.com/banners/
It was Lucy's turn to be sulky and distant from the rest of the group. Jack had tried to cheer her up with flirting and childish banter. Juliet had offered a sister's understanding and warmth. The Doctor had stared at her, sometimes like she was a particularly difficult puzzle and sometimes like he was trying to telepathically soothe her.
Lucy was shut in her room, moping as she hadn't done in a long time. She knew it was wrong to feel sorry for herself. But she was going to do it anyway. Sure, she could have it a lot worse than getting strange and cryptic hints about her destiny creeping across time and space, but it was creepy and unsettling. How did all these people know? It had started with the Queen of the Lunabelsey, had been noticed by Mr. Finch, had been foretold in a dream by her dead mother, had been commented upon by a village elder on the planet Rhea Gaia. Then the deal-clincher, so to speak, was the Life Matter telling her that everything she'd been hearing was true. And things got more blatant after that. A rescued girl from a witch hunt had turned out to be more prophetic that originally thought, a psychic had told her she was going to die and in that same day Pyranor had told her how special she was. And most recently, Saturnians had all but wanted to keep her and study her for her crazy DNA.
Was it DNA though? As much as she didn't want to believe in a pre-determined plan, what else could have happened? How else could she have met the Doctor? Sure, she was being curious as always, but what were the odds that she'd suddenly shed her cautious shield as soon as she even saw the man who would change her life?
And speak of the devil, a knock came on her door and without waiting for an answer, it inched open. The Doctor's face was almost timid, if it could even capture such a feeling. He didn't want to anger her, or barge in on her sobbing or anything and she knew it. She looked calmly at him from her desk; right arm still using the wood surface as a support. With one eyebrow raised, remaining silent, the Doctor knew he was on safe ground.
"We've got a distress signal from very far away, thought we'd better check it out."Lucy rose from her chair, concern etching its way through her brows, causing her to bite her lower lip yet again. Before she could head completely out the door and down the hallway however, the Doctor put his hands upon the frame of the door, barring her way. She looked up at him confused.
"Lucy, I know all this is hard on you-"
"Doctor, really, I'm okay. Let's go, where is it you said this signal is coming from?"
"Lucy." He looked down at her, straight in the eyes and she stopped trying to edge around him. "Lucy, I know none of this has been easy on you. Traveling with me, leaving Juliet behind, having all these…rumours crop up."
"Doctor, you know I wouldn't trade any of this for the world. Life with you is sheer insanity but I love it. And Juliet understands, probably more than I really appreciate."
"I know all that. But I just, just wanted to make sure you were okay before we left anywhere. To be honest, I don't know what to expect about the people we meet anymore. I don't know who's going to pick up on something about you, whatever it is. It could happen here too."
"I'm aware of that. I figure I'll just assume everyone knows so I won't ever be surprised." The Doctor laughed and his hands fell from the door frame. He started to turn when Lucy spoke again.
"Do you really not know what they mean, Doctor? You have no idea why everyone keeps saying all this about me."
The Doctor turned back to her, wrapping her in his arms so fast, she didn't even have time to react. He held her for a second and as her arms circled him he said, "I think I do sometimes, but it's, it's so fleeting, so vague, I couldn't even begin to give you an idea."
"Would you though, if you could? Would you tell me what was going to happen?"
"I don't know, Lucy, I really don't know."
"I'm nothing special, you know." She said into his chest.
"Of course you are, how many times do I have to tell you how brilliant you are?"
"At least one more, I suppose." They both laughed and headed down the hallway together, Lucy leading the way. Juliet and Jack both smiled when she came in and Lucy couldn't help but feel a bit like a patronised child.
"So, Doctor, you never told me exactly where we're going. Somewhere far away?"
"Very far away. We're going to the 71st century. All the way to Omega Centauri, to the fifth planet in the system. It's called Quintus. It's not even a proper galaxy anymore, not now nor in the future; the Milky Way sort of cannibalized it. And it is old, very old. In fact, it's collapsing and the Centauri have sent out distress signals everywhere. They want out."
"So we're going to get them out right?" said Juliet.
"You've got it, my dear."
Omega Centauri was a curious sort of place. Absolutely everything was old. Ancient. Decaying. Decrepit. Lucy was chilled, and something at the back of her mind told her to be alert, ready. Every building was falling apart, rubble sometimes tumbling into their path which was already littered with debris. Even the sky and the atmosphere seemed old. Swirling milky clouds hung oppressively in the air which hung close about them, cloying even. The sun was very far away from this planet, a distant pinprick hovering above them. Lucy and Juliet stayed close together, freezing to their bones. Even Jack was seen to let a shudder pass down his shoulders once in a while. Only the Doctor seemed unperturbed. The only betrayal of any feelings of utter frigidity was the hair standing up on the back of his neck. Or maybe that was anticipation.
If Lucy had to describe this place, she'd say it looked like the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Then hit that with an atomic bomb. Then let things sit in their ruined manner for about a thousand years. A thick layer of dust covered everything, marked through with footprints. Not all of them were theirs. Lucy wondered exactly how many Centauri were left. From the footprints, she could tell that their feet at least were humanoid. They ranged in size much like humans' did, if only slightly more narrow. As she shivered, she wondered when they'd happen upon the unlucky creatures. No sooner had the though crossed her mind when they did indeed, happen upon them. About a dozen and a half people stood in a circle. They all looked up as the four strangers approached. Lucy for one was glad to see that there was trace of neither hostility nor abject fear in their glances. Some looked quite hopeful in fact, others merely relieved. Had they thought that no one would come? That they would be doomed to die here alone? Most likely.
Lucy was somewhat horrified to see that among the eighteen gathered here, five were children. They had to be. The Centauri themselves even looked old, the children included. Though they had no wrinkles, no age spots, their carriage suggested wisdom and experienced that could rival the Doctor's. Their eyes held pain and understanding and knowledge. The five children, three boys and two girls all barely came to Lucy's waist. Their hair was white, all eighteen of them, and hung to their hips. They all had high foreheads, cheekbones, straight noses and almond shaped eyes that were as black as sin. Their ears were slightly too small for their heads and they all seemed a bit shorter than the average human. In terms of figure, they were stocky, even the children. Through their coarse tunics and trousers could be seen defined muscles, capable of taking any of them on.
One of the children, a girl, came up to Lucy and placed her hand into Lucy's waiting palm. A boy did the same to Juliet and the Doctor and Jack were left to trail behind them.
"What's your name?" Lucy said, looking down at the girl, trying not to sound patronising. Her grip was firm and Lucy was sure that she was more than capable of breaking bones.
"Jireeda." She said and her voice was melodic. "And yours is something… relatively short, it's shorter than your sister's anyway. And it begins with an 'L'. Yes?"
Lucy started and pulled her hand from Jireeda's grasp. "How did you do that?" she hissed. She stole a glance over at Juliet to see if her boy companion had made any observations about her. Juliet was smiling and listening to the boy who was talking animatedly.
"Jireeda is a low-level psychic, like her mother Anla." said a man's voice close to Lucy. He was the tallest of the bunch, though still shorter than Jack.
Wonderful, Lucy thought, another blasted psychic latching herself on to me. "Well you had it right, Jireeda. I'm Lucy. And my sister is Juliet. Nice to meet you." Jireeda only smiled amicably; apparently oblivious to the fact that Lucy was jittery as a squirrel.
"Well, Doctor," she said, leaning toward him. He had only just come up beside her from talking to the rest of the group. "What's the prognosis? Stick 'em all in the T.A.R.D.I.S. and bring them somewhere safe? Or do they have a rocket handy?"
The Doctor looked frustrated, like he wanted for once for something to be simple. Lucy knew that feeling all too well.
"Well, we've run into a bit of a snag."
"Of course we have."
"There are some members of the group who don't want to leave at all. They want to go down with the ship, so to speak."
"Are they mad? They'll get pulled into a black whole or obliterated or something!"
"I know that. They know that. They've offered to let the ones who want to leave go, but the problem is some of the ones who don't want to leave are the oldest and wisest of the bunch. And so, some of the others who originally did want to leave now don't want to abandon or disappoint the elders."
"You're making my head spin. Can't we just, I dunno, try and convince them that the best thing to do is try to start a new life on a new planet?"
"Well, I'd love to, Lucy, I really would but I'm afraid I've upset them."
"Doctor, what did you do now?"
"I told them they were fools for clinging onto their dead civilisation and fools for condemning themselves to die."
Lucy only gave him an exasperated look. He in turn looked sheepish and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Well let me and Juliet try then." She said under her breath. She walked forward without waiting for a comment from the Doctor and grabbed Juliet's elbow as she went. Juliet seemed to understand without Lucy debriefing her. Perhaps the boy had said something. Perhaps psychic Jireeda had talked to her whilst Lucy was conversing with a Time Lord.
"Um, hello, everyone. I'm Lucy Blake and this is my sister Juliet. Anyway we got the message one of you sent us, saying that you needed help. Well, our, our ship can hold all of you, it's bigger than it seems."
"See, the thing is," chimed in Juliet, "This planet's gonna…well it's doomed. You all know that, and, and me and Lucy both think it's really noble that some of you want to stay here and, well, go down with it. But there's so much you have to offer. The universe really shouldn't lose you."
Lucy nodded and added, "There are loads of places you could go. Barcelona for one, that's an immigrant planet, there are scores of people there. You don't have to let everything die with the planet."
"Please don't let everything die with the planet." Juliet pleaded. Some of the Centauri looked mollified, but some, no doubt the elders, merely looked down their noses at them. The twins exchanged looks; they had no idea what else to do. They couldn't exactly force anyone anywhere.
One of the Centauri, a woman who looked to be a thousand years old or more, stepped forward. Her gait was liquid, more like she was a teenager than an old woman. "Children, you do not understand. Our planet is older than your entire solar system. Yes, we know of the Milky Way. Our knowledge of the Universe will not die with us; there are countless Centauri spread across the skies."
"Then let us reunite you with them!" cried Jack from behind the girls.
"You're not helping, Captain." retorted Juliet.
"At least let us take the younger ones, the children." Lucy begged quietly.
"They are not as young as they seem. Finlock, that boy who was talking to you, Juliet, is the youngest at seven hundred years old."
Neither Lucy nor Juliet showed surprise upon learning the staggering age of the "children." Lucy only looked straight into this woman's black eyes and said, "Please."
The woman pursed her lips and her ancient brow furrowed. "Hamlin?" she called behind her whilst still looking at the twins, "Ready the children and go with them into the ship. Anyone else who wishes to join them can." Hamlin, the man who had spoken to Lucy first ushered the children in front of him and down the road, toward the open doors of the T.A.R.D.I.S.
"I'll go with them, make sure they're all alright." Juliet said and Lucy nodded. Anla, Jireeda's mother and several others left upon seeing their children leaving them. Jack left to help Juliet as well. Lucy and the Doctor waited with the nine remaining elders.
The Doctor now took the lead, placing his hand on Lucy's shoulder as he walked up beside her.
"Look, I'm sorry for what I said, but please, please let us take you somewhere safe. Lucy was right about Barcelona, they'd more than welcome you."
"You can't understand, Doctor. This has been our home for thousands of years and our people have lived here for trillions of years. Some say we are as old as the universe, or close to it. How can you ask us to leave that behind? You don't know that kind of pain." said a very short man standing in the centre of the group.
The Doctor looked deeply morose, and said in a hushed tone that was barely above a whisper, "Oh, but I do. Gallifrey was taken from me a long time ago. I even caused it to go away; I destroyed it because I had to. I lost my home, my family, my friends. I am literally the only one left of my species. Time Lords are all but extinct. Please don't let that happen to you. You're right, the Centauri of some of the oldest in the universe, so don't let it claim you. Live, please!" Lucy's jaw was clenched and she bit her tongue hard while the Doctor spoke. How it must hurt him to talk about Gallifrey and everything that had happened to him like this. But now that they understood that he'd been through much the same, would they listen? Would they leave?
Two of the Centauri, a man and woman, walked arm in arm down the dusty, debris riddled path. Another woman followed in their wake and a man hesitantly strode forward once they were out of sight. He gained confidence when his friend came up behind him and walked with him the rest of the way. Only four to go, Lucy thought. The short elder, the woman she and Juliet had spoken to, and two other men stood stubbornly in the frozen air. They were as immoveable as mountains, as rooted and sure as rivers, as certain as the sun. Lucy couldn't help it; she let a single tear fall from her eye as she looked round the desolate setting. She tried to blame it on the cold, but knew that it was the stirring thought of believing so firmly in something, being so attached, that you would die for it. She knew that was how she felt about the Doctor.
And perhaps these Centauri were moved by her tears. Or perhaps not. At any rate, the two men to whom she had not spoken gathered themselves and took one last look about their home, bidding it goodbye, before they left the lonesome planet. Lucy had to stifle more sobs. The courage it took to knowingly say goodbye to not only your home, but the ground on which it stood, the sky that kissed it, the memories that would never truly die.
"At least come and say goodbye to everyone." The Doctor said, looking at them from under his brows. After a long moment of silence, the two Centauri spoke to each other in their own language. When Lucy shuddered again, the Doctor put his arm around her shoulders and tightened his grip. When the woman turned back to them, she nodded and wordlessly, they all headed back to the ship.
Lucy stepped inside the now crowded main room where children sat patiently on platforms and railing and adults stood uncertainly, arms folded and looking about themselves, unconvinced. Lucy turned back to the open doorway which the Doctor was leaning against. "Room for two more." He said toward the ancient couple. And indeed, the man had his arm round the woman's shoulders, standing as she and the Doctor had done. They wouldn't leave one another. Now if only she could convince just one of them, the other was sure to follow. They looked at each other, perhaps weighing the offer.
From behind Lucy, Jireeda edged forward and peeked round the Doctor's leg, looking almost bashfully at the pair before her. "Grandmother? Grandfather? Aren't you coming?" she asked fearfully. Lucy snapped her head back up just in time to see the resolve slip in Jireeda's grandmother's eyes. She ran forward, arms outstretched and enveloped her granddaughter in a soul-crushing embrace. Her eyes were shut tight and her face was screwed up so that she could not look around her. But her tension loosened when she felt her husband's hand upon her back, reassuring her that he would never be far behind. Lucy heard Juliet sigh behind her.
"Well that took long enough." Jack, ruining the moment, bellowed to the crowd.
"Still not helping, Captain." Lucy said. She and the Doctor shared exasperated glances and he motioned for her to wade through children and help him fly the T.A.R.D.I.S.
Barcelona was bursting with activity no small part of which was the arrival of eighteen Centauri. They'd left before the first hints of the end could come; none of them actually wanted to witness that. While they haggled with merchants and Bercelonian real estate agents, the four travelers shared a drink just outside the phone box. They all sat in the sand, Lucy and Juliet casting aside their shoes.
Lucy absolutely loved this place and recalled the only other time she'd been here. It had been just her and the Doctor and their blissful holiday had been interrupted by the T.A.R.D.I.S. leaving of its own accord. That was when they'd been taken aboard the Intrepid and Lucy had had her little meeting with the Life Matter. The sunset was just as gorgeous this time as it was before. And she had the added bonus of helping the last of a very old race make a new start on this cozy immigrant planet to improve her mood.
"My god, I almost forgot! Doctor, I have something for you!" she roughly handed Juliet her drink and dashed inside the doors calling, "Wait right there!" over her shoulder. The Doctor on his part looked stunned.
When Lucy came outside with a leather garment bag and bid him to stand, he knew what was coming. He was totally humbled. And when she unzipped it and revealed the dark blue suit with pale grey pinstripes, he was all but flustered. She had actually made him a suit.
"Lucy, what on Earth, I mean, where did you, and why, how, how long did this take?"
"A while, I suppose. It had been some time since I'd made a suit and I fancied a challenge. I changed my mind so many times about everything, the colour's reversed from what I originally planned. But go on then, try it on! It should fit; I stole the measurements from your current wardrobe. Oh, by the way, Doctor, what on Earth were you thinking walking round with a stalk of celery attached to your jacket?"
The Doctor laughed as he took the suit from Lucy. "Well, I was a different person back then." He said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. And with that he headed back into his ship so he could try on Lucy's creation. It fit like a dream, needless to say, and breathed so well with him. Was that cashmere wool? It was, how expensive had that been? He was always vague about money, but he'd gathered enough from Lucy's ramblings about the fashion industry to know that it was not exactly easy to come by. He walked back outside, tugging needlessly at the cuffs and examining them. When he looked up at Lucy, she was beaming and he couldn't help but feel a great deal of warmth blooming in his chest. She stepped up ever so slightly and adjusted his collar, bending a little closer and squinting to check for loose stitches, no doubt. Having found nothing wrong, Lucy looked back up at him.
"Well, what do you think?" he asked.
"You look smashing, if I do say so myself." She batted him on the chest and he gave her a quick hug.
"Thank you, Lucy. You really didn't have to do this."
"Nah, it's nothing, mate. Least I could do, in fact." They smiled at each other and he said to the group that they should get going. They all headed back inside, Juliet smirking for some reason at Lucy. With an approving look from Jack the Doctor made to take the ship up and out in the general direction of anywhere. Before he could, however, the most terrible thing that could ever happen, happened.
The Doctor, Jack, Lucy and Juliet were staring up at the projected image of a Dalek. Behind this Dalek could barely be discerned countless other Daleks. The Doctor stared in open mouthed horror at the screen in front of him.
"Greetings, Doctor!" screeched the robotic voice of his most feared and terrible enemy. Better add, most resilient. They had been seemingly destroyed many times before now and always found a way to come back. They were worse than cockroaches.
The Doctor on his part, said nothing, only waited for whatever fresh nightmare this Dalek was about to unleash.
"It seems we have caught you away from Earth. Allow us to show you all we've accomplished in less than twenty four hours!" The Dalek moved back and now they were looked at rapid images of explosions, people running and screaming, Daleks positively everywhere, screaming their horrid cries of "Exterminate!" A strange hollow sound forced its way out of Juliet's throat while Lucy felt the breath rush out of her. Jack swore loudly and the Doctor remained transfixed at everything the Dalek was showing him. Before it could come back onscreen, the Doctor flew into hyper-fast action. He shut off the projector and let fly the controls, the T.A.R.D.I.S. spinning wildly towards Earth.
