This was my idea for the beginning of Loyalty of Hope, but it inevitably fell out.
I tap "Total", grinning at the number. "Oh, 50.62? Not a bad year, not a bad year at all. I mean, for most people it was terrible with the war and all, but I'm not most people. I'm an NPC and I just respawn after awhile," I mutter, more to myself than my customer.
The customer frowns at me, shaking his head. "I think you mean 5162, in 5062 there was no war. Not on Earth anyway." The man stated in a British accent. A northern british accent, I think.
"Oh! Of course, how could I forget that?" I slap my forehead, shaking it, "5162! Yeah. Okay. Your remaining total is 19.12- ooh, that was a bad year, that." I mutter, once more to myself. Just before the war, and everything generally sucked.
"They thought I was a witch just because I could scale a building! Seriously, bad year for me." I muttered, and the man looked at me curiously.
"What's a time traveller like you doing here?" He asked, and I shrugged, scowling as I handed over his change
I logged out. I was done for the day. I shrugged off my vest, "Oh, this and that. Changing history for the worse, stepping on butterflies, making paradoxes, etcetera." I whispered, "Nothing much. I'm just stuck here for a while," I reply louder.
It seemed he heard both things I said, because next thing I know he's the one scowling at me. "If you try to do anything, I'll have to stop you." He threatened.
I grinned at him. Oh, how I enjoyed pretending, but this man was the first one to pretend along with me. I gave him a once over. Leather jacket, big ears, grey-blue eyes, sexiness and confidence in his every step. My grin faltered. He was serious, but that's not what I was frowning on. "I'm just a non-player character, sir." I say as he follows me to the machine so I can clock out. "I can't do much of anything if I tried. Though I contemplated mass genocide more than once. I figured that I'd just spread more dogma around and let them do it themselves." I shrugged, and left the building, him still walking with me.
"Non-player character? Like in the video games you humans are so fond of?" He asked, and I slowed to a stop.
"Well, whatever you want to call it. A background character, an NPC, an unimportant being in an ocean of slightly important beings." I replied, looking around for my dad. He was picking me up, and he'd leave if I wasn't there. I'm 20 minutes late, so I presume he's left already. I'm proven right when I see that he's nowhere to be found. Ouch, I've been abandoned.
"Why do you think that?" He asked, looking genuinely curious. As if he actually cared. I frowned at him, scrunching my eyebrows as I look at his expression. He dare care for me?
"Leaving?" A coworker asked as they walked towards the building. I nodded at them, grinning.
"Maybe. I got left behind, so I might just stall in the break room for a few hours before calling for a cab. When did you start?" I asked, turning away from the caring and hot stranger. Well, hot enough for me.
"I start in a few minutes. They have me working 'till four," the coworker answered, and I grimaced.
"Ooh, I give my condolences. Ten at night to four in the morning? That's… Oh, you'll be so bored." I replied. They shrugged and walked away. I sighed heavily, looking up into the sky.
"Fuck life. Okay, now." I said, letting my mask crack for just that moment before distracting myself. I glanced at the stranger, confused. "You're still here?" I asked politely. I may be off of work, but he could still complain to my higher ups.
"You didn't answer my question." He said, as if that's all the reason he needed to stay. I stared at him. For quite a while, actually. I was thinking. He never once looked away from my dead stare that I tend to give people when I'm focused on something. I must've been staring at him for five-plus minutes, and he didn't once interrupt my thought process.
I slowly started speaking again. "You, sir." I start so, so slowly, "Are an enigma. I'll give you that." I replied. I still didn't answer him, I couldn't. It's like trying to explain how to blink. It just doesn't need explaining, it's obvious, it's a natural thing that just is.
"I'm the Doctor. What's your name?" He asked out of the blue. I was about to reply when a blue box caught my eye.
"Why is there a random police box from the 50's, from Britain, doing here?" I asked, incredulous. I walked up to it, entirely too confused. "How has no one noticed it? What the hell? This is 'Murica! The America! United States, too! We'd be too patriotic to ever - seriously, what the fuck." I glanced at the man, the Doctor, as he walked up. "I mean, uh, I don't work there. Yeah." I saved myself. Not.
"I'm surprised you noticed it. I'm surprised you knew what it was, honestly." He said, and I shrugged.
"I read through a lot of history so that I can pretend to have visited the years we spoke of. Of course, I just make stuff up for the future. I don't even - I didn't even like history until I got this job, to be honest." I replied. "But now… History is amazing," I breathe.
"What about space?" The Doctor asked. I glanced back at him, a bitter smile on my face.
"Wishing upon the stars is something I do often. To visit other worlds, to experience beautiful things, to just live each day as an adventure. Space is cool, I guess. It just… It has so much promise, and us humans don't even get to visit it until I'm long gone," I muttered bitterly. The Doctor glanced at me.
"So you aren't an actual time traveller? You haven't been to alien planets?" He asked, and I stared at him. I shifted to be able to look at him, hand on the curious blue box, as we spoke.
"Nah. I haven't really done much with my life so far," I replied. I then went back to the blue box, walking around it and running my hand alongside the wooden planks. Around, I went, arriving at the now-open doors. I peered inside, blinking as I walked all the way in. The Doctor was there, and I looked around.
"Where do you want to start? I've heard it all," He said, and I hummed. I enjoyed the appearance, it was grand and homely.
"It's… Uh, what's the word, dimensionally transcendental. It transcends dimensional possibilities, and um… She's a beautiful ship. Almost sexy, if I were into modes of transportation. And- it could be a homely environment. Like you could keep your heart in here and it'd be safe forever." I replied.
He's heard it all, so I wanted to at least say it with some intellect. I wonder how many people have said that, I wondered. Probably most of them, seeing as I'm just an NPC. I run my fingers along the interior, marvelling at the sheer awesomeness radiating off of this place.
"Okay, I lied. I haven't heard that." He said, and I glanced at him, confused. I let it go, deciding to focus on one thing.
"Which species are you- er, race, I mean. Which galaxy? Planet?" I asked. There was no way he was human. I remembered his comment about humans and Earth. I listened to him with extreme focus, after all.
"I'm just the Doctor." He replied, and I stared. I tried understanding.
"Where are you from?" I asked, quieter. This was a sensitive question, I knew.
"I'm from all over," he responded, and I could see him raising his shields. I stared at him, and this time he looked away in seconds. I knew that tone. It hurt to think of his home place. But why?
"Uh, hm." I hesitate, and he looks back at me. I look away. I could practically feel how pained he was. How evasive he'd be over it if I didn't finish this now. "I uh, may not be the best person in existence, and I may not know where you're from, what it's called, or anything really, but…" I sighed heavily. I shook my head. My heart hurt, but I couldn't help him. Not unless I knew one thing. "Do you have anyone, Doctor?" I asked, looking at him. I immediately knew he didn't. I sighed even heavier.
"Oh. Your planet, whatever and wherever it is, was, whatever, is gone. Or you have no more connections to it. I- I'm sorry." I muttered, blinking back tears for this man. This man I'd just met, yeah, but I tried understanding him, and it hurt.
"I don't want your pity, if you're just going to pity me get out of my TARDIS." He snapped, and I tried stopping the tears. I truly did. I groaned, closing my eyes and rubbing at them.
"I don't give out pity, Doctor. Only my attempts to understand. And it hurts, understanding this. You're alone," I whispered, and then I straightened. No, I won't allow that. I felt that once, and never want anyone else to feel that way.
"Fuck that!" I snarled, surprising the Doctor if his look was anything to go on. I scowled at him. "Fuck you being alone. I understand that, but being alone and lonely? NO!" I hiss, "Fuck it. I'm staying by your side forever, because no one deserves to feel, I'm sure, 20 million times worse than I do just by thinking about having nothing! I promise you, Doctor," I say, eyes glimmering with tears and determination.
"If it takes me ripping apart entire multiverses and dimensions, I'll never leave your side unless you want me to." I promised. And, for once in my entirely unimportant life, I entirely meant it with every atom in my being. He gaped at me, and I tried calming down.
I was just tired, I told myself. I knew, though, that in the morning, I'd still have promised my life to this stranger. I'd still stay until he inevitably threw me away when someone else came along.
I was just tired, I agreed. I was tired of feeling others pain and not helping. I was tired of trying to understand everything and hurting myself without at least helping another person. I was tired, and so my entire being screamed NO MORE! And this man, this stranger, saw this. I tried conveying how serious I was through my eyes, and he didn't stop gaping at me. I eventually calmed down enough to realize what I just did. I slouch again, looking away.
"Sorry, I'm just… I understand how you feel, on a smaller scale, and I just don't want anyone else to feel this way. I uh, understand if you don't want to hang out with me my entire life," I muttered, already feeling the pain from his rejection. I couldn't look up for a good while, tears still falling from the outburst I had. It hurt, understanding this. It always did hurt to understand something too much. I hated understanding, but I hated not understanding more. I also hated seeing others in pain, but… He didn't even look like he was in pain.
I just yelled at an alien stranger for some unseen pain that I imagined was there. More tears fell, and I let them. I couldn't stop them, I knew. And wiping them away would just ruin my eyes if I did it too often. I coughed, looking away in embarrassment. Looking away from the floor, to the ceiling. I closed my eyes, clenching my jaw as I begged the tears to stop.
I knew what rejection felt like, I knew what hurt felt like, I knew what loneliness and being alone felt like, I understood love, I knew it. I knew a lot of emotions. Depression, sorrow, love, happiness, bitterness, saltiness, boredom, hatred. I knew them. I understood them in a way most wouldn't, immersing myself in them because I wanted to understand people, and I wanted to help.
I never did, though. I never took that step, always too afraid of rejection. Too afraid of the immense pain that would be put upon my heart. I was usually sick, had fever, headache, etc. Not because my immune system was weak - seriously, I tried swallowing poisonous pills once and damn that poison was freaking taken care of - but because of my worry and hurt and understanding. Too stressed because I cared too much and was rejected once too many.
I felt the pain of everyone who I've ever seen cry, I felt the guilt that came with not helping them because I was too scared, I felt the bitter sorrow that crept up on you when you saw others looking happy, I felt the bitterness of seeing others be loved when you weren't, and I never wanted anyone to feel that way, so I gave my loyalty completely to the people I cared for, hurting every night as I knew they'd never care for me as much as I did them.
So I just stood there, letting my tears for this man fall as I gave him my entire heart, expecting nothing in return, just because I thought he was lonely. I didn't even have any proof! I sighed miserably, regretting telling him that he had my complete loyalty in the three minutes we've known each other. I was just tired, I weakly replied, but I knew. I knew that I was overreacting. I knew that I was just tired and lonely and wanting someone to accept me. I knew that I was just giving someone else what I hoped that I'd receive one day, even as I knew it'd never happen. I groaned in embarrassment, finally wiping away the tears as I looked at the Doctor's leather jacket.
"Can you just forget I said that, please? I'm just tired, and- and… So done." I begged, and I heard the audible snap of his jaw.
"Do you give your entire life to any stranger you meet that seems lonely?" He asked, and I flinched. I looked down, staring at my well-loved and worn shoes.
"... I wish I could, but I only have one life to give. I've tried, once or twice, to people who knew loneliness more than I did, but, well… Yeah, I was just kinda abandoned." I replied, shrugging. I tried acting like it was something I did every day.
"How many people have you offered your entire life to?" He asked, and I shrugged.
"Verbally? One. Mentally? Er, they all kind of left… They're all just living their lives and forgetting that I exist." I muttered, as quietly as I could. I scuffed my shoe against the panelling. It hurt, but it was true. I didn't exist in their eyes any more. I was just a school friend. A passing entertainment. Oh, if they knew, I'd be shoved away faster than ever before.
"I presume you mean your family and friends, when you say they," He said quietly. I sighed heavily.
"I never tried giving anything to my family. They all made it clear I wasn't wanted," I ran a hand through my hair, staring at this stranger that I just gave my being to, "I gave my everything to, two? Three? People. Friends. They left, though, so it's okay. I can give you what's left. Sorry for not being able to give you more," I say miserably. He probably thought me doing this was unimportant. I slowly release the part connected to him, face going blank as another piece of my soul is hidden behind the coldest of steels. Distinctly separated into four different parts. The remaining fourth was flickering, I knew.
"... Don't," He said, and I glanced up, confused.
"What?" I asked, voice normal.
"I accept it. I'll take your promise of forever," He replied, voice dark. I stared at him, heart hurting. I swallowed, nodding.
"Okay," I whispered, just waiting to wake up from this amazing dream. No one wanted me for forever, especially not a stranger. So I waited, and waited. My hope grew.
"So, I just cried the rest of my existence into exhaustion. Any chance of a nice nap and then some adventure to get our minds off the hurt?" I suggested, letting the hope straighten my shoulders and raise my head. I was hopeful that I'd be able to help this man, and not get rejected.
"A nap? Don't humans need more than that to work properly?" The Doctor asked, and I chuckled.
"A nice 30-minute nap will make me feel better, and then adrenaline and pure awesome- which, seeing as all you've shown me is pure awesome - will do the rest." I replied happily. I was too happy that someone accepted my help to tell him that I'd never be able to get to sleep if I knew it'd take 8 or more hours for me to wake up. That's just wasting time when I can get to know the man I promised my forever to.
"The TARDIS will set up a room for you, I'll show you it after we decide on a place and time to go." The Doctor said. I nodded.
"Okay! I heard some rumours about moving plastic in London, 2005. I'm sure we could check it out? See if there's any basis to it?" I immediately suggest. I had looked up history, and the many alien invasions that totally didn't happen. Jeez, the conspiracy theorists have just gotten more and more insane. Though, I thought, if someone like the Doctor exists, then it wouldn't be hard to believe that Cybermen and Sontarans and a space-Titanic might exist. With greatness comes evil, after all. Or was it where greatness goes, evil follows it? I dunno, I just made it up, but it seems true enough.
The Doctor grinned at me, and I grinned back, "I like you, Mae," He said, and I pouted as I looked down at my work outfit, name tag hanging from it. I hid my name for a reason. I grinned back at him anyways.
"Thanks, I like you too, Doctor." I murmured, and he lead me to a nice room. It was small and comfortable. Barely fit a bed and a table, with a small closet full of dark colors. There was a distinct absence of purples and yellows. The Doctor frowned at the room.
"Sorry, the TARDIS usually gives my companions a nice room vaguely fitted to their tastes, she must not like you for some reason," He said, and I shook my head, grinning at the small space.
"This is amazing, I love it." I said, and he looked at me. I grinned at his look, the one that I often got by others. The "you're extremely weird" look.
"You like the room? It's tiny!" He exclaimed, and I screwed my brow in confusion.
"Er, yeah? So? I like small dark spaces, oddly enough. And I don't just like the room, it's exactly what I was hoping for! It's perfect!" I grinned, bouncing. The walls were black with some silver swirls adorning the walls, making it seem even better, and the bed wasn't big enough for me to feel like I should be sharing it. If I ever wanted to reach out, I'd be able to touch the walls, and the clothes in the closet were all t-shirts, sweatshirts, and jeans with long randomly decorated socks in the drawer. It was perfect. No more than five long paces around the entire room. I adored the room, and I said so multiple times.
"Oh my god if the TARDIS could understand me and be hugged I'd be hugging the life out of her, this is fucking perfect." I stated, grin unable to leave my face. The Doctor chuckled at my enthusiasm.
"I'm glad you like it. Usually my companions want lots of space and maybe even a mini-apartment, but you seem to enjoy having this room more than they've ever appreciated their rooms." He stated, and I scrunch my nose.
"If the TARDIS gives them something they wanted, even vaguely like you said the TARDIS usually gave, why wouldn't they be appreciative?" I muttered, sneer in place at the thought of those ungrateful assholes.
"If you got, say, this room except bigger, and less decorated with blank walls, would you-"
"Yeah. I'd be honoured that anyone bothered to create a room even vaguely based upon what I'd have wanted." I interrupted. I nodded, pulling out my electronic and fob watch. I placed the fob watch back in my pocket, setting my electronic watch to go off in 25 minutes. "Well, I'll head to bed, then maybe take a shower and then we can head out and check those rumours out." I say, wondering if that was okay. The Doctor nodded, and we said our goodnights.
I startle awake, reaching out for anything and gripping on to the wall for support as I stand up, stumbling off the bed. The lights snap on, blinding me for a moment as I stumble towards the closet and grab some clothes. Black t-shirt, dark red sweatshirt, black pants, penguin socks, and my ratted red and black shoes.
I stumbled out of the room and venture into another one closest to my door. It was a nice bathroom and I quick got in, the cold blast that warmed immediately letting me fully wake up. When I walked back into my room to drop off the clothes I had been wearing my watch just started beeping. I hummed, feeling fully awake. Oh well. That dream just sucked. There were shrieking things and I was staring down a red-eyed silhouette. A normal nightmare, but that didn't make it any less sucky.
"You slept for ten minutes and you look like you slept for eight hours," A voice called, and I glanced over.
"Yeah, the longer I sleep the more exhausted I am. It only truly takes about an hour of non-REM sleep to actually recharge a human, the rest actually is your subconscious dreaming and draining your energy that way, and my dreams always take too much energy," I replied, and we walked to the console room. I'm glad that the dream only lasted a few seconds, I've been getting better at waking myself up from dreams.
"That's not true," the Doctor said, and I shrugged.
"'S how it works for me, Doc."
We walked, and I found out that TARDIS stood for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space, that it doesn't actually like flying, but dematerializing and rematerializing, and that she was, in fact, sentient. I grinned at the Doctor when I found that out.
"Excellent, now I won't just be talking to thin air when I speak to your girl," I said, genuinely enthused. This was the best. The Doctor grinned back at me and we reached the console room. He set the coordinates, trying to explain to me how to set time coordinates on the TARDIS after I asked. After he had to clarify something for the seventh time, I just grinned at him.
"You're absolutely fantastic, you know that?" I said seriously, no joking in my voice even as I grinned at him. I was just a measly cashier, but even I could see brilliance. He hesitated a moment before grinning back at me.
"We're here," He said after we were shaken to the floor. I sighed happily, hopping up and helping the Doctor up even though he didn't really need it. We both grinned at each other, before walking out of the TARDIS doors. Neither of us noticed our hands were entwined until we tried going around different sides of the pole. I stared at the offending pole. How dare it stop me in my tracks. We just released hands and continued, both of us shoving our hands into our pockets.
"So, your sonic probe-" I started, only to be interrupted with an indignant 'it's a screwdriver!', "So, your sonic device," I relented, "it does things from sound waves, right?" I asked as we walked towards "Hendrik's". The people around payed us no attention. I just looked like a woman with her dad. Or a girl with her boyfriend. Whichever.
"Yeah, why?" He asked, and I hummed. My eyebrows furrowed.
"Then it should work on both deadlocked and wooden items, since those things don't just negate sound," I said reasonably, "Have you just messed up in fine-tuning the sonic, or does Beauty just not want to put in the extra effort, if she's the one that makes it?" The Doctor looked at me, confused.
"I never thought of that. Yeah, it should work… Beauty?" He trailed off, and I decided to continue.
"Yeah, the TARDIS. I named her Beauty. But, since it's sonic, meaning sound, does that mean that in outer space where there's no air for the sound waves to move through, the sonic just… woodn't work?" I asked, making a small pun in the meantime. The Doctor glanced at me, hopefully catching my brilliant pun, and shrugged.
"I didn't think of that either." He admitted. I nodded, deep in thought about his sonic and TARDIS. Such possibilities… I blinked into reality when we were all of a sudden taking the lift into a basement.
"I ah, should really pay more attention," I murmured. The Doctor glanced at me, amused.
"Yeah, you should. How long have you been thinking?" He asked and I just shrugged. It didn't really matter, and so we continued. He filled me in on the creatures we encountered at first.
Autons, life-sized plastic dummies that were animated by the Nestene Consciousness, an extraterrestrial, disembodied central intelligence which first arrived on Earth in hollow plastic meteorites, according to what the Doctor said on them.
Autons concealed deadly weapons within their hands, which can kill or vaporize their targets. They're usually just mannequins, but sometimes they can be realistic enough to fool a simple-minded ape, or a stupid human, as the Doctor called my species. I was slightly insulted, but I understood.
We both snuck around, just in time, too. Some blond chick was about to be chopped dead. The Doctor grabbed her hand.
"Run." He said, and I grinned as I held his other hand while running. Oops, I knew how difficult it was to run without naturally moving your arms. Sadly I was too fast to make him to the Naruto run, and we ran side-by-side, dragging the blond behind us.
"Fuck you!" I muttered, kicking the arm off the Auton as it sticks its arm between the elevator doors that we barely managed to get into and close in time to escape.
"Language." The Doctor reprimanded, and I looked at him, incredulous.
"You pulled his arm off."
"You didn't scold me yesterday!" I said, shocked. The Doctor rolled his eyes.
"You mean an hour ago?"
"To me an hour ago was yesterday, so shush up." I said, gaining a slight british accent before clearing my throat and going back to my mid-northern American accent. Basically, around Canada but not quite touching it. Stupid rubbish British telly making me slowly turn more and more British. Not quite there, I still call cookies cookies and fries fries. Blasphemous, calling fries chips and cookies biscuits, how dare thine insult meh like this?
"Can you both stop bickering like a married couple and listen?" the blond asked, and we both simultaneously recalled her speaking at some point in time.
"Technically I kicked his arm off, and it's plastic, don't worry." I replied after staring blankly at her for a moment. She had stated that I had pulled off the Autons arm. As if, I mentally scoffed. I was above tugging weakly at an arm when I could just smash my foot into it and break it off way easier. I think I tugged a vastly unused muscle, though, so maybe I should've just body slammed it, I mused.
"Very clever. Nice trick! Who were they then, students? Is this a student thing or what?" the blond asked, and I couldn't help my response.
"What the fuck?" I quietly whispered. Why the hell would they be students? Where'd that even come from?
"Lan. Gu. Age," the Doctor warned, "Why would they be students?" He then asked, just as confused.
"I don't know," She intelligently responded. I nodded solemnly.
"Then why the fuck would you suggest they were students if you don't even know why they'd be students?" I asked, entirely confused. I wasn't trying to be rude, I really wasn't!
"I- Well- 'Cos to get that many people dressed up and acting silly, they've got to be students," She replied and I mouthed an "oh".
"That makes sense. Well done." The Doctor replied.
"Yeah, I- that actually makes sense. Color me surprised," I muttered, gaining odd looks from both of them.
"Thanks, I guess." she replied, sounding annoyed.
"Well, it may make sense, but-" I started.
"They're not students," The Doctor finished for me.
"Whoever they are, when Wilson finds them, he's going to find the police," the blond snapped, now looking annoyed too.
"Who the-"
"Language!" The Doctor calls over my swear.
"-is Wilson? Hey! Don't intentionally talk over my swears!" I whine. The Doctor raises an eyebrow and I pout, skulking.
"Chief Electrician." the blond replied simply.
"Wilson's dead," the Doctor states back, just as simply.
The elevator doors open, and the Doctor and I step out together, the blond following soon after. I glanced at the blond. She looked kinda young. Older than me, but still young. Plus, my eyes and wisdom gives me a few years. I'm already getting grey hair, did you know? No, you didn't, but now you do 'cuz I just told you. So yeah.
"That's not funny, that's sick!" the blond fulminated, getting ignored.
"Hold on, mind your eyes." The Doctor instructed, and I listened, rolling my eyes when the blond chick made a sound of surprise when the lift sparked, the Doctor having soniced the lift.
"You know, there are things that your sonic can do that are totally irrational and unreasonable for controlling mere sound frequencies," I mutter, vexed at the impossible sonic probe.
"Who are you, then? Who's that lot down there? I said, who are they?" The blond demanded, and I groaned loudly.
"Jeez, it's like my IQ is being lowered, except I already asked those questions in a more intelligent manner," I groaned out, still vexed about the sonic, "Look, those things are living plastic, okay? Being controlled by a relay device on the roof, you with me so far?"
"Stop being so… so…"
"Condescending? Sorry, I'm just... irritated at the magical pegasus before us mere horses," I sighed out, scowling at myself. I understood where she was coming from, yeah, didn't mean I had to like it. I sighed heavily, rubbing my eyes. I needed to calm down and let go of my irrational hatred of blonds. The Doctor stepped in, walking towards the exit, and the roof.
"Did you just make the connection between me and a pegasus? Oh, right! They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this," he said, shaking a small bomb at the blond, "So, we're going to go up there and blow them up, and we might well die in the process, but don't worry about us," he said, having lead the blond out of the exit, "No, you go home. Go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed," he warned finally, closing the door. I blinked as he rushed off.
"Beans on toast? Wait, Doctor! We forgot to ask her name!" I called, and he slowly jogged back, an odd look on his face as he looked at me.
"You were snapping at her the entire time and now you want to know her name?" He asked, looking curious. I shrugged.
"She caught me off guard, is all. I actually kinda like her," I grin sheepishly. He looked at me, shaking his head.
"Funny way of showing it," he opened the door, "I'm the Doctor and this is Mae, what's your name?" I snickered at the words. He gave me a confused look, and the blond turned back towards us.
"Rose," She answered quietly. I beamed at her.
"Brilliant name! Excellent meeting you," I say in lieu of an apology.
"Nice to meet you, Rose," The Doctor said, tone still managing to sound nicer than my American tone. Of course, that's because I was an American. Rudeness is born and bred into me by 'Murican patriotism. Which I didn't have, I actually preferred Great Britain, but eh.
"Now run for your life!" Both the Doctor and I said in an excited unison. We grinned at each other, running up the stairs after the door was closed.
Soon enough, we were back in the TARDIS. We stared at each other.
"So, it looks like we already have a team dynamic going on here," I said casually, smirking at him. He nodded, before spinning into action.
I watched fondly as he excitedly twirled around Beauty. I just knew that I'd never regret giving forever to this amazing man, even though so far all we've done is find Autons and blow up a building.
"I latched onto the signal of something, maybe we could track it and use it to find the main source." The Doctor suggested. I hummed.
"That's the more fun option, yeah." I agreed. The Doctor stopped abruptly when he realized what I said.
"More fun option?" He asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, it's kinda obvious where the Nestene Consciousness is transmitting from here in London, but it'd be a dull ending. Let's do it the more fun way," I recommended. He looked at me for a moment before nodding. We silently track down the signal. I watch amused as the Doctor messed with the cat flap. I open the door with a bit of a jiggle, and jump back when the door opened to show Rose, the Doctor popping up too. I glanced at the Doctor and he glanced at me, sharing a "uh oh we got caught" look, and we both went back to looking at Rose.
"What're you doing here?" The Doctor asked. I looked at him blankly. Wasn't that obvious, or did he just think that people randomly broke into houses regularly?
"I live here," Rose says.
"Well what do you do that for?" The Doctor asked. I nodded, confused as well. What did she live there for?
"Because I do. I'm only at home because some people blew up my job," She said in that teenage way that all teenagers know instinctively how to do.
"Right, blame all your problems on others, real mature," I muttered jokingly. It obviously was our fault, so I wouldn't genuinely comment on that.
"I must have got the wrong signal. You're not plastic, are you? No, bonehead. Bye, then," He said, about to walk away but I stop him.
"Didn't Rose take the plastic arm? Maybe that's it?" I whispered, and the Doctor looked like he was about to reply when we both are pulled into Rose's flat.
"You two. Inside. Now." She ordered, pulling us forcefully into the flat. We both stand around when an elder lady's voice called out.
"Who is it?"
"It's about last night. They're part of the inquiry. Give us ten minutes." Rose lied, walking further into the flat. We stand in Rose's mum's doorway, looking around, distracted. We had things to be doing.
"She deserves compensation," Rose's mother says, and I wander off. I continue listening to the conversation, popping into view when Jackie implicates something romantic.
I entwine my fingers with his, grinning sharply at Rose's mother. "Nope," I say, pulling the Doctor into the living area. I release his hand as soon as we're out of Rose's mum's view. No way is my friend getting with some random woman.
I didn't think about how my actions could be viewed as jealousy, and was confused when the Doctor gave me a look. Bewildered. Utterly.
"Don't mind the mess. Do you want a coffee?" Rose called, and we both shrugged.
"Might as well, thanks. Just milk." The Doctor replied.
"Thanks, I'll take mine plain." I answered. Both the Doctor and I ignore Rose as we look around. The Doctor looks at the copy of Heat on the coffee table.
"That won't last, he's gay and she's an alien," He comments, and I shrug.
"Odd, but not an impossible feat," I muttered. I glanced at the mirror, seeing myself. "Ooh, good outfit. Makes my pale as fuck skin stand out." The Doctor flicks through a paperback.
"Hmm. Sad ending." He muttered, and I scoffed.
"There's no way you just read through the entire thing." I muttered, and he grinned at me before going back to looking around.
"Rose Tyler," The Doctor reads aloud. The Doctor sees his reflection in a mirror, and behaves as if he's seeing himself for the first time.
"Ah, could've been worse. Look at the ears," he criticized, and I smacked him gently on the shoulder. He glanced at my amused smile.
"I'll ask about your behaviour later, but don't be so harsh, you're rather good-looking, Doc." I said, again getting that look. I look away, confused. The Doctor tries to shuffle a pack of cards while I look around, behind couches and stuff.
"Luck be a lady," he sings, and I snicker, only to start choking as a plastic hand wraps around my throat. The pack of cards goes flying, and the Doctor notices my predicament, me calmly and silently trying to get the damned hand off. "Maybe not," he mutters, pulling out his sonic but having the hand attack him instead. I catch my breath as he makes choking noises. I glare at the hand, preparing to weakly tug on it. What? Not like I could kick it away again. I don't have nearly the hand-eye coordination to do that.
"Fucker, come'ere." I muttered darkly. No one attacked my friend.
Rose walked in just as I got a firm grip, tugging with all my cashier-might. It worked. She was talking, but we both were a bit preoccupied as it went back to me. I dodged, but then it attacked Rose. I groaned in exasperation. What the hell! Both the Doctor and I rushed forward, me struggling to get it off of Rose and the Doctor fumbling his sonic probe like a professional football player on crack.
Eventually we got it deactivated, and I glared at the damned menace. Stupid moving hands, I preferred the one from the Addams Family. Much better. Less of a choker, that one.
"It's all right. It's stopped. See? Armless." He said, joking. Rose glared.
"If only we had yelled "Expelliarmus", maybe it'd have stopped sooner," I replied, also joking. She hit both of us on the arms with the plastic arm. Ow, I mentally whined.
We both then get up and run off, in no true hurry, but not really wanting to stay much longer.
"Hold on a minute. You can't just go swanning off."
"Yes we can. Here we are. This is us, swanning off. See you." The Doctor replies. I stay silent, throat still extremely sore.
"But that arm was moving. It tried to kill me."
"Ten out of ten for observation." The Doctor said sarcastically.
"Good job," I added.
"You can't just walk away. That's not fair. You've got to tell me what's going on."
"No, I don't." The Doctor replied. Rose turned to me.
"Mae?" She asked and I shrugged.
"Plastic is moving. And we're tracking it down. Pretty damned obvious, but I mean, if that's what you want, I guess." I replied. Rose glared at me.
"Yeah, thanks, that helped," she snarked.
"Respect your elders, chick. I understand that all roses have thorns, but are you sure you aren't just a bush of thorns?" I retort, not missing a beat. I'm not her elder, but she doesn't exactly need to know that.
Rose rolled her eyes and turned back towards the Doctor.
"All right, then. I'll go to the police. I'll tell everyone. You said, if I did that, I'd get people killed. So, your choice. Tell me, or I'll start talking." Rose says, sounding more bratty than tough.
"Is that supposed to sound tough?" The Doctor asked, and I stayed silent. My throat still hurt, and my words honestly weren't helping it any. I just listen to the conversation.
"Sort of."
"Doesn't work."
"Who are you?"
"Told you. The Doctor." The Doctor replied. Rose once again turned to me. I glanced at her.
"Who is he?" She asked, and I grinned at her.
"It's "Doctor Who", but the millions of fans in another universe and the Doctor are both unaccepting of the name so he's just known as "The Doctor". He has multiple names as well, one being known as Beta or something." I bullshit.
"Yeah, but Doctor what?"
"You had one job, Rose." I'm ignored. I grinned, it turning into a grimace. Oh, maybe I should have gotten help sooner, I think something is broke in my throat. It hurts. Maybe Beauty has something?
"Just the Doctor."
"The Doctor."
"Hello!"
"Is that supposed to sound impressive?"
"Sort of."
"Come on, then. You can tell me. I've seen enough. Are you the police?"
"Technically, he is, but that's just because he hasn't quit or been fired yet," I replied, having looked him up on the way to Hendrik's. UNIT files were rather easy to hack into.
"No, I was just passing through. I'm a long way from home." The Doctor said, emphasizing the denial.
"But what have I done wrong? How comes those plastic things keep coming after me?" Rose asked.
"Oh, suddenly the entire world revolves around you. You were just an accident. You got in the way, that's all."
"It tried to kill me."
"It was after us, not you. Last night, in the shop, we were there, you blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, we were tracking it down, it was tracking us down. The only reason it fixed on you is 'cos you've met us." The Doctor explained.
"So what you're saying is, the entire world revolves around you two."
"Sort of, yeah." He replied, and I shook my head, wincing.
"No," I started roughly, "It revolves around him, I'm more like a stray piece of garbage floating about him." I explained, not noticing the Doctor's expression as I watch Rose nod in understanding.
"So he's full of it, and you boost his already boosted ego." Rose summarized.
I grinned. "Why, obviously." I ground out, scowling as I looked away. Damned throat.
"But this plastic stuff, who else knows about it?" Rose asked.
"Just us." The Doctor replied.
"What, you two are on your own?" Rose asked.
"Better two than one," I chimed in, whispering that. Okay, maybe not broken, but extremely sore and bleeding internally.
"Yeah, what Mae said. Plus, who else is there? I mean, you lot, all you do is eat chips, go to bed, and watch telly, while all the time, underneath you, there's a war going on," The Doctor said.
"Okay. Start from the beginning. I mean, if we're going to go with the living plastic, and I don't even believe that, but if we do, how did you kill it?" Rose asked. I glanced at her, swallowing thickly. Ouch, my throat is such a cunt right now.
"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm. I cut off the signal, dead."
"So that's radio control?"
"Thought control. Are you alright?" He asked, seeing Rose looking off.
"Yeah. So, who's controlling it, then?"
"Long story." The Doctor replied, and Rose looked at me. I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, first off, I am not the Doctor's translator," I muttered, "And second, it's a long story." Okay, I was just a bit irritated. A bit.
"But what's it all for? I mean, shop window dummies, what's that about? Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?"
"No." The Doctor said. I hollowly echoed him, lost in my own thoughts. Did the TARDIS have any ice cream in the kitchen?
"No." Rose echoed.
"It's not a price war." We all chuckled at the pun, me grinning at the fantastic man before me. He even used puns!
"They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you. Do you believe me?" The Doctor finished, seriously.
"No." Rose asked. They both looked at me, and I was extremely confused.
"What? Why're you asking me if I believe you?" I muttered, offended.
"But you're still listening." The Doctor said, making Rose think and me glance at him. I hoped that was primarily towards Rose. Why would he make it seem like I didn't believe him?
"But really, though, Doctor. Tell me, who are you?" Rose asked, and the Doctor stopped. He thought for just a moment.
"Do you know like we were saying about the Earth revolving? It's like when you were a kid. The first time they tell you the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still. I can feel it. The turn of the Earth," he grabbed both Rose's and my hands, "The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling round the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go," I didn't let him let go of my hand, frowning as he made it seem like I would allow that to happen. Gravity was nothing, I'd happily destroy entire universes to keep him safe.
"That's who I am. Now, forget us, Rose Tyler. Go home," He ordered. I squeezed his hand just a bit before releasing it. We both walk towards the TARDIS. We both stop just inside the door, it closed behind us. I stared at the Doctor.
"What did you mean, before? When you looked as if you hadn't seen yourself before?" I asked, and he turned towards me, a dark look in his eyes. I don't look away, observing the darkness that he let me see. He had such weight on his shoulders, did he kill someone or something? I didn't care, I just wanted to help him, whether it was helping him destroy planets or save them. I blinked, shocked at my loyalty towards this man that I've known for a mere few hours.
"I'm a Time Lord. The… last… of them," He started, and my eyes focused on his, "The planet is gone, but it was called Gallifrey," He said roughly, and I hugged him. He tensed, before continuing.
"It was in the constellation Kasterborous. It's all gone. I killed them." He continued. I stood there, arms frozen around him. My arms tightened when I went through the information that I knew of him.
"You had your reasons, Doctor. I bet you that you did it because you couldn't find any other option. Am I right? You mentioned a war…" I trailed off as he slowly returned the hug.
"The Time Lords, they had this technology… It's sort of a way to cheat death. Except it means that I change. Entirely. New personality, new morals, new… everything." He muttered, and I scowled.
"I swear if your morals ever change too much I'll smack you hard enough to send you back into your own timeline," I muttered jokingly. He chuckled, wiping at his eyes and pulling away.
"Is that a promise?" He asked, and I grinned at him.
"Why, obviously." I said. I blinked. I said that twice now in the span of a few hours. We both grinned at each other, hiding the broken smiles that want to surface.
"Right! Where were we, finding the next signal! Or, you could just tell me where it is?" He suggested and I snickered.
"Naah, if you haven't figured out the number one giant thing in London that resembles a transmitter you deserve to take the long path," I replied casually. He sulked, going and entering the coordinates. I watch intently, hoping to learn something. I don't. I grin sheepishly, looking away when he looked away. He gave me the look, but I wasn't paying attention, instead looking around some more. I wanted to memorise it, since it looked like the Doctor found someone else to hang out with. One Rose Tyler. Way more important than I.
"Right, here we are. There's a bigger signal coming from inside that restaurant." He said, following after me as I ran inside. We both went into the kitchens, me grabbing a pizza and the Doctor grabbing champagne. We both walk up to the Auton, immediately noticing the plastic being. How the hell did no one notice?
"Your champagne and pizza have arrived," I drawled with a flourish, setting the scalding pizza right on top of the Autons hand. It started melting almost immediately.
"We didn't order champagne. Where's the Doctor and Mae?" He demanded. I watched as the Doctor wandered back around, my job finished. The Auton's hand was melted to the table. Yay for that, I guess.
I must've been lost in thought a tad longer than I anticipated, because the Auton tried standing up. I snickered when he tugged at the table, his hand fused to it. The Doctor uses the chance to pull his head off, and Rose smashed the fire alarm.
"Everybody out!" She yelled, running towards the kitchen. The Auton ripped his arm off and followed, swinging wildly with his one arm.
We walked to the TARDIS, everything mostly okay.