.com/banners/
Lucy had to concentrate. This would not be easy. Her pride and her integrity were at stake. She could not afford to fail. The Doctor was winning so far, but Lucy's cards were good.
Lucy and the Doctor had opted for a quiet afternoon in the T.A.R.D.I.S. They were orbiting the Earth somewhere over Africa, or at least they had been last time he'd checked. For the last half hour, Texas Holdem had been dominating their thoughts. The Doctor had won three hands and Lucy, two. She had to win this one. They'd be tied, but at least her reputation would be intact. She'd been bragging about all the times she and Juliet and their mates had played and how often she'd won. She hadn't counted on the Doctor being brilliant at this too. She had pocket Aces and thought her odds good when the Flop turned up a third Ace. The Turn had brought her a useless seven, but now it was time for the River. The Doctor burned a card and dealt the River. Lucy concentrated very hard on not moving a muscle. The Doctor could read her so well, that was how she'd lost the others hands. But there on the table was the last Ace. Very little could beat her now. There was no way the Doctor had a Royal Flush, so unless he had a Straight Flush, she had won. He placed his bet, going all in. Damn. Perhaps he did have the Straight Flush. Or…perhaps he was bluffing, Lucy thought. She went all in as well and the Doctor raised one eyebrow.
Lucy looked at him from under her eyelashes and said, "Four of a kind, mate." She practically held her breath. Then the Doctor turned over his cards revealing an eight of hearts and a Jack of Clubs. "I was bluffing the whole time, well done, Lucy."
"Prat." Lucy muttered under her breath as she raked in her chips. Of course, they hadn't actually wagered anything. This was strictly for bragging rights. "Looks like we're tied then." She said and he nodded sagely.
"So the world will never know who the better poker player is." The Doctor said ominously. Lucy rolled her eyes and stood to stretch. From across the room, Lucy's mobile started ringing. It could only be Juliet. The last time they had spoken over the phone, Juliet had told Lucy that she'd been officially fired from Thoreau Threads. Apparently, after her show, the company had taken quite a downturn, and in her prolonged absence, they blamed Lucy. Lucy didn't care one whit. She loved designing, but she was working for corporate London, indulging in commercialism and superficiality, all while being grossly underpaid, underappreciated and overworked. She had fallen out with several of her mates because she was gone for so long, but she found that she didn't miss them all that much. They had always been more Juliet's friends than anything else. So that left only Juliet, and as Lucy bounded gracefully across the room, she found she was right.
"What's up, Jules?" Lucy was concerned. Usually, when Juliet called, it was bad news.
"Don't tell me you've forgotten, twin."
"That depends. What's to forget?" Lucy suppressed a smile.
"Lucy! It's Calista's wedding today! It starts in an hour!"
"Oh, fat Christ, I completely forgot! Don't worry, I'm on my way, we'll be there in half a minute!" She hung up the phone without saying a proper goodbye. She had forgotten that the other thing they'd talked about last was their childhood friend, Calista, who was getting married. "Doctor, have you still got that tux? We're gonna need it."
"Er…yes, why?" the Doctor was suspicious of black tie events. Lucy didn't blame him, she hated weddings. But she owed this to Calista.
"My old mate, Calista is getting married today, in an hour, actually and I totally forgot that I was invited. Plus one, of course." She winked to him. The Doctor, she could tell, was suppressing the urge to roll his eyes. Wordlessly, he walked off to find his tuxedo. Lucy breathed a huge sigh of relief. She knew he wouldn't say no, but something was already setting her on edge.
She rushed to her room and into her huge walk-in closet. What to wear to a wedding. She selected another garment she'd made herself and hid the dress bag in her oversized green snakeskin (faux) tote. She also put in shoes and a small black leather clutch she could use instead of the tote. When she came out with her overfull bag, the Doctor had already changed into his tux.
"Why exactly am I wearing a tux to a wedding, when I'm not in the wedding party?"
"Calista is from old money, and so is her fiancé, I'd wager. They'll expect it." The Doctor nodded and asked Lucy for their destination.
"Aren't we going to my flat, then?" she asked.
"Well, I thought maybe we could just go right to the location."
"You're not gonna like it. They're getting married on a yacht."
"Brilliant." The Doctor said, half sarcastically. They'd only barely escaped their last sea caper. Now they were in for another.
Once aboard her friend's yacht, the Endeavour, Lucy was able to change in a bathroom after greeting her sister, who was a bridesmaid.
"I thought it was a bit rude of her to not ask you to be a bridesmaid, but-"
"Nonsense, Juliet, I've kind of been off the planet for a while. Anyway, I've seen you now, so you can go ahead, I'm just gonna change and I'll see you at the reception."
"Well, wait, what are you wearing, so I'll know how to find you."
"Relax, Juliet. I'll be the one who looks just like you." Juliet only smiled and walked away as the Doctor chuckled to himself. Juliet had greeted the Doctor warmly, hugging him. Their last meeting had ended somewhat frostily but the twins had made up their differences. Lucy ducked inside the bathroom and to her relief, found it empty. She slipped off the jeans and pink and black striped long sleeved shirt. Out of her oversized tote, she pulled the dress she had made. It was floor length and deep emerald green. It had a halter top, the bodice completely ruched, and a slit up to the right knee. The straps of the halter had tiny embroidered light green glass beads on them. The ruched bodice had light green sequins sewed on in scattered places, giving the bodice a dual tonal affect. She slipped on her shoes, green strappy stilettos with black trim and did a quick job with her hair. Lucy pulled it up into a bun and pulled down a few wispy strands. She hooked the clutch's strap round her wrist and left with her old clothes stuffed into the tote. Once she approached the T.A.R.D.I.S., which the Doctor was leaning against, he spied her and stood up straight, fixing his tie. Lucy smirked and stashed her bag inside the door.
"Do I pass inspection then?" she asked. The Doctor cleared his throat and mumbled under his breath for a moment. Lucy in turn had to fight the urge to gawk at him in his tux. He sure cleaned up nice.
"You know, I thought it was rude to look better than the bride at a wedding."
"Doctor, you haven't even seen the bride yet."
"Doesn't matter." He said, offering her his arm. She beamed at him and they walked arm in arm to the deck where the ceremony was to be held.
They took their seats in the back row; the only spots left, and braced themselves for a long ride. The priest came out of a stateroom and addressed the congregation. The music started playing and there came Juliet first, leading the line of six bridesmaids, including the maid of honour, Calista's sister Anne Margaret. Lucy smiled at Calista as she approached, but Calista made no motion, gave no sign that she even knew Lucy. She didn't even look at her. Lucy knew she had changed, but that much? Slightly put off, she turned back toward the priest and noticed something.
"Say, Doctor, look at the priest. Look at his eyes. They're gold. I mean, they're not just yellow-brown or even orange, they're gold!"
"They certainly are. That priest isn't human. Those eyes are real gold. That doesn't exactly narrow down what he is though, there are about seventeen different species with true gold eyes."
"You're telling me his eyes are actually made of gold?" Lucy asked, incredulous. She had seen a lot of crazy things, but this was just random. "Well, what are some of those things he could be?"
"Well, I've narrowed it down to about six. He could be Valivespian, a Warlog, a shape-shifter, a-"
Just then, in the middle of the ceremony, the priest stopped talking. He glanced around the deck. Everyone began stirring, wondering what could possibly be wrong. The Doctor frowned and said, "I know what he is. Most species with gold eyes like that are relatively benign. Two aren't, and one of them, the Valivespians are unaware of humans, as far as I know. He's a shape-shifter."
"And what do shape-shifter's do, other than…shift shapes?"
"They feed. And for the father over there, that means he's chosen this venue as his next meal."
"He's going to eat us."
"He's going to try. Because, you see, when a shape shifter feeds, he doesn't exactly eat. He takes your essence, the very thing that makes you, you, and sucks it dry. For example, the priest, whoever he was, is dead. The shape-shifter had already got to him." Lucy clapped a hand to her mouth and resisted vomiting. This was going to be horrible.
The priest, up at the bow of the boat opened his mouth wide, staring at Calista's old aunt. A jet of gold dust shot out of his mouth and latched onto Aunt Agnes. The priest's body fell to the floor, boneless, like it had been a suit. Aunt Agnes stood as everyone began screaming and running about the ship. Now Agnes' eyes were glowing gold and Calista was pleading for her to stop. Lucy ran toward Calista and grabbed her wrist as she was saying,
"Aunt Agnes, I don't understand! Stop this, come back! Aunt Agnes? Please, let me help, come on!" Aunt Agnes turned round to face Lucy and Calista and Lucy said, "There's nothing we can do, Calista, she's gone." The Doctor was running forward too and he ushered them to come with him.
They dashed into a stateroom in the middle of the deck. Calista turned to Lucy and then recognition struck her face. "My god, Lucy Blake, it's you! Where have you been all this time? I'd have asked you to be a bridesmaid along with Juliet—"
"Not to worry, Calista, I sort of dropped off the planet, you know? And congratulations, you look beautiful, by the way."
"Thank you, Zachary is just great. You look smashing too, I might say, where'd you get that dress?"
"It's a Blake original actually."
"I thought it might be I saw your show, congratulations to that." Lucy was about to thank her when the Doctor said,
"Well, it's been lovely catching up, but I think the shape-shifter is ready for another meal." The Doctor was peeking out the door and saw that Aunt Agnes had already been discarded. A short, thin man was walking in the decidedly liquid manner of the shape-shifters. The Doctor knew that it took some time for the shape-shifters to absorb their meal. They'd latch on to their prey via the gold dust and learn about them first, already inside their head. Then they'd consume everything about the person, finally their organs, tissue, muscle, bones, etc. It wasn't pleasant. The true form of the shape shifter was unknown, although the Time Lords had some good hunches. They were like shadows, without true form, without real substance, but still a corporeal projection of life. He had some ideas about stopping this one, but it would be tricky.
"Okay, Lucy, Calista, I have an idea about how to stop the shape-shifter before it gets anyone else. We'll have to trap it in an empty room. They feed on their host, but eventually, there's nothing left and they have to move on. With no one else to latch onto, it will starve."
"We're going to kill it?" Lucy asked, sounding almost remorseful. The Doctor loved her capacity to feel even for that which would kill her.
"There's no other way, Lucy, it will kill us all, there's no way of stopping it." She just nodded and stood up a little straighter. "Okay," the Doctor went on, "We have to completely seal this room, cake the window with something, stop it from escaping. Once we get it inside, we'll have to find a way to stop up the door, and quickly. No cracks, no room for error. So let's look in here and seal up this window first." Lucy and Calista immediately set about the state room. It hadn't been used in a long time. Lucy was looking in drawers and under the bed while Calista made for the closet.
"I think I've got something!" Calista shouted. The Doctor and Lucy looked up. Calista was holding up a jar of spackling. Lucy looked round and saw a patch in the wall that was slightly darker than the rest of it. No doubt that jar of spackling had come in handy just as it was about to now. The Doctor took the jar from Calista, saying, "Thank you!" Lucy was about to hand him something to spread it round with, but he already had the jar open and just dipped his hand in. Lucy was rolling her eyes as he gummed up all the cracks in the porthole.
When he was done, he made as if to wipe his hand on his jacket. "No!" Lucy shouted. The Doctor and Calista both looked at her, alarmed. "If you put that rubbish on the jacket, I swear to all that is good, Doctor, I will kill you." The Doctor blinked at her and walked over to the bed. "Sorry, Calista." He said as he wiped his hand on the bedspread. Calista looked only mildly shocked.
"Okay," said the Doctor when he was done. "Now we just have to lure the shape shifter in here and seal him in. This should do nicely again." He held up the spackling.
"How do you lure a shape shifter?" Calista asked.
"Simple, really. You just stand there and look delicious." replied the Doctor. They all left the room and once in the hall, The Doctor shoved Lucy and Calista into another stateroom and shut the door. He locked it with the sonic screwdriver. He would not risk them getting hurt. He could see Lucy glaring and shouting at him furiously through the door's tiny porthole. He smiled and waved at her.
The Doctor then turned down the hall and saw what he needed. The shape shifter, he regretted to see, had claimed another victim. A middle aged woman was advancing toward him now, burnished gold eyes, hungry for Time Lord. The Doctor extended his hands, not all the way out, but flexed his fingers and squared his chest. "Come on, come and get me." He said. This would not be easy. Lure the shape shifter in. Check. Get him, now her, inside without being eaten. Close the door without shape shifter escaping. Gum up door before shape shifter can effectively eat me. Damn. No time to waste thinking though, she was here. She opened her mouth wide and the Doctor shoved her into the room with all his bodily strength. She staggered in and he slammed the door, using his body to close it simultaneously locking it with the screwdriver. He reached up, gumming the top of the door. The shape shifter, depending on when it had taken on this shape could last a little longer. There, top done. He bent down and then laid flat on the floor, gumming up the bottom. He could see the shadow inside moving, bending down to his level. Not much time left and he had only got half the door. Working fast as he could, the Doctor held his breath, hoping that would delay the shape shifter. Just as a gale of gold dust came streaming toward him, he got the lat bit shut.
The Doctor stood, quite relieved. Remembering that Lucy might be more dangerous than a shape shifter, he wiped both his hands on the wall. He breathed a large sigh and held out his left hand, unlocking the door with the screwdriver. Calista and Lucy came bursting out of the door. Calista leaned against the wall, breathing heavily. Her wedding had sort of been wrecked. Lucy only rushed at him, looking absolutely livid. The Doctor thought she might slap him. He braced himself and when he didn't feel the sting of her palm, he opened his eyes and looked right at her.
"You could have been killed. I could have helped."
"You could have been hurt, Lucy-"
"So could you and I could have helped!" The Doctor knew it was no use arguing with her. Instead he held out his arms and invited her in. She looked like she was reconsidering slapping him again, but in the end gave in. He hugged her tight and when he let go Calista was giving them the strangest look.
"Doctor, why don't you go find Juliet, Calista and I have some catching up to do? The Doctor only nodded and walked down the deck towards the stern. Lucy beckoned Calista to one of the many benches on the deck and they sat down in the late afternoon sun. The light affected the water, making it appear almost white. Looking over the edge, Lucy saw dolphins swimming with the boat. "Calista, I'm so sorry about what happened, and today of all days."
"Don't be ridiculous, it wasn't your fault. We'd all be dead if it wasn't for that friend of yours." Lucy nodded, unable to say anything else. The two old friends were silent for a long time. Finally, Lucy said,
"Do you remember when we were small, in ballet class? And sometimes, when me and Juliet stayed over at your house, we'd sneak back over to the dance studio late at night, and we'd climb up onto the roof and just…lie there and watch the skies."
"Yes, I remember. We always talked about going to live in the stars. But you and Juliet always seemed so serious about it. I remember we'd all say that we'd live in the stars together and watch the Earth, and watch all the people and smile at them." Lucy laughed softly, Calista picking on the very point she wanted her to. Lucy looked up and saw the Doctor and Juliet waiting quietly for them to finish, still within earshot, she noticed. "Well, Calista, I feel like I owe this to you, since I've fallen out of touch with you and wasn't even able to get you a proper gift, I'll, I'll make you a dress. Original, one of a kind, just for you. But, but the point is, I found a way to be….closer to those stars we looked at. That man I came with, he's called the Doctor and I travel with him, but in space. And in time, if you could believe it." Lucy looked down at her hands folded in her lap.
"Well of course I believe you, Lucy." Calista said quite soberly. Lucy looked up at her old dear friend. "You're the most honest person I know. And if anyone of us could have done, it would be you." Lucy just smiled and hugged Calista. Lucy waved her sister and the Doctor forward and the four of them walked back toward where the wedding had been started. The Doctor and Juliet had been gathering the guests and most of them were now assembled, just where they had left off. Calista's fiancé Zachary's uncle was an ordained minister and took on the role with pride. Calista and Zachary were married and the reception was held at sunset. As the dancing started, the Doctor smiled and looked expectantly at Lucy. She grinned and placed her left hand on his shoulder. His left encircled her waist and their right hands met. "Do you think we'll ever have a normal date?" the Doctor asked.
Lucy laughed and said, "Normal? I don't think I'd like that." The Doctor pulled her a little closer and she rested her head on his chest. The Doctor leaned down and kissed the top of her head. This was as close to perfect as he thought he could get.
