Eeek long update much? Not much to say really apart from thank you to everyone who's reviewed and read so far :)
Disclaimer: As always I own nothing
3
Vince dashed from the park relying on his lungs to not give in easily to the vile air, the child just lay huddled in his arms, the mask was a bit too big for his head but it was better than nothing.
He crossed the street glancing left and right for anything that would be open then spotted the Library knowing they never really closed, he hurried toward it and climbed the few steps and hammered on the door with his foot trying the handle awkwardly while keeping hold of the boy.
"Hello?" He cried desperately still battering at the door until he heard a woman's voice call out.
"Just wait, hold on!" She cried as the lock clicked letting Vince hurry in "Oh my god!" the woman gasped quickly shutting the door behind them, her own face was covered in a gas mask that had been put on in a hurry "Who are you? And what were you doing outside without a mask?" She slipped her own off letting her blonde hair tumble around her face.
"My name's Vince." He mumbled through coughs while sitting the child on the counter by a computer "Bit dark in here in't it?" He checked the boy over after taking off the mask but didn't really know what he was doing.
"You sound terrible, just wait here."
"Weren't plannin' on goin' anywhere else." He half laughed and smiled at the boy "So what's your name?"
"I'm Oliver." He replied "All my friends call me Ollie."
"Cool, I'm Vince. Nice name you got."
"Yours is funny."
"Well I'm a funny guy." He grinned and got a small one back as the librarian returned carrying a green rucksack with a 'T' shaped logo on the front along with the words 'First aid'.
"Here, you'll need this." She informed him while setting down the bag with a thud next to Oliver.
"What is it?"
"Oxygen of course…What else would it be?"
"Sorry, I've been away for a while, from here." Vince muttered through the mask she had clamped on his face "What's your name then?"
"Jenny, pleased to meet you Vince." She smiled at him while he coughed a little more.
"How long do I need this then?"
"Till I'm satisfied."
The Doctor and Howard found themselves in a long winding corridor, which was all too familiar to the ex zookeeper, the lights hanging from the ceiling were dim offering little light to the place.
"So, where do we start first?" The Doctor asked glancing at the wooden doors that lined the walls either side of them "Which d'ya reckon?"
"I don't know…"
"Oh come on, you've been here before! You must remember where you went."
"Not really, I woke up in here. It was Vince who found the place."
"Ah."
"But you decided to leave him behind."
"I didn't leave him behind, I don't leave companions behind…" The Doctor threw a hand at his hair ruffling it slightly "Sort of."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Howard asked quickly in a hushed voice as they slowly strolled past the doors.
"Well I've had to leave some companions behind but it was for their own safety. Anyone in my care…Well I'd rather leave them behind than see them dead, do you understand?" Howard nodded silently "I know what you're worried about, me leaving Vince behind. It won't happen, he isn't in danger."
"How can you promise that though?"
"I didn't and I can't, you just have to trust me. Now then, I say we use that door straight ahead. Last one's always the best." The time traveller hurried to the door and turned the handle "Locked, just a second." He retrieved his Sonic Screwdriver from his pocket and within seconds the door had clicked open "Come on then but be careful. Keep the gas mask close by, don't go loosing it. You never know when we might be running for our lives."
"That's your life in one word isn't it? Run."
"Pretty much, yeah." The Doctor grinned and gently pushed open the door leading the way in.
Vince sat on the counter by the computer swinging his legs while the boy wandered off to find a book to read, Jenny had disappeared for ten minutes and returned with two cups of tea and a hot chocolate for Oliver.
"Here you go." She handed one of the hot mugs to Vince who took it and smiled while nursing it in his lap wrapping his cold fingers around it to heat them up "Spose you're wonderin' what I'm doing in the library so late." Vince looked down at her as she pulled a soft chair over from one of the computer desks and sat down on it.
"No, actually I thought libraries never shut." Jenny laughed suddenly at what he had said "What's so funny?"
"Libraries do shut you know. They don't stay open forever! I was just doing some extra work that I needed to get finished."
"Oh right, lucky you were then."
"Or you'd be dead." Vince nodded and sipped his tea in silence while Jenny studied him, the boy could be heard pulling books from shelves and flicking through them then putting them back again.
"What?" Vince said at last meeting his gaze with Jenny's who suddenly looked down at her drink and took a mouthful.
"Well, I don't mean to be rude but you don't seem the type of guy to be in a library."
"Well I wasn't thinking straight; we needed to get inside din't we? Besides…What's that saying? Never judge a book by its cover? You're right anyway, I've never really come to a library, I hardly read." The pretty librarian almost choked on her tea at what he had said, "Don't die." Vince joked taking another mouthful.
"Sorry…I just find it daft when people say things like that. You should start reading, don't know what you're missing." There was a long awkward silence between the two until Oliver returned with several books in his hands "Look, I'm sure you don't want to be here and I'd prefer to be at home and I'm sure he's supposed to be home by now too, his mother must be worried sick. I don't have spare gas masks so I'll have to phone Torchwood."
"Sure, okay…" Jenny hurried toward the phone as Oliver placed his books on the counter next to Vince who flicked through them "Comics…I love comics." He smiled at the boy who grinned back.
"I'm gonna take these home." Vince smiled again and slid himself off the counter then turned to listen to Jenny on the phone.
"Hello my name is Jennifer Mash I work at the Dalston Library. Tonight a young man and a child appeared on the doorstep, I have no masks spare here and will be needing one for the child. Is it possible for someone to come and pick the child up?" She paused and then nodded mumbling a yes then hung up "They'll be here soon, we have to wait."
The Doctor had signalled to Howard to remain silent as they crouched behind some wooden crates in a large room filled with technology that Howard could never have imagined before, there were distant voices he recognised echoing from another room and were getting louder. The voices were soon accompanied by footsteps and the flickering of lights above as a switch was flicked flooding the room in bright white light. The Doctor tucked his head down below the boxes pulling Howard down with him telling him to remain silent no matter what, they both listened carefully to the conversation which bounced around the metal room.
"You had better of locked the gates." A tough deep voice barked, one Howard's eyes widened at the sound of "I don't want any word of this getting out, especially not to Torchwood! Do you know what they'd do if they found this equipment?"
"No?" Another voice answered which Howard too recognised.
"They'd confiscate it! Destroy it, keep it, claim it as their own and strip it down and use it for themselves to save the precious Earth!" There was a brief pause then "Come, we have business to attend to." As a metal door slid shut the Doctor quickly reached into the blazer of his pocket.
"Will Vince have his mobile with him?"
"He always does."
"Do you know the number?" Howard nodded as the Doctor pulled out a flip black phone and handed it to him "Dial it quick."
"Why does a Time Traveller have a mobile phone?"
"Friend gave it to me, said she'd phone in case of emergencies and what's wrong with a Time Traveller having a phone?"
"Nothing…Just didn't think you'd need it y'know with a space ship and going back and forward in time…" Howard received a blank stare as he passed over the phone, the Doctor nodded a thank you and hit the call button immediately.