Chapter 7:
First Date?/The Empty Child/Doctor Dances
By: Izzy
Rhee had watched Doctor Who for a couple years, and thought she knew all there was to know about the Doctor. But this man before her kept surprising her. He took them to a fancy alien restaurant. She looked around and felt undressed, in her gloves, halter top, leggings and mini skirt. They were sat at a table for two, the Doctor pulled out her chair so she could sit. She sat and noticed that the table was set up with the works, a red candle, and flowers around the base of the candle holder. She found it amazing. He took his seat in front of her and smiled widely, she couldn't help but smile back. They both ordered tea.
"So, what do they have here?" she asked as she looked at the menu, trying to shake the feeling that this was a date. He took the menu out of her hands.
"Do you trust me?" he gave her a sly smile.
"With my life," she replied without a thought.
"Then let me order for you," he said. This surprised her because she never had a man offer to order for her. She was really picky, she didn't like a lot. Meat cheese and bread were the things she liked, well and a limited amount of veggies.
"Um," she started nervously. "OK, but if you get something that I don't like then," She paused to think for a minute of something she wanted. Then it dawned on her. "I get to pick the next place we go."
"Seems fair," he shrugged. "And if I get it right, you owe me."
"I owe you what?" she said feeling slightly cheeky.
"I don't know yet but I will think of something," he said. She smiled at him as the waiter came over with their tea and he ordered for them both. After the waiter left he decided he would try small talk with her. "Well, I have spent the passed two months trying to figure you out. And I think I have found out a lot but I'm think I am only scratching the surface of you." She took a large drink of her tea.
"That sounds slightly fun," she giggled. He looked at her surprised, she flirted with him. He couldn't believe it. "But remember ask me and I'll tell you."
"Yeah," he said. "But that takes some of the fun of the mystery." Their food arrived and they took a few bites but continued talking. She took another large drink.
"What mystery?" she said still feeling so brave and cheeky. She moved to prop her elbows up on the table, leaning in.
"The mystery of you of course," he said. "You appear on Platform One though what you described as a rift, your highly empathic which is rare for humans, you have a massive love of learning, and you have a very painful past. But that's all I know about you." She finished her drink then leaned on the table again. He noticed the TARDIS was trying to tell him something but ignored it.
"Well," she said as she shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "When I was a little girl, I dreamed of saving the universe." He laughed, not because he was trying to make fun of her but because he could see her saving the universe with him. "I did! But that was because I loved this corny little show. Sailor Moon. She was the champion of love and justice. And that is all I really wanted was to be loved." She licked her lips after she said that. "And touched." Suddenly he felt lust radiating from her. Which this much lust was strange even for a human to produce.
"Rhee?" he asked as she continued to look at him he watched as the lust glazed over her eyes. "Are you OK?"
"Positively perfect," she purred as she rubbed her leg against his under the table.
"Rhee, you told me you weren't ready for anything more," he said as she rubbed his inner thigh.
"Yes, I did but that was then," she said with the lust apparent in her voice. "A girl still has needs." He tried to move away, but her skillful legs had one on the chair so he couldn't get away. While the other kept getting closer to his penis. He wanted this, but not this way. This was not her, something had to be effecting her. He went over in his head all the things that could cause this on this scale. An aphrodisiac. Had to be. He looked around.
"Please, let me go Rhee," he pleaded.
"Oh, the great Doctor pleading little old human me," she cooed. "Only if we're headed back to the TARDIS to continue this 'conversion' in a bedroom." He simply nodded. So she moved to stand and walk to the door to wait for him. He stood up to follow her but then he remembered that she drank all her tea, while he never touched his. He picked up his glass if tea and smelled it. It was made of the sexum virilem, which literally means sex flower in Latin. The inhabitants of this world were unaffected, to them it was like eating strawberries.
"This is not good," he said. It was something he had to let run its coarse or pump her stomach. But he knew both options were not pleasant. Suddenly she wrapped her arms around him from behind.
"I thought we were going to the TARDIS," she whined. "I mean unless you like PDA." He pulled away slightly so she wasn't so close.
"Yes, let's go," he said. She let go of him and jumped to the door.
"Allons-y!" she shouted as he walked up to her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him, to run with her to the TARDIS. Once inside the TARDIS, she pinned him up against the doors. She pulled him by his leather jacket down so she could kiss him. His mind and body were at odds, his body wanted her to continue, but while it felt wonderful to have her against him like this he knew this wasn't her. And this is not how he wants it.
"I'm sorry," he said pulling away from the kiss and putting his hand to her temps. She fell into his arm unconscious.
"Rhee," Jess said. "Rhee, you need to wake up!"
"What?" Rhee exclaimed. "Ow, what happened?" She rubbed her head. "Last thing I remember I was with the Doctor-" She cut herself off as she remembered what she had done. Her face turned bright red.
"Yes, that happened," Jess said. "But that was four days ago. Sadly it took that long to get the drug out of your system." She sighed. "My thief is beside himself without you. He blames himself for you getting dosed with that aphrodisiac. He won't listen to me, that you would never blame him for something you did."
"Oh, Goddess," Rhee said. "After I shower and change I will go and talk to him." She ran to the bathroom, quickly showered. But once she was out of the shower she found an outfit lying out for her. It was not fully her style but she could wear it for lack of time. A dark red sleeveless shirt, a pair of black slacks just like the Doctor wore, a black belt, and a pair of dress shoes. She looked at the outfit in horror when she realized there was no gloves to cover up her scars. She franticly looked the whole room for her gloves. She couldn't find a single glove, not even the ones she had taken off before her shower.
She shook her head she didn't have time for his. If the Doctor was not himself then he needed her. And the universe needs the Doctor, So she got dressed quickly frowning at the fact anyone they met was going to ask about them. She ran to the console room to find him where she thought she would in the jump seat, but it surprised her that he was asleep. She smiled at him, thinking that he looked so cute and vulnerable. She shook her head and chalked that thought up to the aphrodisiac still clinging to her system.
"Doctor?" she asked sweetly as she walked closer to him. She didn't want to wake him but she also knew that if she didn't they couldn't talk. "Doctor?" She kept her voice calm and sweet so as not to scare him awake. She put her hand on his shoulder and shook him lightly. "Please wake up." As if her words were the magic words he needed to wake up.
"Rhee?" he asked looking at her with a look of surprise. "Are you all right?" He was panicked with that question as he looked her over.
"Yeah," she said as he embraced her firmly. "Sorry for being out for four days."
"Four days?" he asked. "It's been four weeks."
"What?" she asked surprised. She cursed the TARDIS in her head. "I'm sorry." He buried his face in her shoulder and she felt her shoulder become damp. She rubbed circles on his back trying to comfort him. She knew it was hard on him, she just didn't know it was going to be this hard. She felt bad for Rose too having to not only deal with Rhee being unconscious but also a beside himself Doctor. She rubbed his back as he continued to cry quietly, he finally let go of her after a while. "I'm so sorry I worried you."
"No it's not your fault," he said cupping her face. "I should have seen, I should have-" She cut him off by placing a finger to his lips.
"I don't blame you," she said. "I am only sorry that I made a fool of myself. To which caused you to have to put me to sleep." He tried to speak again but she pushed her finger to his lips a bit harder. "No, do not blame yourself." She searched his eyes to see if what she said was sinking in. "Swear to me that on the TARDIS that you will not continue to blame yourself for what befell me that day." She spoke formally, then she removed her finger from his lips to let him speak.
"I swear on the TARDIS that I will no longer blame myself," he spoke just as formally but smiled at her. "You know for someone who claims not to be a lady, you sure act like one a lot."
"Well, I was raise to be proper," she said with a smile. "And I love history, it's just that I don't want anyone to give me special favors because of my lineage."
"That's commendable," he said with a smile. She was happy to see that he was more himself again. He looked down at her hands and forearms. He grabbed her hands.
"Not that I mind seeing your beautiful arms but where are your gloves?" he said.
"The TARDIS hid all my gloves from me even the dirty ones," she said slightly whining. The Doctor took off his leather jacket and handed it to her.
"Here," he said. She hesitated. "I know how much it pains you to have to answer questions about your scars." She smiled at him and took the jacket. She put it on and felt at home within it. The sleeves were much too long for her. She buttoned the jacket up, it fit snuggly around her chest and was lose around her stomach. "I think it looks good on you. But it looks better on me." He smiled and she giggled. He reached up and put his hands in her hair. "Did she hid your hair pins too?"
"No, I was in such a hurry to get out here that I forgot to put it up," she laughed. She was trying not to lean into his touch. "I think I will go fix that if it's alright with you." He nodded. But for some reason she decided to go to Rose. She knocked on Rose's door. "Rose?" Shortly after saying the other woman's name the door flew open revealing, Rose with tears in her eyes. She hugged Rhee with everything she had.
"I've missed you!" Rose exclaimed.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Rhee said. Rose let go and looked at Rhee in confusion.
"Why are you wearing the Doctor's leather jacket?" Rose asked.
"The TARDIS was not being nice to me," Rhee replied. "She hid my gloves. And I mean all of them."
"I never did ask why you wear gloves." Rose said. Rhee explained rather calmly. "Oh, I'm sorry."
"I'm getting better I think," Rhee said. "But I came here with purpose. Can you French braid?"
"Yeah, do you want me to braid your hair?" Rose asked. Rhee nodded. It took a couple hours for Rose to braid Rhee's hair to Rose's liking. Once done they decided to go to the console room to see where they would go next. On the way the TARDIS began to rock and the lights flashed mauve. "What's the emergency?"
"It's mauve." the Doctor said as he was whipping around the console trying to stay with the 'space junk'.
"Mauve?" she asked. Rhee remained silent because she knew all of this and because she was trying to stay up right. The TARDIS rocked and flung her in to the railing on the other side of the walk way which she winced in pain but tried not to let the Doctor know.
"The universally recognized color for danger." he said.
"What happened to red?" Rose said,
"That's just humans." he said. "By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing. It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the TARDIS. Where it goes, we go."
"And that's safe, is it?" she asked.
"Totally." he said as Rhee rolled her eyes. A loud bang was heard. "Okay, reasonably. Should have said reasonably there. No, no, no, no! It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us."
"What exactly is this thing?" Rose asked.
"No idea." he said grinning from ear to ear.
"Then why are we chasing it?" she asked.
"It's mauve and dangerous, and about thirty seconds from the center of London." he said.
"And don't forget that it's fun," Rhee smiled at him as he grinned back. He militarized the TARDIS with a bit of a thud.
"Do you know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?" he asked.
"Five days?" Rose teased.
"I think that is just when we're out of milk, or cheese," Rhee continued to tease. But as she thought about food her body got upset with her. She felt a bit dizzy but she knew they didn't have time to go back for her to eat so she ignored it.
"Of all the species in all the Universe and it has to come out of a cow." he said. She got the feeling they were being watched and she knew it was the empty child, Jamie.
"Must have come down somewhere quite close. Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."
"A month? We were right behind it." Rose said.
"Remember he is a bad driver," Rhee teased.
"I'm an excellent driver I've have you know!" he defended. "It was jumping time tracks all over the place. We're bound to be a little bit out. Do you want to drive?"
"Yeah." Rose said as both girls rolled their eyes. "How much is a little?"
"A bit." he said.
"Is that exactly a bit?" she asked as Rhee giggled.
"Ish." he said,
"What's the plan, then?" Rose asked. "Are you going to do a scan for alien tech or something?"
"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang." he said. "I'm going to ask." He showed her the psychic paper and Rhee noticed that to her it was blank. She thought that her empathy might be getting stronger, but she shrugged it off to be addressed later.
"Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids." Rose read.
"It's psychic paper. It tells you-" he said but Rose finished his statement.
"Whatever you want it to tell me, I remember." she said in a board fashion.
"Sorry, but I was also explaining for Rhee," he said.
"Seen it used before," Rhee said, which was not a lie but not the full truth.
"Not very Spock, is it, just asking." Rose said and he gave her a dirty look.
"No," Rhee teased. "Spock would be too easy for him." She stuck her tongue out at the Doctor like a little kid.
"Door, music, people. What do you think?" he asked as he tried not to think of the uses for that tongue.
"I think you should do a scan for alien tech." Rose said. "Give me some Spock, for once. Would it kill you?"
"I need my Sonic Rhee," he said as he held out his hand. Rhee unbuttoned the top button so she could reach her hand into the pocket where he normally keeps the Sonic. "Thanks," He flashed her a smile that made her blush. The went to a nearby door and started to try and unlock it with the Sonic, but he noticed that Rose was wearing a Union Jack shirt. "Are you sure about that t-shirt?"
"Too early to say." Rose said as she looked down at her shirt. "I'm taking it out for a spin. What'd you think Rhee?"
"Mummy? Mummy?" the voice of a child was heard by both woman.
"I think it's a bit early to say," Rhee said. "Though I will have to give that shirt this, it makes your boobs look bigger."
"Come on if you're coming." he said ignoring Rhee's comment about Rose's boobs. "It won't take a minute."
"I'm going with him," Rhee said. "Don't wander off." She grinned at Rose as Rose looked off in the distance. When Rhee got into the cafe she saw the Doctor on the stage.
"Excuse me. Excuse me." he said tapping the microphone. "Could I have everybody's attention just for a mo? Be very quick. Hello!" He waved at the crowd. "Might seem like a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently?" Everybody was very silent and then burst in to a fit of laughter. Rhee jumped up and down trying to get the Doctor's attention but failing. "Sorry, have I said something funny? It's just, there's this thing that I need to find. Would've fallen from the sky a couple of days ago." The air raid siren sounded and everyone started to move the the basement. Rhee doubled her efforts in trying to get the Doctor to notice the sign. "Would've landed quite near here." He finally looked over at Rhee as he continue. "With a very loud-" He stopped as he noticed what she was trying so hard to get him to notice a sign that said 'Hitler will send no warning!'
"Quickly as you can, down to the shelter." a man from the bar ushered the people from the bar to safety.
"Bang." the Doctor finished in defeat. He walked over to Rhee. "Why didn't you get my attention sooner?"
"I tried," she said as they walked outside.
"Rose?" he asked. Rose was no where to be found. He sighed and picked up the cat from the box on the trash can between the TARDIS and the door they came from. "You know, one day, just one day, maybe, I'm going to meet more than one person who gets the whole don't wander off thing." He pet the cat, and she leaned in to pet the cat too. "Nine hundred years of phone box travel, it's the only thing left to surprise me." The phone in the front of the TARDIS started to ring.
"Well I have to say that, that surprised me." she said. They walked over to the TARDIS and he opened the little door that housed the phone.
"How can you be ringing?" he asked. "What's that about, ringing? What am I supposed to do with a ringing phone?"
"Answer it?" she asked in a smart tone. He gave her a dirty look and pulled out his Sonic from his pants pocket.
"Don't answer it. It's not for you." a girl said from behind Rhee. They turn to see a young woman standing there, Rhee remembered that her name was Nancy.
"And how do you know that?" he asked.
"'Cos I do. And I'm telling you, don't answer it." Nancy pleaded.
"Well, if you know so much, tell me this." he said turning to the phone showing both girls that the phone wasn't hooked up to anything. "How can it be ringing? It's not even a real phone. It's not connected, it's not-" He turned back to face Nancy and noticed that she was gone. "Hello? Hello? This is the Doctor speaking. How may I help you?" He grinned to which Rhee giggled. Then his face dropped. "Who is this? Who's speaking?" He sounded very upset. "Who is this?" She knew that the child was asking the same thing and going to keep asking the same thing. "How did you ring here? This isn't a real phone. It's not wired up to anything." He listened a minute to the phone and then hung it up. He sighed and reached for his key.
"Let me go in and look for her," She said. "I forgot something in my room anyway." He nodded. She went in to the TARDIS. She quickly ran to her room and grabbed her cell phone she had left on her nightstand. She slid it in the pocket of the Doctor's leather jacket. She stopped at the kitchen, not by choice mind you. The TARDIS kept moving the kitchen in the way of the console room. Rhee took a hint, to eat something before leaving. She grabbed a gram cracker, and quickly ate it. "There happy? Can I go to the Doctor before he comes in looking for me?" She ran out of the kitchen and found herself in the console room, where a concerned Doctor stood waiting for her.
"Did you find her?" he asked.
"No," she said, "I'm a bit late because the TARDIS got cute and decided since I hadn't eaten in a month that I needed to eat before I left again."
"She was right," he said firmly. "So you ate something?"
"Yes, ya worry wort," she said playfully.
"Good, now let's go look for a blonde in a Union Jack," he smiled and held out his hand. She took it and they left to follow Nancy. They caught up to her at a house where a bunch of kids were sitting around the table getting ready to eat.
"It's got to be black market." one of the kids said as he admired the ham they were about to eat. "You couldn't get all this on coupons."
"Ernie, how many times?" Nancy scolded the child named Ernie. "We are guests in this house. We will not make comments of that kind. Washing up." All the children laughed.
"Oh, Nancy." Ernie whined.
"Haven't seen you at one of these before." she said as a new boy entered the dining room from off the street. While Nancy was distracted with the new boy Rhee and the Doctor slipped in to the back of the dining room.
"He told me about it." the boy said nodding to Ernie. The poor boy looked half dead.
"Sleeping rough?" Nancy asked.
"Yes, miss." the boy answered.
"All right, then." she finished cutting and passed a large plate of ham around. "One slice each, and I want to see everyone chewing properly."
"Thank you, miss." the first boy said.
"Thanks, miss." the next boy said.
"Thank you miss." then the next said too.
"Thanks, miss!" the Doctor said with a large grin. The children gasped. He handed the plate off to Rhee.
"Thanks, kiddo," she said.
"It's all right." Nancy said trying to get the kids to settle down. "Everybody stay where you are!"
"Good here, innit?" he asked looking at Rhee as she was stuffing her mouth with ham. He grinned at her lack of table manners. "Who's got the salt?"
"Back in your seats." Nancy said. "They shouldn't be here either."
"So, you lot, what's the story?" he said.
"What do you mean?" Ernie asked.
"You're homeless, right? Living rough?" the Doctor asked.
"Why do you want to know that? Are you a copper?" another little boy asked.
"If he's a cop then I'm royalty," she said still laughing.
"Of course I'm not a copper." the Doctor said ignoring his giggling companion. "What's a copper going to do with you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving? I make it 1941. You lot shouldn't even be in London. You should 've been evacuated to the country by now."
"I was evacuated. Sent me to a farm." the boy said.
"So why 'd you come back?" the Doctor asked.
"There was a man there," one of the boy answered and Rhee lost her appetite after that.
"Yeah, same with Ernie. Two homes ago." another boy said.
"Shut up. It's better on the streets anyway. It's better food." Ernie said.
"Yeah. Nancy always gets the best food for us." the first boy chimed in.
"So, that's what you do, is it, Nancy?" the Doctor said.
"What is?" Nancy asked.
"As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo!" the Doctor exclaimed. "Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town. Puddings for all, as long as the bombs don't get you."
"Something wrong with that?" Nancy asked.
"Wrong with it?" the Doctor asked. "It's brilliant. I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical."
"Defiantly West End," Rhee said.
"Why 'd you follow me? What do you want?" Nancy asked defensively.
"I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call." the Doctor said. "You seem to be the one to ask."
"I did you a favor." Nancy said. "I told you not to answer it, that's all I'm telling you."
"Great, thanks." the Doctor said with a smiled. "And I want to find a blonde in a Union Jack. I mean a specific one. I didn't just wake up this morning with a craving. Anybody seen a girl like that?"
Rhee elbowed him in the ribs and said softly. "Rude." Nancy took both plates away from them.
"What have I done wrong?" he asked.
"You took two slices." Nancy said in a hurry. "No blonds, no flags. Plus innit rude to be asking about another girl when you have one beside you. Anything else before you leave?"
"Yeah, there is actually." he said. "Thanks for asking. Something I've been looking for. Would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb. Not the usual kind, anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Probably would have just buried itself in the ground somewhere, and it would have looked something like this." He drew a rough drawing of the thing they chased there. Suddenly there was a knock at the window and that made everyone jump.
"Mummy? Are you in there, mummy?" was heard from outside. The Doctor moved the curtain to reveal Jamie. "Mummy?"
"Who was the last one in?" Nancy asked sternly.
"Them." Ernie pointed to the Doctor and Rhee.
"No, they came round the back. Who came in the front?" Nancy asked.
"Me." said one of the little boys.
"Did you close the door?" she asked.
"Er," he tried to remember.
"Did you close the door?" she yelled. Rhee couldn't take much more she pushed passed the Doctor and gently moved the kids out of the way. She closed the door and locked the deadbolt.
"Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?" Jamie chanted as he moved to the door.
"What's this, then?" he asked as he entered the hallway with Nancy following him. "It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know."
"I suppose you'd know." Nancy spat.
"I do actually, yes." he said. "Rhee, why 'd you lock the door?"
"Because, he was scaring the children," Rhee said sadly. He nodded.
"It's not exactly a child." Nancy tried to explain.
"Mummy?" Jamie asked again.
"Right, everybody out." Nancy said. "Across the back garden and under the fence. Now! Go! Move!"
"Come on, sweetie. You've got to go, all right?" Rhee said as she tried to help get the kids to safety. "It's just like a game." Nancy said. "Just like chasing. Take your coat, go on. Go!"
"Mummy? Mummy? Please let me in, mummy. Please let me in, mummy." Jamie said as he put his scared hand in the letter box.
"Are you all right?" the Doctor asked as the last of the kids were out the back and Rhee joined him again.
"Please let me in." Jamie said again.
"You mustn't let him touch you!" Nancy yelled as she threw a vase at the hand in the letter box.
"What happens if he touches me?" the Doctor asked.
"He'll make you like him." Nancy replied.
"And what's he like?" the Doctor asked.
"Empty," Rhee said sadly. "He's empty, I feel something from all things all the time but from the boy I feel nothing. He's so empty." Tears threatened to fall from her eyes. The phone beside them began to ring.
"It's him." Nancy said fearfully. "He can make phones ring. He can. Just like with that police box you saw." The Doctor answered the phone, and hung it up after listening for a minute.
"Mummy, mummy, mummy." the toy money started to chant.
"You stay if you want to." Nancy said as she ran out the back door.
"Mummy? Let me in please, mummy. Please let me in." Jamie said.
"Your mummy isn't here." the Doctor said.
"Are you my mummy?" Jamie said.
"No mummies here." Rhee said. "Well not anymore anyway."
"Nobody here but us chickens." the Doctor grinned trying to get Rhee off that subject.
"I'm scared." Jamie said.
"Why are those other children frightened of you?" the Doctor asked.
"Please let me in, mummy. I'm scared of the bombs." Jamie said.
"Okay. I'm opening the door now." the Doctor said. Jamie pulled his hand out of the letter box. When the Doctor opened the door Jamie wasn't there.
"Now that's weird," Rhee said. "Kids don't just disappear."
"That they don't," the Doctor said. "Come on, I think Nancy knows more than she's saying."
"I agree," she said, They walked down the street. Rhee notice one of the child from the house they were just in. He was on the ground, she stopped and ran to the boy without a second thought. "Are you alright?" The boy didn't move. She felt panic arise in her, grabbing the boy she turned him so he was facing her. The boy was just unconscious. But then she heard a noise that she feared, a bomb was falling right by them. She picked the boy up and tried to escape the blast. Sadly she couldn't escape it fully, when the bomb hit the aftershock hit her in the back. She tried to shelter the boy from the blast to the best of her abilities. She felt her body land on the ground as she lost consciousness.
She woke up some time later, with the little boy still cradled in her arms. He was still unconscious, but other than unconscious he was mostly unharmed. She smiled but when she tried to get up, she noticed that she couldn't feel her legs. She started to panic as she looked down at her legs to see if they were still where they should be. She found her legs were still where they should be, but she still couldn't feel them. She sighed, that meant that she couldn't find the Doctor or even get back to the TARDIS, she felt hopeless but looked down at the child in her arms and she calmed herself.
"Mummy? Mummy?" She heard many voices chant. She started to panic again, and tried to use one of her arms to pull the them to safety. But she knew the gas mask people could catch up with them. Then she felt a hand on her back. She knew it was the gas mask people. It was too late, she would become one of them. So she sang, 'You'll be in my heart' by Phil Collins. The people she loved went through her head, her mother, her father, her sister, all her friends, Matt, the Doctor, and finally Jenny. She cried as she sang. She didn't even get to finish the song before she felt the change taking place.
"Rhee," said an odd voice. "Rhee, you need to wake up." Rhee opened her eyes to see her own sapphire blue eyes staring straight into her eyes. At first she thought she was staring in to a mirror but as she stared she saw happiness and a fleeting glimpse of pain. "Hello there." The other Rhee smiled.
"Who are you?" Rhee asked.
"I'm called Lady," Lady said.
"Why Lady? I hate being called a Lady," Rhee said. "And you look like me."
"That's 'cause I am you," Lady smiled.
"Wibbly wobbly timey wimey," Rhee said.
"Yup," Lady said popping the p.
"So does the Doctor know you're here?" Rhee asked.
"Yup," Lady said popping her p again. "I was playing you while you were out."
"Ahh," Rhee said. "You know messing with time lines like this is dangerous."
"Unless you know what your doing," Lady grinned cheekily. Rhee rolled her eyes. "Well I do! But in reality it's 'cause I remember being you."
"And since you remember being me, you had to meet me right?" Rhee said angered.
"I need to tell you that it gets easier," Lady said. "You've already started to let go of some of the pain. And been there for the Doctor, which is brilliant." Rhee noticed that Lady spoke a lot like the tenth Doctor. "But you need to let him in more. But not fully in a bit of mystery in a relationship is a good thing keeps 'em interested."
"So you lived through 'Doomsday'?" Rhee asked.
"Yes," Lady said. "But as you know time is fluid, it can change at the drop of a hat."
"Yeah," Rhee said.
"I know that does nothing to calm your nerves," Lady said. "But honesty is the best policy and being honest with yourself is keep to leading a happy life." Lady helped Rhee up. "Let's get you back to the Doctor." They walked farther in to the bomb site. When they got to the center of the bomb site the Doctor was talking to Doctor Constantine.
"Doctor Constantine." the Doctor called happily. "Who never left his patients. Back on your feet, constant doctor. The world doesn't want to get by without you just yet, and I don't blame it one bit. These are your patients. All better now." He patted Constantine on the back.
"Yes, yes, so it seems." Constantine said. "They also seem to be standing around in a disused railway station. Is there any particular reason for that?"
"Yeah, well, you know, cutbacks." Lady said as she walked from Rhee toward the Doctor.
"Listen, whatever was wrong with them in the past, you're probably going to find that they're cured." the Doctor said. "Just tell them what a great doctor you are. Don't make a big thing of it. Okay?" He walked to Rhee and hugged her like he feared to lose her. "Don't disappear on me again."
"Sorry," Rhee said. "I'll try my best, not to wander off again." He let go of her
"Right, you lot." he ran back to the ambulance. "Lots to do. Beat the Germans, save the world. Don't forget the welfare state! Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?"
"Usually the first in line." Rose said with a smile. Lady walked off, unnoticed by everyone but Rhee. She smiled at her older self.
"Back to the TARDIS!" the Doctor announced. The three friends left the bomb site for the TARDIS. They reached the TARDIS, Rose and Rhee stood in the entry way, while the Doctor jumped to the console.
"The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off, because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto." he said beaming as he ran around the TARDIS. "All in all, all things considered, fantastic!"
"Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas." Rose laughed.
"Who says I'm not, red bicycle when you were twelve?" he said.
"What?" she looked confused.
"And everybody lives, Rhee!" he beamed. "Everybody lives! I need more days like this."
"Doctor." she said.
"Go on, ask me anything." he said grinning. "I'm on fire."
"What about Jack?" Rose asked. "Why 'd he say goodbye?" Rhee knew why and knew what was going to happen next so while neither the Doctor or Rose was looking she slipped down the hall to the kitchen. She made herself some tea and sat down. The experience with the bomb remembered her of how powerless humans truly are. She couldn't even save one little boy, She had to wait for the Doctor to save the day like some damsel in distress. She sighed heavily. She knew this were only her surface worries. He loved her and was showing on a daily basis, and while she loved it she also knew when 'Doomsday' came then she would possibly get ripped from him if she took that step with him. So how could she just accept his love if she would lose him. She loved him, that she knew. Could she show him love and not compare him to Matt? Could she love him, and deal with him being ripped from her? She needed someone to talk to. She prayed that she could call Todd or even her Mum.
"Rhee, you missed me dancing," the Doctor said as he entered the kitchen. First thing he noticed was the sad look on her face. "Are you OK?" He slowly moved to her and sat beside her. "You disappeared on us."
"Yeah," she said sadly. "I got a lot on my mind."
"Is it something Lady said?" he asked with great concern. She shook her head then hung it low. He didn't know what to do for her. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Can you bend the fabric of space and time in order to rid me of this weakness call humanity?" she asked. "I'd much like to be a Vulcan."
"Why?" he asked with a bit of a laugh at her choose.
"Because they are so much stronger and have full control of their minds and emotions," she said as she looked at him with tears in her eyes but not shed.
"What happened while you were away from me?" he asked. "What's so bad you don't want to feel it?"
"I was reminded that I am a powerless human," she said still fighting the tears that threatened to fall. "I saw a unconscious child and had to go to him, because I love children." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her. "Well while I was making sure he was okay to move him I heard a bomb falling. I tried to get away but-" Tears over took her. "The aftershock of the bomb hit me. And when I woke up I couldn't move my legs." He gripped her tighter. "I managed to protect the boy though. That is until those gas masked people got to me." That made him flinch. "Then Lady woke me at the bomb site."
"You're not a powerless human," he said. "You're a beautiful, brilliant woman." She moved so she could bury her head in his chest. "But I don't think that is all that is bothering you." She stopped crying and sniffed.
"I figured something out today," she said and he pulled her so he could look her in the eyes. "I figured out that I need to tell you how I feel, but I'm scared." He gave her a puzzled look. "I love you." For a moment the Doctor's magnificent brain broke. He was lost in emotion and the eyes of the woman he loved. She just said what he had always dreamed of her saying, but it seemed too good to be true so he searched her eyes for any signs of a lie. There weren't any.
"Oh, Rhee I love you too." he smiled at her with a all the love he had for her. "And I'm scared too. Losing you, would be worse than regenerating."
"I don't want to rush us still though," she said. "I'm not ready for anything more than courting I think."
"So how we are now?" he asked.
"Well we can kiss, and cuddle more." she said with a smile. "But I don't want to rush intimacy."
"I would want to do that right anyway," he said. "I'm a bit old fashioned like that." He kept that smile on his face for awhile. "Now can I give you a check up? The nanogenes should have cured you of all your ailments but I still want to make sure." She nodded and stood so he could lead her to the Med Bay.