. This place, well, let's just say last week one of the nanny's there ended up in the hospital with crayons shoved up her nose." She giggled as Miss Foster suddenly looked horrified.
XxXxXxXx
Donna bounced in excitement next to Wanda as they stood outside her car. When they had walked down the alleyway, seeing both Donna's blue car and the blue police box being parked in the same area, Donna had been more than thrilled. Declaring this destiny for her to be reunited with the Doctor and Wanda again and to travel with them both. The Doctor had been bewildered at first, but seeing Wanda's wink, he realized that it was finally Donna's turn to be a companion. He smiled and nodded, telling the two of them that he would be right back after taking Miss Foster to her new home on Earth. The Matron had put up a fuss at first, but when Wanda warned her that if she tried leaving Earth or making hell for any more humans, then the Judoon would indeed hurt the Adipose. This made the Matron bow her head in surrender, not wishing for this to happen to the children she had seen birthed.
With the TARDIS materializing away once second to take the Matron away and arriving back again in the next, the Doctor stepped out and held the doors open, brightly awaiting for their next adventure. Donna exclaimed excitedly, opened the back of her car and started to unload all the luggage she had packed for a 'just in case' moment. Each luggage item was stuffed into the Doctor's stunned arms. He could only blink in shock at all the luggage Donna had packed away. Wanda smiled as she took some of the items from him, wishing to help him carry.
"Oh! Car keys!" Donna suddenly exclaimed after she closed the back of the car. She pulled out the keys to the vehicle from her pocket. "I've still got my mum's car keys. I won't be minute." She ran around the corner, disappearing to leave the keys somewhere safe for her mother to find.
"She sure is happy," the Doctor commented. He looked down, feeling baffled by the sight of all the luggage. "And she really does come prepared."
"Yeah. That's Donna for you," Wanda laughed fondly, shaking her head in amusement. They began picking up random bags, taking them over to the TARDIS. "So, how did Matron Cofelia take her new home?"
"Well . . . she was shocked, to say the least," the Doctor told her. "I made sure that she had the all the right papers. New identity and everything. Got a small home to live in for now. And I made certain that she has nothing that can cause anyone harm or to be able to contact help to get her off the planet. She will be stranded here on Earth from now on, raising human kids as her deed to society." He gave Wanda a curious glance as he opened the TARDIS door. "By the way, what made you think of putting her there?"
"Saw it in a possibility." Wanda shrugged lightly. "In saving her, I knew where she's meant to be for now on. And trust me, even though it's really supposed to be a punishment, after a few years she's actually going to learn to enjoy it. She'll help a lot of kids along the way and make a better life for them. A much better life choice than killing people for breeding in my opinion."
Setting the luggage just inside the doorway, the Doctor turned to her in interest. "You really believe she deserves a second chance?"
"Of course. I believe that everyone deserves a second chance if they're willing to try."
He nodded slowly, growing a distant and sad look in his eyes as he gazed at her. "Remember that for the future, Wanderer."
She blinked at him in bewilderment, but nodded all the same, feeling a strange sense of dread creep down her spine. They turned together and stared out to where Donna would be walking from, now just waiting for her arrival so they could take off. Each leaned against one end of the TARDIS outside the ship, with Wanda having her arms crossed and the Doctor with his hands stuffed in his pockets. After a moment of silence, it was broken by Wanda speaking again.
"Things . . . are starting to come full circle, you know," she said quietly, almost sounding solemn. The Doctor blinked, turning his head towards her.
"Oh? What makes you say that?" he questioned softly.
"I'm starting to catch up with myself. Past events and future ones," she told him. Her thoughts wandered over of remembering how First her would be arriving soon within the TARDIS after they leave here. She let out a small sigh as she thought over current events. "And things have become so . . . quiet lately. Not much happening."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"Yes . . . but it makes me worried."
Raising a brow, the Doctor continued to gaze at her as if beginning to worry himself over her and the future to come for her. However, he made certain this did not show as he did not wish to make Wanda feel anxious. "How so?"
A heavy sigh left Wanda's lips, turning to meet her gaze with the Doctor's. "Because there's always calm before the storm."
XxXxXxXx
Out of all the adventures of the Doctor and companions, this one has to be my absolute favorite. I just laugh every time. XD I really hope everyone enjoyed the surprise chapter! Let me know if there is anything you wish to see happen next or any other thoughts you'd like to let out in a review. Each person to send a review gets a special hug from me. ;) Take care to all and have a fantastic day!
~Tinker~