Note: hello everyone! So I know this story just suddenly up out of nowhere. But I've been wanting to write this story. Of course, I won't immediately update soon enough. I'm still focusing of Histories first and still deciding the plot for Arthur's adventures. If some of you enjoy this story, I'll be glad to know.
Arthur's story isn't like Tory's. He might feel familiar for some readers. His adventures are like "female OC entering DW Universe and jumping through the Doctor's timeline while having a major role" story, but not at the same time. Romance probably will not be the focus here, since I want to focus more about family & friends dynamic between them all.
Lastly, for his look, I'm picturing Arthur looking like Roman Griffin Davis.
So without further ado, happy reading!
Arthur sits quietly at his chair near a train station, gripping his train ticket that will lead him into Sheffield. He doesn't carry many belongings, so it's rather easy for the young boy to move freely.
He never expected to do this. Moving away from his old orphanage. Alone, by himself, nonetheless. No one accompanied him.
Apparently it has something to do with a few agreement between Mr. Shaw, the man who owns the orphanage, and other orphanages' owners, with Mr. Derby's death. Arthur didn't understand what's really happening, other than the orphanage will be closed and some kids need to move away.
He remembered preparing his stuff, ready to go with other kids to go with a provided bus. But Mr. Shaw suddenly stopped him before he can enter the bus. He mentioned an orphanage from Sheffield wants Arthur to stay.
When he asked the reason, Mr. Shaw revealed to him about his mother's letter that Mr. Derby received when his mother came to the orphanage. Turns out, Arthur's mother left him in Derbyshire for his protection. What kind of protection, neither anyone ever knows. She never told the truth. But she promised Mr. Derby to take him away to Sheffield when he's reaching 11 years old, giving him some money so Arthur can use it in the future.
But since Arthur's still at age 10, Mr. Shaw thought it would be better if Arthur comes to Sheffield and stays one year at the orphanage before she picks him up. After all, the boy needs to know his mother. Which is why, right now, Arthur's sitting at Derby railway station, waiting for the train that lead him into Sheffield by himself. Mr. Shaw and other staff cannot accompany him due to work they must do with the orphanage. They did send their old staff name Merry to take him away to the train station, but she just drove him to the station.
When the announcer announcing the train Arthur must go inside, the boy hold his backpack as he's standing, walking into the platform. He nearly jumps as a train arrives with loud noise. While the train slowly open the doors, Arthur walks in and take the nearest chair that allows him to see the view from the window. It seems there's only a few passengers, as there's only three passengers inside. A married couple and a man.
Not long after, the train leaves for the next station. Arthur feels bored, so the blonde boy takes a novel called I, Robot by Isaac Asimov from his backpack, for reading. He always likes his brown backpack for two reasons. One, it was a gift left by his father for his 5th birthday that his mother left behind by Mr. Derby. Two, it is always able to fill many belongings, despite the fact that it isn't big enough to fill so many things.
As the announcer mentions their next station will be Grindleford, Arthur can hear the couple talking to each other.
"Do you ever think he's going to call me Grandad?" The man asked.
"Give him time," the woman replied.
"Three years we've been married."
"And you've never been happier!"
"Can't keep his hands off me, love."
"Behave yourself."
"Never."
And suddenly, the train comes to a sudden halt, causing Arthur to fell over. He groaned a little before standing up. As he does that, the lights go out.
"You all right, love?" The man asked his wife.
"Think so, yeah," she answered. "What just happened?"
"Where you going?"
"Just having a look." She puts her head out of a door to see people getting off the train. "What're you doing? Don't go on track, it could be live!"
Arthur slowly approaches her when her expression turns into worry. "What's wrong?" He asked.
"The doors just locked," she revealed, trying to open it. "We're shut in. I can't get them open. Summat's wrong."
"I think something's coming down the train," the other man said.
At first, nothing happened. Then, there's a flash of bright light from the next carriage.
"Right, get away from the door," the man said, grabbing the other man and Arthur away. "Grace, get to the back of the carriage. Get to the back."
They close the interconnecting doors behind them, rushing back to early carriage. The woman, Grace, calling someone as her husband put Arthur behind. "Ryan, love. Our train's stopped between Hathersage and Grindleford, and something really weird's going on... Ryan?" She looks at her phone, confused. "I can't reach him."
Arthur shook his head as Grace slowly walked front.
"Grace, get back," her husband warned her. But she didn't listen, still in front as an interconnecting door was blown apart, allowing a multi-tentacled thing to move slowly towards them. Grace slowly steps backward. "What is it?"
"I've no idea."
Electrical discharges from the thing trap them against the final and locked door. Graham tries to open it, but it won't budge. Suddenly, someone falls through the carriage roof with a cry. The four of them are just stunned as a blonde woman with ragged clothes stands up, taking a breath, staring at them. "What?" She asked.
Grace and Arthur pointed the thing behind her. After notices it, she grabs a dangling electrical cable and thrusts it into the thing, which stop sparking. "Should buy us a few seconds," she noted. They looks surprised with how she enters the train. The blonde looks at the hole in the roof. "Oh yeah. Long story. Tell you later. Doors?"
"Locked," Arthur replied.
"We'll see about that." The blonde checks her pocket. "No sonic. Empty pockets. Oh, I hate empty pockets."
"It's coming back!" Arthur shouted, stepping back, nervous.
The blonde woman looks at it. "What are you?" She asked, before jerks backward. "Okay, you don't like questions. More the private type, I get that."
It moves past her, slowly approaches the other man. "Get it away from me!"
"All of you, stay very still," she warned.
"It's going to kill us."
"It could've done that already."
"Nan!" Another voice called.
"Ryan, stay away!" Grace shouted.
"Oh, my God," a policewoman muttered.
It suddenly sends them some electrics at their neck. Arthur yelped in pain, feeling nausea as it disappeared through the hole in the roof.
"You four, relax, but stay put. I'll check the rest of the train," she said before looking at Ryan and the policewoman. "Fat lot of use you two were," she commented, walking through the train.
"Hey!" The policewoman called, chasing her. Ryan and Arthur follow. "Hold on there please, madam. I need you to do as I say. This could be a potential crime scene."
"Why are you calling me madam?" She asked, stop.
"Because you're a woman."
The blonde woman looks happy. "Am I? Does it suit me?"
"What?"
"Oh yeah, I remember. Sorry, half an hour ago I was a white-haired Scotsman," she explained, as if that makes perfect sense. She walks again. "When's the next train due?"
"This is the last one back," Ryan answered.
"But the doors are locked. How did you both get in?"
"Driver's window was smashed in," the policewoman replied.
"What's your name?"
"PC Khan, Hallamshire Police."
"Name, not title."
"Yasmin Khan. Yaz to my friends. Can I have your name, please?"
"When I can remember it."
"You don't know your own name?"
"Course I know it. I just can't remember it. It's right there, on the tip of my... What's that?" She sticks out her tounge.
"Tongue?" Arthur pondered.
"Tongue! Smart boy. Biology. What's your name?"
Arthur looks at her curiously. "Arthur. Arthur Jonas."
"Lovely name," she commented, before muttering. "I've known that name before..." but she shook her head and looked at Ryan. "And you?"
"Ryan Sinclair."
"Good name. Are you a doctor, Ryan?"
"No."
"Shame. I'm looking for a doctor," she muttered, entering the drive car.
"Power, lights, doors." The blonde woman puts back the light. Arthur flinches as he looks at a woman who has already passed away. "Poor woman."
"That thing must've killed her as it came through," Ryan guessed.
"Must it? It didn't kill anyone else. Looks more like she died of shock when it smashed through the window."
"Either way, a woman has died here," Yasmin noted.
"But no more creatures, and no other passengers left on board. Let's get back to the others," she suggested, unknowingly holding Arthur's hand.
"Wait. Can you stop, please? This could be a major incident. I'm the one in charge here," Yasmin interjected.
She looks at Yasmin. "What are you going to do?"
"Call it into my station."
"What are you going to tell them?"
"The facts."
"Which are?"
"The train was attacked."
"By what?"
"I need to take a look at CCTV footage."
"And why do you need to check CCTV when we all saw it with our own eyes?"
"Was it an alien? Because it looked like an alien to me," Ryan theorized.
"Oh, come on," Yasmin said, finding it ridiculous.
"What, you think he's wrong?" The blonde woman asked.
"No, I dunno, but..."
"You're worried about how you will explain what just happened, which sounds absolutely illogical, despite it's true," Arthur finished, earning a surprised look from the trio.
"I can't not report it," Yasmin argued.
"You could hold off until we get the answers to the bigger questions," the blonde suggested.
"Which are?"
"What was it? Why is it here? Where's it going next? And, most importantly, how do we stop it? 'Cos whatever it is, I don't think it's done. Come on, Ryan. Come on, Arthur. Come on, Yaz. I'm calling you Yaz, cos we're friends now."
The blonde woman decides to check the train more by herself, letting others wait. As Yasmin talks to each of them for information, Arthur feels like he's dreaming. After all, he's just seen... whatever that thing is. Perhaps his big imagination is just messing his mind. It's not that rare, considering other kids at the orphanage making fun of his idea or suggestion, like that one time Arthur saw a mini marshmallow walking near his room.
But it feels real. Any of this... is real. So he knows he's not dreaming and still awake.
The blonde woman moves past Yasmin and the other man, Karl. "Right then, troops. No, not troops. Team, gang, fam? I'm distracting myself."
"You came crashing through that roof," Grace recalled.
"I was thrown out of my Tardis," she said, then her eyes widened, realizing. "Oh, I've lost my Tardis. It was exploding and then it dematerialised. Don't panic. Not the end of the world. Well, it could be the end of the world, but one thing at a time."
"Are we supposed to understand anything you're saying?" Graham, Grace's husband, wondered.
"We've just met an alien," Arthur innocently said.
Graham shook his head in fondness. Kids these days. "No, kiddo. There's no such thing as aliens. And even if there was, they ain't going to be on a train in Sheffield."
"Why not? I'm alien and I'm here," the blonde dared.
"You're an alien? An actual one?" Arthur asked back, curious, tilting his head.
"Grace, we're going," Graham suddenly suggested.
"No, we're not," Grace disagreed. "She just saved our lives."
"Don't be scared. All of this is new to you, and new can be scary," the blonde woman assured. "Now we all want answers. Stick with me, you might get some."
"Actually, I don't want answers," Karl cuts in. "I just want to get to work and forget all about this. If that's all right with everyone. Even if it isn't. Thank you."
"Would you like me to..." Yasmin proposed.
"No! Thank you. I er, just want to be on my own. I'll walk. I need the air. And I'm with him," Karl agreed with Graham. "We don't get aliens in Sheffield." With that, he leaves with his bag.
"I think he's still in shock, bless him," Grace said.
"Obvious question, but has anyone noticed anything else out of the ordinary tonight?" The blonde asked, which made Ryan slowly raise his hand.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
With the train unable to move, they use the police car Yasmin brought to their destination. Since the capacity only fit for five people, Arthur had to sit on the blonde's lap.
"I'm going to be in such trouble if they find out I were there," Yasmin muttered.
"Can you lights and siren on?" Arthur suggested.
"No! I shouldn't be doing any of this."
Arthur nods sadly as the blonde woman looks behind. "So you three know each other?"
"I'm his Nan. Graham's me husband," Grace mentioned.
"Second husband," Ryan added.
"What's wrong with that?" Arthur asked, not understanding why Ryan talks like that.
Ryan looks awkward, doesn't know what's the right answer for a 10-years-old boy.
"And you two know each other?" The woman asked Ryan, cutting the tension.
"Yeah, Yaz and I were at school together."
"Oh."
"Not Yasmin Khan?" Grace wondered.
"Hello, Ryan's Nan," Yasmin greeted.
"Haven't you done well for yourself, love," Grace complimented her, notices Arthur starts to yawn.
The woman looks at him tenderly, holding him. "And you say you just found it there, this thing?"
"Yeah, pretty much. I took pictures," Ryan replied, showing his phone to her.
"Oh, good lad," she said, looking at the pictures. "That's exciting. No, not exciting. What do I mean? Worrying," she realized. "Fast as you can, Yaz."
As Yasmin rides the car as fast as she can, Arthur falls asleep, holding his backpack.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
Some time passed later, the blonde woman managed to create a tracking device from Ryan's phone to navigate the alien's location. Now, they ride into Graham's car, but Grace's the one who drives it. Using the app that the blonde woman had, they move from the O'Brien's house into the industrial unit area.
They all get out, looking for anything that's unordinary.
"We're close," she said, scanning the area while carrying Arthur, who's still sleepy. He might have gone to sleep, had an explosion not happened. "Bingo. Oi!" She yelled as a metal man appeared, looking at them. "I was expecting a tentacle-y thing," she admitted. "Don't you move!"
But it turns away, which makes her and Arthur chase after it, confusing others behind. But due to her small stature and still carrying Arthur, she gets tired easily and stops running.
"Oh, lost it. It's fast. I'm slower cos of all this... fizzing inside," she noted at Yasmin.
"In here!" Ryan shouted at them, getting them inside an industry.
Arthur had to closed his eyes upon see someone's laying around. He knows the person already dead long before they arrived.
"Got a man down over here," Graham remarked.
"That thing must've killed him. I've never seen injuries like these," Grace noted.
The blonde woman puts Arthur down, letting Ryan keep him around. The boy refuses to open his blue eyes as she inspects. "Not a weapon blast, more of an ice burn."
"It broke his jaw open too," Grace added.
"Looks like it took one of his teeth. What sort of creature kills someone and then stops to pull out a tooth?" She wondered. "I'm sorry you all had to see this."
"I'll find something to cover the body," Grace said, which made Arthur sighs gladly. He might have had a nightmare if he saw it again.
"Thank you, Grace," she thanked her before apologizing. "I'm sorry any of this is happening. I'm sorry that thing on the train planted these bombs inside you, and I'm sorry I haven't figured out what's going on yet."
"That's okay," Arthur said, still closing his eyes. "I mean, you're tried, even though you cannot remember things that you should know. Don't push it over."
"This is it," Ryan interjected, showing them some remnants of rocks. "This is the thing."
"It was all sealed up earlier. Looks like it's been broken," Yasmin recalled. "You can open your eyes, Arthur."
"Or it's done what it came here for," the blonde woman suggested, circles it as Arthur finally opened his eyes. "It's some sort of transport chamber, presumably for that thing we just saw in the alley. But why here? Why tonight?"
"Actually, that might have been me," Ryan remarked.
Arthur looks at him. "Why?"
"When I went to get me bike, there were this line in the air. And then it moved, and there were shapes."
"And?" The blonde woman asked.
"And I touched one."
"Ryan," Grace said, sounds disappointed.
"You all would've done the same."
"I wouldn't," Arthur disagreed, getting the hard lesson after an incident with some food beverage at the orphanage's kitchen he curiously touch. Safe to say, he grounded for 2 weeks afterward.
"I would've," the blonde woman agreed, which made Arthur confused when she responded.
"Right, the shapes disappeared. A few seconds later, that appeared," Ryan finished. "What've I done?"
"Hard to say, really."
"Maybe it's like a coordinate? The shapes act like a confirmation" Arthur proposed. "So when Ryan touched it, it gave permission to land."
The blonde woman looks at Arthur with amusement and a small smile. "That's not bad, Sunny. Good one."
"I suppose you'll be blaming this on the dyspraxia as well. Can't ride a bike, started an alien invasion," Graham commented.
"Graham," Grace scolded him.
"What?"
"Enough, love."
"What's dyspraxia?" Arthur wondered.
"Coordination disorder," Grace repeated. The blonde boy opened his mouth with an 'oh' reaction.
"All right, I made a mistake," Ryan admitted. "But why did that guy move this thing from the Peaks to here? And how did he even know it were there?"
"Good questions," the blonde woman agreed.
"Let's take a look round here, see what we can find," Yasmin suggested.
The blonde woman checks the app. "Can't follow it. The tracking's been blocked, like it figured out what I was doing."
"If we were tracking bomb signals from that creature from the train, why did they lead us here?" Grace asked.
"Another good question. I dunno. If I could analyse that. Course, what I really need is my..." she looks at her pocket grumbled before gasping. "Oh! I could build one. I'm good at building things. Probably."
She dashes at a workbench, assembling components she needs as Arthur watches her taking a nearby apron. "You don't look like an alien," Arthur noted near her, which earned a soft smack from Grace.
"You should've seen me a few hours back. My whole body changed. Every cell in my body burning," she said, pausing for a moment. She seems to be thinking of something, before softly shaking her head. "Some of them are still at it now. Reordering, regenerating."
"Must be painful."
She smiles, sadly. "You have no idea. There's this moment when you're sure you're about to die and then... you're born. It's terrifying. Right now, I'm a stranger to myself. There's echoes of who I was, and a sort of call towards who I am, and I have to hold my nerve and trust all these new instincts. Shape myself towards them. I'll be fine, in the end. Hopefully. Well, I have to be because you guys need help. And if there is one thing I'm certain of, when people need help, I never refuse." She grinned. "Right, this is going to be fun!"
▪︎▪︎▪︎
It was already past midnight as five of them were climbing at a building, where Arthur can see the weird thing from the train. Before coming here, the blonde woman discusses their plan or tactic to send these aliens away from Earth. Arthur's not sure how a device like a pen called sonic screwdriver can really help this situation. But it did some impressive work for removing the DNA bomb from their collarbone, so that's a plus.
Arthur watches as the blonde scans the weird thing after she and Grace manages to hold it from doing dangerous stuff.
"Half organic, half machine. Starts to make sense now." She stops for a moment. "Wait. It's a Gathering Coil. No, dozens of Gathering Coils. These tentacle-y things, they're creatures which gather information. They've been lashed together and augmented into one super-creature. But why? What data are they gathering? Unless..."
"So that's an alien species?" Yasmin asked.
"Not really. More of a semi-species. Weaponised bio-tech."
"You said there were two aliens in a battle."
"You're right, I did, but now I think I'm wrong and I'm trying to catch up with what that might mean. If I can access the data it's gathered..." She sticks the screwdriver into the coils and an image is projected. An image of Karl.
"It's Karl from the train," Arthur realized.
"Karl's the data. That's what it was gathering on the train."
"But what would the alien want with him?" Graham wondered.
"Which one of you shall I kill first?" A echoe voice dared to them. Arthur yelped, surprised by another presence of someone else. They all look up to see the creature standing in his cloud of steam.
"I'm voting none of us. Get behind me now," she told others before facing their opponent. "Stop right there. Come any further and we'll blast whatever that thing is."
"You're interfering in things you don't understand."
"Yeah, well, we all need a hobby."
"You're not human. Who are you?"
"Me? I'm..." she stops talking for a moment before growling. "Oh, it's gone again. I had it a minute ago. So annoying. Same question back at you. No, in fact, before that, because it's really bugging me, actually not bugging me, offending me. Why the teeth? Bad enough you kill, why take a tooth from the victim?"
It removes its faceplate to reveal that its head is studded with teeth. "A Stenza warrior wears his conquests. You may tell your children you were once privileged to encounter Tzim-Sha of the Stenza."
"Tim... Shaw?" Arthur spelled.
"Tzim-Sha."
"...Tim... Shaw?"
"Tzim-Sha!" He snarled. "Soon to be leader of the Stenza warrior race, conquerors of the Nine Systems."
"When you say soon to be leader, what are you now, the office junior?" The woman dared.
"Eh? No, don't wind him up," Graham advised.
"Tonight is my challenge. Trace and obtain the selected human trophy," Tim Shaw declared.
"You're on a hunt," Arthur concluded.
"Well done. Your tiny mind must be burning with such effort."
"Did he just say Arthur had a small mind?" The blonde woman asked, sounds... angry?
"The challenge is simple. Our leaders randomly designate a selected human. I'm sent here, alone, no weapons, no assistance. I must locate and obtain the trophy and return home with it, victorious. By doing this, I ascend to leader. This is the ritual of the Stenza," Tim Shaw explained.
"And it's happened before," Yasmin realized. "Rahul's sister."
"Earth is not a hunting ground," the blonde lady remarked.
"Access was granted," Tim Shaw insisted.
"No, it wasn't," Ryan disagreed. "It was a misunderstanding. Access revoked as of now, by me."
"You said the rules were no weapons, no assistance," Arthur recalled, holding his backpack nervously.
Tim Shaw glances at the blonde boy. "Correct."
The woman steps in front of him, like shielding the young boy from Tim Shaw. "How did you kill them? What caused the ice burns?"
"We Stenza live at temperatures far below this planet, one touch of my cold skin will kill a human."
" So, this super-powered Gathering Coil right here, you're not meant to have it, are you?"
"The creature is irrelevant."
"I don't think it is. I think you smuggled it ahead of you. I think it located the randomly designated human for you. I think you broke the rules. Some leader you're going to make. Tim Shaw is a big blue cheat!"
Tim Shawraises its hand, palm glowing with cold energy.
"Okay, fine, have it," she said, telling others to let Tim Shaw move while keeping his palm aimed at the blonde woman. He lowers his hand and kneels by the Gathering Coil. He touches it and blue strands of light trail up his arm.
"What's it doing?" Arthur whispered beside the blonde lady.
"Total transference," she replied. When the blue strands travel all the way up to his head, he stands and faces them. The blonde lady said, "if you've finished, let's be really clear. You're not taking any human from Earth tonight. Leave now or we're going to stop you."
"Good luck." With that, Tim Shaw vanished alongside the weird thing.
"No!" Arthur yelled.
"Short-range teleport. Double cheat!" The blonde woman shouted, clearly upset.
"Where have they gone?" Yasmin asked.
"Hunting," Arthur simply answered.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
They are able to locate the whereabouts of Karl. But Tim Shaw arrives first, ready to kill Karl. They decided to split up. While the blonde woman, Ryan, Yasmin will stop Tim Shaw and rescue Karl, Grace, Graham, and Arthur will make sure everyone out of this place first.
As Arthur yells at everyone to get out with the O'Briens, the boy hopes they can make it, that they can save Karl and stop Tim Shaw for good.
After making sure nobody's around, Grace runs toward the cranes, despite Arthur and Graham protesting about her decision. They catches up to her and stop her by taking her arm, both holding each hand.
"Grace, she explicitly said not to come back and it's not safe!" Graham warned.
Arthur looks toward a flash. The Gathering Coil is zapping at the tower.
"Look, it swapped cranes, it's trying to bring it down!" Grace insists, quickly pulls her lime green vest off and thrusts it at her husband, crumpled in a ball. "We have to stop it."
"Huh?"
But she just runs toward the crane. Graham sighs as he removes his vest and follows her, holding Arthur's hand.
Three of them watch as the woman jumps from one crane to another.
"Oh my God," the O'Briens muttered, except Arthur, who witnessed all of this with curiosity and wonder in his mind.
"Cool," he replied with a big grin.
Graham hurrying himself and Arthur as he and Grace drop the bags on the ground. Grace sorts through one and Graham grunts as he lifts a large cable over his shoulder.
Grace looks at her husband. "Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Come on."
They walk away towards an old place. Grace breaks a padlock on a door and opens it. She, Graham, and Arthur look inside. "Right. You and Arthur rewired the house, so you sort things out this end, I'll climb up," Grace instructed.
"I don't want you doing that!" Graham argued.
"Graham, Ryan's in danger, we don't have time to argue." She takes the rod from Arthur. "Give me the signal when you're ready."
She walks away as Graham and Arthur look back into the shed. "Okay," he muttered. "Let's get start it, kiddo."
Then, Grace comes back and kisses Graham. She looks at him with a huge smile. "Is it wrong to be enjoying this?"
"Yes!" Graham emphasized.
"No? Eh, maybe?" Arthur shrugged.
Grace just laughs and kisses Graham again. She runs off and both boys watch with concern. She'll be fine," Graham assured him as they began to work.
"Now, Graham!" Grace yelled after some time passed. Graham and Arthur pull a lever together, flinch with a grunt as sparks fly.
"It's working!" Grace shouted. But then, they heard her scream. Worry, they run faster than ever, only to find Grace lies motionless on the wet cement, most likely dying from a fall.
Graham runs to her and kneels. Arthur just stands, his eyes cover with tears as he closes his mouth in horror, knowing what will happen next.
Grace reaches up to caress his stunned face, breathing heavily. "Don't be cross with me."
"I'm not cross, baby. I'm not cross," Graham cried.
"Promise me... you won't be scared."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Without me." Grace shut her eyes as she died.
Arthur backs away, not wanting to watch it more as he's crying. It didn't help when others arrived after. He just saw someone died in front of him... and he can't do anything to stop it. To prevent it. He feels useless, useless for letting Grace die.
He let his knees fall and started to cry louder. That is, until someone approaches him and hugs him.
"It's okay," a voice assured him. The blonde woman's voice. "It's okay."
He kept crying at her, hugging her until he passed out from tiredness, not hearing the woman apologise at him.
▪︎▪︎▪︎
The blonde woman, who's called the Doctor, stands in front of O'Brien's house with Graham, Yasmin, and Ryan. Arthur stands beside the Doctor, already changing his clothes and now wearing Ryan's old clothes that fit his body.
They just went to Grace's funeral. Graham had to make up the truth about Grace's death and simply said she died from falling off the stairs. It was hurt for him and Ryan to cover up the truth, but they know nobody will ever believe how exactly Grace died.
"What did you mean in your speech, you thought you'd 'run out of time'?" The Doctor asked Graham.
The man himself slowly answered, hesitating. "Oh, well, I, erm... I had cancer, and, er... Well, strictly speaking, I'm... still in remission. Three years gone. And, er... Grace was my chemo nurse, that's where we met... and fell in love. So, by rights, I... I shouldn't even be here."
They sit in silence for a moment. Arthur looks sad at Graham. Grace was his savior, without her... he might not be able to live now.
"Have you got family?" Yasmin asked the Doctor.
The blonde woman pauses before responding. "No. Lost them a long time ago."
Arthur gasped lightly upon hearing that.
Ryan gazes at her. "How do you cope with that?"
"I carry them with me. What they would have thought, and said, and done. Make them a part of who I am. So even though they're gone from the world, they're never gone from me."
"That's the sort of thing Grace would have said," Graham noted.
"So everything we saw, everything we've lied to people about... is this normal for you?" Yasmin pressed.
"I'm just a traveller." The Doctor smiles. "Sometimes I see things need fixing, and do what I can. Except, right now, I'm a traveller without a ship." She sighs. "And I also have to bring Sunny with me. I promised his mother."
That statement makes Arthur look at the Doctor intensely. "You KNOW my mother?"
"Very," she emphasized, kneeling to him, finally remembering why she kept calling him Sunny. But the boy mustn't know. Not the time. "I promised her to take care of you while she can't." She frowns. "Maybe that's why the Tardis sent me to Sheffield. To pick you."
"What happened to her?" Arthur demanded, wanting to know more. "Mr. Derby said she left me to protect me. Is she in danger?"
"I'm sorry, Arthur. But you can't know that until 11 years old. Your mother will explain that to you. It's not my place to do that." Literally.
"But why?"
"Spoilers," she sadly said, like she didn't want to say that to him, but had no choice. "Come on."
"Doctor!" Yasmin called as she and Arthur walked away. "Can I just say... you really need to get out of those clothes."
The Doctor looks down at her burned and ragged suit meant for a man much taller than her. Graham smiles, Ryan laughs, and Arthur's just confused. "Right, yeah," she muttered. "It's been a long time since I bought women's clothes."
▪︎▪︎▪︎
After changing her clothes, the Doctor prepares the machine that will lead both she and Arthur back to her ship. Yasmin, Graham, and Ryan stand at a distance. Graham and Yasmin holding different contraptions. The Doctor stands up with a cable and blows on it before plugging it in. She turns a wheel, which squeaks.
"How long have we gotta stand here for? I'm getting cramp," Graham complained.
"Seriously, Graham! Trying to concentrate here," the Doctor commented.
"Do you understand what she's doing?" Ryan asked Arthur. The boy just shrugged.
"My ship uses a particular type of energy. I've tracked that energy trail from the moment I lost it to where it is now." She raises a finger and walks to the remains of the pod. She whirrs the sonic screwdriver at it. "Now, given this is a transport pod I'm configuring it to send me to the planet where my ship seems to have ended up." She looks at the readings and stands, stowing the sonic screwdriver in her coat pocket.
"You're going to another planet?" Yasmin asked.
The Doctor jumps back to the setup on the desk and pushes some buttons. "Well, I'm trying to, except Stenza technology is really annoying and super hard to decipher." She faces them and points at the device. "Hundred and thirty-nine layers, seven of which don't make sense." She pushes a few more buttons before turning back to the group. "Right. Graham." She bends down to the remains of the pod.
"Yeah?" He replied.
"Clamp those onto there." She hands him two jumper cables. He struggles to take them, still holding a boxy contraption.
Graham nods. "All right."
"Sunny, throw the cable onto the top," she said. Arthur clamps a cable to a grill. "Ryan, you turn on the switch."
"All right," Ryan noted.
The Doctor takes a step back and a deep breath, holding Arthur's hand at her own with Graham has the cables connected to his box. "Okay, you three. I'm almost gonna miss you." She looks as the contraption beeps. "That's it. It's connected up. This should work." She turns a dial on a microwave, then turns back to the group as a noise rises in volume and pitch. "Moment of truth, then. Wish me luck." She pulls out the sonic screwdriver with a sigh. "And goodbye."
"Bye, everyone," Arthur waved at them. Ryan and Yasmin wave a little.
The Doctor sighs and closes her eyes. "Oh, deep breath," she muttered, which Ryan and Arthur did. "Not you lot, me and Arthur only."
She takes a deep breath and holds it, then points the sonic screwdriver and it whirrs. She squeezes her eyes shut and turns away, groaning with anticipation, keeping her hand tight to Arthur's as slowly a light blind them all.
But then, something's gone wrong.
As Arthur opens his eyes, he almost choking, had he immediately closed it, remembering that he's in space without any oxygen.
He tried to keep it together, but soon, he lost his conscious as he's drifting in space.