House Call

Chapter 6

Amy was not happy with how Joe was avoiding her question. Irritated, she was sure to get an answer to who he really was whether he like it or not. She knew that if she were the Doctor, she'd be dying to know who he really was.

She finally spotted him opening a door and then closing it with a look of frustration. She marched up to him and said, "You can't get out of answering me that easy, Joe. Just who are you?"

Startled, he blinked at her and said, "Blimey, you sure are persistent. Can't you take no for an answer?"

"Then, why is it a secret? Hmm? What are you hide?"

Exasperated, Nine faced her and replied, "Nothing, it's just none of your business. And you already got the short version out of me. I'm the Doctor's the human-half copy. Hello! See? Now, we've met."

Suddenly, Amy wasn't so sure about her aggressive approach and looked at him up and down and shrugged her shoulder and said, "Oh, then how does my Doctor know Rose?"

Nine uncomfortably shifted and explained, "Like before, she used to travel with him. She used to travel with me."

Amy felt a little down at the thought of the Doctor traveling with other people. She liked to think she was the first, but that was silly. She knew he was old. He was over 900. The Doctor had traveled with lots of other people before. He even admitted that he had. He said they were all his friends. However, Amy sensed that there was something different about Rose.

"But she isn't like the rest, right?"

Nine locked Amy with his steel blue gaze like a powerful storm and answered, "Rose saved me when I needed saving. She changed me. She reminded me what this was all about."

Amy paused and let the conversation end there. She watched as the leather-clad man turned his back and began scanning the stones with his sonic screwdriver and then scratched his head. He muttered, "I don't understand. It reads everything as ordinary. Just plain old stone, but why is this place abandoned? We should have seen some kind of worker or staff by now."

Amy pensively agreed. It did look like nobody was around. Though, just then Rory caught up and approached her side.

Meekly, he said, "Um, sorry. I sort of got lost. Please give me some warning next time you run off like that."

The redhead hushed and whispered into his ear and said, "I know why the Doctor is so shaken up by Rose. Apparently, he loved her, but knowing him he probably never did anything about it."

Rory quietly retorted, "So, he's off because his ex has got a new boyfriend? Ah, that seems so normal for him."

Annoyed, Nine loudly said, "Oi! Are you two finished gossiping? I think I found something here."

The couple turned and saw that Joe was kneeling down and hovering over some kind of weird rope. Though when they got closer Amy saw that it wasn't a rope. It was some sort of vine. It was the sort of thing you'd expect to see in a forest or a jungle.

"What is that?" asked Rory.

"It looks like a vine. It looks like it's coming from down that corridor. It probably leads to the center of the castle."

However, without warning they heard a scream and the sound of someone shouting for help. Instantly, Nine smiled and bolted up to his feet. He was wondering when something would happen. It appeared their host had finally made a move.

"Run!"

XXX

In a wild dash, the group finally found Rose standing alone in the middle of the stone hall. Though the moment she saw Nine she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug. The leather-clad man didn't hesitate to reciprocate and gently soothed her back. Inwardly, he was relieved to find that she was all right. He was afraid something might have happened to her, but thankfully she was fine.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, but something took the Doctor. It looked like a vine. It grabbed his leg and dragged him away."

Nine swiftly moved to take charge and said, "Then whoever got him most likely wants him alive. When I was poking about I saw some vines too. I think they led towards the center of the castle. The vines probably took him there."

Amy said, "Then we've got to go rescue him."

Nine stated, "Yeah and we will, but there's something that isn't right. Rose, have you noticed anything unusual about this castle? Some off since we came?"

The blonde bit her lip and replied, "Uh yeah, like why there's nobody around, but they've got a fancy lock on the door. Why would you have a level 10 security system if there's nothing inside?"

"Oh," said Rory. "I—I never thought about that. Whose castle is this anyway?"

Nine beamed and said, "Smart question there, Rory. I can see why bow-tie keeps you around, but what else?"

Rory was a bit taken back by the compliment. Eleven hardly ever said anything nice to him. He wasn't used to getting recognition. Though, he did like how this other Doctor included his companions. Eleven never really shared what he was thinking. Normally, they were forced to just keep up with him.

Yet, his thoughts were ended when Rose asked, "Joe, how big is this castle?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we've been walking for a long time and from the city the castle didn't look that big."

Intrigued, Nine said, "You're right. It does seem really big. Like—"

"Like it's bigger on the inside!" shouted Rose ecstatically.

"Yes! Exactly!" cried Nine. "Rose Tyler, you are fantastic!"

Joyfully, the two hugged again and cheered, but Amy pushed them apart and sternly stated, "Alright, enough with the celebrating. This is so not the time for celebrating. We need to find the Doctor and we need to find him now. And what does it matter if the castle's big?"

Nine replied, "It means this place is like the TARDIS. It's bigger on the inside. It probably has a central power source that requires a hefty amount of energy to alter space. It might be the reason why whoever took us here is draining our ships."

Curious, Rose asked, "Yeah, but why a castle?"

The leather-clad man shrugged. "Who knows, maybe they like fancy dragons and playing pretend."

Rory nodded his head. Their guess was as good as any and it sounded like they knew what they were talking about. He and Amy followed the couple as they resumed walking down the hall and after a moment asked, "So you two have a plan?"

Nine and Rose stopped and turned to give the former-Roman an amused grin. Rose ran her tongue over her teeth playfully and shared a glance with Joe before saying, "Uh, no. We're just making it up."

Startled, Rory said, "Oh my god, you two are mad."

Rory realized just then that he had Joe all wrong. He wasn't different from the Doctor or more appreciative—no, he was the same insane man. And Rose was no better then him. She was like his partner in crime. They both actually like getting into trouble. To them it was exciting.

Though, in the dark, they heard the sound of crawling vines and before they could react they wiped out across the corridor and wrapped themselves around Joe.

"No!" shouted Rose. "Let him go!"

However, it was too late. Nine began to wail as he was dragged down to the floor and into the depths of the hall.

XXX

TBC

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Yeah! Everybody is getting kidnapped!

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