Chloe's mother seemed like a nice person to Kayla. With a timid smile, the dark skinned woman had led the Time Lord and the brunette through her house and into her living room. There, a nice couch was sitting in front of a coffee table and a small TV that was on, "The Torch Bearer is running up towards the mall, which I can tell you is..." the newscaster was saying on it while the Doctor threw his jacket onto the couch.
Both standing, Kayla crossed her arms and listened as the worried woman spoke, "She stays in her room, most of the time. I try talking to her, but it's like trying to speak to a brick wall. She gives me nothing, just asks to be left alone." She explained, sounding scared and utterly alone.
Kayla nodded with understanding, "What about Chloe's father?" she asked as she moved a bit to lean against the wall.
At this question, Chloe's mother's face darkened, "Chloe's dad died a year ago." She replied, her voice changing a bit.
"You don't seem very upset about that." Kayla noted, "Not a good man?"
Chloe's mother shook her head, "Definitely not." She agreed.
Looking much too pleased despite the tone and subject of the conversation, the Doctor suddenly popped in, "Well! Let's go and say hi!" He cried out brightly.
Chloe's mother blinked, a worried expression flittering across her face, "I should check on her first...she might be asleep." She muttered hesitantly.
His smile slipping off, the Doctor peered at Chloe's mother, "Why are you afraid of her, Trish?" he asked in a serious, concerned voice.
But the woman didn't answer, "I want you to know before you see her that's she's really a great kid." She explained in a soft voice.
The Doctor nodded in apparent understanding, "I'm sure she is." He agreed.
"She's never been in trouble at school...you should see her report from last year. A's and B's." At this, Chloe's mother smiled proudly at both the Doctor and Kayla.
Smiling back, Kayla nodded to the Doctor very carefully, "I'm so sorry," the brunette started, "but may I powder my nose?" she asked in a kind voice that sounded deeply apologetic for having to ask.
Falling for this completely, Chloe's mother smiled back, "Of course." She agreed before giving her the directions.
So with a smile, Kayla walked out of the living room.
Of course, unlike the Doctor, Kayla wasn't someone with no soul, and while she fully intended to use this time to use the bathroom, she also intended to search the house and see just how Chloe was.
So after five minutes, she snuck out of the bathroom and up the stairs, thankful that the house seemed to not have any creaky floorboards are stairs. Of course like anyone at the Time Agency, she was trained in the art of sneaking up something and being out of sight. Using that training, she headed to Chloe's door and eyed it for a second.
It was cracked open, something that bothered Kayla. If the girl was staying upstairs pretty much 24/7, like her mother had implied, then why would the door be open. The answer was obvious to the brunette, Chloe Webber had probably left the room when Kayla had gone to the restroom.
Hoping that her belief was correct, she carefully pushed open the door, her hearts starting to beet faster as she cautiously looked inside. Chloe wasn't there, something that calmed Kayla down a bit, but what was there was about a hundred pencil drawings. Now more curious, she pushed the door open more and stepped inside the room before pushing it back to the exact spot it had been in before.
The drawings on the room were quite well drawn, though the occupants in them all seemed to be in varying stages of depression. One person, a child wearing the British flag on his shirt, had a tear on his face. As Kayla watched the drawing, the tear slowly slid down his face and another one formed on the other side of his face.
Not particularly shocked, Kayla just looked at all the other drawings, noting the ways the people inside them were twitch subtly and, like the boy, crying.
"I'll help you." Kayla promised in a soft voice, "I'll return you to your homes."
At this statement, two things happened. The drawings Kayla had been speaking to all seemed to perk up and eye the brunette, while the closet door's behind her suddenly shook violently. At once, the brunette whirled around and stared at the wooden doors.
Without a word, Kayla opened the doors to the closet and looked at the clothes. They seemed normal, a bit on the darker side which caused the brunette to blink and glance behind her at the bright room. Turning back, her brow furrowed as she noticed the clothes shaking and moving as if there was a fan behind them.
Her hands slightly trembling, Kayla parted the clothes. Instantly, a red light flooded over the brunette's gaze, causing her to stumble back and knock over a can of pencils. Rubbing at her eyes and wincing as she stepped on a pencil, Kayla tried to peer at the thing in the closet. She could barely make out a beard and glowing red eyes when the thing spoke, "I'm coming..." it threatened in a rumbling, human male voice.
Trying to look closer at the figure, Kayla started to tremble as she saw the face morph into a man with blond hair that she knew well. Feeling as if her entire body was turning to sand, Kayla felt the barriers between her mind and the Doctor's break as she finally cried out, "Doctor!"
She felt her knees shake and give out, sending her kneeling on the floor as she stared at the monstrous face before her. It looked remarkably like her ex, but she could see the actual face of the man with red eyes in a beard if she focused. The problem with that was that she couldn't focus, no after seeing her ex and suddenly having the Doctor's feelings in her head. He was worried in scared, which added to her emotions, but he was also amazingly happy and gleeful. She had unblocked him, meaning that he might have a chance.
The thoughts nearly made Kayla sick. In fact, she could already feel a headache forming from all the confusion and thoughts in her head.
Thankfully, though, the Doctor suddenly pushed the door wide open and ran to the closet doors and closed them without a look at the man inside. Shivering, Kayla watched as the Doctor turned to her, a wild look in his eyes as he threw off his suit jacket and gave it to her, "What can I do to help?" he asked in a soft and serious voice as he knelt in front of her, "What's wrong?"
Barely lifting her head, Kayla felt like a leaf in the wind as she shook in the Doctor's jacket, "Just…give me a second." She rushed to say, "Just a second."
Looking unpleased with her request, the Doctor slowly straightened and soniced the closet doors, "Best not to open them." He explained to Chloe's mother and Chloe, the former nodding carefully.
"What've you been drawing?" Chloe's mother asked Chloe.
At first, Chloe stalled, "I'm drew him yesterday." She started.
Her mother frowned, "Who?" she asked almost desperately.
"Dad." Chloe answered, her voice low.
Instantly, the woman's eyes filled with tears, "Your dad? But he's long gone. Chloe, with all the lovely things in the world - why him?" she wondered in a shaking voice.
Chloe's face didn't change, "I dream about him, staring at me." She replied.
Looking more and more troubled, the woman wiped at her eyes, "I thought we were putting him behind us. What's the matter with you?"
"We need to stay together." Chloe stated
For a second, it seemed that Chloe's mother's spirts were lifting as she nodded, a tearful smile on her face, "Yes, we do." She agreed in a wavering voice.
Chloe, however, shook her head, "No. Not you. Us." She corrected, her tone turning colder.
Kayla, wincing at this, glanced over at the Doctor, who turned away from the drawings and back to Chloe, a mask covering his emotions on his face.
"We need to stay together. And then it'll be all right." Chloe repeated, her voice still cold.
Worried and scared, Chloe's mother went over to her daughter and attempted to put her hands on the girl's cheeks, only for the child to flinch away from the touch. Feeling her face harden, Kayla walked forwards and placed a hand on the mother's shoulder, "Have you seen what Chloe's drawings can do?" she asked in a soft voice.
Her face tear – stained, Chloe's mother glared at Kayla, "Who gave you permission to come into her room? Get out of my house." She demanded in a suddenly cold voice.
Not very surprised, Kayla nodded carefully, "I will," she started slowly, "If you promise to at least look at the drawings."
"I don't wanna here any more of this." The woman stated.
Kayla nodded, "I understand that this is scary for you, but this is situation has affected others beside yourself and your daughter." Straightening a bit, she flipped on her VM and typed something in, "I'm sorry ma'am but Torchwood has taken over."
The Doctor wasn't speaking to her, which was fine for Kayla. The brunette simply ignored the quiet sulking and thoughts from the Doctor. Though the thoughts were harder to ignore because, while she was blocking the Time Lord, he was now actively attacking her mental barriers and forcing his thoughts into her mind.
This meant that the ride to Torchwood One was not fun for the Doctor and Kayla, who were in the back seat of a car with a tinted window that was most likely weapon proof. Behind them, in a very similar car, Chloe and her mother, who the brunette now knew was named Trish, followed them to Torchwood. There, from what Kayla had been told when the officers had arrived, both Kayla and the Doctor were allowed to figure out what exactly Chloe was. Whether or not that being would be harmed was a mystery, just like the Doctor's fate.
Hers, however, had already been promised to her in agreement she had signed with Torchwood. She would work for them in a job not unlike the one she had had in the Time Agency. She would be allowed to have her own flat, and if her feelings ever changed for the Doctor, she would be allowed to see him twice a week.
'I can't believe you did this, Kayla!' the Doctor's thought whizzed through the brunette's mind, causing her to grit her teeth, 'I trusted you!'
This, to the brunette, was an unfair protest. She had trusted the Doctor herself, and the Doctor had betrayed her. He had taken her father's Vortex Manipulator, the only possession she had of the man, and had thrown it out into space. And when he had told Kayla this, he acted as if it was just a small mistake, something anyone could have done.
That was unforgiveable to Kayla. Her father's Vortex Manipulator was hers and, to be honest, it was an object of comfort to Kayla. She never grew up with blankets or anything like that because the people who had taken her and her friend were cold and clinical, and the Time Agency broke any remaining feelings of want that could be considered childish. Captain Jack's VM was the closest thing she had to him and to comfort. When she ran her hand over the back of it, she could pretend for a few seconds that Jack had raised her along with her mother.
The brunette jumped as she felt something hot and wet fall down her cheek. Wiping at it angrily, she rubbed at her eyes to try and stop anymore tears escaping from her eyes. She would not show weakness in front of the Doctor.
But the Doctor was as perspective as always, and at the tear, Kayla felt a warmth entire her soul as the Doctor comforted her mentally. Too tired to resist, Kayla allowed her body to be engulfed in the warmth. The Doctor, sensing this, placed an arm around her shoulder and pulled her to his chest. This, though something Kayla would later make herself forget, was also allowed as she cried silently to herself.
When they arrived in Torchwood, Kayla didn't allow herself to display any weakness like she had in the car. She was as cold and emotionless as the officers who were escorting Chloe, Trish, the Doctor, and Kayla into Torchwood One.
"Yvonne wants to see you." A guard said to her left, "I'll take you there." The way he spoke this, it was clear to Kayla that she was only being told as a formality. She had no choice in this matter.
So she nodded and said, "I figured as much." And with no protest, she followed the guard through the metal corridors and to the top floor where Yvonne's office was.
When she arrived, the woman did her usual gushing as she had done when Kayla had arrived the first, second, third, and fourth time. With too many uses of the word 'darling' to be considered legal, Kayla had to bite her cheek to not snap at the blonde.
"Sit, sit." She invited with a pleasant flourish to a chair in front of her desk. Knowing, just like with the guard, she had no choice, Kayla did as asked and sat down, "Now, you brought us the Doctor." She said in her sugary sweet voice, "Just like we asked."
Kayla slowly nodded, "Yes." She answered.
Yvonne giggled, "That's perfect! Now there's one more thing we need to ask you."
Stiffening a bit, Kayla looked at Yvonne, "What is it?" she asked carefully, only for the blonde woman to press on a red button with her manicured nails.
"I'm afraid we hired someone who will be more help than you. Her one and only request is that you don't work for us. And since you're an alien, you belong to Torchwood." At this, Yvonne laughed to herself, "So you will be staying with the Doctor arms."
By now, Kayla's mouth was open as she stared at Yvonne. Swiveling around, she saw two guards come in and look at Yvonne, who, without even talking, waved a hand at the brunette, "Wait! This is a mistake!" Kayla protested, "I trusted you. I gave you the Doctor!"
Yvonne nodded, "Yes, you did. But what Torchwood does is for the good of the British Empire. Surely you must see how you are a threat to our lives."
Two heavy hands clamped down on Kayla's arms, causing her to struggle as she was hauled up by the two, "What about Chloe?" she gasped out, "I thought the Doctor and I were supposed to work with her."
Looking like that was the funniest question she had ever heard, Yvonne outright laughed, "Chloe has already been killed by our doctors and we will look into whatever was processing her. However since we have already wiped her mother's memory and we have gotten word from the neighborhood that all the missing children have been found, the Doctor and you will not be needed." Smiling once more, Yvonne waved her hand to the door, "Now away with her. One of the scientists wanted to talk to me about something called a 'Ghost Shift.'"
Struggling and protesting in the guards' grasp, Kayla felt a needle get pressed into the vain on her neck and she fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.
I am so, soo sorry this is late, but my internet was down for no reason until a few minutes ago.
So this is my very short chapter, and I'm sorry about its length. I'm also sorry about Chloe and her mom. That episode was great in its own right...actually it was okay but whatever. I wish they could have lived but they had to die. However, I promise that the next few chapters will be much longer.
And now...Review time:
NicoleR85: I'm glad to be back, and thanks!