I hope everyone had a merry Christmas! I did. The highlight for me was a tie between my little one year old nephew taking the car keys, waddling over to the front door and locking his parents out of the car as they were loading up. It tied with the Doctor Who Christmas Special. I was a little worried Steven Moffat was going to make me scared of believing in Santa Claus, but instead he made me afraid of dreaming. Great…Last night in fact I had a dream where I woke up from a dream. And when I woke up for real I checked for a ice cream headache. Oy. REVIEW!
flames and kisses,
Mlle. Phoenix Fox
"You beg my pardon." Said a feminine British accent.
Vincent turned from cleaning one of his outdoor tables to see a curly haired brunette woman dressed in a tattered blue dress and corset with a wide eyed expression.
"Wow. Fabulous Idris costume." Vincent complimented her.
"Where is the Peacekeeper?" She asked.
"The who?" Vincent asked confused.
"The man with the badge that keeps people from blowing up." She clarified.
"Oh! You must mean Sheriff Carter. I don't know, but if you wait for him at the Sheriff's station I'm sure he'll show up." Vincent said pointing down the street.
"Your welcome, Food Man." She said before taking off down the street.
"Huh. Wow. Talk about staying in character." Vincent mused.
"When you were alive?" The Eleventh Doctor asked the man called Nathan Stark.
"I died about four years ago. Saved the town from a paradox. Got de-atomized." Nathan said.
"So sorry about your death. But you're just a manifestation of Kevin's subconscious?" The Doctor asked.
"In life I was the only Dad Kevin had before Carter. His birth father died before he was born. The day I died was the day I was going to remarry Allison. Wouldn't you choose your father that you lost so tragically to represent your mind?" Nathan said.
"I have before. Don't tell Amy and Rory." The Doctor said.
"Who?" Stark asked.
"You know. Amy and Rory. My companions." The Doctor said.
"Oh right. You're the new Doctor that replaced David Tennant. I didn't want him to go. Of course I'm a Fifth Doctor guy myself so..." Stark nodded.
"Wait. You didn't recognize me as the Doctor?" The Doctor interrupted.
"Honest mistake. I died in 2008." Stark shrugged.
"But if you're just a manifestation of Kevin's subconscious, you would have recognized me as the Doctor. Because Kevin knows every episode of Doctor Who by heart. Have you seen the YouTube video?" The Doctor asked.
"What's your point Doctor?" Stark asked with a bored tone.
"My point is you are not just a teenager's superego. You are what's left of Dr. Stark's memories, emotions and dare I say his soul." The Doctor said.
Stark smirked,
"If Carter were here, he'd joke how I always had a super ego."
"It was the Artifact wasn't it? This Artifact used a few of your atoms to stabilize Kevin's brain chemistry. Atoms affected by temporal particles. But the Artifact needed a temporal particle jump start after being separated from Kevin to get those atoms working. Like from say...Autron energy created by an alternative timeline?" The Doctor worked out.
"Yeah. The Artifact told Kevin how to use the Bridge Device." Stark said.
"So it's sentient. Interesting. Why is it trying to connect back to Kevin?" The Doctor asked.
"So that you can help the Peacekeeper set her free." Stark said cryptically. The Doctor blinked.
"What...the hell does that mean?" He asked.
"I don't know. I just get these thoughts. Actually I think Kevin gets the thoughts from the Artifact and I just pick up on it. Man. Now I sound like Carter. That's depressing." Stark said.
"Do you know what the Artifact is?" The Doctor asked.
"It was made on Earth. I know that much. But by who or what, I still don't know. It's funny. Carl Carlson, the man who threw himself into the Artifact? Before he died he told me that one day I would understand what it was. Now I'm dead and even somewhat connected to it and I'm talking to a fictional character it helped make real. And I still don't know." Stark said.
"Can I see the Artifact?" The Doctor asked.
"You'd have to ask Kevin. Not me." Stark said. The Doctor turned to Young Kevin, who was still drawing.
"Kevin? Can I see the Artifact?" The Doctor asked.
Young Kevin stopped and nodded. He got to his feet and took his hand.
"This way." He said.
Stark followed them to a large metal door. Kevin began typing in an access code.
"Why is the Artifact active now?" The Doctor asked.
"It heard them." Stark said furrowing his brow.
"Them?" The Doctor asked.
"They couldn't stop thinking about you. Your companions. The Tenth Doctor. The TARDIS. How everyone wanted to see the stars the way you do. How they wished you were real." Young Kevin answered instead.
"Doctor. You're going to leave soon. But before you go, can you tell Ally something for me?" Stark asked.
"Of course." The Doctor said. Stark murmured something in his ear. Then he stepped back as Kevin opened the door. A bright gold and white light filled the Doctor's line of vision. Fog rolled in around his boots. The Doctor stepped forward to see a large floating mass that resembled an ethereal fireball.
"Hullo you Beauty..." The Doctor grinned.
The Eleventh Doctor opened his eyes, pulling himself out of Kevin's mind.
"Kevin? Doctor? Are you okay?" Allison asked with worry.
"Yeah. I felt like I fell asleep. I feel great." Kevin shrugged. While the Eleventh Doctor ran a hand down his face.
"Do you remember anything?" The Tenth Doctor asked.
"No. Not really. Which is weird." Kevin said.
"Why is it weird?" Jack asked.
"Normally when the Doctor reads your mind, you're aware of it." Amy explained.
"Did you do something?" Rose asked the Eleventh Doctor.
"Kevin? Can you excuse us please?" Eleven asked.
Reluctant to leave, but knowing to trust the Doctor, Kevin nodded and left the room.
"Doctor? Is something wrong with Kevin?" Allison demanded once he left.
"No. He's fine. And you have Nathan Stark to thank for it." The Eleventh Doctor said standing up.
"Nathan?" Allison asked. The Eleventh Doctor explained his experience and his chat with Nathan.
"He wanted you to know that he'll always love you Allison. You and Jenna. That he thinks Jenna is beautiful. Just like her Mum. And he's even happy you found a great guy like Carter to love you both while he wasn't able to like he wanted." Eleven said.
And while Allison was letting happy tears flow, Jack said skeptically,
"Come on. That couldn't be Nathan Stark."
"And he said that he appreciated how Mayberry had the balls to wait to ask you out until you had finished mourning him." Eleven said innocently.
Jack blinked and fumed a little.
"Yeah. That was Stark." He nodded as Allison shook her head, amused.
"Well that explains how Kevin isn't autistic in this timeline." Henry said.
"But who is the Peacekeeper?" Trent asked.
"Andy said the same thing at the Barlowe House." Ten said.
"What about what Kevin told you? That the Artifact was active because it heard them?" Rory asked.
"The Artifact is sentient and it communicates with people telepathically. But it didn't give me any hints about who it's referring to." Eleven shook his head.
"We've got to examine the Artifact itself." Ten said to Eleven.
"No! No way." Henry shook his head.
"Henry..." Trent began.
"That thing is highly radioactive. Even in a fully sealed hazmat suit a person can only be exposed to the Artifact for fifteen seconds at a time. It's killed five people!" Henry said pointing to the doors.
"Then why didn't it kill Kevin?" Eleven said.
"There are things in any universe that don't know it's own strength. The Artifact is one of them. It's aware of itself. It's learning. It learning how to protect people who come in contact with it." Ten said.
"Oh yeah, like it did with Zane, Jo and Zoe?" Jack asked.
"We're not even human. We're a telepathic race. It shouldn't even affect us. Henry, all the Doctor and I need are fifteen seconds to scan the Artifact with our sonic screwdrivers." Ten said.
"It could be our only chance to find out what it is." Clara added.
Henry and Jack shared a look.
"Fine. Let's get you suited up." Henry nodded.
During the next half hour, they moved Zane, Jo and Zoe to the Med Lab, while the Doctors suited up in hazmat suits that resembled spacesuits. Coming into Section Five, the Doctors saw the Eureka scientists setting up at the monitoring stations. Their companions approached them with worried expressions.
"If you two die I'll be very cross!" Amy told them.
"Amelia Pond. You're so...Scottish." Eleven chuckled giving her a hug.
"No seriously. Don't die. Or she'll take it out on me." Rory told him.
"Be careful." Rose told Ten.
"Always." Ten smiled. Rose stood on her tip toes and pulled his head down to give him a kiss on his helmet. Clara awkwardly shifted on her feet as the Eleventh Doctor moved on to her.
"Clara?" He asked. She jumped up in his arms and said over his shoulder,
"Come back to me."
"You're the Boss." Eleven said setting her down. Rory handed them their sonics before they walked towards the doors.
"Ready?" Trent asked.
"Geronimo!"
"Allonsy!" They said at once before giving each other confused looks.
"Here we go." Henry sighed typing on the computer keyboard. Red lights flashing, sirens blaring, the Doctors waited for the first door to open to allow them inside a long, hexagon shaped tunnel. They waited until the first door was closed behind them.
"Are you ready Doctors?" Allison said over their earwigs.
"Ready as we'll ever be." Ten sighed. Henry nodded towards Trent who typed in the second set of commands. The second set of doors opened and the Doctors saw the Artifact in all her glory. No time to lose, they started to scan it.
"I thought you said it was dormant?" Jack asked Henry as they watched the live video feed.
"It was when I looked at it." Henry said.
"It didn't want us to see it yet. It wanted us to talk to Kevin first." Eleven said.
"Why?" Allison asked.
"Because we know what the Artifact really is." Ten said.
"What is it?" Jack asked. The Doctors shared a look.
"It's the Eye of Harmony." Ten told them.