Fix: Deux Ex Machina (Doctor Who)

Aug 07, 2006 14:58

I actually finished the thing. No one is more surprised than me.

Title: Deux Ex Machina (or; Time Lord Clichés)
Author: Hathor
Summary: A story for loneraven's Tenth Doctor ficathon. For calapine, who wanted another Time Lord, some classy villainy and an alien planet.
Rating: Eh, PG.
Notes: I only know TV canon. Sorry about that! Feedback makes me do the hat dance of happiness.

"You know," said the Doctor as conversationally as one can whilst being walked forward at the point of a weapon, "I really thought I would have got rid of you when the TARDIS ate you. It's actually quite annoying, if I'm honest. Do you mind if I'm honest?"

"Oh, it never stopped you before," the other man replied, equally casual. "Would you like me to have you killed now to save the annoyance?"

The Doctor held his hands up hurriedly. "No, no, I didn't say that! Just… surprised, that's all. Old friends and all that."

"I think we passed the realm of friendship quite some time ago, Doctor," the man replied, pursing lips that were surrounded by a neat goatee. "Now, if you and your lovely blonde friend would like to step in here?"

~~

You know how the story goes. He is the Doctor, and he travels through time and space, with different faces for different times. He takes companions along with him. Sometimes they are male, sometimes they are female and sometimes they are robot dogs. They are from a multitude of planets and times. This Doctor looks young but speaks with the pain of his age; his companion looks young and is young, comparatively, hailing from a species that is less than a fraction of a second old on the clock of the universe. She is called Rose Tyler, and sometimes she thinks that she knows the Doctor better than anyone.

She has good intentions, and is quite bright for someone so low on the scale of evolution, but she is often quite wrong about many things. She may know the Doctor quite well, but she knows almost nothing of his past. However, given that very little of his past remains in the universe, this is rarely a problem.

('Rarely' is not 'never', of course. It is important to remember this.)

~~

The room they were gently prodded into was elegant, Rose decided. It stood in direct contrast to the guards, who reminded Rose of statues, or the more stubborn type of bouncer. They were silent, large, and even moved a little like Rose imagined a statue would, in a creaky and uncertain way. She filed them down as a mystery to be solved later. More important, however, was the man who seemed to be in charge of them.

"What do you mean, the TARDIS ate you?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "I could explain it to you, madam, but I feel my effort would be wasted."

"The TARDIS doesn't like him," the Doctor supplied. "She always has good taste like that."

"It seems so, doesn't it?" agreed the man. "We shall see about that. Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, my guards here will attend to your every need. I just need you to stay in this room for a while."

"No." The Doctor's voice was hard now, all traces of joviality removed. "I don't know why or how you're here, but I don't trust you."

"Good! A sign of intelligence for once, Doctor! This new body must suit you, then. Either way, however, you must stay here."

"Or?"

"Or these guards are very loyal and will be forced to stop you."

"We're still alive because you want something from me, because that's how it always works. You can't kill me, or at least you can't kill me yet."

The man laughed. "Oh, of course I can. I have no interest in you, Doctor - merely curiosity about how our dear homeland burned. Why," he said, turning to Rose, "it's Miss Tyler here I want to keep alive."

Rose's blood ran cold. "I didn't tell you her name," the Doctor said, taking a step closer to the Master. The guards eased into a defensive position as he went nose to nose with the smaller man.

"No, I didn't, did I?" The man's smile was definitely beginning to scare Rose now, and a small part of her thought that might be the point. "Think on that, Doctor."

~~

It was an ordinary story at the beginning. The Doctor and Rose, travelling the galaxy and landing on alien planets at any point in history. This time is a small desert planet - a recent visit to the Tyler family left Rose craving sunshine, rather than the rain that is so prevalent in the small part of the small planet she originates from. The original aim, admittedly, had been to try and find a planet with a nice beach, but Rose knows enough not to complain. There is sunshine in abundance, but it is the small settlement that piques the Doctor's interest, or more precisely the tower in the centre of it.

"Are there people here, Doctor?" Rose Tyler asks.

"Yes," says the Doctor. "But they can't build that." He nods at the tower. So they investigate, and rather predictably, they are caught by the locals, who turn out to be in the thrall of an alien madman, whom they think is a god. It barely stands up as a story, and Rose and the Doctor often escape from such adventures and laugh about it afterwards. But the alien madman, now… he is the one who makes the story worth telling.

Who is this man, then, who knows the Doctor? There are many individuals throughout the universe - indeed, universes - who know the Doctor, but this one… oh, this one is special. The Doctor can explain it better than most. He always could.

~~

"Doctor, who… why does he know you?" Rose asked. Rather than answering immediately, the Doctor sat down on one of the elegant sofas spread throughout the room. All in tasteful dark colours, the room looked like what Changing Rooms had always aspired to be, and what Jackie Tyler had always spoken longingly of. Rose sat down next to him, slightly gingerly. "Who is he?"

"He calls himself the Master," the Doctor replies.

"The Master?"

"Yeah, he's always been a bit… deluded like that," said the Doctor. He took a deep breath. "We were at university together."

Rose laughed. "Oh, yeah, because you got taught all of this - oh." The full enormity of the statement hit her. "You mean on your home planet?"

"On Gallifrey, yes. I wasn't very good at most of the things they tried to teach me, and he helped me through a lot of it," the Doctor said dully. "Then he…" He stopped for a moment, as though searching for the right way to explain it. "He changed. He started to look for more power, away from Gallifrey, and he did some drastic things to achieve it. Regeneration runs out, Rose. We only get twelve. He ran out a long, long time ago, and now he just takes others’ bodies. Which," he added, "might work out better in the long run for his fashion sense, given that he prefers the look you saw today."

"Doctor," said Rose gently, "how is he here?"

"He died - well, was consumed by the TARDIS, long story, you wouldn't believe me if I told you - a long time ago. Before the Time War." The Doctor was pensive. "He might have even helped us against the Daleks. Or with the Daleks, because you could never tell, but he died. Properly, this time. And now he's here, and I don't know what he wants with you, and that worries me."

"Maybe… maybe he's like you, and just wants someone who knows about Gallifrey?" She stumbled over the unfamiliar word. "He might have changed."

"He never changes," said the Doctor flatly. "Never. He wants to dominate everything, and he'll do anything that stops him. He'll destroy and maim and ruin and kill, just for power. It's all he's ever wanted, Rose."

"Well," said Rose, trying to sound cheerful, "he's never actually done it though, has he? You've always stopped him, right?"

"Not really. He killed me once, Rose."

"Oh." Rose swallowed.

"Yes. Oh."

--

It is a conundrum indeed for the Doctor and Rose. They cannot see the preparations the Master is making, and the strange machines he has operating at the top of the tower. They cannot see the searching that the bulky humanoids of this planet are making throughout the scrubland and the desert, looking for the Doctor's machine, the TARDIS.

(The Doctor and Rose cannot see me, either.)

But then, the Doctor is so busy pacing around the room, running his hands across the walls, donning his spectacles and looking under the tasteful furnishings, alternatively shouting out or cajoling the guards, casting frantic glances at Rose, that he cannot be expected to think of everything, can he?

(Besides, he has no reason to think that I am here. I like to imagine that it will give him a pleasant surprise.)

--

All things considered, it couldn't have been more than an hour that the Master left them in the small room. Rose couldn't tell accurately anymore - any watch she tried to wear gave up after a few hours within the TARDIS, and the Doctor was usually right if you asked him how much time had passed.

But whether it was an hour or not, the door slid open, and both Rose and the Doctor leapt up. Rose stood a little closer to the Doctor as the black-garbed man strode confidently into the room, and allowed herself to feel just a little comforted as the Doctor took her hand.

"Thank you for waiting," said the Master, as pleasantly as anyone might after an unavoidable delay. "Luckily, my guards have now found your TARDIS, and I've made the necessary preparations. Miss Tyler, if you'd like to come with me?"

He held out a black-gloved hand. Rose took another step backwards. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Yes you will," said the Master calmly. "Guards, kill the Doctor."

"No!" screamed Rose as the two guards raised their weapons. "I'll come with you!" She took a step forward, but the Doctor held her back, his brown coat swirling behind him as he strode forward towards the Master. Bizarrely, Rose suddenly realised this was a position that the two must have been in many times before, both shifting against each other naturally.

"What do you need with her?" said the Doctor angrily. "It's always me you come after. What does she have that's so special?"

"Doctor, you haven't worked it out yet?" The Master laughed again, that horrible cold laugh that made the hairs stand up on the back of Rose's neck. "You said yourself that the TARDIS doesn't like me. The TARDIS does like this one though. I noticed that, you see, whilst being churned around the inside of your wretched machine."

"That was how you're here," the Doctor said softly after a moment, straightening up. "That was how you escaped, and you took someone else's body, didn't you?"

"Doctor? How did he escape?" demanded Rose, realising belatedly that her voice was unusually shrill.

"You… when you came against the Daleks, when I changed. You let him out, Rose."

~~

Of course, those not currently in danger can always work things out in a much more logical fashion. The Doctor was never especially logical, and whilst Rose can think
clearly, she is unable to do so if she is not in full possession of the facts. Those observing the story unfold

(such as myself)

are far more able to see the logical pattern of events. It was Rose who delved into the heart of the TARDIS to save the Doctor and the future Earth from the Dalek horde, but at the same time, it was Rose who released one of the Doctor's most dangerous enemies.

It's rather neat, really.

~~

"So you're taking her because… why, some sort of emotional connection? I didn’t think you were capable of that," the Doctor spat.

"Oh, don’t bring emotions into it, Doctor. This body is much more emotional than the last ones, isn't it? I'm not sure if I prefer it that way, really. Think logically, Doctor."

"There is no logical way that you can justify hurting Rose."

"I'm not going to hurt Miss Tyler, Doctor, because that wouldn't be conducive to what I need. The TARDIS seems to respond well to her presence."

"Unlike you."

"Precisely, unlike me. She will be responsible for setting the controls and pacifying the TARDIS, and I will be the one telling her how to use them."

"I won't help you," said Rose quietly, still stood slightly behind the Doctor. "He's told me what you are."

"You will help me, Miss Tyler, because I am leaving the Doctor in this tower. I don't particularly want to kill you, Doctor." He sneered. "I don't really care for all of this 'lonely god' rubbish I hear you've been parading about. You killed Gallifrey, Doctor, but Miss Tyler brought a little of it back. And if you try and leave this tower, Doctor, my guards will communicate with me and tell me what you have done. I will kill your lovely friend, if need be, and simply find another. And if you do not co-operate, Miss Tyler, then I will kill the Doctor." He smiled broadly. "It's really as simple as that."

The room went deathly silent. The guards were still poised and ready, whereas the Doctor simply looked frozen. "I could always kill you," he said softly after the silence that seemed to last forever, Rose feeling like she could barely breathe.

"You could, Doctor. Do you like being the lonely god?"

A second stretched into another, and another, and another.

"Go with him, Rose."

~~

Like so many things that the Doctor does, we have now reached the typical climactic moment. Things could so easily go one way or the other. Past Doctors would have agonised about killing the Master. A more recent Doctor could not have removed one of the only things left containing his past. This Doctor, though… this Doctor has less mercy. This Doctor will forget Gallifrey and remember the things that the Master did in his past. This means, however, that the Doctor knows that when the killing starts, Rose will not be exempt.

The Master is quite genuine in his wish to keep the Doctor alive. His intentions, predictably, are rather unclear. Possibly he retains some small fondness for Gallifrey, or for the Doctor himself. Most likely, however, he knows that the Doctor is a good bargaining piece to use against the so very human Rose Tyler.

(Personally, I'm favouring the latter.)

~~

"Doctor…" Rose was utterly horrified, too shocked to cry or shout or scream. "He can't use you like that!"

"I can, my dear, and I am," said the Master, his smile growing while the Doctor seemed to diminish in front of Rose. "Guards, please escort Miss Tyler to the TARDIS. Make sure the Doctor stays here."

The guards didn't speak, not even to acknowledge the command. Instead, one of the sturdier ones stepped forward and took Rose in an iron grip before half-dragging her out of the room. Trying to resist was impossible - it would have been easier to fight off a brick wall. She tried anyway. "Doctor!"

His face was ashen. "I will find you, Rose. I will find you, and I will end you this time, Master."

The smaller man just smiled. "Just as you say. Guards!"

The last expression Rose saw on the Doctor's face was somehow scarier than the prospect of travelling through time and space with the alien madman in the black clothes. What she - and the Master - missed was the slight blonde woman quietly sliding into the corridor from the other end. Caught up in fear and grim success respectively, neither of them had any time to notice.

~~

Ah, the deux ex machina.

That, for those not familiar with the way this sort of story goes, is a somewhat pretentious name for a convenient device to save the day. Rather lazy story-telling, I always think, but less so when I am the deux ex machina.

My name, for future reference, is Romanadvoratrelundar. You may call me Romana, if you wish.

(Fred is also acceptable.)

~~

She quietly moved up the corridor, and nodded easily to the guards as she passed into the Doctor's room. No moves were made to stop her, and one of the guards nodded almost imperceptibly to her in return. She easily opened the door, and ducked quickly as the Doctor tried to leap at her. "Doctor!" she called out quickly, darting to the side of the room. "Doctor, it's me, calm down!"

The Doctor went very still. "It can't be you."

"Yes it can, Doctor." She was calm, as she always was. "The shockwaves of Gallifrey… we all felt it."

"We?"

"Well, me," she admitted. "I will explain once we have saved that lovely young lady you're with - humans again, Doctor?"

"Yeah, well, they're a breath of fresh air. It's… it's good to see you, Romana." He lunged forward again, but this time embraced her, breathing in deeply. "You haven't changed."

"You have," she said simply. "Now will you please come on?"

So they ran. Romana led the way, seemingly knowing the way through the complex as well as she used to know the way through the TARDIS. The guards simply stood aside and let her pass, but the Doctor didn't have time to wonder at this. Once out of the tower itself, the dark blue box was clearly visible no more than 100 metres from the tower, a startling contrast from the dark chrome that made up much of the settlement. The bulky guards were either side of the clearly struggling Rose, whilst the Master strode on ahead confidently.

"You distract the Master," said Romana, slightly breathless. "The guards and I can work together."

"What makes you think they'll do that?" he shot back, still moving rapidly towards Rose.

"Because they're working for me, Doctor."

"Oh," he said. "Erm, right."

As Romana darted behind a nearby building - and the Doctor had learnt long, long ago not to argue with her when she had her mind set on something - the Doctor tried to regain a little breath. "Oy! Master!" It wasn't the greatest of distractions, but it would do for now. The Master turned around as the Doctor jogged up to the small party. "You will let her go," he hissed. "You will give her back to me now."

The Master raised his eyes to the sky. "Oh, Doctor. You're so dreadfully predictable!" He turned to the guards. "Kill him."

"No." Rose and the Doctor both jumped when the bigger guard spoke. His voice sounded like two sheets of rock sliding against each other, and each word was slow and considered. "We will not kill the Doctor."

"What?" The Master looked furious, but briefly regained his calm. "Fine. I shall do the job myself." He reached inside his clothing, and suddenly, too late, the Doctor remembered they had taken the sonic screwdriver away from him when he had first arrived. Then he smiled.

"Oh, honestly," said Romana suddenly, sounding irritated. "Why must you both always be like this?"

She had crept up from behind her hiding place to behind the Master. With him so bent on the Doctor, he only saw his smile as she reached up and quickly injected something into his neck. He blinked twice, opened his mouth to say something and fell to the floor, Romana standing over him.

Rose was the first to speak. "Who are you supposed to be, then?"

"I am Romanadvoretrelun-"

"Rose, this is Romana," said the Doctor quickly. "She's… erm… also from Gallifrey."

"So all this stuff about being the last one left wasn't actually true, then," said Rose, sounding tired. "Right. Well, that's something to remember."

"No, no, the Doctor was quite right about being the last real Gallifreyan left," said Romana smoothly. "The Master was technically dead, and I've been in an alternative dimension for the last few decades. I only returned because of the Time War, and apparently I was too late. Doctor, do you have any idea how hard it was to breach into this universe?"

"I've got a bit of an idea, yes," he answered. "You're… you're here."

"Yes, Doctor, I am here and I am glad to see that your powers of observation have improved."

"Yeah, I've got glasses for that now." He looked down at the slumped shape of the Master. "What are you going to do with him, then?"

"That drug had a mild memory suppressant in it," she said mildly. "He'll wake up and remember nothing, and instead go back to thinking he rules this little rock - which, I might add, I've been doing rather neatly for some time now - and plotting about how to snare you and your TARDIS."

"What…" He was hesitant now, glancing at Rose cautiously. "What will you do?"

"I'll stay here, of course."

"You could… you could come with us?" He saw the way Rose flinched at that, and tried as hard as he could to ignore it. "Like old times."

"Doctor." Romana's voice was gentle; she had noticed the way Rose flinched too. "You might be content to gallivant around the galaxy, and he might be content to plot and scheme; both of you behaving to character! But someone has to protect what's left of Gallifrey. And that's me, Doctor."

"You could protect me," he suggested with a smile.

"You've got Rose here to do that," she said, shaking her head. "I have to stay here, and make sure he doesn't get into any more trouble."

"The Council ordered his execution," he said delicately. "He's… well, he's hardly the model Gallifreyan, is he?"

"Neither are any of us, Doctor." She held her head high, blonde hair cascading down her back. "But someone has to take responsibility for what's left of Gallifrey, and that's going to be me."

"I'll visit," he added, this time definitely ignoring the way that Rose twitched.

"No, Doctor, you won't," she said with an air of finality. "Guards, will you please carry the Master back to the tower to recover?"

With no apparent effort, the one who had spoken hauled the Master over its shoulder and began to trudge back to the tower.

"This is the point that you leave, Doctor." Romana smiled. "It was nice meeting you, Miss Tyler."

Rose shrugged. "You may as well call me Rose," she muttered. "Thanks for, you know, saving me."

"You are more than welcome."

Rose quickly entered the TARDIS, shutting the door a little firmer than she needed to behind her. The Doctor lingered for a moment.

"Don't try and hug me," Romana warned. He held up his hands, looking hurt.

"I wasn't even going to try," he said, and instead took his hands out and held one out. "Thank you."

She shook it. "As I said, someone has to look after Gallifreyans."

"Bye then, President Romana."

She just smiled, and stood and watched as the TARDIS de-materialised.

~~

And that is how the story ends. It wasn't, I suppose, a very satisfying ending. Obviously, there were some loose ends to be tied up - I returned to the rooms where I had been staying to keep a discreet eye on the Master, and the guards were told to act as they had previously. The Master, from what the guards tell me, railed furiously as what he presumed was heat stroke, and went back to constructing an electrical field net to try and snare the TARDIS. I sometimes sabotage it, to keep the progress slow, but he is unusually single-minded.

Before, I might have stranded him somewhere with no technology, or even carried out of the Council's last orders. Now, though, someone has to try and keep a close eye on what is left of Gallifrey. And that person is myself.

I rather like the sound of President Romana.

End

There is an EXCITING POST with PICTURES to come of London, but I have somewhere to be very very soon. I will post my EXCITING POST as soon as I have the time!

~Hathy_Col~
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