A/N: Hey y'all! I know. It's been a hell of a long time since I last posted anything new. Over the last several months, I've gotten busier and busier at work. Also I've changed my hours recently where I'm going to work earlier and leaving later than usual, and by the time I head home for the day, I'm absolutely exhausted.
Aside from that, I've also been thinking a lot about trying my hand at a crossover story. I've recently started rewatching Once Upon a Time, and I remembered several years ago finding a crossover fanfic with that show and Doctor Who, and now that Once Upon a Time is over (looks like they only did 7 seasons), I figured the original author of the crossover story would come back and finish the series, but surprisingly they haven't. In fact, when I last checked, the author hasn't been active on anything since 2013, and now that it's 2025 I think it's safe to assume that the author will never be coming back to continue the story. In which case, I've thought about continuing it myself. In the crossover fanfic, aside from the original OUAT characters, 11, Amy and Rory end up being a part of the OUAT world (you can blame Rumpelstiltskin for that), and it's very cleverly written, and I'm sad it never got continued or finished. Whenever I get free time, I've also been brainstorming for my take on the fanfic. The original fanfic can be found below if anyone is interested. This link is from , but it can also be found on AO3 under the same profile name.
https/s/8425685/1/Time-Travelers-in-Storybrooke
That being said, I may continue the crossover fic and will more than likely repost the first season of it with some minor edits I will make to go with my original ideas, so keep an eye out for that. So far I've brainstormed for the first three seasons (season 1 was already written by the original author, but I might repost it with some minor updates of my own). Of course, I will try to stay true to the original author's ideas as well as the original OUAT show; 11, Amy and Rory just become a part of it.
Also, back in March, I went back home to Kansas City and met David Tennant for the second time at Comic-Con, as well as Alex Kingston (it was my first time meeting her). It was so cool seeing them in my former home city, though I hoped to have spent more time with Alex Kingston. I got pictures with them separately. Of course when I met David, I dressed up as his Doctor (10th), and with River I dressed up as Matt Smith's Doctor.
Anyway, back to Nova's story. This chapter is a little longer than my usual chapters, mainly because 1) I couldn't find a good stopping point where I could separate it into two shorter chapters, and 2) I kinda thought about writing a slightly longer chapter this time to make up for the ridiculously long wait y'all had to experience for me to update. Hopefully after today, I'll find more time to fanfic write between my normal work hours. Really it depends on the week, since some weeks are busier than others.
Enjoy :)
Chapter 19: So, We're Dating Vampires
"I told you, you two wouldn't win this fight," the girl pants and sighs in satisfaction as she looks down on the boys' unconscious forms. "I swear, you dimwits never listen. Nobody ever listens. S'pose I have one of those faces."
There is a loud—much louder than, of course, intended (God, I'm such an idiot!)—snigger from off-camera. At this, the girl suddenly gasps and looks toward the camera, recognizes that she is being recorded, and immediately flees from the scene.
"Wait!" the sound of my voice calls out to the girl before the video abruptly ends.
If anyone were to ask me how many times I have seen this video, I wouldn't be able to because I have honestly lost count; but if I had to guess, I'd say this would be at least the thirtieth time today. Geez, why would you watch that video that many times? one might ask. Well, even I have to admit the video appears to be fake, but it really isn't. Sure, the scene was very dark, which made the video extremely fuzzy and blurry and pretty much impossible to make out any major details, but I know what I saw, at least with my own eyes. Granted, other viewers might think the boys' vampire fangs and 'teleportation' ability might be CGI that was edited later, and the dead body might be mistaken for a clever stage prop which would explain the missing body parts and blood, but I swear on all of my lives that the video is not edited in any shape or form. Even with all these features, even I have to admit that the video does seem like a cleverly edited piece from a horror movie, especially the fight between the girl and the boys, but again, it isn't; the girl was truly fighting for her life against alien vampires.
At least, I think they are alien vampires. Again, it was hard to tell with how dark the place was, but I'm fairly certain I saw literal vampire fangs grow in place of their normal teeth. Granted, in the video the fangs themselves are hard to see and truly appear grainy like they were poorly CGI'ed, but in reality I could see the fangs clear as day, same for the dead body which was not a stage prop. Oh god, the smell… I can still smell the horrible stench in my airways even now.
If only I could show Hazel this video, but I'm pretty sure she'd think the video to be fake too. Just a typical scene from a fan-made horror movie that 'coincidentally' features her boyfriend as one of the 'actors'. At least, I would imagine she'd think of that as a funny coincidence (and a cool one, because "Hey, look; it's my boyfriend! I didn't know he was an actor! When's the full movie come out? I can't wait to see it!"), but of course I know better.
Then again, I don't know if I should show her this video. As much as I want to, would it even be safe for her to see it? Even if she watches the video and truly thinks it to be fan-made, what would Billy think of her knowing that I'd shown her the video? What if Hazel thinks it isn't fan-made and actually starts believing me about her boyfriend being a legitimate alien vampire? As much as I want her to know—as who knows; it might save her life one day, especially if Billy decides to try anything—I don't want her to be involved in anything alien ever again, especially after what she went through with the Silence. In fact, I made a personal vow to myself that this would never happen again. I've scarred her enough already, ever since that time we split in the alley. Never again.
There is an abrupt and unexpected knock at my bedroom door.
"Hey, uh…Nov?" Hazel asks as she hesitantly and slowly peeks her head around the doorframe, like she isn't sure if she's allowed in my room. "Can, uh…we talk?"
Honestly, I'm genuinely surprised that she wants to talk to me, especially after we've been avoiding each other like the plague since our argument a few nights back. Of course she feels unsure as to whether or not I want to talk to her, especially after all the things she said to me during our argument.
"Haze!" I say as I swiftly turn off the video and set my phone down, not wanting to share the video with her…at least yet. "Yeah, sure, we can talk. What's wrong? Do you…need help with something?" Or are you here to apologize? I add in my head, as that's the only 'talk' I will accept from her in the present moment.
"Um, not really," she says as she awkwardly enters the room before admitting, "Actually, I…wanted to apologize."
Good, I scoff. That argument was absolutely ridiculous.
"For what I said about feeling like I no longer knew you…" she continues, feeling slightly uncomfortable (of course; apologies are always uncomfortable). "That was an awful thing to say. I never thought of the possibility that you were struggling so much to fit in with your new life with your bio-parents, and me here without—" She pauses again before grunting and saying instead, "I-I'm sorry. I should've been more patient with you. I'm sorry I lost hope."
Well, I think to myself, at least she's honest. Of course I've been around my father long enough to see when he, or anybody else, is lying. God, I am so sick of that rule, especially from him.
"Don't worry about it," I say, shaking my head. "I knew that wasn't really you talking anyway. I'm sorry too…for everything. Literally everything, especially what you went through with the Silence. I think about that all the time…and you're right; maybe things would have been better if I hadn't told you my secret. This way you would never have been targeted." At this, I think again about suggesting that I delete her memories of everything to do with my secret, but I decide against it, remembering that Hazel was highly against it the first time and probably still will be if I suggest it now. "And for not paying attention to when Dad messed up the time-coordinates… Having to make you wait so long and eventually lose hope in me never—"
"Don't worry about that either," Hazel interrupts. "I get that that wasn't your fault. None of that stuff was entirely your fault, including what happened with the Silence. You were just trying to do what you thought was right. I totally get it."
"No, all of that was entirely my fault," I insist. "When I insisted that we split up to confuse the Silence in that alley… That was stupid. It hadn't occurred to me that they were after you as well; of course they were after you too. If I hadn't gone through with that stupid idea, Mom would have easily saved both of us; that was how things were supposed to happen. I'm sorry, Haze. You should never have been involved in any of that stuff. If I hadn't told you my stupid secret—"
"Hey!" Hazel interrupts again as she rushes up to me and wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. "I said you didn't need to worry about that anymore. I forgive you."
"Really?" I say, highly doubting her words.
"Really." Hazel pulls away and smiles. "I do. Honest to God. I'd be a terrible friend if I never learned to forgive you."
"How could I possibly deserve your forgiveness, after everything I put you through?" What I did was unforgivable, especially since she could have been killed, just like my guardians. If my father-guardian hadn't spoken up to shut her up…
She shrugs before admitting, "My last therapy session has helped me rethink a lot of things between us…" She pauses for a few seconds like she's having a disturbing thought that she refuses to think about, and so says instead, "But none of that's important right now. What's really important for you to know is that I completely forgive you. For everything. My last therapy session made me realize that I'm an idiot and that I should listen to you more, especially when you tell me to stay put or go home for my own safety."
For some odd reason, I get the sense that she is lying—at least partially—but instead I ignore the feeling and say with a chuckle, "Haze, you're not an idiot. You're the smartest person I know."
"You and I both know that's a lie," she chuckles back. "There's not a living being in the universe who's smarter than your dad."
I sigh and roll my eyes teasingly. "Okay, you're the smartest human I know. How about that?"
She pauses, then shrugs, "Meh. Good enough for me." We both laugh for several seconds before she admits with a sigh, "I've missed this. I've missed us. The times we'd have together…"
"Me too," I nod solemnly. "For real."
"I believe you," Hazel smiles, and I sigh in relief. She has absolutely no idea how much better that makes me feel… How much weight is lifted from both of my hearts.
"So…was that all you wanted to talk to me about?" I ask curiously. "Or was there…something else?"
"Technically, it was something else," Hazel admits. "I was wondering… Well, Billy was wondering…" She pauses again as if having second thoughts.
"Yeah?" I say, urging her to say what she, for some odd reason, didn't want to say anyway.
Finally, she does sigh and admit anyway, "If you might be interested in us going on a double-date tonight."
Okay… I definitely wasn't expecting that. "Double-date?" I say in genuine shock. "Tonight? But I don't have anyone to go with." I immediately think about reminding her about my being warned that a 'lover' would one day betray me, but I decide against it.
"Sure you do," she says. "You can go with his brother. I'll, of course, be going with Billy."
His brother… I think to myself as a shiver runs down my spine. The guy who tried and nearly succeeded to kill me my first night back. Of course he will be my date. Why wouldn't he be?
Then again, he did get his ass whooped in an awesomely epic battle with the blonde girl, as did Billy—which of course I have video proof of if they ever try to deny it. Still, if they try it again with me, I doubt I'll be able to take them down as easily as the blonde girl had.
Frankly I'm still trying to wrap my head around how in the hell Billy's brother had survived what I did to him at the park. Perhaps I'll find out during the date…hopefully.
However, to keep my initial meeting with her boyfriend's brother a secret, I say to Hazel, "But…I've never met his brother before."
"So?" she shrugs. "You can meet him at the date; that's the whole point of it anyway. Billy says he and his brother want to get to know you a bit more, and he thought this would be a perfect way to do so. I've actually never met his brother either, so I'm really excited to meet him as well." She then knits her eyebrows uncertainly and adds, "That is, if you're up for it."
'If you're up for it.' In other words, 'Unless a Time Lord thing comes up…' which this very well could be. Honestly, I'd be surprised if it wasn't.
"If you're not—"
"Yes!" I say automatically without letting Hazel finish. "I am interested. I'd love to get to know Billy a bit more. Obviously I was wrong to have judged him without truly knowing him. Let me make up for my lousy behavior and apologize properly during the date. We can 'start over,' so to speak." And so I remain on the boys' good side lest they decide to kill us anyway, I add in my head. And yours, since you still think I don't trust them… Which technically I don't, so this is really all just for show.
"Yes, I was about to suggest the same thing," she nods in agreement. "I'll tell Billy you're interested, and we'll set up a time and place. I'll let you know what we decide."
"Great," I attempt to put on a genuine smile as she begins leaving the room. "Thanks. I can't wait."
The exact moment my best friend leaves the room before closing the door behind her, I immediately slap myself in the forehead several times until the pain becomes unbearable. You IDIOT! I chastise myself. How could you do that?! Now you've just signed your own death certificate...AGAIN!
Of course, this double-date won't be a normal double-date. Of course, Billy and his brother won't just be 'getting to know' me during this thing. No. They will want to 'get to know' the real me—i.e. Nova Susan Song and not Sydney Marie Elise. In which case, this 'double-date' will be more of an interrogation than anything else.
Of course, I will be expecting this, and I've already got a plan prepared. Technically, it's a plan I promised my father ages ago I'd do while back on human soil, that plan being that if anyone were to ask me or mention anything about Time Lords, TARDISes, etc., I will simply pretend like I haven't a clue what the person is talking about, which will—hopefully—throw them off. They can't suspect I'm me if I pretend to be someone else, right?
"'Time Lord'? What in the world is that? Is that something from Star Trek? Sounds badass!"
"'Tardis'? Sounds almost like 'tortoise', like a turtle. Or 'Tervis' like the brand that sells insulated water bottles and stuff."
Hopefully, Hazel will play along with this idea too. After all, I did make her promise years ago not to reveal anything about my true heritage lest the knowledge ends up into the wrong hands. Though, she seems very adamant that Billy is not a bad person and so may have told him much about my secret while I was gone. I mean, he did mention that Hazel told him about the Sontaran attack at the arcade; who knows what other things she may have told him without paying attention to the fact that she is technically not supposed to talk about them at all. In which case, I'll need to have a chat with her about it before our 'little outing' tonight.
Another thing I'm desperate to talk to Hazel about is how much danger we're putting ourselves into with agreeing to this 'date'. She mentioned that she had known and dated Billy for at least six months, and during that entire time, she had absolutely no idea that she was dating an alien vampire, and she still doesn't now. I mean, of course she doesn't. I'm pretty sure she would've told me her suspicions sooner—like, immediately after I returned home—but she hasn't, which makes me think that she either truly has no clue, or that Billy had made her swear not to say anything, but I'm more certain on the former since I've seen the way she talks about and acts around him—like she really likes him. Moreover, like she totally trusts him, and this, in my mind, is the biggest red flag of all. After what I discovered at the abandoned building last night, it is totally wrong for her to trust a murderer, and of course she knows absolutely nothing.
What disgusts me even more is the immense likeliness that in Billy's mind, there is absolutely no reason for Hazel to be alive right now—at least, logically. If Billy and his family of alien vampires are solely here for me—and, by extension, my Time Lord energy; although I'm not sure why he would need it since vampires are supposedly already immortal—it is very likely that he is only dating Hazel and keeping her alive to get close to me. In other words, in reality, he doesn't have a care in the world about Hazel whatsoever and, therefore, has no reason to keep her alive. She's still alive solely because we're best friends, and if I hadn't come home…
This thought makes me incredibly nervous about the date/interrogation. By agreeing to go, I am putting my life, and especially Hazel's, on the line; in other words, depending on how I answer the questions, I could end up killing both of us, especially Hazel. Of course, I had hoped she'd never be involved in any alien things again, but it could be she has been involved in one with Billy for six months straight, maybe longer, and not even known it; and now that I am back, she's become more involved than ever. Now that I am back, it's my responsibility to keep Hazel alive and safe as long as possible. Though, tonight, keeping her safe will be difficult, with Billy and his brother going to watch me like hungry vultures; the least I can do is make sure they don't have her for dinner instead of whatever we're going to have for our actual meals.
Ironically enough, I find out later in the day that Billy had chosen a steakhouse for our date, which automatically made me snort and think, Ha! Typical for a vampire to choose the meatiest and bloodiest restaurant in the city. Hopefully this means he'll leave the meat on our own bones alone, right? Of course, I make sure to knock on physical wood immediately after this thought comes to mind—while, at the same time, ignoring Hazel's bewildered look—lest I end up screwing us.
"Hey, Haze?" I ask her hesitantly as we put on our coats. "I, uh…have a favor to ask you tonight."
"Sure. What is it?" she asks curiously.
I sigh, struggling to explain without angering her further. "I… If you must call me by my name, I would prefer you to use my old name 'Sydney.' At least around Billy." Even if he already knows my true name—and of course he does—perhaps if I used my other name long enough, he'd think that name to be my real name instead.
"Why?" Hazel growls in annoyance, still irked about our argument. "You still don't trust him enough to use your regular name?"
I bite my tongue hard to prevent myself from automatically revealing the truth. "Ye—No!"
"You didn't seem to have a problem with using your regular name the other night when you first met him," she points out angrily. "Plus 'Nova' is a very common name."
I sigh again. "That's true. It may be a common name, but in recent years it's become somewhat dangerous…at least for me."
"I don't get it," Hazel frowns. "What's so dangerous about your name now?"
"Because it refers to a Time Lord," I explain, "and these days the entire universe is after Time Lords, particularly me. They want to kill me for my powers. You know this already; I've told you this a gazillion times. They especially want to kill me now that I've been revealed to be Deviant."
She pauses as her frown deepens. "I…still don't get what that means, but I seriously doubt Billy and his brother will try to kill you tonight—or literally any other time. He doesn't even know you're Time Lord; he probably doesn't know what a Time Lord even is. Hardly anyone does—if any."
Trust me, Haze, I think to myself. These days everyone knows what a Time Lord is, and they'd give anything to see us all disappear—permanently.
"No, but they might if you keep using my real name," I say before admitting, "Even Dad said—"
"You don't know him like I do!" she argues, interrupting me. "He's not like that! He's not a murderer; that's absolutely ridiculous! If you've been here, you'd know that!"
Again, I have to bite my tongue to refrain from saying that Billy is a murderer. Instead, I say, "I…never said he was a murderer. And I'm sorry I haven't been here, but I promise, after tonight, I will see Billy differently. I will never judge him again after tonight. You have my word."
Of course, all these words are lies, knowing what I've seen at the abandoned building, as well as what I captured on camera. Not that I captured the actual murder, but I did manage to capture his bloody clothes and sharp fangs, whether people mistake them for tacky CGI or otherwise.
That fight, though… You can't deny it was totally badass!
"But seriously, Haze, listen," I say, steering back on topic. "Even Dad said that while I'm back home, I use my 'Sydney' name instead of my real name." I remember him catching me before I fully left the TARDIS and asking me to do this while I was away. "In fact, he was rather adamant about it, and honestly I agree. These days everyone knows who and what I am, so it's much safer that I use a different name so no one suspects anything; it's why he had my guardians name me a different name when he gave me up. Even Dad often uses a made-up name for himself, and he's insisted that I start doing the same for my own safety… And yours."
I pause, waiting for Hazel to respond, but she remains silent.
"Please, Haze," I beg after several seconds. "Do this for me. I don't want to be responsible for another thing to happen to you. Not again."
If it's true that she may already be a part of a 'thing' and not even know it, I certainly don't want to be responsible for that 'thing' to end up scarring her like the Silence did…or worse, kill her. Again, I've scarred her enough already.
Of course, she knows how much I've scarred her. I can see it in her eyes—her longing for things to go back to normal between us, despite nothing ever going to be normal between us again, after all the things that have changed in our lives. Of course, despite our earlier discussion this morning, I feel guilty and ashamed for everything that's happened to us (and especially Hazel), and honestly I'm pretty sure I'll feel this way for the rest of my Regeneration Cycle. I can sense Hazel's reluctance to accept the changes as they are, as well as accept that neither of them will ever be returned to the way they were. Unfortunately, we have no choice but to accept the 'Regeneration' that each of us have gone through.
Before either of us can say anything, Hazel's phone chimes, interrupting us from our thoughts and regrets.
"Fine," she sighs heavily as she checks her phone. "They're here. Let's go."
After she grabs her purse and keys, we leave the apartment and rush downstairs to meet Billy and his brother, whom are both (no surprise) dressed in much cleaner clothes from last night—not a drop of blood on them—standing at the foot of the stairs waiting for us.
"Hey, Babe," Hazel smiles and greets Billy warmly as she gives him a hug and peck on the cheek. "Good to see you again."
"It's always good to see you, Babe," Billy says as he returns her hug, though I sense a small hint of sarcasm in his words, particularly when he enunciates the words 'always' and 'you'. I quickly hide my suspicious frown when he glances toward me, and he smiles, though his smile looks predatory. "You as well, Nova. Glad you could make it."
"I'm…glad I could too," I smile back, albeit awkwardly. "And please call me 'Sydney.' I told you 'Nova' was just a silly nickname." At this, Hazel rolls her eyes, but I ignore her.
"This is my brother Brody," Billy says, gesturing to the bigger, taller boy. At least, he looks bigger and taller since I last saw him, which could be from whatever cured him from the incineration. "He'll be your date tonight."
I attempt a smile at Brody, but my smile drops when I see his murderous stare, as if to say 'You tried to kill me—in fact, you did kill me—and I intend to kill you back, painfully and slowly.' Thankfully, instead, he says out loud while holding out a hand for me to shake (rather, for him to crush my hand like he would an empty soda can), "Hello, Nova. Happy to have you for dinner."
Oh boy, I groan in my head. Yeah, I've really messed things up with this guy. Of course, he literally wants to have me for dinner; no doubt this is how he wants to 'kill me back, painfully and slowly'.
Nevertheless, I laugh at his 'joke', despite knowing it wasn't a joke at all. "Uh… You mean you're happy to have me as a date for dinner, right?" I glance at Hazel while continuing to laugh, but, surprisingly, she doesn't laugh with me, seeming almost as unsettled by his words as I am. Almost. Perhaps she may start believing me after this.
"Of course!" Billy speaks up for his brother. "That is what he means. You must forgive him; he's been waiting to eat all day. We both have." At this, both brothers stare at me as if to indicate that I have been the meal they've been waiting to eat. Of course, since they are cannibalistic vampires and only eat human flesh—or Time Lord flesh in my case.
"You mean you literally haven't eaten all day?" Hazel speaks up to break the awkward tension. "Like, not even breakfast or lunch?"
"No, we have," her boyfriend confirms, which automatically makes me think in response, Like what; a stray cat, dog, or hobo?
"Anyway, we'd better head to the steakhouse," Billy says as he checks his watch. "We don't want to be late for our reservation." He begins walking down the street with Hazel's arm looped through his, though I can sense his reluctance to allow this.
I glance toward Brody, and, not surprisingly, he doesn't offer his own arm to me. Instead—also no surprise—he continues staring at me hungrily. To ignore the awkwardness, I gesture for him to follow the others, saying as casually as I can muster, "After you." Deep down, I want to make sure he—rather, they—stay in front of me at all times to make sure they don't try anything.
However, he, of course, refuses to let me go along with my plan, as he says in almost a growl, "Ladies first."
Okay… I think as I go along with his plan instead. Of course, I don't want to start off the date on his bad side, lest he try to maul me again, which I can see in his eyes that he seems desperate to do, so I just start walking ahead of him.
As we walk, I feel increasingly uncomfortable at how close Brody is walking behind me, again like a hungry tiger stalking a helpless rabbit, and so I feel the need to raise my coat higher up my neck to avoid exposing my skin, especially since he keeps sniffing at me like how a dog would when sniffing out treats, except it's my blood he's really smelling. The more he does this, the more I want to tell Hazel to cancel the date so we can go home, but I don't want to ruin her happy mood around her 'boyfriend' (and, needless to say, I don't want to look like a weakling by speaking up that I'm not comfortable and so want to bail), as well as say anything around the brothers lest they get suspicious, though I figure they may already be suspicious of me, hence why they arranged this 'date' in the first place. On that thought, I decide to suck it up and stick with my 'being 100% human' plan for as long as possible and hope I don't botch up the date.
Seeing how happy Hazel is with Billy, it is honestly highly disturbing. Though I can totally understand her genuine happiness, as it's highly logical for her to feel that way since Billy was the only one who has been there for Hazel and kept her from losing her sanity. This, of course, ups my guilt, but at the same time it's disturbing to think about her happiness toward her boyfriend as being wrong, as being in love with a psycho-alien-vampire-murderer is wrong. This bit of knowledge makes me more and more desperate to tell Hazel the truth about Billy, but again I don't want to make her go through any more 'Time Lord' and 'alien' stuff again, nor do I want to ruin her happiness, especially since this is the happiest I've seen Hazel since my return, and maybe even before my return after meeting Billy, and of course I would be a horrible friend for doing that to her, especially with how strained our friendship has become since my Regeneration and increased time away from home. Of course, I would love to invite Hazel to travel in the TARDIS with us if I could, but at the same time I don't want to put her in danger, knowing how dangerous our travels have become since the universe's discovery of me being Deviant as well as the possibility of everyone being aware of my father being on his final life. Then again, even if Hazel did agree to travel with us, she would want to run away at the first sign of danger rather than face it head-on like Dad and I would usually do, so sadly her travelling with us might not be ideal for her.
And with the Silence still being out there, she definitely wouldn't want to run into them again. I'm suddenly wondering if it was right to tell Hazel that Madame Kovarian survived the attack at the Silence base—having turned herself into a Flesh duplicate to prevent direct attacks—and if maybe that piece of knowledge had triggered Hazel's paranoia of them coming back for her and using her as bait again. Perhaps Billy, Brody, and their mother may secretly be Silence members sent by Kovarian to target me again, only this time Kovarian wants to kill me now, since, at this point, she's given up trying to force me to join her twisted cult and kill my father. I suppose this makes sense, since I did try to legitimately kill her twice now; it's no surprise that Kovarian would change her mind, especially after she'd changed her mind about continuing to train my mother after finding out she betrayed the Silence by falling in love, marrying, and having a kid with the person she was originally tasked to assassinate, and so wants to kill my mother now because of it.
With these thoughts in mind, while we're at the restaurant, I will make sure to check my food and beverage for anything the boys might use to kill me, such as razorblades in my mashed potatoes or Judas Tree poison in my Diet Coke.
Shortly after we arrive at the restaurant, we are seated at a booth with a wall across the far side where those who sit on that side would not be able to get up unless they asked the person sitting on the outside to get up first. Naturally, Hazel doesn't think twice about it and scoots across the booth and against the wall as Billy seats next to her. Of course, I don't like this, since Billy has literally trapped her against the wall, with nowhere for Hazel to escape should he decide to go after her. Glancing at Brody, I step back in the hopes that Brody would take the hint that I am letting him slide in first, but of course he isn't going to make this easy.
"After you," he says as he gestures to the far side in the exact same way I gestured for him to follow Hazel and Billy on our walk over.
However, this time I am determined to get my way. "Actually, I prefer to sit on the outside," I say. "You know…in case I need to leave the table for…something." I end up stuttering this last bit without really meaning to.
No surprise, he doesn't take this well. "For what?" he snaps, making everyone, including the employee who seated us, flinch. "You plan to go somewhere? You plan to run away?" I unconsciously glance at Billy to see him glaring at me, clearly suspicious that I may truly run—and, quite honestly, the temptation is very high.
I have to bite my tongue from automatically answering 'yes', so I say instead, "What? No! I just… I'm a girl, and I may need to…you know—"
"Dude!" Hazel snaps in annoyance, clearly believing that I'm making up some lame excuse to bail from the date. "Just sit down!" She says this in a tone like I am rudely dismissing Brody's attempts at being a gentleman toward me, but of course I know the truth.
However, I decide to keep my mouth shut, not wanting to put an even bigger strain on our already crumbling friendship, and keep up appearances as I reluctantly slide myself against the wall, and of course Brody immediately slides in almost right against me to show I—like Hazel—have nowhere to escape even if I wanted to.
I glance timidly up at Hazel, who looks at me in a 'what the hell is your problem?' manner, and of course I feel conflicted on how to explain my behavior versus not explain it at all, especially while Billy and Brody are nearby, and so I just shrug at her instead and look down at the floor like a shameful toddler. Our waitress walks by a few seconds later for our drink orders, and we give her our orders before she walks off.
"No purse, 'Sydney'?" Billy suddenly speaks up, trying to sound casual, though I sense a hint of suspicion to it. Also, he enunciates my old name like he's putting air-quotes around it, like he knows that isn't my real name.
To quickly hide my own suspicion, I flinch as if not expecting him to talk to me, "Huh? What?"
"All girls carry purses," he points out. "Hazel has one… But you don't. Why is that?"
I shrug, trying to act casual about it. "Not all girls carry purses. It's actually perfectly normal for some girls not to use purses, believe it or not."
"I don't believe it," he shakes his head, which was something I honestly knew he would say.
Regardless, I scoff in a 'okay, whatever' manner before replying. "I choose not to because I don't see the need to when pockets seem to work well enough." Especially bigger-on-the-inside pockets, I add in my head. Honestly, why would I need a giant purse when the only things I carry on a daily basis these days are my phone, sonic screwdriver, and TARDIS key? If I was human, I doubt I'd need a purse for those things even then. Also, I'm certain Time Ladies never used purses for the same reason on Gallifrey; that, or if they did use purses, they made them bigger on the inside like Hermione Granger's in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
"I still don't believe you," Billy says again, only this time he says it in a way like he's growing impatient with me clearly avoiding to share the truth.
"Neither do I," Brody speaks up, no surprise feeling the same as his brother. The fact that both brothers are clearly showing signs that they know my true identity makes me super uncomfortable, even though technically I'm not lying about my lack of using a purse.
Thankfully, Hazel sticks up for me, saying, "What does it matter whether she uses purses or not? It's not a crime for a girl not to use a purse. Some girls just choose not to use them. That is perfectly normal for them."
At this, Billy puts his hands up in seeming surrender and says in an innocent tone while wrapping his arm casually around Hazel's shoulder, "Hey, babe, I didn't say it was a crime. We're just genuinely curious."
Despite this, I get the sense that he is actually putting his hands up as if to back away like he caught himself accidentally stepping out of character, and he quickly tries to hide this fact as he puts his arm around Hazel as a way to casually step back into character.
"I'm sorry, Sydney," he shrugs at me in apology. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. It's just… You're not like other girls. Hazel's told me much about you, but the things she's told me about you aren't exactly…normal. At least, how I imagine a normal girl to act. I mean, not many girls choose to intentionally look for trouble and get involved in it. Normally, people run away from danger, but you… You choose to run toward the danger and face it head-on. I'm surprised you have the courage to do that. It doesn't seem…human." Again, on the word 'human', he enunciates it like he knows the truth that I'm not.
Of course, I want to say "That's coz I'm not human, Billy-boy!" as well as "You're one to talk, Space-Dracula-wannabe!"—though I don't know which phrase would sound more badass if I did say them out loud—but I intentionally choose not to say either phrase.
Instead, I say with a frown, "You think girls aren't meant to have that much courage? You think they're meant to be weak?" Clearly you haven't seen what I did to your brother the other night, I think in my head. Of course, Brody is quite familiar with my power, and I glance at him to see how he reacts to my words, and of course I am instantly disturbed to see him indeed knowing what I'm talking about and looks at me like he wants to get back at me for it, not caring if we are in a public place. Like he plans to win the next round and will not give up until he does…until I am properly dead with no Regenerations.
Billy pauses, seemingly taken aback. "No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying…that it's cool that you're that brave. I wish I was that brave."
"Me too," Hazel agrees. "You have no idea how much I want to get back at those scumbags for what they did to me! I still can't believe what they did to your father-guardian! That was so cruel! All he did was stand up to them, and they killed him! He stood up for you!"
Of course, her words make my guilt return, especially for what happened to my father-guardian, whom I still miss terribly, same for my mother-guardian who had sacrificed her life for me and my family to be with him.
"Your 'father-guardian'?" Billy frowns at me, clearly feigning puzzlement. "He wasn't your real father?" He then pauses and says, "I mean, of course he wasn't. He adopted you, right? Hazel said you met your real parents only last year, at the same time that she was kidnapped by those 'Silent' people. What are they like? Your real parents, I mean."
As Billy says this, the waitress comes back with our drinks and asks each of us for our dinner orders. After we give them, she takes our menus and leaves.
"Bet your real parents aren't normal either," Billy continues from the last conversation before the waitress came back to our table, deepening his voice as a way to further show he knows the truth about my non-humanness.
However, I fully expected him to bring up the topic of my biological parents, and so I say what I planned to say from the start, "Actually, they are."
"You're lying," Brody glares at me, but I refuse to back down.
I glare back at him in a 'you wanna bet, pal?' manner—at least, I try to make my glare look like that—before saying, "No, I'm not. My mom's an archaeologist, and my dad's a…history professor. They both study and teach History. There's really not that much to talk about them."
"I highly doubt that," Billy scoffs. "If your parents are history professors and archaeologists, that means they've seen things. I bet they've got loads of stories to tell. Maybe they've even witnessed historical events, or been a part of them. You know…like time-travelers." He raises a knowing eyebrow at me on the phrase 'time-travelers'.
Admittedly, seeing the way Billy enunciated the phrase 'time-travelers' makes me more confident that he and Brody know my true identity, as well as more concerned for my life as well as Hazel's. Despite this, I decide to stay in character and laugh like it's all a big joke.
"Time-Travel?" I chortle with laughter. "Are you kidding me? You think Time-Travel is real?" I turn to Hazel as if to say 'Can you believe this guy?', and at first Hazel doesn't laugh, but then she senses my 'act' and immediately laughs along with me, albeit in an awkward way. "That only exists in Sci-Fi movies!" I continue. "This isn't a Sci-Fi movie! Sure, aliens are real, but Time-Travel? Come on, that's ridiculous!"
"Perhaps not," Billy says, his face suddenly turning serious. He then leans forward, beckoning us to join him in the middle, and deepens his voice as if sharing a dark secret. "Rumor has it that a mysterious blue box has been seen all around the world, magically appearing and disappearing at random times and places…except the times and places aren't random. Rumor is, the blue box only appears when there is great peril. It's been written in many books and conspiracy websites. Surely you lot have heard of it." When saying the phrase 'you lot', he is referring to me specifically.
I glance nervously at Hazel, who looks back at me with equal nervousness. "A blue box that appears and disappears magically?" I stutter and clear my throat while awkwardly sipping my Diet Coke. "Sounds…interesting."
"Very…C. S. Lewis," Hazel adds without thinking.
"Haze!" I gasp automatically in a whisper, thinking she may have blown our cover with that description, since it describes the TARDIS way too closely. Of course, when seeing the interior of the TARDIS, that's when the 'C.S. Lewis' vibe comes in, since its interior greatly likens to the magical wardrobe from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
"What?" Hazel shrugs, evidently totally oblivious to her mistake.
I confirm telepathically to her, of course not wanting Billy and Brody to know, 'Don't describe it like that. They can't know about the TARDIS. They can't know that we know about the TARDIS. They can't know anything. Remember?'
"Sorry. I thought—" She swiftly pauses, finally realizing her mistake.
Unfortunately, she realizes her mistake too late as Billy speaks up with a raised eyebrow, "So you have heard of it, then. Both of you have."
"Of course you have," Brody agrees. "You know of it. You've seen it."
I shudder, struggling to come up with a lie I could say that they would believe. "I—we—may have seen one. But—"
"At the arcade back in High School," Hazel confirms what I obviously didn't want her to confirm. "We saw one as we were escaping that alien Sultan that almost killed me."
'Haze, shut up!' I want to say, but instead I say to correct her on instinct, "Sontaran."
Hazel nods and continues, despite my protests. "Right. It just appeared out of nowhere—the blue box. It had never appeared there before."
Finally, I manage to come up with a believable lie. "But that was a long time ago," I say mostly toward Hazel, hoping she'd finally get the hint to stop talking before we're both dead. "We hardly remember it. We just saw it briefly as we were driving out of the parking lot, but that was it. We never saw it again." Of course, I say all this like the experience was simply a bad dream and nothing more—at least, I want Billy and Brody to believe that, even though it's clear that they don't. Of course, I continue to further convince them, "And besides, we don't even know if the blue box was real. For all we know, it could've just been a hallucination. I mean, we did just barely escape death at the time; people sometimes hallucinate things during times of trauma. Or, a police officer may have simply set it up there as a way of keeping an eye on the surrounding area, like back in the olden days when police boxes were everywhere, at least here in the UK. Perhaps the Police Department decided to bring the old police boxes back as a way of commemorating the old times when they were used more frequently. I don't know. The point is, that box couldn't have been the 'magic' one that you're talking about." Of course, it is the TARDIS that they're talking about, but I don't show that I know this. "And anyway, how do you know this 'appearing-and-disappearing blue box' is actually real? I mean, no one's, like, captured it appearing and disappearing on camera or anything and posted it on the Internet. Is there even any proof that it's real?"
I remember my father mentioning that he had purposefully deleted himself from every single database in the universe to hide from the Silence and make everyone believe he was dead after the events at Lake Silencio (which would explain why all the photos disappeared from Clive's website when I attempted to show Hazel on her computer that morning in High School), so I figure Billy wouldn't be able to find anything anywhere about him even if he tried. Unless he found my folder with all the info printed out from Clive's website, which I have stashed away in a secret compartment in my suitcase; I'm honestly still wondering what made me feel the need to bring it home with me, at the time sensing that I'd share it with someone else one day while I'm back, but I seriously doubt it's Billy I'd be sharing it with.
"Of course there is," Billy says. "There are articles and things everywhere about it. Mother told us about a church in Chiswick that has a small blue box depicted in one of the stain-glass windows, and that same church used to be a monastery back in the 1300s that was attacked by an otherworldly 'demon' one day, and a so-called 'sainted physician' came in a magical blue box and purged the demon. There are other accounts of the same blue box appearing in times of terror, but there's always a man that comes with it who is allegedly its owner." Of course, the word 'man' automatically makes me think of my father. "Some say he's a demon himself. Others say he's a god—" Here he says the word 'god' like it tastes bad on his tongue. "—and that he takes many forms; yet somehow people recognize him as the same man despite having a different face. Others claim he's from another world entirely."
I glance at Hazel again, feigning amazement. "Wow. A 'sainted physician', huh? And everyone thinks this guy's an alien? Or a god? Or an alien god?"
"Or a killer!" Brody growls at me, seemingly remembering the other night in the park and seems to feel the need to kill me; that, or he's referring to an event that happened with my father a very long time ago. At this moment when I glance at him—admittedly, he'd startled me a bit on the word 'killer'—I swear I see a glint of sharp fangs. Vampire fangs.
I instantly hear Brody wince in pain after being roughly kicked in the shin my his brother, who hisses under his breath (though I'm pretty sure he meant for me not to hear), "Peace, brother. Not yet."
I frown, wondering what he means by 'not yet', even though I'm fairly certain he means 'not yet' as in 'it's not time to kill her yet'—'her' being me—which makes me feel disturbed to think that the longer we sit here, the more anxious Brody feels to eat my flesh rather than the cooked meat that he ordered.
Surprisingly, Hazel seems just as disturbed as me as she asks him nervously, "Uh… Are you alright?"
"Ah, he's fine, babe," Billy assures her as he rubs her arm. "Don't mind him; he's just hungry."
I catch Billy give Brody a look as if to say 'Dude, chill; you almost blew our cover!', and when I glance toward Brody, I see him sit back and his fangs revert back to normal, which, of course, Hazel totally misses. The fact that Brody was so close to outright attacking me in front of everybody has greatly increased my eagerness to end the date, as it's also increased my sense of danger.
Thankfully, our waitress unknowingly saves our lives by returning with our meals a few seconds later.
"Ah, here's our food now!" Billy says excitedly.
"Thank god," Hazel sighs in relief. "I was wondering when it would show up. I'm starving too."
I sigh too, feeling just as relieved for the food to have arrived when it did, but for a slightly different reason. Of course, if it was delayed a few seconds longer, I get the feeling that Brody would've just gone ahead and begun eating my flesh instead, and I'm extremely thankful that that didn't happen (again).
"Enjoy your meals," the waitress says after she sets each of our plates in front of us. We thank her before she rushes off once more.
As everyone else immediately begins ravaging their meals, I begin eating mine with less enthusiasm, even though I've totally lost my appetite, especially seeing the way Billy and Brody gnaw through their steaks like rabid dogs. There are even several moments when I see small glints of sharp fangs biting into the meat, and I can't help but envision my own severed neck, as well as Hazel's, in place of the steaks. I steal a sideways glance at Brody and catch him looking at me like he would prefer that exact scenario himself, which automatically makes me think to myself: Hell, no! No way that's happening again! I certainly can't imagine that happening to Hazel either. I'm honestly surprised that Billy hasn't been doing that to her anyway while I've been gone; though, again, I feel like Hazel would've told me about this behavior the instant I returned, and the fact that she hasn't tells me that she truly doesn't know anything about him being an alien vampire, which ups my desire to tell her.
"How's your burger, babe?" Billy asks his girlfriend casually with a mouthful of steak.
"Awesome!" Hazel belches in satisfaction. "How's your steak?"
"Bloody," he smirks with steak juice dribbling down his chin, though to me it looks almost like fresh blood from a corpse. "Just the way I like it."
I can't help but automatically snort at the total irony of his comment, though my smirk instantly drops when I catch Billy glance up at me as if to say, 'Yeah, that's right, you heard me. You're next once I'm done', which makes me flinch in terror, but I don't show it. Of course, his comment goes completely over Hazel's head, who takes another greedy bite of her burger and spreads ketchup across her face in the process.
"What's wrong, Nov—Syd?" Hazel asks me with concern after she swallows her giant bite of burger. "You've hardly touched your food. Do you not like it?"
I pause and lie, "No, it's not that. I'm just…not as hungry as I thought." Technically it wasn't a total lie, as I've legitimately lost my appetite. How can I enjoy my own meal after seeing the way the boys eat their steaks like how I imagine how they ate the corpse of that poor homeless man in the abandoned building? Who knows how many other poor souls they've ravaged in the same manner over the past six months, maybe longer. So many people I could've saved if I was here…
She nods and raises a suspicious eyebrow at me, clearly sensing that I am, indeed, lying. Rather than call me out on it, she murmurs instead, "Also, you have that face on again. That face you get when you sense something's wrong or 'alien'. You know that face makes me nervous."
All the more reason you'd make a terrible companion, I can't help but immediately think in my head. Instead, I say out loud as I shake my head more vigorously and smile innocently, "Nothing's wrong, Haze. I'm fine, honestly. There's nothing to worry about." I stab a piece of broccoli, eat it, and shrug to prove my case.
"What's wrong? Really?" Brody glares at me, also sensing I'm lying.
I have to fight myself not to say, 'You. You and your brother are what's wrong'. Instead, I repeat, "Nothing! Seriously!" I glance at Billy and see him glaring at me in the same way, and I shrug again and attempt to explain, "I'm just not—"
I am interrupted when Hazel suddenly yelps in pain and drops the knife she was using to cut her burger, which clatters noisily onto her plate.
"Haze!" I cry on instinct. "What's wrong?"
"I just cut myself," she grunts as she raises her left hand.
"Babe, you're bleeding," Billy points out as he reaches out to inspect the small cut on Hazel's hand.
I glance at Brody again, and a massive shiver runs down my spine. Upon seeing the blood on Hazel's hand, he immediately closes his eyes and inhales deeply, and his eyes go bloodshot momentarily, like how someone who had inhaled a strong drug would react. Another glance back at Billy, and he instinctively does the same thing.
Fudgeknuckle! This isn't good.
"Haze, we need to go!" I immediately speak up, my sense of danger heightening, as I attempt to get up from the booth, but I end up cursing myself for forgetting that I'm trapped against the wall, as is Hazel. Since there's nothing else I can do, I look down at my 'date' and ask as politely as I can muster, "Brody, can you please move?"
"Where're you going?" Brody growls, refusing to get up. "You can't leave."
"Why? It's not that bad," Hazel says at the same time as she tries using her napkin to clean the blood off her hand, but that's not going to be enough. Not by a longshot.
"Looks bad to me. Let me see it. Maybe I can help," Billy says as he attempts to grab Hazel's hand again, but she moves her arm away, even when he tries forcing her arm back towards him.
"No, Billy, I can help her. Brody, please move; I need to get up. Haze, you too; come with me." I say this as I try physically pushing Brody off the booth, but he doesn't budge.
"You're not going anywhere," Brody says as he stays in the spot, this time baring his vampire fangs at me. "Neither of you are going anywhere!" He says this last bit in a yell, bringing unwanted attention to us from the other diners.
At this point, I've had enough, not even caring about anything besides getting Hazel to safety, far away from the boys. "Brody, move now! Haze, seriously, you need to come with me right now!" At this point, I'm prepared to literally shove Brody's sumo-wrestler body off the booth and onto the floor and yank Billy off the opposite booth to get at Hazel.
However, thankfully I don't have to go that far when the manager of the restaurant comes over and asks in a stern and intimidating voice, "Excuse me, is there a problem over here?" Another waitress stands close by with her phone up as though ready to call the police if things get any worse than they already are. In all honesty, a part of me hopes she goes ahead and calls them anyway just to force the boys away from us. A few other diners have their phones out as well, likely filming the scene to see how far it goes.
We all pause upon seeing the manager. I speak up as I force myself to calm down, even though both hearts are racing a million beats per minute. "No, sir, there's no problem," I try to say as confidently as I can muster, even when my voice is shaky to my own ears. "I was just getting up to help my friend. She accidentally cut herself, and I was just going to take her to the bathroom to help her clean her cut." As I say this, I nudge Brody who finally gets up to allow me to get up (though he is very reluctant to do so even with the manager present), and Billy does the same for Hazel, though Billy is more calm about it. A part of me also thinks about warning the diners and manager about Billy and Brody being dangerous alien vampires, but I ultimately choose not to, knowing no one would believe me.
"Do I need to call an ambulance for you?" the manager asks Hazel.
Before anyone can answer, I answer for her, saying as I pull her away, "No, it's fine. We'll just wash it and put a band-aid on it. We appreciate the concern, though, but I think we're good. Come on, Haze." I pull her away from the scene and toward the ladies' restroom. I take a quick glance behind me at Billy and Brody, and I catch their murderous stares that clearly say, 'this isn't over yet', which sends another shudder up my spine.
As we head toward the bathroom, I chastise myself for causing such a commotion. I remember Dad teaching me to try to keep most alien events secret—i.e. away from the general public to prevent a mass panic, as well as save as many lives as possible. I think back to how desperate I felt to warn everyone about Billy and Brody, at the time believing I could save their lives in case the vampires felt like attacking them for no reason other than to quench their never-ending thirst for blood. I'm sure Dad would be disappointed in me for having possibly blown my cover in front of Billy and Brody, believing that the commotion I caused may have increased their suspicions of me, as well as putting Hazel in even more danger. And for making a complete fool of myself on Social Media without really meaning to; no doubt those who filmed the whole thing will post it everywhere for all the world to see.
Not exactly off to a great start as 'the next Doctor'. Wouldn't be surprised if I end up being the worst 'Doctor' in the universe after Dad passes.
"What the hell was all that about?" Hazel immediately begins ranting the instant we enter the ladies' restroom. "What is with you today? You've been acting super weird since we left the apartment! What is going on?!"
As she says all of this, I rush around the room, checking every stall to make sure we're completely alone. "Haze, I'm sorry!" I say once she stops ranting. "I had to get you away from them!"
"From 'them'?" she frowns. "From who? Billy and Brody? Why? They just wanted to help! Why didn't you want them to? Why don't you trust them?"
"Because I don't!" I admit without really meaning to.
"Why?" she demands.
"Because they're v—" I start to say but suddenly catch myself and immediately stop. Instead, I say, "There's…something about them that I don't trust. I…don't know why. I can't explain it. I just don't trust them with you." Or with anyone, I add in my head.
"Is this one of those stupid 'Time Lord things' that you can't explain?" she scoffs in annoyance. "Rather, something that you won't explain?"
"Ssh!" I snap at her before whispering, "Maybe. I don't know. It doesn't matter. Right now I need to heal your cut. Give me your hand."
"Why do you always have to use your energy on everything?" Hazel grunts as she pulls her hand away, clearly knowing what I'm about to do. "Honestly, it's just a cut; it's not even that deep. As you said, I'll just wash it and put a band-aid on it. It's not a big deal. Why do you insist on making it such a big deal?" She turns on the faucet in one of the sinks in preparation to wash her bloody hand.
I groan, pulling her hand away from the running water. "Haze, please, just let me heal your cut. It's not safe for you to bleed out. Not in front of them." Again, I don't mean to say this last bit, but I felt the need to say it anyway.
"I doubt they're bothered by the sight of a little blood," she says, rolling her eyes. "Billy wasn't; he was just concerned—"
"Haze, shut up and let me do this," I snap at her. "Please."
She starts protesting and tries yanking her hand away again, but I ignore her as I grip her wrist tighter and will my Regeneration Energy to appear and heal her cut. Hazel immediately stops complaining once she sees my energy and is seemingly hypnotized by it as she watches it mend the wound with amazement.
"There," I say after the wound is fully healed, and I make my hands stop glowing. "Now you can wash it and put a band-aid on it."
"Don't need to put a band-aid on it now, do I?" she grumbles under her breath as she washes the leftover blood in the sink.
"You should still put one on anyway," I insist. "You know…in case they get suspicious. They can't know—"
"They can't know about your secret," she sighs as she finishes drying her hands. "I know. Geez, when're you gonna stop saying that? You got that band-aid or not?" After I hand her a band-aid and she wraps it around where the cut used to be, she growls again, "Let's go back," and exits the bathroom, and I follow close behind.
In all honesty, I feel somewhat calmer now after healing her cut with my energy, but I still feel nervous to return to the boys, still fearing that I'd blown my cover as a legitimate human, and they may interrogate me further as a result.
Thankfully—or unfortunately, depending on your perspective—the boys are still at the table, right where we left them. "Babe!" Billy calls to Hazel when he sees us. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"I'm fine," she smiles as she raises her hand to show them. "Look, I got a band-aid. Everything's cool now." She seats herself back on the booth, this time sitting on the outside.
Meanwhile, I gesture for Brody to scoot over, this time forcing him to so I can sit on the outside as well. I catch a few diners from other tables looking at us still with their phones out as if expecting another commotion, but I simply shoot them a 'Sorry, show's over; as you were' look and turn away.
As he hands Hazel back her purse, Billy glances between us, sensing the tension between us. "You sure?" he asks. "You guys look…like you just had an argument."
Hazel glances uneasily at me before shaking her head. "We…did. But it doesn't matter now."
As Hazel changes the subject by asking the boys if they've ordered the check, and while I poke into my mashed potatoes with my fork for hidden razorblades, I suddenly get that familiar sense I got at the abandoned building last night—the sense that another Time Lord is around. I glance over toward the opposite side of the restaurant and see another waitress with familiar long blonde hair glumly cleaning tables. I see the girl momentarily pause as if she senses the exact same thing, and she looks up toward my direction. When our eyes lock with one another, my senses heighten as if to say 'Ding-ding! You found her!'; more than that, I instantly recognize the girl to be the same girl from the abandoned building.
Upon seemingly instantly recognizing me, the girl once again flees the area and toward the kitchens in the back of the restaurant, and I immediately get up from the table and chase after her, determined not to let her get away this time. I ignore Hazel's yells as I continue chasing the girl through the kitchens, but I end up getting stuck behind a cart as a chef is pushing it across my path. I manage to swerve around him and through the chaos and eventually reach the back door where the girl escaped through. Once I exit the door and out into the cold night, I am too late, as the girl seems to have eluded me once again.
Damn, she's a slippery one, I think to myself, cursing shortly thereafter.
Before I think of what to do next, a firm hand abruptly grips my wrist, immediately followed by a gruff voice demanding, "Where do you think you're going?" Startled, I turn to see Brody standing there, having followed me, his meaty hand gripping my wrist so tight that I can feel my bones crushing underneath.
"Nov, what the hell?!" Hazel exclaims, rushing to catch up with Billy close behind. "Why'd you run off?"
"She was trying to escape," Brody confirms, squeezing my wrist even tighter on the word 'escape', making me wince slightly.
"I wasn't," I insist as I try to pull my arm away. "Let go; you're hurting me!"
"And let you run off again?" Brody chuckles like this is all a game, refusing to let me go. "Don't think so, Time Lord."
I instantly pause. "Excuse me?!"
Did he really just call me that?! He totally did! So they do know what I am. Of course they do. I thought as much. No surprise there.
"Brody!" Billy gasps at his brother, seemingly appalled that he revealed that secret out loud for me to find out. "Let her go!"
Thankfully, Brody does, and I instantly massage my wrist while fighting back the Regeneration Energy that wants to heal the bones, but of course I don't let it…yet.
"She's not going to run off again…are you?" Billy asks me suspiciously, saying it in a way that there is no longer any point in hiding what his idiot brother had stupidly revealed.
"No!" I snap back at him while struggling to ignore the pain. "I just…thought I saw someone I recognized."
"And they got away?" Billy frowns as if wanting to know who the person was. Not that I would tell him even if I knew.
I shrug. "Yeah. It doesn't matter now. Anyway, I'm getting tired, and it's getting close to curfew. I'm gonna head back to the apartment. It was…nice spending time with you guys tonight." Even though I learned absolutely nothing about you guys, I add in my head, well, apart from knowing I'm a Time Lord. "We should do it again sometime," I smile as I begin walking toward the apartment, even though I actually don't truly mean what I said. "See ya round."
"I'm going with you," Hazel insists as she steps toward me. "It's not safe to wander the city by yourself." She says this as if she remembers that time when I left the apartment and came back later that night covered in blood and barely alive. Of course, she doesn't plan on letting me out of her sight at night again after that, and she certainly won't let me do anything 'Time Lord' alone again either, even though I have to disagree with her there. Nonetheless, she insists on following me home anyway.
Then again, rather she be with me than alone with the boys; of course, I truly meant what I said about not trusting her to be around them, especially now that I know that they know the truth about me. "Fine," I sigh, reluctantly agreeing with Hazel. "Let's go."
"Goodnight, babe!" Hazel gives Billy one last quick peck on the cheek. "I'll text you later!"
I hear Billy say something about wanting to meet us again after our first day of classes on Monday, but I don't pay much attention, feeling anxious to get away from the world for a little while; that date really stressed me out more than it should've.
"Nov, wait up!" she calls to me as she runs to catch up.
I ignore her as I keep walking silently, hoping I'd be left alone, even though I can sense her anxiousness to know why I've been acting so 'weird' all night, which is, of course, a topic I can't share with her.
"Well, that was an interesting date," she speaks up after a minute, and she says it in a way like she's hoping I'd take the hint that she wants to know the truth, but, of course, I remain silent.
"You left your coat back at the restaurant, by the way," she speaks up again as she lifts up my coat and hands it back to me—honestly, I forgot all about it because of all the craziness—and I take it without saying a word. "You're welcome," she grumbles in response.
We both remain silent for another whole minute, and at this point I can sense Hazel getting really annoyed with my refusing to say anything about my behavior.
Eventually she snaps, having enough. "Okay, seriously, Nov; you gonna tell me what's really going on with you? Why you've been acting so secretive since you got home? Why you act the way you have around Billy and Brody? Honestly, Nova, they're just trying to be nice. They're just normal people. Well, Brody was a little weird. He seemed very…possessive of you, which was super creepy if you ask me, especially on a first date. Don't know if I want him to go on the next on—"
At this point, I've had enough too. "I'm fine, Haze. Really. I'm just…tired." I sigh, hoping she'd just accept what I said and move on, even when it's not the truth.
Of course, Hazel knows that's not the truth. "You and I both know that's a lie. Come on, what's going on? Really? You say you 'can't explain it' but I bet you can, but you just don't want to. Even if it's 'a Time Lord thing', why don't you want to explain it? Are you trying to protect me from something? Even so, maybe I can hel—"
"YES!" I automatically answer her question as to whether I'm protecting her, hence my secrecy from her. Nonetheless, I still feel the need to keep everything a secret, so I say with a groan, "I mean, maybe. It's complicated. That's why I can't explain it. And no, you can't help me. You wouldn't understand. You would never understand."
Even if I did tell Hazel the truth, of course she'd want to help me, but I swore I'd keep her out of everything I do because things have become much too dangerous.
Regardless, Hazel still seems determined to help me, no matter how dangerous things have become; this has always been our sacred oath, after all…at least, it used to be. "Well…maybe if you tried talking to me, maybe I ca—"
"I can't!" I snap at her without really meaning to, but at the same time I did mean to. "I swore I wouldn't let you get involved in anything I do ever again! It's too dangerous!" As much as I want to tell her she may already be involved in something, I refrain from saying it, honestly feeling too afraid and guilty to.
"But I want to help—"
"Haze, stop!" I exclaim, turning to her and gripping her shoulders tightly to make her listen. "You can't help me! I told you, I have a responsibility—a fixed destiny! I can't unwrite myself from it, and I can't let you be a part of it! As much as I want you to be a part of it—as much as I want you to understand—you can't! You just can't! I have to do it alone! Anytime I accept someone's offer to help, they end up paying the price, and it's my fault! I can't let that happen to you! Not again! I'm sorry!"
I pause a few seconds and sigh heavily, regretting what I am going to say next, knowing how much it will hurt Hazel, but I feel the need to say it anyway. "In fact, I should never have come home at all. I should've stayed gone. Dad says I'm safer in the TARDIS anyway. I should never have asked to come back."
Everywhere I go, death and destruction always follow. As Dad recently taught me, that's the curse of the Time Lords, and it's one that will stick with me for the rest of my life—not just this life, but all the lives that will follow should I live past this one. This is why Time Lords don't settle, don't have families; the people they meet end up being a part of the curse as well, and it ends up killing them in the end. If Hazel becomes a part of it, even when she may already be a part of it…
Of course, I can see how much my words have hurt her. She remains silent for a whole minute before she eventually sighs and admits, "Maybe you're right. Maybe you should've stayed gone. If you think you're that dangerous now… If you think you don't need your friends anymore… If you don't need me anymore…" She pauses as she chokes on her last words. "If you really believe that now… Maybe you should just leave. Leave and never come back. Leave and forget me. Forget everything. Maybe it would be better for both of us." She then turns and starts walking away with tears in her eyes.
"Haze, I—" I attempt to protest.
But she doesn't want to hear it. "Don't! If you're going to leave, just leave! Just—" She pauses again as though she planned to say more, but she abruptly stops herself as if thinking she'd step too far across the line with whatever she was going to say. Instead, she says softly, "Forget it. Just forget it! I'm done!" before she turns fully and runs off without another word, leaving me totally speechless.
As much as I want to change my mind and say I actually didn't mean all the things I said, I don't say a word, believing it truly is for the best if we part ways, as I watch my former best friend rush off, feeling absolutely heartbroken.
In all honesty, I knew our time would end around this point. I knew that once I came more into my powers, my life would become far too dangerous for anyone (aside from my bio-parents) to be a part of, and that Hazel would no longer be safe to remain a part of it. Of course, Dad deals with this sort of thing all the time with past companions he takes on, and a large part of me hoped my time with Hazel would last much longer. Admittedly, I'm surprised my friendship with Hazel lasted this long, which is much longer than most other companions Dad has traveled with. I suppose, eventually, all times come to an end, and most of the time it's for the best. Back then, I just never thought it would ever happen to me…until now. I guess that's another part of the 'curse' I'll have to deal with from now on.
I wait for Hazel to get a far enough head-start before I choose to follow her. I walk only a few steps before I stop, suddenly sensing that I am being watched. I glance behind me and see Billy?—no, Brody standing half-inside a side alley, smirking at me from around the corner as if to say, 'Heh, you've just lost your best and only friend. Now you're weak without her'; and, in all honesty, I do feel weak without her now. She'd been my best friend since the First Grade, and I just had to end it because of how dangerous and complicated my life has become. It's impossible for her to remain a part of it any longer; in fact, it probably should never have happened to begin with.
Once he sees me looking at him, and once he senses that I've gotten the message, Brody slips back behind the corner, and when I attempt to run after him, he's, of course, completely gone. Typical.
Since there's no point for me to rush after him now, while failing to hold back tears, I simply turn on my heel and start walking back to the apartment, now feeling a gaping hole in my soul with Hazel no longer there to fill it.
A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!
Don't worry. Eventually that 'gaping hole' will be filled again, but perhaps it might be filled by someone else. Spoilers :)
As mentioned in my earlier notes, keep an eye out for a Doctor Who/Once Upon a Time crossover story I may write (rather, continue) over the next few months. And don't worry, this doesn't mean I'll be ending Nova's story. I'll try to work on both if I can. Really, it all just depends on my motivation in the present moment.
As always, friendly reminder that kudos, comments, and favs are appreciated and will keep me motivated to post more often. I see that many of you are reading my works but not subscribing, favoriting, or commenting on them. I always encourage feedback from my readers and enjoy reading about my readers' favorite moments. I'm sure everyone has at least one favorite moment. Please, please, please share them! I would love to talk about them.
Also, friendly reminder that I tend to have a major habit of rewriting things, so be sure to check back every once in a while (maybe even reread the previous chapter or chapters) to keep up to date on any changes I may make or add.