Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC. If I did... I don't really know what I'd do... probably ride a dragon I guess.
Author's note: I got a review! Anyway. I have a bit of a longer chapter for you guys cause I got excited and just lost myself in the story. So, let's see if Hex finally figures out what the new hands on her watch mean.
It didn't take them long to get to Platform One, like Hex thought they would. You know where we are, don't you? The Doctor asked her in her mind. This time yes, but I don't have foreknowledge on all your adventures, only some and only up to a certain point. Don't expect too much from me. Hex replied. The Doctor just nodded as they all left the Tardis. Before Hex left, she made sure that she had her sonic in her pocket, her vortex manipulator on her arm and her bag around her shoulder.
By the time that Hex had left the Tardis, Rose and the Doctor were gazing at the earth below. "This is the day the Sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world" Hex heard the Doctor say as she went down some stairs and joined them at the large window. The earth really did look beautiful from this view.
Computer : Shuttles five and six now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for fifteen thirty nine followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite.
The trio walked down a corridor. "So, when it says guests, does that mean people?" Rose questioned. "Depends what you mean by people" Hex said at exactly the same time and the Doctor, earning a half-hearted glare from him and a confused look from Rose. "I mean people. What do you mean?" Rose asked, dismissing the incident. "Aliens" the Doctor said. "What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?" Rose continued to question. "It's not really a spaceship, more like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn." "More like the rich" Hex mumbled, getting an amused glance from the Doctor for the comment. Not that Hex had the right to complain. She had a little chat with the Tardis earlier while the Doctor was deciding on where to go and the ship had given her a little pouch from which she could produce any currency in any amount that she could possible wish for. It would definitely come in handy if, or rather when, she would hop to another Universe. She had put the pouch in her hidden pocket in her bag with her other mover valuable items.
"What for?" Rose asked. "Fun" the Doctor answered before walking off again, the two girls following. "This may be a bad time to ask but how old are you two?" the Doctor asked, thinking of something. "19" Rose answered, to which the Doctor nodded. "16" Hex hesitantly supplied. The Doctor stopped in his tracks. "You're not even an adult yet, why didn't you tell me?" the Doctor asked. "Well you never asked" Hex said, before walking ahead. "You really didn't" Rose agreed, going to follow Hex. The Doctor took a moment before he jogged to catch up with the two girls.
Hex saw the steward approach and let the Doctor walk ahead, not wanting to reveal to him just yet that she also had a psychic paper. "Who the hell are you?" the steward rudely asked. "Oh, that's nice, thanks" the Doctor said. You didn't hit him for being rude. He commented to Hex. Yeah, but I don't really care about him either. Hex countered, blushing when she realised what she had just implied. That shut the Doctor up about the subject for a while. "But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked. They're on their way any second now" the steward argued. "That's me. I'm a guest. Look, I've got an invitation. Look. There, you see? It's fine, you see? The Doctor plus two. I'm the Doctor, these are Rose Tyler and Alexis Firestone. They're my plus two. Is that all right?" the Doctor said, holding up his psychic paper to the steward who badly apologized and then walked off. "Can I see that?" Hex asked gesturing to the psychic paper. The Doctor turned the paper so that it was facing her. To Hex though, the paper was blank. "It's blank" Hex commented. The Doctor rose his eyebrows is slight surprise. "Really? You really are a genius then I guess" he said before tucking the paper away and turning to Rose to explain it to her, not seeing Hex blush at the compliment. "He's blue" was the only thing Rose could say. "Yeah" the Doctor replied. "Okay" Rose said, as they walked on.
"We have in attendance the Doctor, Rose Tyler and Alexis Firestone. Thank you. All staff to their positions" the steward said over the intercom. A lot of small people appeared and started running around the open hall. Rose watched with curiosity, the Doctor seemed indifferent while Hex was a little amused by the little guys that reminded her of umpa-lumpas from 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. "Hurry now, thank you. Quick as we can. Come along, come along. And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest? Representing the Forest of Cheam, we have trees, namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa" the steward continued. The steward continued to call out other people while Hex dug into her bag and pulled out her bag of sweets. "Not really the time for a snack, is it Hex?" Rose asked. Hex just shook her head and pushed the bag into the Doctor's hands who took it with a confused look on his face. Hex just gestured to Jabe and the other trees that were now coming towards them.
"The Gift of Peace. I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather" Jabe said, giving the Doctor a small twig in a pot. That was when the Doctor understood. I kind of prepared. Hex explained to the Doctor. "Thank you. Yes, gifts. Er, I give you old Earth delicacies" the Doctor said, sticking his hand in the bag and handing Jabe a small hand-full of candy. Jabe took one, unwrapped it and stuck it in her mouth before handing the rest of to one of the other trees. "Can I just say, you are very beautiful" Hex said to Jabe. At first, Jabe was shocked, and then turned a little red as a blush made its way to her face before she nodded in thanks and walked away with her two friends following her.
Soon the face of Boe was announced at which point Hex decided she would try and escape before the Moxx of Balhoon got there, who was making his way towards them at that moment. "Sorry Doctor, but I want to go and say hi to someone" Hex said. The Doctor simply nodded in acknowledgement before Hex ran off, escaping the gift of bodily saliva. Sorry Rose, better you than me. Hex made her way towards the Face of Boe and sat in front of the big tank. Hi Jack. Hex greeted. The face seemed to smile. Hello Angel. I haven't been called that in a long time. How early is this for you? Boe asked. This is the first time I'm meeting you to be honest. Turns out I'm not in my Universe anymore. How much do you know about my watch? The Doctor called it a Dimensional Manipulator. Do you know what the extra hands mean? Hex questioned Boe. She now knew that she would meet Jack in her future and she hoped that she had explained everything to him then. I do not know much. You told me that the golden hand indicated where you are while the silver hand tells you were you will be. When the watch becomes warm, it means you have a maximum of one day to travel. To travel you push the button to open the watch and when it is open, you push it again and hold it down. That is all I can tell you for now. You should go back to the Doctor and Rose. It seems our flower has run off. Boe said. Hex looked around and surely enough, both had gone missing. Thanks Jack. That information was actually really helpful. I'm grateful for anything at the moment. I'll go then, until the next time. Hex said as she stood up. Goodbye Angel. Boe said, before Hex walked towards the guest rooms in search of the one where the Face of Boe would be staying.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hex glared at Cassandra before she left the area. Hex looked around for Raffalo, seeing the legs sticking out of a grate in the wall. They were being pulled in and Hex rushed over to them, grabbing them before they completely disappeared. It took quite some effort from Hex but thanks to her good physical condition and some sudden super strength, she managed to pull Raffalo out. Great, another power discovered. "You all right there?" Hex asked, once she had steadied the poor plumber. "Yes, thank you miss" Raffalo smiled. "No problem. Just stay away from spiders yeah? Oh and I've got a favour to ask you" Hex added. Raffalo looked confused but nodded. "Later on there might be some problems with the ship. We are suspecting there's been some sabotage thanks to the spiders. Lady Cassandra has brought a teleport on board and will leave the Platform. When that happens, I'll need you to escort everyone to the hallways and make sure they stay there till I give the all clear. Make sure they stay away from any windows. You can't tell anyone about this until that time. Do you think you can do that?" Hex asked. Raffalo looked even more confused now. "Yes but why would I do that miss?" she asked. Fair enough. Hex dug into her bag and pulled out her psychic paper. "I'm here on behalf of the emperor. I'm a psychic and was hired due to a warning from an anonymous source that someone would try sabotage this Platform. By doing what I told you, Raffalo, you would be saving lives" Hex said. It was half true. Thank god for remembering about the emperor from 'Nightmare in Silver' though I'm not particularly looking forward to that episode. After a quick look at the paper, Raffalo bowed and promised she would accomplish the task that Hex had set her.
Hex pulled out her little Tardis blue journal and flipped to the episode after marking 'Rose' with a star for having been there. What's next then…. Ah! That's right. I need to save the steward. Hex put the psychic paper and journal back in her secret pocket and then pulled her sonic from her pocket before rushing out of the room towards the steward's office.
When she finally got there, she found the steward banging against the door, screaming for help. 'Sunfilter descending' The computer said. Hex immediately pressed her sonic to the computer on the outside and pressed the button. 'Sunfilter rising' the computer said. As soon as the Sunfilter was back up, Hex opened the door to reveal the steward unconscious on the floor, just as the Doctor and Jabe came around the corner.
"What happened?" the Doctor asked, eyeing the smoking machinery in the office. Hex looked up from her place by the steward where she was checking his vital signs. "He's just unconscious. The Sunfilter was descending and he was locked inside. I got there just in time. Doctor, there's another Sunfilter set to descend. You deal with that one and Jabe can help me with the steward" Hex said. The Doctor looked like he was about to argue but then thought better of it and ran out of the room. Jabe came over to help Hex lift the steward out of his office.
"So you and the Doctor found out about the little spiders and the sabotage?" Hex asked Jabe as they set the steward down in the corridor, away from any windows like Hex had instructed. "Yes, but how do you know?" Jabe asked, a little sceptical. "Do you want the truth or a very clever lie?" Hex asked. Jabe smiled a little at this. "Whichever you chose to give me" Jabe countered. "Ok right. Well, I'm a little psychic and have some knowledge on future events. That's why I got to the stewards office before he died. Technically he should have died there and the Doctor would have been too late" Hex explained, as they started walking back to the main deck. "I see, and you saved his life why?" Jabe asked. "Well, why not? Every life is precious. Why have foreknowledge if you are just going to sit around and do nothing about people you know you could have saved" Hex said. Jabe nodded her head in an understanding manner.
"Speaking of saving lives, I'll need you to do something for me" Hex said hesitantly. Jabe nodded for her to continue. "Later the Doctor will go to manually override the Sunfilters and will ask you to go with him. I ask you not to go and let me go instead. I want you to stay behind and help make sure that everyone gets into the corridors and away from any windows. I already asked someone else to help. Will you do this for me?" Hex questioned. "I would die there, wouldn't I? Why else ask me to stay behind?" Jabe questioned. Hex hesitated, before biting her lip and nodding at the tree woman. "It would get to hot and you would burn" Hex explained, becoming very serious.
Jabe took a moment to take this information in before nodding. "I will do what you ask and thank you. You really are like an angel. You give people a second chance to live" Jabe said. Hex just blinked. "You're the second one to call me that today" Hex said, remembering the way Boe had called her Angel. "Then I shall continue to call you that" Jabe said, smirking a little. Hex just groaned. Great. Now I've got a nickname of sorts. Let's just hope the Doctor and his companions don't adopt it.
Jabe and Hex both arrived at the central deck around the same time as the Doctor. How's Rose? Hex questioned him as soon as he entered. Irritated but otherwise fine. The steward? The Doctor questioned back. Safe for now. Safer than the rest of us at the moment. The Doctor nodded at her as he came up to Hex and Jabe. "The metal machine confirms it. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One" Jabe informed everyone. "How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturise me, moisturise me" Cassandra said in her stupidly posh accent. Stupid trampoline should be careful of what she says. "Summon the Steward" Moxx said. "I'm afraid, the Steward is unconscious" Jabe informed everyone, causing most of them to gasp in 'surprise'. "What happened?" Moxx asked. "This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe. He invited us. Talk to the Face. Talk to the Face" Cassandra said. This caused Hex's blood to boil. She liked Jack and she wouldn't let Cassandra just put the blame on him. Hex's eyes were glowing. She could feel it but didn't care.
"Don't you dare Cassandra. He has nothing to with this! If you dare try and blame him for it…" Hex let the threat hand in the air. Cassandra seemed terrified of Hex but tried to hide. Even to the Doctor, Hex seemed terrifying with her glowing eyes, and he was happy that he wasn't on the receiving end of that hateful glare. It's alright Angel. Let it go. Hex heard Boe say in her mind. She calmed down a little but was still angry at the stupid trampoline. She could feel as her eyes lost that glow, and the whole room seemed to relax a little.
"Easy way of finding out. Someone brought their little pet on board. Let's send him back to his master" the Doctor said, putting the spider down that Jabe had been scanning and watching it scuttle over towards Cassandra before changing directions and going to the Adherent of the Repeated Meme. Heh. Meme.
"The Adherent of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!" Cassandra cried out in obviously fake surprise. Really? How does no one else notice. The Doctor walks over to the Adherents. "That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it…" one of the Adherents try to hit him but he pulls it's arm off "A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea" the Doctor says as he pulls one of the wires from the arm and all the figures collapse.
That was when Hex noticed that her watch started feeling warm against her skin and she remembered what Boe told her regarding the watch. She had a day now to travel to another Universe. She would have to tell the Doctor about that once everything has calmed down a bit.
The Doctor gave the spider another little nudge and it returned to Cassandra. "I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed. At arms!" Cassandra commanded her two attendants who raised their spray guns. "What are you going to do, moisturise me?" the Doctor asked. "With acid" Cassandra replied with a smirk. Stupid trampoline. See if you're still smirking once you explode and have to use the skin from your back. "Oh, you're too late, anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe, Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just a pretty face" Cassandra said. "You're not even that" Hex mumbled.
Hex tuned out the rest of the conversation, knowing how it was going to go more or less, and focused on what she would have to do next. While they were talking she took of her jacket. She was going to use it to hold down the lever so that she wouldn't burn her hands from it. Once Cassandra had teleported out though, Hex spotted Raffalo at the entrance of one of the corridors. The two of them made eye contact and Raffalo nodded at Hex to say that she would be done as instructed. Hex nodded back before turning back to the conversation.
'Heat levels rising' the computer announced. "Reset the computer" Moxx suggested. "Only the Steward would know how" Jabe countered. "No, We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, come on. You lot, just chill" the Doctor said. Hex gave Jabe a look. "No Doctor, I think you should take your friend. I would not be much use to you there" Jabe said, gesturing towards Hex, who tried to look as innocent as possible. Luckily I have such good acting skills. Hex thought as the Doctor hesitated before nodding and grabbing Hex's hand and dragging her along.
They were soon in the Engine room where Hex immediately rushed to the lever and wrapped her jacket around it before pushing it down. The fans slowed down. "Go through, I'll hold it down. No wasting time mister!" Hex said. The Doctor gave Hex an unreadable look before going through the first fan. "So, why did Jabe really stay behind" the Doctor asked once he was in front of the second fan. "Now? You want to do this now!?" Hex asked, sweat and heat making it harder to hold on. "Might as well" the Doctor said, eyeing the fan in front of him. " Because I told her so. Because she would be taking my place here otherwise, and she would have burned! Is that what you wanted to hear!? At least she is up there with someone else I managed to save, making sure that even more lives are saved by getting everyone into the corridors. Happy!?" Hex questioned. She was fed up. She was almost sure that the Doctor would be angry with her for tampering with the time lines.
"Actually, yeah" the Doctor said as he stepped past the second fan. That was not the reaction that Hex had expected. "Wait… you're not angry at me. For messing with the time lines. You know, saving people that should have died?" Hex asked, now really not knowing what to expect anymore. "No. They weren't fixed points. I think I trust you enough to know what you are doing. Anyway, I'd rather you save lives than stick to some stupid time lines" the Doctor said with a little smile as he tried to time his go through the third fan which was going a bit faster than the first two.
That was when the computer started counting down. 'Planet explodes in ten, nine, eight…'. Hex started becoming very anxious. "Anytime now would be nice Doctor" Hex shouted through the noise of the fans. The Doctor just rolled his eyes before closing them and stepping through, making it through without a scratch. The Doctor ran for the reset breaker, yelling "Raise shields!" The shields were raised in time and the fans slowed down immensely. Hex felt and looked like a wreck. She was sweaty and her arms ached from the effort it had taken to hold down the lever throughout the unbearable heat. Thank you super strength.
The Doctor walked back to where Hex had just sat down on the floor out of exhaustion. "You alright there?" the Doctor asked, holding out a hand for her to take as soon as he was close enough. They weren't done yet after all. If this were any other situation, then Hex would have just asked to be left there, but she didn't want to miss revenge on the living trampoline for what she said against Jack. In a way, Hex felt protective over Jack in a sisterly way. Jack would make a great big brother.
It didn't take too long for Hex and the Doctor to get back to the main deck where people were starting to exit the hallways. Both Raffalo and Jabe smiled when they saw Hex come back with the Doctor. They were both worried about their Angel, something that both had agreed on calling her after conversing in the hallway. They had even gone so far as to tell everyone else there, including the now conscious steward, about what she had done. Everyone except for the Face of Boe seemed surprised by it.
"You two all right?" Rose asked, coming to her two friends. Rose too had heard what the others had started to call Hex and decided to confront her about it later. "Fine" Hex said, knowing that the Doctor was about to go into his little monologue, which he did. "Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces" Cassandra said, not having realised that the Doctor had beamed her back until she finished speaking. "The last human" the Doctor said in a condescending tone. "So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join the er… the Human Club" Cassandra tried. "People have almost died, Cassandra. You tried to murder them" the Doctor stated. "Only almost? I wonder what went wrong. Well, it depends on your definition of people anyway, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter" Cassandra said smugly.
"And creak?" Hex said, knowing that it was supposed to be the Doctors line, but wanting the revenge for what she did and was going to do. "And what?" Cassandra asked, still not understanding. This has to happen anyway so there is nothing I could do about it, even if I wanted to do something. "Creak, You're creaking" the Doctor explained, as if it were an everyday occurrence. It still didn't mean that Hex wanted to watch the whole thing happen so she left to the room where she knew Rose would come to later and waited, thinking about how she was going to explain everything to the Doctor with Rose there. Maybe she would just leave before Rose could ask any questions and would leave the Doctor to explain.
It didn't take long for Rose to join Hex, soon followed by the Doctor. "The end of the Earth. It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go. All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just…." Rose trailed off, not really knowing how to express herself. Hex knew that she should be feeling something as well, but she didn't because she remembered that this wasn't even her earth. Her earth was in a different Universe and she might never see it again. "Come with me" the Doctor said, holding out a hand to Rose, who took it after hesitating for a moment. Hex followed as the pair went towards the Tardis. Once inside, Hex threw herself onto the captain's chair, still a little sweaty and completely exhausted.
"Umm, Doctor, before we go anywhere, I should probably say that I have to go soon" Hex said, knowing that she would have to do this as soon as possible. "How come?" the Doctor asked, eyeing the chain of the pocket watch which he knew was hanging under her shirt. "Well, I had a chat with a friend on the Platform and they managed to explain how it worked a little. See, the silver hand on the watch shows where I am going next while the golden hand shows which Universe I'm in. When the watch gets warm, which it started being a little more than an hour ago, I have one day to go. At least I get to decide when I go during that day but yeah. I don't have too much time left. I'll probably come back though at some point in your time line" Hex explained.
The Doctor nodded in understanding while Rose looked confused. Hex glanced at Rose, feeling a little guilty about not telling her earlier. "Wait, what are you talking about?" Rose questioned. You're explaining this to her, I don't have the time for it and I don't know how long it will be before I pop back in again. Hex told the Doctor who pouted but didn't reply otherwise. "The Doctor will explain later. Any last things you guys want to say?" Hex asked as she started pulling out her pocket watch. "Yeah actually" Rose said. Both Hex and the Doctor looked at her, a little surprised.
"What is the whole deal with everyone calling you Angel?" Rose asked. Hex groaned and dropped her head in her hands. "No she didn't. I'm going to kill Jabe for that" now the Doctor really did look intrigued and Hex knew that they wouldn't let it go unless she explained it. "I might have told Jabe about my, let's call it all knowing power, because I don't like foreknowledge. She decided to call me Angel because she thinks I give people a second chance or something like that. I don't really get it either" Hex said. "Angel….I like it. It suits you" the Doctor said, looking a little thoughtful. "Oh no. Not you too" Hex sighed into her hands. Rose grinned. "Yeah I like it too. You're our Angel Hex" Rose said happily. Hex now had enough of this.
She made sure that she had everything on her; her shoulder bag and sonic, plus a portable perception filter to attach to the bag just in case, before opening her pocket watch. "Bye guys" Hex said, waving with her free hand. "Bye Angel" they both said in unison, making Hex roll her eyes before she pressed down on the button again. A golden light started to surround her, which got so bright that she had to close her eyes. When she opened them again, she definitely wasn't where she had been before.