I'm really sorry. This was supposed to be up last night, but I had things that had to get done and then I had work the next day. I wasn't able to get to this until tonight and I'm really sorry. I hope that it was at least worth the wait.
My first chapter with River and I am super nervous. Actually, I'm super nervous about this chapter in general. I don't really know why. I just am. :/
Please enjoy anyway.
"What's taken James so long?"
Amy peeked out of the TARDIS. "Can't you ask him on your psychic channel thingie?"
"I'm trying, but he's not answering," the Doctor said.
"Why wouldn't he answer?"
"Well, there could be a number of reasons, but it feels like I'm being blocked."
"Blocked?"
"Right."
"By what?"
"Could be James doing it... but then again, it could be a psychic dampener."
"A what?"
"It blocks psychic frequencies. Cancels them out."
"What makes you think its that?"
"A hunch, really. Mr. Boots had a psychic barometer when I met him. Didn't like that James was communicating with me telepathically. He's probably cutting our communication lines."
"Then for all we know, he could have captured James?" Rory asked.
"Right... which isn't good," the Doctor said.
"That's an understatement," Amy said. "We need to find him before Mr. Boots does... I feel ridiculous calling him Mr. Boots. Can't we call him something else?"
The Doctor hurried into the TARDIS, shutting the doors behind him and hopped up to the controls, making quick work of setting it into motion. "No, because I refuse to call him the Cowboy. That's complete rubbish. Remind me to have a stern talking-to with whoever came up with that. Mr. Boots is much better."
"What about what James called him?"
"That's an alias," the Doctor said.
"And Mr. Boots isn't?"
"No. That's a title," he said as the time rotor began to pump up and down, wheezing heavily.
"Um, Doctor," Rory said confusedly, "Aren't you forgetting someone?"
"I don't think so, but how would I know? If I forgot them, then I wouldn't remember forgetting them. Be careful how you word things, Rory, it could get you into trouble."
Rory rolled his eyes. "What about James?"
"I don't think he's going to make it down here to us, so we'll just have to go to him."
"We don't know where he is," Rory said.
"The TARDIS can find him," the Doctor assured him. He then placed a hand affectionately on the console. "Alright, Sexy, take us to him."
His head must have been scrambled. That was the only explanation he had for why Professor River Song was standing there looking perfectly calm and intimidating, an Alpha Meson blaster (where in the hell could she have gotten that from?) in her hand. Yep, his brain was fried. Wizard.
He looked up at her blearily as she hurried over to him, pointing the gun down the hall even as she went to help him up.
"Are you hurt, sweetie?"
"Oh, no, I'm peachy, thank you," James answered, struggling up into a sitting position, groaning as his body and head protested the movement. "Nothing like getting electrocuted. Really rejuvenating."
She smiled at him, apparently taking his jokes as a sign that he was alright. "Can you walk?"
He nodded and let her help him up onto his feet. After taking a moment, his head cleared a bit and although his body was aching, he concluded that he wasn't injured. The Silent probably hadn't been trying to kill him.
"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to find you here," River said.
"I'd say the same about you, but that doesn't quite describe what I'm thinking right now," James said. He hadn't seen her since the library, had worked very hard to put her out of his mind, but here she was, right as rain, looking quite lovely and not sort-of-dead.
"Well, I'd love to hear all about what you're thinking," she said with a smirk that promised all sorts of interesting things, and although it left him feeling flustered and confused, he didn't let it show, "But first let's get you to the TARDIS."
"Fine, it's-"
"In the basement."
He blinked at her.
She looked at him and smiled. "You're starting to get predictable, dear."
"Am I?"
"Well... not completely," she said, smirking again.
He looked away, not wanting to meet her gaze any more than he had to. Looking at her made him feel vulnerable. He didn't particularly enjoy the sensation.
"Um... not to sound rude or ungrateful, but... what are you doing here?"
She looked at him and smiled. "Spoilers."
He frowned deeply at that. She really liked that word. He really didn't. He needed to know what she was doing here. He was still playing Doctor and whatever she answered might be important to maintaining the charade, at least until he got back to the real Doctor. And then there was the fact that he was incredibly confused. She was an archaeologist. She shouldn't be someplace like this... especially not with a gun.
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"What are you doing here?" she asked, stopping before they made a turn to carefully peek out and check the hall, gun held expertly by her ear. She was used to weapons. Too much so. It was disconcerting. When she decided the coast was clear, they started walking again.
"Oh. Um... spoilers?" he said uncertainly, hoping that answer would suffice. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the fact that she was here and wasn't sure what he should tell her, if anything at all.
She side-glanced at him. "Spoilers? What kind of spoilers?" she asked, an excited gleam in her eyes.
"The kind that would be spoiled if I told you," James said.
"Well, we wouldn't want that," she said sweetly.
"Maybe we could do a trade? Your spoilers for mine?"
She smiled at him, and the intimate affection in it made him feel queasy. Those looks weren't meant for him. "It doesn't work like that."
"It could," he croaked, then coughed to loosen his throat.
"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, looking him over with concern.
"I'm fine. I just need a sip of water-" he finished his sentence suddenly crouching in the alcove of a doorway, hands over his head as though he were ducking for cover and feeling very much like he was going to heave. Post-hypnotic suggestion sickness. Brilliant. His day just kept getting better.
He reacted quicker this time than the last, almost immediately coming to the conclusion that there was a Silent around... actually two, apparently. No, three. He had three new marks on his hand.
River was apparently much faster on the uptake, as she was hauling him to his feet and down the hall, gun extended in front of her as though it were physically connected to her arm. He tried to look around and forgot three times. She must have shot them.
He groaned in irritation. "How come everybody else gets over it so quickly?"
"What's that, sweetie?" River asked as she peeked out from a corner and then stepped around it, dragging James behind her with her free hand.
He ran a hand through his hair, trying to sort his thoughts. He was horribly confused and felt awful.
River suddenly looked down the hall, then pressed James against it just as five soldiers came marching down the corridor, guns raising as they spotted them.
River raised her gun and fired a shot that sent all of five of them ducking for cover, but didnt actually hit them, to James' great relief. She looked at him. "Open the door."
"What door?"
"The door to the basement," she said.
"There isn't-" he stopped, finding that he was pressed up against the door he had been trying to find. "Oh. Well, what do you know."
She smiled patiently, sending off shots at any sign of movement from down the hall.
James turned to the door, grabbing his brand new sonic screwdriver from his pocket and pointing it at the door handle. He held it there, it buzzing its familiar song, obliviously unaware that it was not doing what James wanted it to. "That's bad."
"We're in a bit of a bad spot, dear. Could you hurry this along?" River asked, ducking as a shot zipped past her shoulder.
"Love to, but the door's double deadlocked. I can't get it open. Maybe if I adjust the-" he threw up hands in surprise as River turned and shot the door handle clean off.
"Or you know... you could do that, too. That works fine."
She ushered him inside, firing at the soldiers behind them as she followed after James.
They came into a darker room and ran down a short hall to a second door.
River raised her gun, ready to shoot it again, but James pushed her hand down. "We'll need this to close so they can't follow us."
She nodded, then turned her back to him to watch the way they came. The sound of voices echoed down the hall, encouraging James to move as quickly as possible.
It took several seconds to get the door open. The sonic screwdriver was new and had features he hadn't gotten to experiment with yet, but it finally worked for him. The door clicked open and he and River rushed through, shutting and sonic-ing it behind them.
They then hurried down a set of spiral stairs into the lowest section of the basement and came around the corner.
A hand grabbed James' ankle.
James cried out in surprise and tugged himself away, wide eyes scanning the floor until they came upon the man laying against the wall, cradling one of his hands to his chest, face contorted in a mixed look of pain and determination.
"Are you alright?" River asked James, alert eyes focused on the man on the floor.
James nodded, stared at the man a bit more, then realized why he looked familiar. "Cambell?"
The man- Cambell- glared up at him. It was the goon who had pulled him up from the water and given him a towel. Morgan's right hand man.
"Cambell, are you hurt badly?" James asked, kneeling down in front of him.
"Doctor," River said, touching James' shoulder.
He looked up at her, stood, then followed her gaze to the TARDIS in the far corner. It was disappearing.
He would have thought the Doctor was leaving him, but not a second later, it began to reappear, slowly, until it fully materialized again in the same spot it had been before.
James and River stared in confusion.
The door opened and the Doctor popped his head out. "Don't worry, James! We've come to rescue-" he trailed off, looking around the basement with a puzzled frown. "Oh. Well, isn't that a funny coincidence. We were-" he stopped again upon seeing James' uncomfortable expression and stiff side nods at River. "Oh. Oh. River. Hello! Um... hello, yes. Good to see you... here... with... past me..."
River smirked at him. "Is it my birthday already?"
The Doctor smiled awkwardly. "Um, you two best get in here," he said, gesturing for them to come inside.
Once James and River were in the TARDIS, the Doctor shut the door and went up to the controls, working hurriedly to get the TARDIS into the time vortex again.
River took one look at Amy and Rory and smiled happily, holding her arms out invitingly.
Amy laughed and hugged her. "It's good to see you. What are you doing here?"
"Yes, what are you doing here? Didn't you get my note?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes," she said, her voice smooth and silky, a seductive smile crossing over her features as she stared at the Doctor.
The Doctor walked down the ramp and up to her, so that they were only a few inches apart. "I asked you to wait at the cafe."
"That sounded boring," she stated, glanced at James, then looked back at the Doctor. "This is much more fun."
James cleared his throat loudly.
The Doctor and River looked at him.
"Yes, hello, still here. Doctor, can I have a word, please? Privately."
The Doctor nodded, looked at River one more time, then walked down into an alcove of one of the halls of the TARDIS, away from River, Amy and Rory.
James took a big breath, rubbing at one of his eyes. "What's she doing here?"
The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know. You didn't give me a chance to ask."
James looked at River, watching her talk with Amy and Rory. "How long?"
The Doctor's eyes fell. "I don't know."
"You haven't... told her our name yet, did you?"
"Yes."
James grimaced.
"We're married."
James looked at him. "You didn't..."
"I did."
"It's going to kill you, Doctor."
The Doctor smiled sadly. "Probably."
"Drop her off."
"What?"
"Drop her off," James repeated, more urgently.
The Doctor stared at him, brows knitted together. "You want me to run from her?"
James sighed, running a hand through his hair. "The longer you stay away from her, the longer she gets to live."
"I can't run from everything," the Doctor said softly, looking suddenly older. "I can't run from her."
James stared at him, frustrated. "Doctor-"
"I tried staying away, James. For a long time I ran from her. But I can't anymore."
James looked at him and saw behind his ancient eyes everything else he couldn't say. He knew he would have to send her to the library one day. He had accepted it, but he was going to spend every moment he could with her.
He loved her.
He wouldn't say it, but James could see it. It was that same look he had given Rose. That look now belonged to River Song.
James broke eye contact with him and looked over at River again. "She thinks I'm you."
"I know."
"Should we tell her?"
The Doctor shrugged, once again resuming his child-like air. "Not sure. I need to compare diaries with her first."
"Oh, you got one?" James asked.
The Doctor nodded and pulled the blue book out of his pocket, handing it to James, who took it and opened it up, scanning over the first couple of pages. "Who's Jim the Fish?"
"Long story. Funny story. I'll tell you all about it one day. Actually, I should just let him tell you. He tells it better. Now come on," the Doctor said, taking the book back and then skipping back to the small group. "Right then, River Song," he said, opening his book up. "Where are we?"
The silence in the basement was broken by the steady thump of boots and of metal clink clink clinking, a smooth voice whistling "Ring Around the Rosie" in long, slow notes. The thumps and clinks almost sounded like they were keeping the beat for the whistling.
Cambell listened to it with dread as he sat with his back propped up against the wall of the basement, frowning at the way each sound echoed in such an ominous way.
The clinking grew closer and closer, until finally Mr. Boots came to a stop in front of him, the spurs of his boots twinkling from the little light in the room. He stared down at him, head tilted to the side with dispassionate curiosity. "Hmm. Well, that looks painful."
Cambell looked down at his arm and shrugged his shoulders.
"Shame. That wouldn't have happened if you'd done what I told you," he said, tone cold and callous, "So, Mr. Cambell, what are you going to do next time I tell you to do something?"
"Do it," Cambell said.
Mr. Boots smiled, apparently satisfied. "Good to hear. Now, let's get you some medical attention, shall we?" With that, he knelt down, grabbed Cambell under the arm and hauled him to his feet.
I promise next chapter will be longer. Hear that? I promised. It's a promise and I'm going to keep it. I apologize if this chapter seemed rushed or choppy. I was in a hurry to get this up tonight since I was already late on the promised update time.
Real quick I just want to give a freaking big thank you to you guys. Your reviews have just been amazing and I can hardly believe you the praise you've given me. Thank you so much!
I'm really sorry. This was supposed to be up last night, but I had things that had to get done and then I had work the next day. I wasn't able to get to this until tonight and I'm really sorry. I hope that it was at least worth the wait.
My first chapter with River and I am super nervous. Actually, I'm super nervous about this chapter in general. I don't really know why. I just am. :/
Please enjoy anyway.
"What's taken James so long?"
Amy peeked out of the TARDIS. "Can't you ask him on your psychic channel thingie?"
"I'm trying, but he's not answering," the Doctor said.
"Why wouldn't he answer?"
"Well, there could be a number of reasons, but all but one would be wrong. It feels like I'm being blocked."
"Blocked?"
"Right."
"By what?"
"A psychic dampener."
"A what?"
"It blocks psychic frequencies. Cancels them out."
"What makes you think its that?"
"A hunch, really. Mr. Boots had a psychic barometer when I met him. Didn't like that James was communicating with me telepathically. He's cutting our communication lines."
"Then for all we know, he could have captured James?" Rory asked.
"Right... which isn't good," the Doctor said.
"That's an understatement," Amy said. "We need to find him before Mr. Boots does... I feel ridiculous calling him Mr. Boots. Can't we call him something else?"
The Doctor hurried into the TARDIS, shutting the doors behind him and hopped up to the controls, making quick work of setting it into motion. "No, because I refuse to call him the Cowboy. That's complete rubbish. Remind me to have a stern talking-to with whoever came up with that. Mr. Boots is much better."
"What about what James called him?"
"That's an alias," the Doctor said.
"And Mr. Boots isn't?"
"No. That's a title," he said as the time rotor began to pump up and down, wheezing heavily.
"Um, Doctor," Rory said confusedly, "Aren't you forgetting someone?"
"I don't think so, but how would I know? If I forgot them, then I wouldn't remember forgetting them, now would I? Be careful how you word things, Rory, it could get you into trouble."
Rory rolled his eyes. "What about James?"
"I don't think he's going to make it down here to us, so we'll just have to go to him."
"We don't know where he is," Rory said.
"The TARDIS can find him," the Doctor assured him. He then placed a hand affectionately on the console. "Alright, Sexy, take us to him."
His head must have been scrambled. That was the only explanation he had for why Professor River Song was standing there looking perfectly calm and intimidating, an Alpha Meson blaster (where in the hell could she have gotten that from?) in her hand. Yep, his brain was fried. Wizard.
He looked up at her blearily as she hurried over to him, pointing the gun down the hall even as went to help him up.
"Are you hurt, sweetie?"
"Oh, no, I'm peachy, thank you," James answered, struggling up into a sitting position, groaning as his body and head protested the movement. "Nothing like getting electrocuted. Really rejuvenating."
She smiled at him, apparently taking his jokes as a sign that he was alright. "Can you walk?"
He nodded and let her help him up onto his feet. After taking a moment, his head cleared a bit and although his body was aching, he concluded that he wasn't injured. The Silent probably hadn't been trying to kill him.
"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to find you here," River said.
"I'd say the same about you, but that doesn't quite describe what I'm thinking right now," James said. He hadn't seen her since the library, had worked very hard to put her out of his mind, but here she was, right as rain, looking quite lovely and not sort-of-dead.
"Well, I'd love to hear all about what you're thinking," she said with a wry smile that promised all sorts of interesting things, and although it left him feeling flustered and confused, he didn't let it show, "But first let's get you to the TARDIS."
"Fine, it's-"
"In the basement."
He blinked at her.
She looked at him and smiled. "You're starting to get predictable, dear."
"Am I?"
"Well... not completely," she said, smirking.
He looked away, not wanting to meet her gaze any more than he had to. Looking at her made him feel vulnerable, something he wasn't used to.
"Um... not to sound rude or ungrateful, but... what are you doing here?"
She looked at him and smiled. "Spoilers."
He frowned deeply at that. She really liked that word. He really didn't. He needed to know what she was doing here. He was still playing Doctor and whatever she answered might be important to maintaining the charade, at least until he got back to the real Doctor. And then there was the fact that he was incredibly confused. She was an archaeologist. She shouldn't be someplace like this... especially not with a gun.
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"What are you doing here?" she asked, stopping before they made a turn to carefully peek out and check the hall, gun held expertly by her ear. She was used to weapons. Too much so. It was disconcerting. When she decided the coast was clear, they started walking again.
"Oh. Um... spoilers?" he said uncertainly, hoping that answer would suffice. He was still trying to wrap his brain around the fact that she was here and wasn't sure what he should tell her, if anything at all.
She side-glanced at him. "Spoilers? What kind of spoilers?" she asked, an excited gleam in her eyes.
"The kind that would be spoiled if I told you," James said.
"Well, we wouldn't want that," she said sweetly.
"Maybe we could do a trade? Your spoilers for mine?"
She smiled at him, and the intimate affection in it made his feel queasy. Those looks weren't meant for him. "It doesn't work like that."
"It could," he croaked, then coughed to loosen his throat.
"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked, looking him over with concern.
"I'm fine. I just need a sip of water-" he finished his sentence crouching in the alcove of a doorway, hands over his head as though he were ducking for cover and feeling very much like he was going to heave. Post-hypnotic suggestion sickness. Brilliant. His day just kept getting better.
He reacted quicker this time than the last, almost immediately coming to the conclusion that there was a Silent around... actually two, apparently. No, three. He had three new marks on his hand.
River was apparently much faster on the uptake, as she was hauling him onto his feet and down the hall, gun extended in front of her as though it were physically connected to her arm. He tried to look around and forgot three times. She must've shot them.
He groaned in irritation. "How come everybody else gets over it so quickly?"
"What's that, sweetie?" River asked as she peeked out from a corner and then stepped around it, dragging James behind her with her free hand.
He ran a hand through his hair, trying to sort his thoughts. He was horribly confused and felt awful.
River suddenly looked down the hall then pressed James against the wall just as five soldiers came marching down the corridor, guns raising as they spotted them.
River raised her gun and fired a shot that sent all of five of them ducking for cover, but didnt actually hit them, to James' great relief. She looked at him. "Open the door."
"What door?"
"The door to the basement," she said.
"What are you-" he stopped, finding that he was pressed up against the door he had been trying to find. "Oh. Well, what do you know."
She smiled patiently, sending off shots at any sign of movement from down the hall.
James turned to the door, grabbing his brand new sonic screwdriver from his pocket and pointing it at the door handle. He held it there, it buzzing its familiar song, obliviously unaware that it was not doing what James wanted it to. "That's bad."
"We're in a bit of a bad spot, dear. Could you hurry this along?" River asked, ducking as a shot zipped past her shoulder.
"Love to, but the door's double deadlocked. I can't get it open. Maybe if I adjust the-" he threw up hands in surprise as River turned and shot the door handle clean off.
"Or you know... you could do that, too. That works fine."
She ushered him inside, firing at the soldiers behind them until following after James.
They came into a darker room and ran down a short hall to a second door.
River raised her gun, ready to shoot it again, but James pushed her gun down. "We'll need this to close so they can't follow us."
She nodded, then turned her back to him to watch the way they came. The sound of voices echoed down the hall, encouraging James to move as quickly as possible.
It took several seconds to get the door open. The sonic screwdriver was new and had features he hadn't gotten to experiment with yet, but apparently it finally worked for him. The door clicked open and he and River rushed through, shutting and sonic-ing it behind them.
They then hurried down a set of spiral stairs into the lowest section of the basement and came around the corner.
A hand grabbed James' ankle.
James cried out in surprise and tugged himself away, wide eyes scanning the floor until they came upon the man laying against the wall, cradling one of his hands to his chest, face contorted in a mixed look of pain and determination.
"Are you alright?" River asked James, alert eyes focused on the man on the floor.
James nodded, stared at the man a bit more, then realized why he looked familiar. "Cambell?"
The man- Cambell- glared up at him.
"Cambell, are you hurt badly?" James asked, kneeling down in front of him.
"Doctor," River said, touching James' shoulder.
He looked up at her, stood, then followed her gaze to the TARDIS in the far corner. It was disappearing.
He would have thought the Doctor was leaving him, but not a second later, it began to reappear, slowly, until it fully materialized again in the same spot it had been before.
James and River stared in confusion.
The door opened and the Doctor popped his head out. "Don't worry, James! We've come to get you-" he trailed off, looking around the basement with a puzzled frown. "Oh. Well, isn't that a funny coincidence. We were-" he stopped again upon seeing James' uncomfortable expression and stiff side nods at River. "Oh. Oh. River. Hello! Um... hello, yes. Good to see you... here... with... past me..."
River smirked at him. "Is it my birthday already?"
The Doctor smiled awkwardly. "Um, you two best get in here," he said, gesturing for them to come inside.
Once James and River were in the TARDIS, the Doctor shut the door and went up to the controls, working hurriedly to get the TARDIS into the time vortex again.
River took one look at Amy and Rory and smiled happily, holding her arms out invitingly. "Hello, Amy. Hello, Rory."
Amy laughed and hugged her. "It's good to see you. What are you doing here?"
"Yes, what are you doing here? Didn't you get my note?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes," she said, her voice smooth and silky, a seductive smile crossing over her features as she stared at the Doctor.
The Doctor walked down the ramp and up to her, so that they were only a few inches apart. "I asked you to wait at the cafe."
"That sounded boring," she stated, glanced at James, then looked back at the Doctor. "This is much more fun."
James cleared his throat loudly.
The Doctor and River looked at him.
"Yes, hello, still here. Doctor, can I have a word, please? Privately."
The Doctor nodded, looked at River one more time, then walked down into an alcove of one of the halls of the TARDIS, away from River, Amy and Rory.
James took a big breath, rubbing at his eyes. "What's she doing here?"
The Doctor shrugged. "I don't know. You didn't give me a chance to ask."
James looked at River, watching her talk with Amy and Rory. "How long?"
The Doctor's eyes fell. "I don't know."
"You haven't... told her our name yet, did you?"
"She knows."
James grimaced.
"We're married."
James looked at him. "You didn't..."
"I did."
"It's going to kill you, Doctor."
The Doctor smiled sadly. "Probably."
"Drop her off."
"What?"
"Drop her off," James repeated, more urgently.
The Doctor stared at him, brows knitted together. "You want me to run from her?"
James sighed, running a hand through his hair. "The longer you stay away from her, the longer she gets to live."
"I can't run from everything," the Doctor said softly, looking suddenly older. "I can't run from her."
James stared at him, frustrated. "Doctor-"
"I tried staying away, James. For a long time I ran from her. But I can't anymore."
James looked at him and saw behind his ancient eyes everything else he couldn't say. He knew he'd have to send her to the library one day. He had accepted it, but he was going to spend every moment he could with her.
He loved her.
He wouldn't say it, but James could see it. It was that same look he had given Rose. That look now belonged to River Song.
James broke eye contact with him and looked over at River again. "She thinks I'm you."
"I know."
"Should we tell her?"
The Doctor shrugged, once again resuming his child-like air. "Not sure. I need to compare diaries with her first."
"Oh, you got one?" James asked.
The Doctor nodded and pulled the blue book out of his pocket, handing it to James, who took it and opened it up, scanning over the first couple of pages. "Who's Jim the Fish?"
"Long story. Funny story. I'll tell you all about it one day. Actually, I should just let him tell you. He tells it better. Now come on," the Doctor said, taking the book back and then skipping back to the small group. "Right then, River Song," he said, opening his book up. "Where are we?"
The silence in the basement was broken by the steady thump of boots and of metal clink clink clinking, a smooth voice whistling "Ring Around the Rosie" in long, slow notes. The thumps and clinks almost sounded like they were keeping the beat for the whistling.
Cambell listened to it with dread as he sat with his back propped up against the wall of the basement, frowning at the way each sound echoed in such an ominous way.
The clinking grew closer and closer, until finally Mr. Boots came to a stop in front of him, the spurs of his boots blinking from the little light there was. He stared down at him, head tilted to the side with dispassionate curiosity. "Hmm. Well, that looks painful."
Cambell looked down at his arm and shrugged his shoulders.
"Shame. That wouldn't have happened if you'd done what I told you," he said, tone cold and callous, "So, Mr. Cambell, what are you going to do next time I tell you to do something?"
"Do it," Cambell said through clenched teeth.
Mr. Boots smiled, apparently satisfied. "Good to hear. Now, let's get you some medical attention, yeah?" With that, he knelt down, grabbed Cambell under the arm and hauled him to his feet.
I promise next chapter will be longer. Hear that? I promised. It's a promise and I'm going to keep it. I apologize if this chapter seemed rushed or choppy. I was in a hurry to get this up tonight since I was already late on the promised update time.
Real quick I just want to give a freaking big thank you to you guys. Your reviews have just been amazing and I can hardly believe you the praise you've given me. Thank you so much!