"Just one trip. That's what I said- one trip in the Tardis, and then home. Although… I suppose we could… stretch the definition. Say one trip into past, one trip into future- how do you fancy that?" the Doctor asked Martha as I sat in the captain's chair, watching. After the events of the previous night, if it could even be called night, I had been in a bit of a funk. I tried not to take it out on Martha but had slipped a few times and it did nothing to help our already fragile relationship. The Doctor, on the other hand, was much more understanding, especially the times I had snapped at him this morning. He knew the exact reason I was upset and after years together, he knew how to handle my fits of irritation.
She laughed happily, "no complaints from me."
"How about a different planet?"
"Can we go to yours?"
My eyes snapped to the Doctor, waiting for his response. "Ah, there's plenty of other places."
"Come on, though. I mean, planet of the Time Lords- that's got to be worth a look. What's it like?"
"It's beautiful, yeah."
"Is it like, you know, outerspace cities, all spires and stuff?"
"Suppose it is."
"Great big temples and cathedrals!"
"Yeah."
"Lots of planets in the sky?"
"The skies are burnt orange, with the Citadel enclosed in a mighty glass dome, shining under the twin suns. Beyond that, the mountains go on forever- slopes of deep red grass, capped with snow."
"The times we shared, hmm?" I gave a soft smile, thinking about all he and I had done before the war, together and with Kiere. He nodded, donning one himself.
"Can we go there?"
"Nah! Where's the fun for us? I don't want to go home. Instead… this is much better. Year five billion and fifty-three, planet New Earth. Second hope of mankind. Fifty thousand light years from your old world, and we're slap-bang in the middle of New New York." He threw on his coat and ran to the door. "Although, technically it's the fifteenth New York from the original, so it's New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York." He opened the door and let Martha walk out. "One of the most dazzling cities ever built."
"Oh! Oh, that's nice! Time Lord version of dazzling," Martha cried as she walked out of the Tardis and into an alleyway. Low and behold, it's raining. I grumbled to myself but exited as well, knowing Martha's and my hair was ruined.
"Nah, bit of rain never hurt anyone. Come on, let's get under cover!" he replied as he locked the Tardis door and took my hand, leading us out of the alley.
"Well, it looks like the same old Earth to me… on a Wednesday afternoon," the woman stated as we found cover.
"Hold on, hold on" Finding a green door, the Doctor moved towards it. "Let's have a look." He soniced a monitor. When nothing came up, he banged on it for a bit. Not a moment later, the screen began to work and a blonde woman was pictured, giving the weather forecast and traffic conditions.
"And the driving should be clear and easy, with fifteen extra lanes open for the New New Jersey expressway." The picture shifted from the blonde to Manhattan, the way I remember it from our last visit.
"Oh, that's more like it. That's the view we had last time. This must be the lower levels. Down in the base of the tower, some sort of under-city."
"You've brought me to the slums?"
"Much more interesting! It's all cocktails and glitter up there. This is the real city."
"You'd enjoy anything."
"Not really. Most things. Great, rain's stopping."
"When you day 'last time', was that you and Rose?"
"Yeah, it was. Cerys too although she was quite cross at the time."
"I was not! Rose was and I was giving you and her space. It was what seemed best."
"That wasn't what I wanted and you knew that." I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder. Yeah, I had known that but I was ashamed of what I had said, how I had reacted about it all. I had pushed him away, feeling I was inferior, that he would be better off with Rose, someone stable, or more stable than I was at the time.
"You're taking me to the same planets that you took her?" Martha asked quietly, catching on to what the Doctor had said.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Nothing. Just ever heard of the word rebound?" I rolled my eyes as she stalked off, before really thinking about it. In a way, she was the rebound companion. A part of me felt bad that she was, considering she was a great person to have around but the part that missed Rose, didn't care. I could understand why he'd bring her here though… it was a way of reliving the past after everything had changed. Yet, I didn't want either of us to live in the past. It hurt too much.
A hatch opened and a man appeared. "Oh! You should have said. How long you been there? Happy. You want Happy." The man bent down in his cart. "Happy happy."
Two more people appeared. "Customers. Customers! We've got customers!" the darker of the women said.
"We're in business. Mother, open up the Mellow, not the Rage."
"Happy, happy, lovely happy happy!"
"Anger. Buy some Anger!"
"Just Mellow, makes you feel all bendy and soft all day long."
"Don't go to them. They'll rip you off. Do you want some happy?"
"No, thanks," the Doctor deadpanned.
"Are they selling drugs?"
I shook my head, answering her, "moods."
"Same thing, isn't it?"
Soon a young woman dressed in rags walked over. "Over here, sweetheart! That's it, come on, I'll get you first!"
"Oi! Oi, you! Over here! Buy some happy!"
"Come over here, yeah. And what can I get you, my love?" the second woman asked a girl no older than twenty.
"I want to buy forget."
"I've got Forget, my darling. What strength? How much do you want forgetting?"
"It's my mother and father. They went on the motorway."
"Oh, that's a swine. Try this. Forget Forty three. That's two credits."
Before the girl could put it on, we approached her. "Sorry, but- hold on a minute. What happened to your parents?"
"They drove off."
"But they'll come back," I stated, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Everyone goes to the motorway in the end. I've lost them."
"But they can't have gone far. You could find them. No. No, no, don't."
The woman placed the Forget 43 on her neck, her expression instantly changing from sombre to serene. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"
"Your parents. Your mother and father- they're on the motorway."
"Are they? That's nice. I'm sorry, I won't keep you." With that, she walked away.
"So that's the human race five billion years in the future. Off their heads on chemicals." As Martha said that, I felt hands grab me, pulling me back.
"Get off me." I watched Martha and the Doctor turn, the Doctor's face quickly changing to fear as they pulled me further away. I struggled when he reached out, only to be met with the barrel of a gun.
"I'm sorry, I'm really, really sorry. We just need three, that's all."
"No, let her go! I'm warning you- let her go! Whatever you want, I can help. The three of us, we can help. But first you've got to let her go!"
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," the woman cried as she follows the man.
"Say sorry one more time and I'll shove that gun so far up your-"
"Sorry," he repeated, pulling me through the door that the woman shut after repeating her apology. With a look to each other, the man began to push me forward, forcing me to run.
"Never mind him killing you, I'll do it my damn self!" The man forced me to a car, holding onto me as I struggled some more. "Let me go! That man is my husband and a major problem for you. Now, get off me!"
"Give her some Sleep," the man said, holding me at an angle the my neck was exposed.
"Don't you even think- don't put that on me! Get the hell off!"
"It's just Sleep Fourteen," the woman cried as she placed it on my neck. "No, baby, don't fight it."
"If you value your life, let me out." I groaned as I began to feel the effects of the patch. Soon it was darkness.
I awoke fifteen minutes later, angrier than I was before. Swiftly, I ripped the patch off and threw it to the floor. My kidnappers were speaking to each other and hadn't noticed I'd come to. I spotted their gun but left it, not feeling the need for it, especially since it wasn't real. Instead, I stared at the back of their heads, frustrated by the lack of the connection the Doctor and I should have. "I'm guessing we can't go back," I assessed looking out the window and seeing a sea of cars and smog.
"We're on the motorway."
"That's obvious from the exhaust fumes. Too many cars down here. Where are you taking me?"
"We're going out to Brooklyn. Everyone says the air's so much cleaner, and we couldn't stay in Pharmacy Town, 'cause-" he placed a hand on the woman's knee.
"Well, 'cause of me. I'm pregnant. We only discovered it last week. Scan says it's going to be a boy."
"Did you want a congratulations? You kidnapped me."
"We're not kidnappers. Not really."
"You're right. You're idiots," I snapped to her.
"We needed a third person."
"What for?"
"The fast lane. You need three for it."
"Isn't the fast lane supposed to be, I don't know, fast?"
"This'll be as fast as we can. We'll take the motorway to the Brooklyn flyover, and then after that it's going to take a while, because then there's no fast lane, just ordinary roads, but at least it's direct."
"It's only ten miles."
"And how long's it going to take?"
"About six years."
"Excuse me."
"Be just in time for him to start school." The pair laughed.
"Ten miles in six years? You're daft if you think I'm staying in this damn car for six fucking years."
"We'll drop you off when we reach."
"It won't be six years. That man you saw me with, was my husband. He won't just sit around and wait six years. If I know him as well as I do, he's already come looking. The idiot's probably inhaling the fumes, trying his best to find me," I mused, quieting down as I thought of him. He was the biggest clod I'd known but he was always extremely over protective of me. Growing up with him hadn't been bad. He was always able to get me to smile after a bout of bullying, something I dealt with daily. Our parents seemed to have known we'd end up together, always hinting how cute we were and how we never had eyes for another, which was true. He was often pursued by other Time Ladies, those who admired his brains than his appearance, not that he was bad looking. To me, he was always him, no matter what incarnation, I was always happy to be by his side, even when others flirted with him and depending on his incarnation, he'd either playfully flirt or stammer, his cheeks flushing red with embarrassment. This him, was all swagger, nothing like his first incarnation, not that I minded… much.
I was jolted from my thoughts by the car moving. Looking up, I saw the layers upon layers of cars. It didn't make much sense to me. If this was New New York, the one I'd visited with Rose and the Doctor, then why were there people trapped down here? There was something else going on and that made me a bit uneasy. I didn't want to be separated from the Doctor if there was someone pulling strings, especially if that person had the technology to identify me, something that has yet to happen, but was still a possibility. "How many cars are down here?"
"I don't think anyone knows. Here we go. Hungry?" the woman asked, holding up a bag of crackers. I shook my head. "All right. I'm Cheen and he's Milo, by the way."
"How far is the fast lane?"
"Oh, it's right at the bottom, underneath the traffic jam. But not many people can afford three passengers, so it's empty down there. Rumour has it you can reach up to thirty miles per hour."
"Wow, that's amazing," I muttered sarcastically. "Wait, you said food. There's no market around unless some poor bloke is daft enough to set up shop in this place. How do you get food, or keep going at that? Stuck in this cramped space, barely any movement and all?"
"Oh, we stocked up. Got self-replicating fuel, muscle stimulants for exercise, and there's a chemical toilet at the back. And all waste products are recycled as food."
"Right."
"Oh, another gap. This is brilliant."
"Car sign in."
"Car Four Six Five Diamond Six, on descent to fast lane, thank you very much."
"Please drive safely," the computer said as Milo manoeuvred the car downwards.
"See? Another ten layers to go. We're scorching." There was a growl in distance that seemed to get closer as the vehicle went lower.
"We probably shouldn't go down there."
"We're heading to the fast lane."
There were more growls. "That was not a friendly noise, Milo."
"It's that noise, doesn't it? It's like Kate said, the stories- they're true."
"Stories?"
"It's the sound of the air vents. That's all. The exhaust fumes travel down, so at the base of the tunnel they've got air vents."
"Yet there seems to be nothing aerating the place. If they were going into vents, there wouldn't be this much fumes."
"No, but the stories are much better. They say people go missing on the motorway. Some cars just vanish, never to be seen again. 'Cause there's something living down there, in the smoke- something huge… and hungry. And if you get lost on the road, it's waiting for you."
There was more growling and hissing. "But like I said, air vents. Going down to the next layer."
"Right, because they're working," I sassed.
"Doesn't look like it," Cheen said.
Grumbling came from below us. "What's that, then?"
"Nah. Kid stuff," Milo said, dismissing the thought it could be anything else. "Car four six five diamond six, on descent."
27/9/2014
Hey all! So what did you think of The Caretaker? I honestly loved it. Danny and the Doctor together are amazing. I totally hated that she just called him an alien since the Doctor is so much more than that. Hell, she could have said he was her best friend or something, that totally would have explained her not loving him the way she does Danny. And the fact that she basically confessed her love because of the Doctor. It was an overall enjoyable and humorous episode. I really want Danny to start travelling with them. Yet, one thing that irritated me a bit was the end where Clara and Danny were cuddling on the couch and how he basically said that if she was didn't tell him if she was pushed too far or whatever they were over. My take on that is basically, she knows the Doctor hell of a lot longer than she has Danny. She isn't afraid to tell the Time Lord what's on her mind and when he's wrong about certain things. I highly doubt she'd let him push her to that point, hell, although the Doctor probably won't admit it, he cares A LOT about Clara. Sorry for my rant. I needed to get it off my chest.
Anyways, to the story. We see an angry Rys, a murderous Rys, and an irritated Rys. She definitely wasn't a happy camper in this chapter. I basically wanted her to be taken as opposed to Martha because I feel that enough bad stuff is going to happen to her in the long run, i.e The Sound of Drums and The Last of the Time Lords. I think my favourite part of this episode was the congratulations line. While I know Martha was supposed to say it, I really wanted Rys to do so. I also wanted to show just how much she knows her idiot which is why I added the bit about him inhaling the fumes. Gotta love 'em. Anyways, as always, thanks for the follows, reads, and reviews.
Squidtastik: So glad you enjoyed the chapter.
dream lighting: Your request has been noted and thanks for the welcome back. Donna will definitely help Rys when she comes along. They'll practically be best friends.
NicoleR85: Those episodes will definitely be interesting. As for Martha's relationship with the Doctor and Rys, she won't really know the nature of their relationship for a while. She knows they're together and affectionate but not the status of the relationship. Although, I think the way they act is enough to deter her from pursuing our wonderful Time Lord. But, eh, who knows.
I'm-a-Klaus-addict: She most definitely does. It's from watching so many women throwing themselves at him both on Gallifrey and as a human. It was definitely the Rinette adventure that mainly did it. And I do... so very much. I really can't wait for Daleks in Manhattan. It's all fluffy in the beginning and there's an insanely adorable Terys moment ;) Ooh, the Impossible Pink to go with the Impossible Girl. It's perfect. You definitely have to get around to watching Deep Breath. It was such a wonderful introduction to Capaldi as the Doctor. I'll PM you a link so you can check it out, if you already haven't.