(no subject)
Characters: The Proper and exceptionally grumpy Doctor rude_not_ginger and his Improper and immensely patient Companion handysparehand
Location: The TARDIS, Earth
Time: After this but before this.
Warnings: PART ONE. More adventure!
Notes: Seriously backdated. The Doctor = brown and Handy = blue
He'd been avoiding the Doctor for a good three days now. He'd move out to the kitchen when he knew the Doctor would be in the engine room making repairs, or wherever else He might be. It had fallen into an easy routine, moving around the ship, easily avoiding one another. Once or twice there was a near awkward encounter, but he would retreat straight away. He assumed the Doctor did much the same.
Except today as he went through the pantries they were really honestly almost completely empty. He considered going to the Plane to restock the cupboards, but he didn't particularly feel like explaining to anyone why he was hoarding those supplies instead of just going shopping for them.
He sighed then made his way out to the console room. He knew the Doctor would be there now.
He cleared his throat awkwardly as he entered.
"We need to go shopping."
The Doctor had been avoiding his human self for the last few days. It wasn't easy, his human self always seemed to want to be exactly where the Doctor needed to be at the time. It was fine, the Doctor grew accustomed to just not going where he needed to go, and thus he could avoid his human companion.
His companion. He was still a little bitter over the whole issue with the blue light.
Which was why, while he had his head under the console and his companion spoke to him, he very nearly did not reply out of sheer impudence. Still, his companion was right, and he suspected the suddenly empty cabinets had something to do with the TARDIS not liking it when they fought.
He sighed. "Yes, I know."
"Right then. Glad that's settled."
He crossed his arms and looked around awkwardly.
"I'll just -"
He very nearly said he'd just head off until they got to where they were going, but stopped short. He wasn't going to be chased away, he had just as much of a right to be here as the Doctor did. He moved to the captain's chair and sat down, finding a loose thread on his shirt suddenly incredibly fascinating.
The Doctor stood and punched in a few dials on the console. His instinct was to ask 'any preference?' but then he remembered that no, no, it was the Doctor's TARDIS and therefore his preference.
Except he hated shopping.
"Right. 1998, London. Still can't seem to get a fix on Earth in the 21st century, but the 90's seem to be working all right. I'm not really familiar with the stores in this time, but I figure we'll find something."
"Course, whatever you like."
He kept his gaze disinterested. Apathy and disinterest was the order of the day.
Except he loved shopping.
Still, there probably wouldn't be much to enjoy about it, one way or another. Apathy and disinterest, that was his mantra. It was like He said, expect the worst, so he wasn't wasting his energy on anything but those two emotions for now.
"Right."
The Doctor would like to continue working on the TARDIS, maybe have a cup of tea, then not worry at all about his human companion. Instead, he was landing them near a shopping center in London.
Would it be wrong to tell him to just go shop and come back when he was ready? Oh, probably. Besides, he didn't need to show how much he hated shopping.
"Right. Here we are. Middle of July. Rather not deal with the cold weather."
He looked out at the shopping center, and wondered if he should just say he'd go out on his own and come back eventually. He was sure the Doctor would much rather do anything but shop anyway. Besides, it would be nice, summer in London shopping. He knew it would be awkward and strange at best, the two of them off together right now. And he was still quite happy avoiding the Doctor as much he could. A few hours out on his own sounded perfect.
"I can go on my own, you seem busy here."
Oh, a few hours on his own sounded perfect, but he shook his head, stubbornly determined to not show his distaste. Besides, what kind of companions would they be if they couldn't even shop together?
"No. It's fine. Demolecular restabilizer needs to cool anyway. And I've discovered I need a new kettle." He gestured to the console which now had the handle of the kettle poking out next to the parking brake. It did quite well in a pinch, actually.
"Right. We'll need to find an ATM, first. Then..." he managed not to cringe. "Shopping."
He almost said that he could get the kettle fine on his own, he almost insisted the Doctor stay in the the TARDIS, he almost had a few words to say about the fact that another piece of the kitchen was lost again. Instead he just shrugged.
"Whatever you say."
Any of those other choices would have shown some reaction, interest, all those things he was desperately trying to avoid.
"Right, cash machine then..." he echoed, managing not to smile at all, "shopping."
"Right. Allons-y."
The Doctor led the way out into the courtyard and swiftly spotted a cash machine. He wandered over and picked up the sonic, giving the monitor a wave.
"How much, d'you think?" he asked his companion quietly. "A hundred pounds?"
"Yeah, if we're just getting the tea kettle."
He shuffled awkwardly looking around.
"I mean sure, perfect, whatever you say."
He wandered away and took a seat on a park bench. He picked up a newspaper someone had left there, paging through it in boredom. As he flipped through, he heard a rustling somewhere behind him. He turned around. Probably his imagination, or a bird or something. He went back to looking through the paper as he waited for the Doctor to hurry it along.
"Right, so...um..."
The Doctor procured a hundred dollars for every item. He hated money, he was never sure what to do with money. It also bothered him that it was dollars coming out of the cash machine rather than pounds. Must've been part of the merging. London's skies were peppered with zeppelins, too. Strange, how the places that seemed so like home suddenly changed.
"Here we go." He stuffed the money in a pocket and led the way towards one of the shops, trying to appear enthusiastic.
"Coming?"
"Hmmm? Oh right"
He looked up from the paper to the Doctor, than back to the paper for a moment before finally putting it down and following the Doctor. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, staying a few paces behind Him.
He turned around as he thought he heard that rustling again. Still nothing. He shrugged it off as his mind trying to distract him, nothing more. He might have asked the Doctor before, but that would be effort, and besides, it was more likely than not his mind playing tricks on him.
"All coffee machines are the same, aren't they?" the Doctor asked, mostly talking to himself. "So there's no reason not to buy the one with the most buttons, because then if I need extra buttons I can take them off without really destroying the whole coffee pot. Can't do the same with the kettle, though. Kettles are best in their most uncomplicated form."
He liked the idea of starting out with new electronics, because new electronics were the best things to take apart. He didn't like the idea of actually buying the electronics, though.
"You all right?" he said, turning around to face his human self.
He wasn't paying attention to the Doctor as he scanned the items on the shelves. This was the sort of distraction he could endorse. Except if he was properly distracted why did he keep hearing that.
He turned around in a circle trying to spot whatever it was. He was losing his mind, well wasn't that wizard? Just what he needed on top of everything else.
He looked at the Doctor in confusion for a moment, then shook his head and gave him a look. "Yeah, course I am. Maybe spend some more time worrying about yourself."
He moved around the Doctor, trying to make his way down one of the aisles before the Doctor would get the chance to respond.
The Doctor looked past his human self. "Did you hear that?"
It sounded like rustling. Moving papers. Nah, that couldn't be anything, could it?
"Shops!" he said. "I generally like the little shops, but the big ones, I can't quite understand them. All sorts of odd noises following you about."
He turned around to face the Doctor. He smiled, a little relieved. "You can too? Thought I was losing my mind."
After a moment, he remembered himself, the smile going away.
"Course it's the shop. Suppose I was just distracted and not thinking clearly. Thanks."
He turned away from the Doctor moving down the aisle once more, stopping often to inspect the items on the shelves. The rustling seemed to be getting louder, but he ignored it. It was just the shop, large buildings had a way of doing that, the Doctor was right. Like houses settling. Still, something about it felt out of place. He pushed the thought aside, he was just in a mood. That was all.
"Course, if it was the shop, it wouldn't be getting louder," the Doctor muttered to himself as he looked around the corner. Maybe he was just looking for a distraction. Maybe he just really, really didn't want to shop and he was looking for something to keep him occupied. Yeah, that was it.
Then, to the Doctor's delight, there was an ear-piercing scream from the other end of the store.
Without hesitating, he bolted in its direction.
He put the toaster down that he was looking at and took an alternate route towards that scream. He would at least beat the Doctor to the scene.
As he ran past, he heard that rustling again, close by. He stopped in his tracks, then took a few steps backwards. The sound was louder than everything else at the moment. The only problem was it was just as loud forward or backwards. It didn't sound like it was getting any closer or further no matter which direction he moved in. He looked up and down and around himself, nothing there. He stood still for a moment, trying to hear any signs of where it might be coming from.
After a moment the noise faded back to the volume it was before, the panic from across the store filling the air once more. He took off once again in that direction, arriving amidst the chaos, fully expecting the Doctor to be there and working all ready by now.
"Who screamed? What is it?" the Doctor asked, making it to the front doors of the shop where a woman was screaming. She clung to her child and pointed out the doors to the dark London street.
"Out there!" she screamed.
"What is it?" the Doctor asked. He peered out, but it was really too dark to see much of anything. "I don't see anything," he said.
She looked at him incredulously. "It's noon. It should be daylight out there!"
The Doctor took a step towards the glass doors. Another scream pierced the darkness, this time from outside.
"John!" he called.
He saw a small crowd of four gathering at the front doors and moved forward to see what they were looking at. It was just bright out, now it was complete darkness. Where did the sun go?
"It's Cybermen again," a man behind him said.
"What? Cybermen...it's not, it's not Cybermen."
"What would you know about it?"
"I know Cybermen don't bring on darkness like that, and I'm sure you do too."
He gave the man a look, and he could feel an argument coming on.
"It's those aliens, I bet."
"What aliens?"
"The ones that made the stars go out."
He was quiet then, looking outside. He never thought of Daleks. But no, they were all dead. He made sure of that. He stared out still. Maybe it was just very bad smog. Pollution was always a problem, it could be a possibility.
He heard a very familiar voice just then calling out. Who did the Doctor know named - oh he was calling for him. He moved around people, and finally spotted a familiar profile.
"What is this?" he hissed as he approached the Doctor.
"I don't know," he admitted quietly, pressing his hand to the glass. He gave it a gentle push and the black seemed to move aside, like smoke or water. One of the shop owners bolted over and slammed the door shut.
"Don't let it in!" he snapped. He grabbed one of the brooms for sale and slid it through the handles. "Can't you hear the screaming?"
"Not anymore," the Doctor said, ominously.
The owner pointed to the Doctor, then to the Doctor's human self. "Y-You two---"
"Yes, we're brothers," the Doctor said. "This is John, and I'm---" He made a little face. "Jack. Harkness."
He raised an eyebrow at the Doctor as he introduced Himself.
"Forgot you're ever the optimist, aren't you Jack?"
He looked outside then clapped his hands. He looked around the shop, his sights finally falling on owner who reprimanded the Doctor.
"Right, electronics department, you've got a satellite hookup, yeah? Maybe the television will be able to give us some idea what's going on."
"We receive Skynet for half of the televisions, the rest are just looped to films."
He nodded at the owner, then looked around the shop once more, trying to get his bearings. Finally he spotted the sign designating home entertainment electronics.
"Right we are, this way it seems." He started off for the televisions, not looking to see who, if anyone, was following.
A small group of people followed the Doctor's human self, but the Doctor stayed, looking out of the glass at the strange, penetrating darkness. The screams outside had grown quiet, but so had also the buzz in the back of his mind from the TARDIS. Ominous didn't begin to cover it. He glanced behind himself, then pressed the sonic against the glass, trying to get a readout of the outside.
Interference. So much interference. The sonic fizzed unhappily in his hand, then quieted. This was bad. This was very, very, very bad.
"What is that?" the shop owner asked.
"It's a...thing. A very scientific thing. You wouldn't understand." He offered the shop owner a pathetic smile, then followed the group over to the electronics section.
"Find anything?" he called.
As he entered the electronics section the screens were filled with either an animated film or static. The static could be heard before they even arrived.
"There's nothing out there, no television, no news, just absolute nothingness," a woman said staring at the screens.
"It is aliens again, I told you."
"Aliens?"
"It's happening, just like before. The stars went then the mobile networks, the news stopped..."
He looked around at the small panicking crowd.
"Come on now, I'm sure you've had about the same during a simple rainstorm. Satellite going out isn't anything to get upset about."
He pulled out his mobile. No service. Now that, that was worrying. He put it back in his pocket quickly, turning as he heard the Doctor approach.
"Satellites seem to be out, still nothing to worry over. It's probably just a particularly bad thunderstorm, it would explain the darkness too."
It was a lie, it was one he hoped the Doctor would go along with. The last thing they needed was hysteria, especially when confined like this.
The Doctor touched the sonic to his nose, pressing the button with his thumb in the hopes that his human self could see it wasn't activating. This was far worse than a thunderstorm. But the Doctor knew about panicked crowds, and the last thing they needed was a reason to riot against each other.
"Everybody, listen to me," he said, firmly. "There's nothing to panic about. I think that John's suggestion is a good one. Do we have any meteorologists on site? No? Right, then, let's try to work out something with these machines, see if we can't find out what's going on outside. Until then, there is no reason to panic. We can't start rioting just because it's gone a little dark, yeah?"
"You're not usin' these machines," the shop owner barked. "They're floor models. They're for sale!"
"Yes, and you're perfectly welcome to bill me as long as we get out of here all right. Now!" He pointed to a young woman. "Sorry, yes, what's your name?"
"Megan."
"Megan. Lovely name. Right, Megan. I need you to go around here, figure out how many people we've got. And you---?" he pointed to someone else. "Help her. And you? Go stand by the door, make sure no one leaves until we're really sure it's safe out there. Everyone else! Start gathering tools and equipment, we'll see if we can't build something to go outside."
The Doctor was very good at barking orders, but not so good with the morale. Everyone looked nervous. The Doctor felt nervous. What was going on? Where was the TARDIS? He gestured to his human self to step away from the crowd. [tag!]
The crowd began milling about doing as the Doctor instructed. He began making his way towards the Doctor when a woman grabbed his arm.
"I don't know what to do. What kind of tools and equipment? What do you need to build something for to go out-"
"Just go see if you can find a cart and fill it up with anything you can see, no right or wrong, bring it back around and we'll see if we can sort through it all."
"Why do we need to build anything? You said it was just a storm."
"Food."
"What?"
"If we're stuck in here for a storm, we might as well not starve. There seem to be quite a few children here as well. See if you can go around, gathering up things to keep people busy, rainy days and all that. Books, magazines, games, food, beverages, all that nonsense."
She looked a little uncertain for a moment, but then finally nodded. She stil seemed nervous. Everyone did, even the Doctor. He moved over towards the Doctor.
"No signal on the mobile," he said to the Doctor quietly. "And your sonic...what's happening?"
"Not working, I think it's cut off from the TARDIS, even I can't feel her out there," the Doctor replied in a low voice. "This is more than just the stars going out. This is like the light outside of the TARDIS before, it's all-consuming out there."
Which meant what? What could they do? The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, considering their options.
"We'll need to get somewhere away from the crowd, try to figure out exactly what that darkness is and what's caused all the screaming. But somewhere away from the crowds, we don't need people panicking." For not the first time since he'd left, the Doctor wished Jack was around. Jack was good with people. The Doctor and his human self could do their experiments, figure out how to get out, while Jack calmed those in the shop.
But that was for a different reality. In this one, it was just the Doctor and his human self.
"Forty-five!" came a voice next to them. It was Megan.
"Forty-five?"
"Forty-five. Forty adults, five people under the age of sixteen. 47 with you two."
"Oh, brilliant. Can you let them know what's going on? Try not to scare them, though. We're not sure there's anything to be scared of."
"All right." She turned and darted back to the people.
"Forty five people," he said to his human self. "And no idea what's going on."[tag]
"Forty five," he repeated, watching the girl go back to the crowd.
His eyes traveled towards the glass walls and doors. He could've sworn he saw some movement there. He walked away from the Doctor, standing with his face almost pressed against the glass, trying to make out anything. He thought he saw movement of some kind. He stayed where he was, but there didn't seem to be anything else happening out there. He was probably seeing things.
He was just about to walk away when something banged straight into the glass where he was standing. He jumped back instinctively, then stepped forward again, a hand against the glass.
The smoke and mist seemed to clear slightly then. Not enough to clearly see the world outside, but enough to get small glances at whatever was out there. He stared wide eyed at - as that a tentacle, or three or four. It moved so fast it was hard to make out anything really.
There was a rustling coming from behind him, and the Doctor's attention was momentarily broken. He looked back and thought he saw something moving behind the shelves. Was that a person? Seemed a bit too small for a person, and all of the children were playing with the toys.
The bang on the glass brought him back to reality. The Doctor's eyes widened at the sight through the smoke. A tentacle, hiding out in the darkness. Many tentacles. That was...well, it was impossible. Which made it brilliant.
"What the hell're you smiling at?" someone near him barked. "Those things'll kill us!"
"Right, sorry." The Doctor schooled his expression and headed towards the glass. He looked over to his human self. "I saw three. How many did you count?"
"Four. I thought four. I don't know though."
One of the children must've wandered over. He could hear sniffling behind him. He turned around. A little girl stood there, staring wide eyed out at the window. He bent down to her level, putting a hand to her arm.
"Come on now," he started, trying to be soothing, but a hand pushed him away, he had to focus a moment to keep his balance.
"Get off of her!" the woman barked, he could only imagine it was the girl's mother.
"Sorry," he managed, standing up straight. The woman scooped the girl up, and marched away. He tried to think of something to say as he felt eyes on him. Before he could speak, all the lights flickered, then went out completely. He heard a few screams, then panicked voices.
He felt something brush by him, he pushed himself backwards and away from it instinctively. His back pressed against the glass now, he felt something banging against that now, too. He stepped forward, away from the glass, trying to keep as still as possible. Something was inside with them, something was moving about amongst them.
After a couple moments the lights came back on again. His eyes bounced around the room, trying to spot anything out of place.
The Doctor panicked in the darkness. Dark meant they couldn't keep an eye on everyone. Not keeping an eye on everyone meant someone could go missing.
And that rustling noise. He heard it again. Right there. So close. It rustled over the sounds of screams.
The Doctor reached out and caught Megan's shoulder right as the lights went back on.
"Power fluctuations," he said, immediately. "Effect of the storm outside, probably. Everything's all right."
Which, of course, was the point where Megan's body slumped down next to him, her eyes dull and wide open. He caught her as she fell, but it was too late.
There was complete silence for a good minute or two, as the girl slumped against the Doctor. Can't even have a shopping trip without something like this happening. It's as if the universe was trying to prove the Doctor right.
A gasp from nearby startled him back to attention.
Someone was dead, and it wasn't about him or Him, there was someone dead who moments ago wasn't. He needed to stop, the Doctor was right, he was a brat at times.
There was panicked chatter for a few minutes when suddenly a girl came forward, old enough to be counted as the adults, but still young enough. She pointed at the Doctor.
"He killed her!"
The room errupted into a wave of panicked voices.
The human Doctor stepped forward.
"Hold up, He didn't do anything so -"
"I saw him," the store owner said, stepping forward. "He wanted to open the door, let whatever was out there in. Had to pull him away to stop him. And that thing, when that thing showed up he was smiling, like he was enjoying the whole thing."
He took a step backwards towards the Doctor, still keeping himself squarely rooted where he was between Him and the crowd. And that girl, the dead girl, she was there somewhere, too.
He held his hands up, patting the air.
"All right, a lot of heated emotions, people are scared, but we're not going to get anywhere if we start turning on each other. So let's just think on this rationally."
The Doctor didn't hear them at first, he just laid the girl down next to him. Her skin was pale, almost bluish, and her eyes were open wide in horror. She was only, what? Fifteen? No, probably sixteen. She counted sixteen year olds as grown ups. Forty grown ups, five kids.
Thirty-nine, now.
"I'm so sorry," he murmured. Not that sorry would be enough. He heard his human self defending him. He couldn't just sit here.
He got to his feet. "She's been drained of blood," he said. "Now, whatever's done this, it'll do it again unless we figure out a way to keep it out."
"You killed her!" someone cried.
"In the thirty seconds the lights were out?" He looked up to the florescent lights. "Lights. Someone cut the power, just for a moment. We need to figure out a way to defend the people who are here if the power goes out again. And how do we do that? We get lights."
No one appeared to be listening to him.
He turned to his human self, a somewhat desperate expression on his face. "Right? John?"
He looked out at the crowd. This wasn't good. On many many levels. He wondered briefly who John was -- oh right, he was John.
He cleared his throat, still feeling completely out of his depth. He kept looking at the dead girl out of the corner of his eye.
"Right. Um...He's right."
He looked to the store owner, who was sending the Doctor what could only be termed a death glare. He could still see the girl, too. Someone should cover her up, he thought. He knew he wouldn't want to be left out on display like that if he were her.
He straightened himself and approached the store owner, his tone as even and neutral as he could muster.
"Come on now, you have to admit it, no matter what you might think of Him at the moment. Lights are needed, we need to be able to see, in case...."
He stopped fidgeting a little then moving backwards a few steps. The store owner still glared at the Doctor, but finally nodded.
"The DIY department, there are some torches, battery operated lights. Propane tanks in case there to start a fire."
"Right then. So we get ourselves some lights. How about other things? Something that can be used to fight off someone. Cricket bats or the like, maybe? I'm sure we'll find something useful in sporting goods."
He stopped again, looking at the girl. Her eyes were still open, too. He wouldn't have like that either, he knew. He moved towards her, bending down and shutting her eyes, then after a moment he stood back up again. He tried to push the queasy feeling away as he found his voice again.
"We should - we should do something for her, too. Or at the very least keep her away from all this until it's over. Is there an office, someplace we can move her to?"
"There's an employee's lounge in the back," someone offered finally. The girl who had first accused the Doctor.
He nodded at her, "Right, you help me move her back there. The rest - lights, protection, lookout."
He bent down again to pick up the girl. She was like dead weight, literally. The thought made him feel queasier, but he tried to push the feeling away.
"I'll help---" the Doctor moved to his human self's side, but another young man pushed past him to help, giving the Doctor an accusatory look.
Brilliant, he thought. Five minutes into a crisis and I'm the villain. Again!
Didn't matter. They were working together, at least, and that was something. The Doctor patted his human self on the shoulder and walked past him, towards the electronics section. Even without the sonic, he could still make something useful out of the equipment lying around. He grabbed a few cameras, a coffee machine, and a few regular screwdrivers and got to work.
He flinched slightly as the Doctor patted him on the shoulder, but recovered quickly. He the girl and the young man didn't say much as they moved the body, beside the random direction given by the girl and the young boy.
"Thanks," he finally said nodding to the young man and the girl as they entered the lounge, leaving her body on a sofa against the wall.
The girl and the boy seemed to exchange a meaningful glance before finally approaching him.
"I know he's your brother," the girl said awkwardly, looking at the young man for reassurance before continuing, "but you were there, it had to be -"
He shook his head, adamant.
"It had to be nothing. It was something else."
"You can't really know" the young man finally said, speaking up for the first time. "Could be like Cybex, controlling people with mobiles. Could even be an alien, shapeshifting or mind control, like in stories."
"You're being ridiculous now, I know Him and He didn't have anything to do with this."
"It's not safe with him walking around."
"Just stop it," he hissed. The young man gave him a look of disgust, then walked away.
"You're not gonna be swayed, are you?" the girl asked.
"I won't because He didn't do anything."
"I'm real sorry in that case," she said, then looked somewhere over his shoulder.
Before he had a chance to turn around, there was a sharp pain in his head, then blackness.
The Doctor attached the contraption, which was pretty much just a camera in a steel box, to the end of a long broom handle. Right, that would work. He could open the door, push it out, and get a really clear view of what these tentacle creatures were. Provided, of course, that they didn't lose the camera in the process, he couldn't get the feed to go into one of the computers.
A few people stalked towards the electronics department, striding with a purpose. One of them was the boy from before. How long had it been? The Doctor peered around at the clocks on the shelves, but they all blinked 12:00 over and over. Odd.
"What did you do to that girl?" the shop owner barked.
"I told you," the Doctor said, blowing on the lens of the camera. "I didn't do anything. Lights went out, she was gone." He looked over the rim of his glasses at them. "Honestly, I had no reason to hurt her."
"Yah, that's what your brother said," the boy said, though his tone was accusatory.
"Yeah, well, maybe you should listen to him," the Doctor snapped. "I'm trying to get us out of here, but that's not going to happen if we start turning on each other!"
The rustling sound. The Doctor heard it again and spun around, trying to find where it had gone. Behind the shelf? No. Under the counters?
"What the hell're you doin'?" the shop owner shouted while the Doctor was under the counter.
"That noise!" he replied. "Can't you hear it?"
"I only hear the sound of your wallet openin' up to pay for this." The owner dropped the camera to the ground and the Doctor winced as he heard the breaking of glass inside.
"Right, that was very helpful," the Doctor said, crossing his arms. "Now when the---"
The lights flickered again, then went out. There were some screams, then they went back on in a blink. The Doctor looked around.
"You didn't have anyone watching over the power boxes?" the Doctor snapped.
"No," the shop owner said, looking nervous.
"Is everyone all right?" the Doctor called out. "Everyone? Everyone accounted---where's---" What was his name? "---John?"
"Tied him up in the storeroom, didn't we?" the shop owner said with a laugh. The people around him agreed. "Thought he was gonna stop us from stoppin' you? Or might have. Not somethin' we're going to risk?"
The Doctor shouted. "Tied him up? Tied him up in the storeroom? What for? Wait, wait a minute. The storeroom, but that's..." He blanched. "That's where the power boxes are."
Without hesitating, he ran for it, sliding under a rack of clothes to avoid the small mob and turning the corner to get to the storeroom. He slammed the storeroom door shut behind him and clicked it locked. Where? Where did they tie him up?
The rustling noise again. Louder. The Doctor turned over boxes and pulled apart racks until he saw a very familiar looking shoe poking out from behind a stack of cereal boxes. He raced over and ungagged his unconsious companion. He checked his pulse. One solid, human heartbeat. Alive.
"Hey! Hey, are you all right?" He patted the side of his companion's face. "Wake up!"
He groaned as he felt someone patting his face.
"My head, it's killing me."
He blinked then looked up at the Doctor, he wanted to rub the back of his neck, but his arms, well they were a bit useless at the moment it seemed. He tugged a little, then looked up at the Doctor again.
"Mind giving a little help?"
He felt that sort of relief where he'd want to hug his companion immediately in a sort of gleeful 'You're alive!' way, but, really, that wasn't entirely appropriate for the moment, and he had a feeling that his human self wasn't fond of mid-danger hugging like he was.
So, instead, he hopped up to the sporting area of the storage room and procured a long knife to cut his human self's bonds.
A bang sounded at the door to the store room.
"We're going to need to reinforce that," he said. "They're---what is it with humans accusing me of being out to get them? I mean, me! All the help, all the things I try to do..."
"I dunno," he said, giving a helpless shrug.
"We should get some asp-am I allergic to aspirin still? I've avoided it, not sure if well....but it would make things much easier if I wasn't. Non aspirin pain relievers seem to be all right though. We should figure that out, too."
The ropes were finally cut, and he rubbed his wrists, then the back of his head. Oh, blood. That was disgusting. He wiped his hands on his trousers then pushed himself up. He looked around the room, recognizing it from earlier.
"There's another way out of here, we walked through here on our way to the lounge before. Come on."
He set off in the direction of the lounge. There were tables and chairs and a refrigerator in there, all which could be used to block anyone from getting in.
"Here, help me push this," the Doctor said, heading for the table. It was easy to lift, but the shape made it awkward. "Just until they calm down, come to their senses! Attacking you. And the lights went out again---" A fact which suddenly seemed much more serious than keeping a mob of people out.
Unceremoniously, the Doctor dropped the table and headed over to where the power boxes lined up along the wall. Screwed shut, no evidence of tampering.
"Whatever killed that girl, it was here, turned the lights out again, but it didn't kill anyone this time, not that I saw. And you were very accessible." The fact that his human self was alive warranted a hug again, he decided, though he'd save that up for later.
He stopped and sighed, giving the Doctor a look.
"Of course it has to come down to that, poor me wouldn't be alive if it hadn't of been for you."
He helped push a few more things to block the door, sparing a look every now and then for the dead girl.
He sighed again, turning to face the Doctor, genuinely apologetic. "Sorry, thank you, I don't know what I'm meant to say."
The rustling sound came back, and the lights flickered again.
"Simple shopping trip. Just a simple shopping trip. Can't even have that. Maybe you were right before."
The lights went out again completely now. The rustling was louder, louder, louder still. He felt something brush by again, this time closer than before. This time it felt like i was right on top of him, no matter how he shifted or moved. He had an impulse to shout out for the Doctor, make sure he was still there. He didn't though, they didn't want the others to hear them, maybe they would think the two of them were hiding somewhere in the store room still.
The lights flickered again. And then the room was filled with light. He looked around, nearly passing the sight by, then did a double take. The girl, she was sitting up.
"You're - you're alive," he said, grinning and rushing over.
She seemed disoriented and confused.
"Doctor," he called, without even thinking about fake names.
He looked around the room. The Doctor was no longer there. The door was no longer shut either, instead it was open, the door nearly hanging off the hinge.
"Of course I was right before, don't be stupid." The Doctor picked up a flat-head screwdriver and gave the power box a bang. Water splashed off of the cover. Water? The Doctor looked up. A long dripping line of water was coming from above them. The lights went out for a moment, then came back on.
"Ooooh, automatic interference with the lights. That is clever. Clever! Don't you think?" He turned around, but his companion wasn't standing next to him, he was slumped on the floor, eyes wide, skin pale.
"No!" The Doctor threw down the screwdriver and dropped to the slumped man. No, no, no, no! He pressed his fingers to his pulse. Nothing.
He straightened him out on the ground and tried CPR. One, two, three. His initial reaction was to give the man who looked exactly like him two-heart CPR, but he had to remember that he was only human, only one heart. Breathe. One, two, three.
"Come on, you can't prove me right!" he shouted. "You just can't!"
Again. And again. Nothing. Just there, stiff and unmoving. He continued trying until he heard the door of the storage room break open. Seven or eight of the people from before broke in. They stopped and gaped at the Doctor and his double, the latter dead on the floor.
"You---"
"If you even think about accusing me of this," the Doctor growled. "You will be very, very sorry."
"Then who did?" the shop owner said.
The Doctor stood, pausing just long enough to grab the long-handled screwdriver, which he held in his hand like a weapon. "I'm going to find out."
Location: The TARDIS, Earth
Time: After this but before this.
Warnings: PART ONE. More adventure!
Notes: Seriously backdated. The Doctor = brown and Handy = blue
He'd been avoiding the Doctor for a good three days now. He'd move out to the kitchen when he knew the Doctor would be in the engine room making repairs, or wherever else He might be. It had fallen into an easy routine, moving around the ship, easily avoiding one another. Once or twice there was a near awkward encounter, but he would retreat straight away. He assumed the Doctor did much the same.
Except today as he went through the pantries they were really honestly almost completely empty. He considered going to the Plane to restock the cupboards, but he didn't particularly feel like explaining to anyone why he was hoarding those supplies instead of just going shopping for them.
He sighed then made his way out to the console room. He knew the Doctor would be there now.
He cleared his throat awkwardly as he entered.
"We need to go shopping."
The Doctor had been avoiding his human self for the last few days. It wasn't easy, his human self always seemed to want to be exactly where the Doctor needed to be at the time. It was fine, the Doctor grew accustomed to just not going where he needed to go, and thus he could avoid his human companion.
His companion. He was still a little bitter over the whole issue with the blue light.
Which was why, while he had his head under the console and his companion spoke to him, he very nearly did not reply out of sheer impudence. Still, his companion was right, and he suspected the suddenly empty cabinets had something to do with the TARDIS not liking it when they fought.
He sighed. "Yes, I know."
"Right then. Glad that's settled."
He crossed his arms and looked around awkwardly.
"I'll just -"
He very nearly said he'd just head off until they got to where they were going, but stopped short. He wasn't going to be chased away, he had just as much of a right to be here as the Doctor did. He moved to the captain's chair and sat down, finding a loose thread on his shirt suddenly incredibly fascinating.
The Doctor stood and punched in a few dials on the console. His instinct was to ask 'any preference?' but then he remembered that no, no, it was the Doctor's TARDIS and therefore his preference.
Except he hated shopping.
"Right. 1998, London. Still can't seem to get a fix on Earth in the 21st century, but the 90's seem to be working all right. I'm not really familiar with the stores in this time, but I figure we'll find something."
"Course, whatever you like."
He kept his gaze disinterested. Apathy and disinterest was the order of the day.
Except he loved shopping.
Still, there probably wouldn't be much to enjoy about it, one way or another. Apathy and disinterest, that was his mantra. It was like He said, expect the worst, so he wasn't wasting his energy on anything but those two emotions for now.
"Right."
The Doctor would like to continue working on the TARDIS, maybe have a cup of tea, then not worry at all about his human companion. Instead, he was landing them near a shopping center in London.
Would it be wrong to tell him to just go shop and come back when he was ready? Oh, probably. Besides, he didn't need to show how much he hated shopping.
"Right. Here we are. Middle of July. Rather not deal with the cold weather."
He looked out at the shopping center, and wondered if he should just say he'd go out on his own and come back eventually. He was sure the Doctor would much rather do anything but shop anyway. Besides, it would be nice, summer in London shopping. He knew it would be awkward and strange at best, the two of them off together right now. And he was still quite happy avoiding the Doctor as much he could. A few hours out on his own sounded perfect.
"I can go on my own, you seem busy here."
Oh, a few hours on his own sounded perfect, but he shook his head, stubbornly determined to not show his distaste. Besides, what kind of companions would they be if they couldn't even shop together?
"No. It's fine. Demolecular restabilizer needs to cool anyway. And I've discovered I need a new kettle." He gestured to the console which now had the handle of the kettle poking out next to the parking brake. It did quite well in a pinch, actually.
"Right. We'll need to find an ATM, first. Then..." he managed not to cringe. "Shopping."
He almost said that he could get the kettle fine on his own, he almost insisted the Doctor stay in the the TARDIS, he almost had a few words to say about the fact that another piece of the kitchen was lost again. Instead he just shrugged.
"Whatever you say."
Any of those other choices would have shown some reaction, interest, all those things he was desperately trying to avoid.
"Right, cash machine then..." he echoed, managing not to smile at all, "shopping."
"Right. Allons-y."
The Doctor led the way out into the courtyard and swiftly spotted a cash machine. He wandered over and picked up the sonic, giving the monitor a wave.
"How much, d'you think?" he asked his companion quietly. "A hundred pounds?"
"Yeah, if we're just getting the tea kettle."
He shuffled awkwardly looking around.
"I mean sure, perfect, whatever you say."
He wandered away and took a seat on a park bench. He picked up a newspaper someone had left there, paging through it in boredom. As he flipped through, he heard a rustling somewhere behind him. He turned around. Probably his imagination, or a bird or something. He went back to looking through the paper as he waited for the Doctor to hurry it along.
"Right, so...um..."
The Doctor procured a hundred dollars for every item. He hated money, he was never sure what to do with money. It also bothered him that it was dollars coming out of the cash machine rather than pounds. Must've been part of the merging. London's skies were peppered with zeppelins, too. Strange, how the places that seemed so like home suddenly changed.
"Here we go." He stuffed the money in a pocket and led the way towards one of the shops, trying to appear enthusiastic.
"Coming?"
"Hmmm? Oh right"
He looked up from the paper to the Doctor, than back to the paper for a moment before finally putting it down and following the Doctor. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, staying a few paces behind Him.
He turned around as he thought he heard that rustling again. Still nothing. He shrugged it off as his mind trying to distract him, nothing more. He might have asked the Doctor before, but that would be effort, and besides, it was more likely than not his mind playing tricks on him.
"All coffee machines are the same, aren't they?" the Doctor asked, mostly talking to himself. "So there's no reason not to buy the one with the most buttons, because then if I need extra buttons I can take them off without really destroying the whole coffee pot. Can't do the same with the kettle, though. Kettles are best in their most uncomplicated form."
He liked the idea of starting out with new electronics, because new electronics were the best things to take apart. He didn't like the idea of actually buying the electronics, though.
"You all right?" he said, turning around to face his human self.
He wasn't paying attention to the Doctor as he scanned the items on the shelves. This was the sort of distraction he could endorse. Except if he was properly distracted why did he keep hearing that.
He turned around in a circle trying to spot whatever it was. He was losing his mind, well wasn't that wizard? Just what he needed on top of everything else.
He looked at the Doctor in confusion for a moment, then shook his head and gave him a look. "Yeah, course I am. Maybe spend some more time worrying about yourself."
He moved around the Doctor, trying to make his way down one of the aisles before the Doctor would get the chance to respond.
The Doctor looked past his human self. "Did you hear that?"
It sounded like rustling. Moving papers. Nah, that couldn't be anything, could it?
"Shops!" he said. "I generally like the little shops, but the big ones, I can't quite understand them. All sorts of odd noises following you about."
He turned around to face the Doctor. He smiled, a little relieved. "You can too? Thought I was losing my mind."
After a moment, he remembered himself, the smile going away.
"Course it's the shop. Suppose I was just distracted and not thinking clearly. Thanks."
He turned away from the Doctor moving down the aisle once more, stopping often to inspect the items on the shelves. The rustling seemed to be getting louder, but he ignored it. It was just the shop, large buildings had a way of doing that, the Doctor was right. Like houses settling. Still, something about it felt out of place. He pushed the thought aside, he was just in a mood. That was all.
"Course, if it was the shop, it wouldn't be getting louder," the Doctor muttered to himself as he looked around the corner. Maybe he was just looking for a distraction. Maybe he just really, really didn't want to shop and he was looking for something to keep him occupied. Yeah, that was it.
Then, to the Doctor's delight, there was an ear-piercing scream from the other end of the store.
Without hesitating, he bolted in its direction.
He put the toaster down that he was looking at and took an alternate route towards that scream. He would at least beat the Doctor to the scene.
As he ran past, he heard that rustling again, close by. He stopped in his tracks, then took a few steps backwards. The sound was louder than everything else at the moment. The only problem was it was just as loud forward or backwards. It didn't sound like it was getting any closer or further no matter which direction he moved in. He looked up and down and around himself, nothing there. He stood still for a moment, trying to hear any signs of where it might be coming from.
After a moment the noise faded back to the volume it was before, the panic from across the store filling the air once more. He took off once again in that direction, arriving amidst the chaos, fully expecting the Doctor to be there and working all ready by now.
"Who screamed? What is it?" the Doctor asked, making it to the front doors of the shop where a woman was screaming. She clung to her child and pointed out the doors to the dark London street.
"Out there!" she screamed.
"What is it?" the Doctor asked. He peered out, but it was really too dark to see much of anything. "I don't see anything," he said.
She looked at him incredulously. "It's noon. It should be daylight out there!"
The Doctor took a step towards the glass doors. Another scream pierced the darkness, this time from outside.
"John!" he called.
He saw a small crowd of four gathering at the front doors and moved forward to see what they were looking at. It was just bright out, now it was complete darkness. Where did the sun go?
"It's Cybermen again," a man behind him said.
"What? Cybermen...it's not, it's not Cybermen."
"What would you know about it?"
"I know Cybermen don't bring on darkness like that, and I'm sure you do too."
He gave the man a look, and he could feel an argument coming on.
"It's those aliens, I bet."
"What aliens?"
"The ones that made the stars go out."
He was quiet then, looking outside. He never thought of Daleks. But no, they were all dead. He made sure of that. He stared out still. Maybe it was just very bad smog. Pollution was always a problem, it could be a possibility.
He heard a very familiar voice just then calling out. Who did the Doctor know named - oh he was calling for him. He moved around people, and finally spotted a familiar profile.
"What is this?" he hissed as he approached the Doctor.
"I don't know," he admitted quietly, pressing his hand to the glass. He gave it a gentle push and the black seemed to move aside, like smoke or water. One of the shop owners bolted over and slammed the door shut.
"Don't let it in!" he snapped. He grabbed one of the brooms for sale and slid it through the handles. "Can't you hear the screaming?"
"Not anymore," the Doctor said, ominously.
The owner pointed to the Doctor, then to the Doctor's human self. "Y-You two---"
"Yes, we're brothers," the Doctor said. "This is John, and I'm---" He made a little face. "Jack. Harkness."
He raised an eyebrow at the Doctor as he introduced Himself.
"Forgot you're ever the optimist, aren't you Jack?"
He looked outside then clapped his hands. He looked around the shop, his sights finally falling on owner who reprimanded the Doctor.
"Right, electronics department, you've got a satellite hookup, yeah? Maybe the television will be able to give us some idea what's going on."
"We receive Skynet for half of the televisions, the rest are just looped to films."
He nodded at the owner, then looked around the shop once more, trying to get his bearings. Finally he spotted the sign designating home entertainment electronics.
"Right we are, this way it seems." He started off for the televisions, not looking to see who, if anyone, was following.
A small group of people followed the Doctor's human self, but the Doctor stayed, looking out of the glass at the strange, penetrating darkness. The screams outside had grown quiet, but so had also the buzz in the back of his mind from the TARDIS. Ominous didn't begin to cover it. He glanced behind himself, then pressed the sonic against the glass, trying to get a readout of the outside.
Interference. So much interference. The sonic fizzed unhappily in his hand, then quieted. This was bad. This was very, very, very bad.
"What is that?" the shop owner asked.
"It's a...thing. A very scientific thing. You wouldn't understand." He offered the shop owner a pathetic smile, then followed the group over to the electronics section.
"Find anything?" he called.
As he entered the electronics section the screens were filled with either an animated film or static. The static could be heard before they even arrived.
"There's nothing out there, no television, no news, just absolute nothingness," a woman said staring at the screens.
"It is aliens again, I told you."
"Aliens?"
"It's happening, just like before. The stars went then the mobile networks, the news stopped..."
He looked around at the small panicking crowd.
"Come on now, I'm sure you've had about the same during a simple rainstorm. Satellite going out isn't anything to get upset about."
He pulled out his mobile. No service. Now that, that was worrying. He put it back in his pocket quickly, turning as he heard the Doctor approach.
"Satellites seem to be out, still nothing to worry over. It's probably just a particularly bad thunderstorm, it would explain the darkness too."
It was a lie, it was one he hoped the Doctor would go along with. The last thing they needed was hysteria, especially when confined like this.
The Doctor touched the sonic to his nose, pressing the button with his thumb in the hopes that his human self could see it wasn't activating. This was far worse than a thunderstorm. But the Doctor knew about panicked crowds, and the last thing they needed was a reason to riot against each other.
"Everybody, listen to me," he said, firmly. "There's nothing to panic about. I think that John's suggestion is a good one. Do we have any meteorologists on site? No? Right, then, let's try to work out something with these machines, see if we can't find out what's going on outside. Until then, there is no reason to panic. We can't start rioting just because it's gone a little dark, yeah?"
"You're not usin' these machines," the shop owner barked. "They're floor models. They're for sale!"
"Yes, and you're perfectly welcome to bill me as long as we get out of here all right. Now!" He pointed to a young woman. "Sorry, yes, what's your name?"
"Megan."
"Megan. Lovely name. Right, Megan. I need you to go around here, figure out how many people we've got. And you---?" he pointed to someone else. "Help her. And you? Go stand by the door, make sure no one leaves until we're really sure it's safe out there. Everyone else! Start gathering tools and equipment, we'll see if we can't build something to go outside."
The Doctor was very good at barking orders, but not so good with the morale. Everyone looked nervous. The Doctor felt nervous. What was going on? Where was the TARDIS? He gestured to his human self to step away from the crowd. [tag!]
The crowd began milling about doing as the Doctor instructed. He began making his way towards the Doctor when a woman grabbed his arm.
"I don't know what to do. What kind of tools and equipment? What do you need to build something for to go out-"
"Just go see if you can find a cart and fill it up with anything you can see, no right or wrong, bring it back around and we'll see if we can sort through it all."
"Why do we need to build anything? You said it was just a storm."
"Food."
"What?"
"If we're stuck in here for a storm, we might as well not starve. There seem to be quite a few children here as well. See if you can go around, gathering up things to keep people busy, rainy days and all that. Books, magazines, games, food, beverages, all that nonsense."
She looked a little uncertain for a moment, but then finally nodded. She stil seemed nervous. Everyone did, even the Doctor. He moved over towards the Doctor.
"No signal on the mobile," he said to the Doctor quietly. "And your sonic...what's happening?"
"Not working, I think it's cut off from the TARDIS, even I can't feel her out there," the Doctor replied in a low voice. "This is more than just the stars going out. This is like the light outside of the TARDIS before, it's all-consuming out there."
Which meant what? What could they do? The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, considering their options.
"We'll need to get somewhere away from the crowd, try to figure out exactly what that darkness is and what's caused all the screaming. But somewhere away from the crowds, we don't need people panicking." For not the first time since he'd left, the Doctor wished Jack was around. Jack was good with people. The Doctor and his human self could do their experiments, figure out how to get out, while Jack calmed those in the shop.
But that was for a different reality. In this one, it was just the Doctor and his human self.
"Forty-five!" came a voice next to them. It was Megan.
"Forty-five?"
"Forty-five. Forty adults, five people under the age of sixteen. 47 with you two."
"Oh, brilliant. Can you let them know what's going on? Try not to scare them, though. We're not sure there's anything to be scared of."
"All right." She turned and darted back to the people.
"Forty five people," he said to his human self. "And no idea what's going on."[tag]
"Forty five," he repeated, watching the girl go back to the crowd.
His eyes traveled towards the glass walls and doors. He could've sworn he saw some movement there. He walked away from the Doctor, standing with his face almost pressed against the glass, trying to make out anything. He thought he saw movement of some kind. He stayed where he was, but there didn't seem to be anything else happening out there. He was probably seeing things.
He was just about to walk away when something banged straight into the glass where he was standing. He jumped back instinctively, then stepped forward again, a hand against the glass.
The smoke and mist seemed to clear slightly then. Not enough to clearly see the world outside, but enough to get small glances at whatever was out there. He stared wide eyed at - as that a tentacle, or three or four. It moved so fast it was hard to make out anything really.
There was a rustling coming from behind him, and the Doctor's attention was momentarily broken. He looked back and thought he saw something moving behind the shelves. Was that a person? Seemed a bit too small for a person, and all of the children were playing with the toys.
The bang on the glass brought him back to reality. The Doctor's eyes widened at the sight through the smoke. A tentacle, hiding out in the darkness. Many tentacles. That was...well, it was impossible. Which made it brilliant.
"What the hell're you smiling at?" someone near him barked. "Those things'll kill us!"
"Right, sorry." The Doctor schooled his expression and headed towards the glass. He looked over to his human self. "I saw three. How many did you count?"
"Four. I thought four. I don't know though."
One of the children must've wandered over. He could hear sniffling behind him. He turned around. A little girl stood there, staring wide eyed out at the window. He bent down to her level, putting a hand to her arm.
"Come on now," he started, trying to be soothing, but a hand pushed him away, he had to focus a moment to keep his balance.
"Get off of her!" the woman barked, he could only imagine it was the girl's mother.
"Sorry," he managed, standing up straight. The woman scooped the girl up, and marched away. He tried to think of something to say as he felt eyes on him. Before he could speak, all the lights flickered, then went out completely. He heard a few screams, then panicked voices.
He felt something brush by him, he pushed himself backwards and away from it instinctively. His back pressed against the glass now, he felt something banging against that now, too. He stepped forward, away from the glass, trying to keep as still as possible. Something was inside with them, something was moving about amongst them.
After a couple moments the lights came back on again. His eyes bounced around the room, trying to spot anything out of place.
The Doctor panicked in the darkness. Dark meant they couldn't keep an eye on everyone. Not keeping an eye on everyone meant someone could go missing.
And that rustling noise. He heard it again. Right there. So close. It rustled over the sounds of screams.
The Doctor reached out and caught Megan's shoulder right as the lights went back on.
"Power fluctuations," he said, immediately. "Effect of the storm outside, probably. Everything's all right."
Which, of course, was the point where Megan's body slumped down next to him, her eyes dull and wide open. He caught her as she fell, but it was too late.
There was complete silence for a good minute or two, as the girl slumped against the Doctor. Can't even have a shopping trip without something like this happening. It's as if the universe was trying to prove the Doctor right.
A gasp from nearby startled him back to attention.
Someone was dead, and it wasn't about him or Him, there was someone dead who moments ago wasn't. He needed to stop, the Doctor was right, he was a brat at times.
There was panicked chatter for a few minutes when suddenly a girl came forward, old enough to be counted as the adults, but still young enough. She pointed at the Doctor.
"He killed her!"
The room errupted into a wave of panicked voices.
The human Doctor stepped forward.
"Hold up, He didn't do anything so -"
"I saw him," the store owner said, stepping forward. "He wanted to open the door, let whatever was out there in. Had to pull him away to stop him. And that thing, when that thing showed up he was smiling, like he was enjoying the whole thing."
He took a step backwards towards the Doctor, still keeping himself squarely rooted where he was between Him and the crowd. And that girl, the dead girl, she was there somewhere, too.
He held his hands up, patting the air.
"All right, a lot of heated emotions, people are scared, but we're not going to get anywhere if we start turning on each other. So let's just think on this rationally."
The Doctor didn't hear them at first, he just laid the girl down next to him. Her skin was pale, almost bluish, and her eyes were open wide in horror. She was only, what? Fifteen? No, probably sixteen. She counted sixteen year olds as grown ups. Forty grown ups, five kids.
Thirty-nine, now.
"I'm so sorry," he murmured. Not that sorry would be enough. He heard his human self defending him. He couldn't just sit here.
He got to his feet. "She's been drained of blood," he said. "Now, whatever's done this, it'll do it again unless we figure out a way to keep it out."
"You killed her!" someone cried.
"In the thirty seconds the lights were out?" He looked up to the florescent lights. "Lights. Someone cut the power, just for a moment. We need to figure out a way to defend the people who are here if the power goes out again. And how do we do that? We get lights."
No one appeared to be listening to him.
He turned to his human self, a somewhat desperate expression on his face. "Right? John?"
He looked out at the crowd. This wasn't good. On many many levels. He wondered briefly who John was -- oh right, he was John.
He cleared his throat, still feeling completely out of his depth. He kept looking at the dead girl out of the corner of his eye.
"Right. Um...He's right."
He looked to the store owner, who was sending the Doctor what could only be termed a death glare. He could still see the girl, too. Someone should cover her up, he thought. He knew he wouldn't want to be left out on display like that if he were her.
He straightened himself and approached the store owner, his tone as even and neutral as he could muster.
"Come on now, you have to admit it, no matter what you might think of Him at the moment. Lights are needed, we need to be able to see, in case...."
He stopped fidgeting a little then moving backwards a few steps. The store owner still glared at the Doctor, but finally nodded.
"The DIY department, there are some torches, battery operated lights. Propane tanks in case there to start a fire."
"Right then. So we get ourselves some lights. How about other things? Something that can be used to fight off someone. Cricket bats or the like, maybe? I'm sure we'll find something useful in sporting goods."
He stopped again, looking at the girl. Her eyes were still open, too. He wouldn't have like that either, he knew. He moved towards her, bending down and shutting her eyes, then after a moment he stood back up again. He tried to push the queasy feeling away as he found his voice again.
"We should - we should do something for her, too. Or at the very least keep her away from all this until it's over. Is there an office, someplace we can move her to?"
"There's an employee's lounge in the back," someone offered finally. The girl who had first accused the Doctor.
He nodded at her, "Right, you help me move her back there. The rest - lights, protection, lookout."
He bent down again to pick up the girl. She was like dead weight, literally. The thought made him feel queasier, but he tried to push the feeling away.
"I'll help---" the Doctor moved to his human self's side, but another young man pushed past him to help, giving the Doctor an accusatory look.
Brilliant, he thought. Five minutes into a crisis and I'm the villain. Again!
Didn't matter. They were working together, at least, and that was something. The Doctor patted his human self on the shoulder and walked past him, towards the electronics section. Even without the sonic, he could still make something useful out of the equipment lying around. He grabbed a few cameras, a coffee machine, and a few regular screwdrivers and got to work.
He flinched slightly as the Doctor patted him on the shoulder, but recovered quickly. He the girl and the young man didn't say much as they moved the body, beside the random direction given by the girl and the young boy.
"Thanks," he finally said nodding to the young man and the girl as they entered the lounge, leaving her body on a sofa against the wall.
The girl and the boy seemed to exchange a meaningful glance before finally approaching him.
"I know he's your brother," the girl said awkwardly, looking at the young man for reassurance before continuing, "but you were there, it had to be -"
He shook his head, adamant.
"It had to be nothing. It was something else."
"You can't really know" the young man finally said, speaking up for the first time. "Could be like Cybex, controlling people with mobiles. Could even be an alien, shapeshifting or mind control, like in stories."
"You're being ridiculous now, I know Him and He didn't have anything to do with this."
"It's not safe with him walking around."
"Just stop it," he hissed. The young man gave him a look of disgust, then walked away.
"You're not gonna be swayed, are you?" the girl asked.
"I won't because He didn't do anything."
"I'm real sorry in that case," she said, then looked somewhere over his shoulder.
Before he had a chance to turn around, there was a sharp pain in his head, then blackness.
The Doctor attached the contraption, which was pretty much just a camera in a steel box, to the end of a long broom handle. Right, that would work. He could open the door, push it out, and get a really clear view of what these tentacle creatures were. Provided, of course, that they didn't lose the camera in the process, he couldn't get the feed to go into one of the computers.
A few people stalked towards the electronics department, striding with a purpose. One of them was the boy from before. How long had it been? The Doctor peered around at the clocks on the shelves, but they all blinked 12:00 over and over. Odd.
"What did you do to that girl?" the shop owner barked.
"I told you," the Doctor said, blowing on the lens of the camera. "I didn't do anything. Lights went out, she was gone." He looked over the rim of his glasses at them. "Honestly, I had no reason to hurt her."
"Yah, that's what your brother said," the boy said, though his tone was accusatory.
"Yeah, well, maybe you should listen to him," the Doctor snapped. "I'm trying to get us out of here, but that's not going to happen if we start turning on each other!"
The rustling sound. The Doctor heard it again and spun around, trying to find where it had gone. Behind the shelf? No. Under the counters?
"What the hell're you doin'?" the shop owner shouted while the Doctor was under the counter.
"That noise!" he replied. "Can't you hear it?"
"I only hear the sound of your wallet openin' up to pay for this." The owner dropped the camera to the ground and the Doctor winced as he heard the breaking of glass inside.
"Right, that was very helpful," the Doctor said, crossing his arms. "Now when the---"
The lights flickered again, then went out. There were some screams, then they went back on in a blink. The Doctor looked around.
"You didn't have anyone watching over the power boxes?" the Doctor snapped.
"No," the shop owner said, looking nervous.
"Is everyone all right?" the Doctor called out. "Everyone? Everyone accounted---where's---" What was his name? "---John?"
"Tied him up in the storeroom, didn't we?" the shop owner said with a laugh. The people around him agreed. "Thought he was gonna stop us from stoppin' you? Or might have. Not somethin' we're going to risk?"
The Doctor shouted. "Tied him up? Tied him up in the storeroom? What for? Wait, wait a minute. The storeroom, but that's..." He blanched. "That's where the power boxes are."
Without hesitating, he ran for it, sliding under a rack of clothes to avoid the small mob and turning the corner to get to the storeroom. He slammed the storeroom door shut behind him and clicked it locked. Where? Where did they tie him up?
The rustling noise again. Louder. The Doctor turned over boxes and pulled apart racks until he saw a very familiar looking shoe poking out from behind a stack of cereal boxes. He raced over and ungagged his unconsious companion. He checked his pulse. One solid, human heartbeat. Alive.
"Hey! Hey, are you all right?" He patted the side of his companion's face. "Wake up!"
He groaned as he felt someone patting his face.
"My head, it's killing me."
He blinked then looked up at the Doctor, he wanted to rub the back of his neck, but his arms, well they were a bit useless at the moment it seemed. He tugged a little, then looked up at the Doctor again.
"Mind giving a little help?"
He felt that sort of relief where he'd want to hug his companion immediately in a sort of gleeful 'You're alive!' way, but, really, that wasn't entirely appropriate for the moment, and he had a feeling that his human self wasn't fond of mid-danger hugging like he was.
So, instead, he hopped up to the sporting area of the storage room and procured a long knife to cut his human self's bonds.
A bang sounded at the door to the store room.
"We're going to need to reinforce that," he said. "They're---what is it with humans accusing me of being out to get them? I mean, me! All the help, all the things I try to do..."
"I dunno," he said, giving a helpless shrug.
"We should get some asp-am I allergic to aspirin still? I've avoided it, not sure if well....but it would make things much easier if I wasn't. Non aspirin pain relievers seem to be all right though. We should figure that out, too."
The ropes were finally cut, and he rubbed his wrists, then the back of his head. Oh, blood. That was disgusting. He wiped his hands on his trousers then pushed himself up. He looked around the room, recognizing it from earlier.
"There's another way out of here, we walked through here on our way to the lounge before. Come on."
He set off in the direction of the lounge. There were tables and chairs and a refrigerator in there, all which could be used to block anyone from getting in.
"Here, help me push this," the Doctor said, heading for the table. It was easy to lift, but the shape made it awkward. "Just until they calm down, come to their senses! Attacking you. And the lights went out again---" A fact which suddenly seemed much more serious than keeping a mob of people out.
Unceremoniously, the Doctor dropped the table and headed over to where the power boxes lined up along the wall. Screwed shut, no evidence of tampering.
"Whatever killed that girl, it was here, turned the lights out again, but it didn't kill anyone this time, not that I saw. And you were very accessible." The fact that his human self was alive warranted a hug again, he decided, though he'd save that up for later.
He stopped and sighed, giving the Doctor a look.
"Of course it has to come down to that, poor me wouldn't be alive if it hadn't of been for you."
He helped push a few more things to block the door, sparing a look every now and then for the dead girl.
He sighed again, turning to face the Doctor, genuinely apologetic. "Sorry, thank you, I don't know what I'm meant to say."
The rustling sound came back, and the lights flickered again.
"Simple shopping trip. Just a simple shopping trip. Can't even have that. Maybe you were right before."
The lights went out again completely now. The rustling was louder, louder, louder still. He felt something brush by again, this time closer than before. This time it felt like i was right on top of him, no matter how he shifted or moved. He had an impulse to shout out for the Doctor, make sure he was still there. He didn't though, they didn't want the others to hear them, maybe they would think the two of them were hiding somewhere in the store room still.
The lights flickered again. And then the room was filled with light. He looked around, nearly passing the sight by, then did a double take. The girl, she was sitting up.
"You're - you're alive," he said, grinning and rushing over.
She seemed disoriented and confused.
"Doctor," he called, without even thinking about fake names.
He looked around the room. The Doctor was no longer there. The door was no longer shut either, instead it was open, the door nearly hanging off the hinge.
"Of course I was right before, don't be stupid." The Doctor picked up a flat-head screwdriver and gave the power box a bang. Water splashed off of the cover. Water? The Doctor looked up. A long dripping line of water was coming from above them. The lights went out for a moment, then came back on.
"Ooooh, automatic interference with the lights. That is clever. Clever! Don't you think?" He turned around, but his companion wasn't standing next to him, he was slumped on the floor, eyes wide, skin pale.
"No!" The Doctor threw down the screwdriver and dropped to the slumped man. No, no, no, no! He pressed his fingers to his pulse. Nothing.
He straightened him out on the ground and tried CPR. One, two, three. His initial reaction was to give the man who looked exactly like him two-heart CPR, but he had to remember that he was only human, only one heart. Breathe. One, two, three.
"Come on, you can't prove me right!" he shouted. "You just can't!"
Again. And again. Nothing. Just there, stiff and unmoving. He continued trying until he heard the door of the storage room break open. Seven or eight of the people from before broke in. They stopped and gaped at the Doctor and his double, the latter dead on the floor.
"You---"
"If you even think about accusing me of this," the Doctor growled. "You will be very, very sorry."
"Then who did?" the shop owner said.
The Doctor stood, pausing just long enough to grab the long-handled screwdriver, which he held in his hand like a weapon. "I'm going to find out."