Answered Questions Part 3
Soon after, Rose had retreated to her room, complaining she was tired and was in need of some sleep. The Doctor wondering around the Console Room idly, laying a still hand on one of the coral struts, letting the cool feel spread under his palm. He'd missed her, his TARDIS. He'd missed the feel of his trusty Time Machine taking up the empty space his people had once filled. He'd put money on it that if he'd never went down to the Surface of Krop Tor and gone back to Earth with the others, Eliza would have lent a hand, gotten the TARDIS to go back for them or something like that.
Speak of the devil… the Doctor thought darkly, walking toward the endless hallways and corridor, the TARDIS allowing the door of Eliza's room to appear only a few seconds after leaving the Console Room.
Giving a small knock, the Doctor entered the familiar room, the blue walls greeting him gently. It seemed that during her time away, the TARDIS had cleaned Eliza's room, for he'd never seen it this tidy before. Her N64, Playstation and Wii controllers were all stood in a row, her dressers were shut , no clothes overfilling the drawers and the brown carpet was stain and burn mark free. Looking to the bed, the Doctor saw Eliza looking down at a photograph in her lap, a tear running down her cheek as she hastily rubbed it away. She looked up at him, wiped her face then gave him a smile, holding up the photo. He took it from her, looking down to see a younger version of her hugging a little boy, four other males behind them and three other women sat around them, two of them playing some sort of hand game.
"My friends," she told him quietly. She pointed to a boy behind her, his brown hair falling into his brown eyes. "That's Jak," she continued, looking down at her hands. "He was admitted to hospital last night."
"How come?" the Doctor asked, handing the photo back.
"His dad," she replied taking the photo and holding it carefully, as if it would tear if she was too careless. "He works a Pizza Hut, got asked to stay behind for an hour. He went back to his house to find his dad bashing his mum 'round the head," she said bitterly, then her face turned to wonder. "Yeah, poor old June, she's a lovely woman... anyway, he jumped in with a lamp. His dad sent him to hospital with major injuries. Broken arm, cracked ribs, broken eye socket, fractured jaw, the list goes on. After his dad left, Jak's lil' sister called the ambulance."
"People like that shouldn't have kids," the Doctor said darkly. Eliza nodded in agreement, pocketing the photo carefully and sitting up on the bed. "Jak's gonna be in hospital for three weeks, they reckon. Robert's gonna be in jail for a lot longer," she ended in a happy note. The Doctor looked at this young woman. She looked tired, very tired. And that was saying something as she needed only a little more sleep than he did. His mind slipped to their previous encounter, his eyes going to her neck quickly. "Don't worry, Gramps," she said. "The key's clean," she took the key from her chest, fingering it with her fingers.
"I told you to leave, didn't I?" he asked coldly.
Eliza gave an agitated sigh, getting off the bed. "But you're glad I didn't, right? If I'd left you alone, you and Rose would both be swallowed by that black hole," she told him stubbornly. She was not having this conversation again. "Like the Beast said, 'I'm anxious to protect'."
"But what I don't understand is why," the Doctor growled. "Why are you so insistent on following us, keeping us out of harms way?" Eliza looked away from him, over to her desk. "You know something I don't, and I want to know."
"You can't, not yet, we already covered this," Eliza snapped. "I told you, something will happen. After it does, I'll tell you everything you wonna know."
"There's nothing you can tell me now?" the Doctor asked. He hated being in the dark, and that's exactly how she was keeping him. He didn't know what would happen like she did, and he wanted to. "Anything?"
Eliza looked down at her feet again, flicking down a mental list she'd made nearly a year ago. "I suppose I could answer a few yes or no questions," she mumbled. "Thinking about it, there's a little bit I can tell you."
"Okay, yes or no questions," the Doctor nodded. "I can do that." He stood up from her bed and began walking around the room. Looking back to the photo Eliza had shown him, he asked, "Who was that boy you were hugging?"
"Oh," Eliza smiled. "My little brother, Ivi. He was about ten there," she smiled, reminiscing.
The Doctor nodded, continuing to walk as he thought of another question. "The Beast," he began, turning to her. "The Beast said you were anxious in protecting and changing your past," he stuttered. "What did it mean?"
Eliza stared at him for a long while, then gave a small sigh. "This is difficult to explain without giving anything away," she told him, staring at her pillow. "Okay... lets see. It's kinda... selfish, really but... I want to be a proper family." The Doctor frowned at her, sitting down by her desk as he watched her expectantly. "You know when I said my birth father technically died? Well, he didn't 'die' per say. My mother and I were separated from him. My mother moved on with someone else eventually and for all I knew, he was my real father. I never knew who my real father was, so technically, he was dead to me, until I found him," her breathing hitched as she smiled, but then it faltered. "I'm trying to change what happened. I want us to all stay together, like a proper family. My mum sometimes talks about him. She misses him."
"But she loves your step dad, doesn't she?" the Doctor asked.
Eliza made a face. "That's also something I'm trying to change," she admitted. "It's really complicated to explained without telling you everything. I'm sorry." The Doctor nodded. At least she explained a few things to him. He looked around the room again, another question popping into his head. "The TARDIS couldn't identify your species when you first came here and neither could I. What are you, anyway?" he asked.
"That, again is complicated," Eliza made another made as she lay down on the bed. "And something I really don't want to talk about. Next."
He stood up again, circling slowly. He stopped, looking at her intently. This question had been playing on his mind since they returned from Krop Tor. "The Beast," he started. "I have to assume what he said about everyone was true, even you and me," he continued, looking at her in a nearly begging tone. "What about Rose? The Beast said she'll... will it really happen?"
"No," Eliza told him instantly, although he could see right through her lie. "She doesn't die, Gramps, at all. She lives," she told him sincerely. "I promise you, if I get my-" she was cut off by her wrist watch, which looked very similar to Jack's Vortex Manipulator as she bit her lip, looking down at it. She gave a frustrated sigh and stood up. "I have to go," she said sadly. Giving a forced smile, she walked toward the door. Stopping as she touched the wood, she asked hesitantly, "Are we okay, yeah?"
The Doctor gave a sharp nod of his head, standing up from the chair. "For now," he told her. Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding in, she gave a real smile, nodding in goodbye as she walked from the room. The Doctor looked down at his hands quietly as he listened to her footsteps walk away. She was lying, she had to be. Well, that's what the Beast said, wasn't it? The liar...
