"So," I said in an attempt to break the awkward silence, "what's your story?"
The other occupant of the holding cell shot me a withering glance. She was a short, blonde woman who looked completely exasperated- either with me or the fact that we were locked up. I couldn't tell. I'd managed to wheedle a name out of her about half an hour ago – Trix, by the way – but we hadn't spoken since.
"Con gone bad," she muttered. "You?"
"Um." I blinked, wondering how exactly to explain a ghoul attack to a non- practitioner. "I may have…accidently exploded a car."
Trix arched a brow. "Accidently," she repeated, dryly. I shrugged and gave her what I hoped was a winning smile but didn't come off as one. She smirked and shook her head. "That's a new one."
"Yeah." I slouched further into the bench, crossing my arms. "It was pretty new for me too. I've accidently blown up lots of things, but never a car."
"Wow," Trix drawled, dragging out the 'o'. "Walking disaster, aren't you."
"Pretty much." I sniffed, wondering why I was confessing stuff to a woman I barely knew. A con-woman to boot. "I have bad luck."
"Apparently." Trix twisted around to look through the holding cell bars, eyeing the guard. It was the same cop who'd arrested me. She was leaning against the wall, pointedly ignoring us and looking completely bored. "Hey, when do we get out of here?"
The cop looked like she was debating about whether or not to answer when another police officer stuck their head in the room. "Having fun, Compassion?"
"Don't call me that," she growled automatically.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Tobin." They left and she rolled her eyes.
"You gonna answer my question?" Trix asked again, sounding mildly miffed.
"You can get out right now if you have bail money," Tobin replied, deadpan.
Trix groaned and turned back around, crossing her arms with a huff. "My boss isn't going to be happy about this," she muttered under her breath.
"Your boss is bailing you out?" I asked, surprised.
"Yeah," Trix sighed. "Called him already."
"Lucky. I'm stuck here 'till they decide to let me go." I'd called Anji briefly, mostly to let her know what had happened in case the Doctor came around asking questions. She'd yelled at me, because Anji gets angry when she's upset. The phone had decided to blow out then, saving me from the rest of her tirade. I'd still have to face it sooner-or-later, though. Fab.
"Sorry." Trix lifted a shoulder, actually sounding a bit like she meant it.
"Yeah, whatever." I rubbed at my eyes, suddenly bone-tired. "Been having a rough week." Rough didn't even begin to cover it. Sitting in jail, running on empty, I was starting to regret ever agreeing to help the Doctor. I wasn't going to back out now, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to complain about it.
Trix didn't reply. I shifted to look at Tobin, deciding to appeal once again. Sure, it didn't work the last three times, but you never know. "So," I started, and the cop rolled her eyes. "I know I've said this before, but I didn't mean to blow up that car. It was an accident. I was acting in self-defense."
"Sure," Tobin replied sarcastically. "Defending yourself from nothing."
"There was a gh-guy!" I protested. "He ran off."
Whatever Tobin was going to say was cut off by someone walking into the room. He was dressed like a cop, but I felt my eyes widen when I saw his face. It was the ghoul from last night. "Hey," Tobin started, hand drifting down to her gun. "You're not-" She didn't get a chance to finish. The ghoul grabbed her by the neck and threw her clear across the room. I winced as I heard Tobin thud into the wall, praying she wasn't dead.
Trix had jumped to her feet, staring at the ghoul in abject horror. Not that hard to do, seeing as it had unhinged its jaw and was stalking towards us. I eyed its claws nervously; I was pretty they could cut right through metal. "What the hell is that thing?" She demanded.
"Ghoul." I grimaced, hauling myself to my feet and trying to find enough energy to call up a spell.
The ghoul tensed, ready to leap.
I took a deep breath, fixing a spell in my mind.
The wall behind the holding cell exploded inwards.
I whipped around, staring as a figure clambered through the new hole it had just punched in the wall, dust and debris floating in the air. Somehow, I wasn't surprised to see that it was the Doctor. The ghoul growled behind me, and I whirled back to face it. It was staring at the Doctor, teeth bared. The two of them prowled around in a circle, eyeing each other, looking all the world like predatory animals about to start a fight.
"Doctor, what are you doing here?" I shouted, running over to the bars.
"Saving you," he replied, snarling at the ghoul. The sound terrified me. It was an absolutely primal noise, way too loud to have come from something as small as the Doctor. The ghoul made a guttural noise in return, and I wondered why nobody else was here yet. This was a police station. There had to be more cops around…unless the ghoul had killed all of them.
"Watch out!" I screamed as the ghoul pounced, gritting my teeth in frustration at not being able to do anything. There was no way I could cast anything in such an enclosed space without hurting everyone else along with the ghoul. Damn it, why hadn't I ever learned to control my magic better?
The Doctor spun around as I screamed, snatching the ghoul right out of the air and driving it into the ground. And I do mean into the ground- its head had to be embedded a good inch into the concrete. Satisfied that the ghoul would be down for at least a little bit, the Doctor bounded across the room and did the impossible.
He grabbed one of the bars and tore it loose, throwing it down beside him.
The bar. The iron bar. That, as a faerie, he shouldn't have been able to touch. Which meant that he wasn't a faerie.
The Doctor had been lying to me.
"Get out," the Doctor snapped, moving away from the opening. I moved back to let Trix climb out first, still in a slightly dazed state.
A lot happened after that.
The ghoul picked itself out of the floor, ready to fling itself on the Doctor again. I was about to call out another warning when a gunshot rang out. Tobin, looking slightly battered, but definitely alive, stood shakily by the wall. One of her eyes flared a deep red. The ghoul jerked back, howling as the bullet slammed into its shoulder. I shoved Trix to the ground as it lashed out, nails slicing through the air right where her throat had been. She stared up at me, wide-eyed.
The Doctor picked up the bar and threw himself towards the ghoul. He caught it around the shoulders and forced it to the floor again, pinning it down. The Doctor lifted the bar, face contorted in fury, and I turned away when I realized what was about to happen. There was a nasty crunching noise as the Doctor drove the pole right through the ghoul's head, spearing it into the cement floor. The ghoul let out an ear-piecing scream, and I heard it thrashing about as it died.
The ghoul fell silent finally and I chanced a look. The Doctor was crouched over it, blood splattered all over his face. He turned to look at me, a wild look in his eyes, and I froze, suddenly scared to death of him.
"What…what the hell just happened?" Trix asked quietly, still sprawled on the floor. She was staring at the ghoul, shocked. A bit of the splatter had fallen on her too, and she reached up to wipe the blood away, wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Somebody wanted one of you dead," Tobin replied, kicking the ghoul's body. "Ghouls are basically thugs for hire." Okay, definitely not a normal cop then. She looked at me, eyes narrowed. "You're the mostly useless wizard I've ever seen."
"Sorcerer," I replied automatically, not really paying attention. I was still watching the Doctor. "Don't you have something to explain to me, Doctor?" I asked very quietly.
He sighed, running a hand through his fair. The blood on his face had dried already, and it cracked as he spoke. "Fitz-" The Doctor broke off, biting his lip. "Not here." He stepped forward, and before I had a chance to protest, slipped an arm around my waist, and we were gone.