Amy wheeled around as the Doctor stood and then there was some kind of energy transfer, similar to a teleport and he was gone. Rory shot out of his seat, stumbling back in surprise.
"Doctor!" Amy yelled, rushing to the spot he'd just occupied.
"What happened?" Rory asked in alarm.
"I don't know."
He was there one minute and then just…just gone. John and Sherlock rushed into the kitchen from the living room. She glanced at them.
"What's wrong?" John asked, obviously concerned.
"Where's the Doctor?" Sherlock inquired.
"I don't know," Amy repeated. "He was just there and then he was gone. I…I think he was teleported. It looked a lot like when River uses her vortex manipulator."
"Her what?" John asked.
"Kovarian," Sherlock said.
Amy looked at him. Kovarian? She glanced back at the chair the Doctor had been sitting in. Sherlock was right. She must have taken him, but how did she even know where he was? Then again, she had managed to take Amy and no one even knew for months.
This was bad. Really, really bad. If Kovarian had him…she didn't even want to think about what might happen, what that woman might do to him. No one took the Doctor. It just didn't happen. So, if someone was brave…or stupid enough to do it then they must have a plan. One the Doctor would consider a really not good plan.
"What do we-" she began.
"Rose!" Sherlock interrupted and then turned on the spot and dashed out of the room.
-0-
Rose slipped her blue sweater over her head and then straightened it. Sherlock asked if she wanted to go down to the fish and chip shop to grab a bite. She agreed because her flat was starting to feel a bit crowded. She enjoyed everyone's company, but after everything she'd been through she could use a bit of quiet.
She felt bad for the way she treated the Doctor. He didn't deserve that. None of this was his fault. She'd just been upset and seeing him…it was too much. She knew she needed to apologize, make things right between them.
She opened the top drawer of her dresser to pull out a pair of socks, and then paused, feeling a strange sensation. A sort of tingling, tugging sensation. One she recognized from the few times she'd used one or one had been used on her. She had enough time to realize she was being teleported and then her room vanished.
-0-
Sherlock raced across the living room and threw her door open. Empty. Fear crept up his spine. She was gone. Kovarian or whoever took the Doctor had taken her too. He'd just gotten her back and now he'd lost her again.
"Is she…" John trailed off as he came to a stop behind Sherlock and looked around Rose's empty room. He put his hand on the detective's shoulder. "We'll find her."
"Yes, we will," Sherlock said, darkly, shrugging his friend's hand off and then he turned and strode across the room toward the TARDIS.
She'd been taken, teleported. He couldn't track her on his own, but maybe the Doctor's ship could.
"Hang on," Mrs. Pond called from behind him. "What're you doing?"
He ignored her as he threw open the door and stepped inside.
-0-
The Doctor leaned his back against the bars. There had to be way out of this, a way to stop him before…A flash of light and Rose was standing a few feet from him. She looked disoriented. He crossed the room toward her.
"Are you all right?" he asked, wanting to check her over, but not sure if she wanted him that close, especially after what she said to him on the TARDIS.
"Yeah, I…I think so," she said, then looked around the room. "Where are we?"
"Some kind of holding cell he put together."
"He?"
"The…" he trailed off, not entirely sure he wanted to tell her after everything his duplicate had done to her, but she'd found out soon enough. "The meta-crisis."
Her eyes flooded with fear.
"He-he's here?" she asked. "Where?"
She looked around the rest of the room as if she was afraid he might jump out of one of the shadows.
"Right here," James said, stepping into the room. "Did you miss me?"
Rose took a step back, but he could see her locking away the fear, shutting down her emotions. The same way he did, but on her it didn't look right. He turned a withering glare on the meta-crisis.
"Leave her alone," he demanded, stepping in front of her.
His duplicate smirked.
"You're not in any position to threaten me, Doctor," the meta-crisis replied.
"Do whatever you want to me, just leave her out of this."
"But how can I do that when she's right in the middle of things?"
There was something in the way he said that. Something that lanced fear into the Doctor's hearts.
"What do you mean?"
"You'll find out…quite soon in fact. I have a few arrangements to make, but I'll be back shortly. I suggest while I'm gone you both say your goodbyes because only one of you is going to make it out of this alive."
The Doctor watched the meta-crisis turn and walk out of the room. Only one of them? So, his duplicate was either going to kill Rose or him. There had to be a way out of this. He couldn't let her die. If the meta-crisis gave him a choice he knew what choice he'd make because to watch her die…it would kill him.
Standard Disclaimer.
Thank you to all my brilliant readers!
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