AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. You made my day. And of course thank you to Persiflage for beta reading.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
Chapter 4
Anres led the Doctor through a door with a sign on it that said "staff only". Behind the door was a corridor with a few doors on each side. Anres walked to the end of the corridor where he pressed his hands against the wall. The wall slid to one side and revealed a small room and a metal door behind it. Anres walked into the room and put his left hand on a panel next to the door. The Doctor regarded the panel.
"That's a DNA scanner, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yes," Anres nodded shortly. "One can never be too careful. It is programmed to let only me and my most trusted personnel in." The door slipped open and revealed a staircase behind it. Anres walked down the stairs and the Doctor followed him. As soon as he'd stepped through the door it automatically shut behind him.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs they stood again in front of a heavy iron door. "We are now under the museum. This is the only entrance. Behind this door are the most precious pieces of my collection." Anres made a show of opening the iron door. As soon as they stepped through it the room was illuminated brightly. It was a very big room with white walls and everything looked very clean. All across the room were glass cases, some very large, some smaller. The biggest glass case almost reached the high ceiling.
Most of the cases were covered with large sheets so the Doctor couldn't see what was inside them. But he didn't pay them much attention. His mind was focused on the glass case in front of him. It was the one Anres approached now. He stopped beside it and watched as the Doctor stepped closer. It held a crystal that clearly originated from Gallifrey, a book with Gallifreyan letters and a fob watch. It was his fob watch, the one he had given to Tim Latimer in 1913. He didn't know how it had ended up on Durelia but it was now the 57th century on Earth. The watch must have travelled a long way before it had reached Anres.
"That's my fob watch," he told Anres. "I gave it to a human in the 20th century."
"I've wondered how it had ended up on Earth," Anres said. "That's where I've found it a few years ago."
The Doctor smiled at the coincidence before his eyes shifted back to the book. It was just a book that held stories for children. He remembered having owned one when he was a child. A very familiar sadness washed over him as he remembered his childhood and his home. He felt his eyes filling with tears and quickly blinked them away. He once again wished Anres had allowed Martha to come with them. He desperately wanted to feel her arms around him when she tried to comfort him. She was the only one who could lighten his pain when something reminded him of his home and his people and family.
"I had a copy of that book when I was a child," he said. Anres nodded shortly, his face emotionless. In that moment the Doctor heard the door open behind him.
"Ah, there you are. What took you so long," Anres said. The Doctor turned to see who had come in and was startled.
"Giranlo?" he asked, confused.
The fishman grinned excitedly. "This room is amazing, isn't it?" he said. "Even better than the rest of the museum."
"What are you doing here?" the Doctor asked.
"Giranlo is one of my most trusted employees," Anres explained. He walked around the glass case to stand next to the Doctor. "I asked him to make you come here to visit my museum after I found out that you were on the planet."
"It was really easy. I just needed to start a conversation with you and your girlfriend, and tell you about how fascinating this museum was," Giranlo said. The kind look in his eyes had vanished the moment Anres had revealed who Giranlo really was.
"Why did you want me to come here?" the Doctor asked. He had a bad feeling about the situation. His brain was working on a way to get to the door but Giranlo was standing in the way. The Doctor tried to move away from Anres, but as soon as he moved the owner of the museum gripped his arm and plunged a needle into it.
"I'll explain that later," Anres said. He let go of his arm and the Doctor immediately moved a few steps away from him. He felt light-headed and gripped the edge of the glass case for support.
"What did you inject me with?" he asked.
"Just one of the few sedatives that work for Time Lords," Anres said, a small smile on his face. It was the first time the Doctor had seen any form of emotion on Anres' face.
The Doctor's vision started to go blurry. He lost his grip on the glass case and fell backwards. He saw Giranlo catching him and putting him carefully down on the floor before everything went black.
...
Martha was starting to get worried. She had just taken a look at one of the glass cases and when she'd looked up the Doctor and their new friend Giranlo were nowhere to be seen. She had searched every bloody room of the museum but she couldn't find them anywhere.
She had made up her mind to buy the Doctor a mobile phone the next time they were on Earth. And he was going to carry it around all the time whether he liked it or not.
"Martha," someone called from across the room. She turned around and saw Giranlo waving at her. She immediately walked towards him. She couldn't see the Doctor anywhere but she hoped Giranlo would be able to tell her where he was.
"Have you seen the Doctor?" she asked as soon as she'd reached him.
"Yes, he asked me to tell you something."
"What is it?" Martha asked.
"He found something in one of the glass cases, and he said it was impossible it was here. I don't know what it was and why it was so important but he said he needed to check it out as soon as possible. When we couldn't find you he asked me to look for you and tell you that he's gone back somewhere. The TARDIS?" he said uncertainly.
"Yes, that's our ship," Martha said, nodding. "Did he say anything else?"
"Only that you should meet him there as soon as possible."
Martha nodded again. Whatever the Doctor had found, it must be really important or he wouldn't have left without her. She was certain of that.
"Thank you, Giranlo," she said and turned around.
"Shall I come with you?" Giranlo asked. "Maybe I can help."
"Thanks, but I think it's better if you stay here. I'll let you know if you can help us," Martha said. She didn't know enough about him to take him to the TARDIS even if she didn't have any reason not to trust him.
"I'll see you again soon," she said with a smile before she turned around again and walked towards the exit.
"Looking forward to it," Giranlo called after her.
As soon as she was out of earshot he took a communication device out of his pocket and pressed a button.
"It worked," he said calmly into it. "She's taking us directly to the TARDIS."
"Good work," came the reply. "Now make sure you don't lose her."
Giranlo pocketed the device and followed Martha.
...
The Doctor slowly came back to full consciousness. The first thing he felt was the dull pain in his head. He opened his eyes but screwed them shut again immediately because of the bright light. He tried to move but he couldn't. His wrists and ankles were restrained and he was lying on something hard, probably a table.
He slowly opened his eyes again and blinked several times before he got used to the light.
"Ah, you're awake," he heard Anres say. "I thought the sedative would work longer but well."
The Doctor managed to lift his head so he could see Anres standing behind a small console. Anres gave him a smile before looking back on the console at what he'd been working on before the Doctor had woken up.
The Doctor concentrated on the chains around his wrists but they were too tight and he couldn't find a way to get free. He looked up at Anres again.
"What do you want?" he said. He had a bad feeling that he already knew the answer but he wanted Anres to confirm it.
"Isn't that obvious?" Anres asked as he looked up from the console again. He slowly walked towards the Doctor till he stood next to the table, looking down at his prisoner.
"I'm a collector. I collect everything that is entirely unique. It's quite an obsession." He grinned. "And you are very unique."
"You can't be serious," the Doctor said. "There is a difference between an unique book and a person. You can't just imprison me because I'm unique!"
"Well, I just did." Anres leaned down to look at him closer. "And I don't care about the difference. All I care about is my collection." Anres walked back to the console. "Oh, by the way, your TARDIS will soon be part of my collection too. Giranlo tricked your girlfriend into showing us directly where it is." Anres gripped something that was lying next to the console and returned to the Doctor's side.
"Let's find out how long you'll need to wake up after a bigger dose of the sedative," Anres said as he plunged the needle in his arm. "And when you wake up we will have a stasis capsule ready for you."
Before he drifted into unconsciousness again the Doctor thought of Martha, knowing she would do anything to find him.
AN: I hope you enjoyed this. Please review.