Fic: Circles (Prompt Fill #7)
Another prompt ficlet (or actual fic, I suppose, flimsy as it is).
From belantana: Nat and Tilly are stuck in a closet (up to you whether this is before or after they're married!) I assumed from this that at least some mild Nat/Tillyness was required… (Nat and Tilly being my 1980s UNIT OCs from a scarily epic series of Doctor Who fanfics I did a while back. There aren't any particular spoilers here, but I'm not sure it would make sense to anyone who hasn't read at least one of those. Sorry.)
Title: Circles
Author: lost_spook
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1261
Characters/Pairings: Nat Webber, Tilly Holmes, Sergeant Kennedy (1980s UNIT Ocs).
Notes/Warnings: None.
Summary: It’s just another day at UNIT HQ. There’s an alien visitor and Nat and Tilly find themselves locked in the cupboard - over and over again.
***
“Now what?” Nat murmured in Tilly’s ear.
Tilly shifted position; he could feel the movement of her skirts against him, even before she gripped his arm. There wasn’t much space in the store cupboard. “Knock on the door.”
“Seriously,” he said, keeping his tone low. Why they were now shut in the cupboard in the lab was a very good question, and the best answer he had as yet was that it was merely another day at UNIT HQ. A man who had looked mostly human but with a distinct bluish tone to his skin had turned up and ordered them in there at gunpoint, and then locked them in. More than that, Nat couldn’t say without further evidence. “Any ideas?”
“No, I mean it, Nat. I heard the Sergeant.”
“But that’s impossible,” said Nat. “There hasn’t been time -” He stopped on hearing Kennedy’s voice from the lab, evidently wondering where the two of them had got to since he left. “How -? Tilly?”
Tilly rapped on the inside of the door as loudly as she could manage.
Sergeant Kennedy pulled it open, temporarily blinding them with the light. “What are you two doing? I don’t know, I leave the room for one minute and when I come back you’ve locked yourselves in the cupboard?”
“As it turns out, yes,” said Nat, emerging into the room, Tilly behind him. “Except we -”
*
“- didn’t lock ourselves in.”
Tilly stopped. “Oh.”
They were back inside the cupboard again. Nat blinked. “Okay, this is weird. More than usual.”
“Yes.” Tilly knocked on the door again, harder this time.
The Sergeant pulled it open, stared back at them and then raised his eyebrows. “What are you two doing -?”
*
“It’s something to do with time,” said Nat, as they found themselves shut in the dark again. He moved position, being between a broom handle and a box. “We didn’t get back in here - we never left. And I suppose that’s how our friend turned up out of nowhere, and got away before Kennedy came back.”
Tilly said nothing.
He turned his head, but it was impossible to read her expression at that angle, and in this gloom. “Don’t panic.”
“I’m not,” she said. “But Nat - why?”
“It did something,” he said, firmly. “Whoever or whatever it was that put us in here. It’s got nothing to do with you. If this sort of thing kept happening, maybe, but it doesn’t, does it?”
Tilly sighed. “So, how do we get out? We didn’t even have as long to try and explain to the Sergeant that time.”
“I don’t know,” said Nat, but he thought about it. The only thing he could think of was to try doing something different, something to disrupt or break the worryingly small circle of events they seemed to have become trapped within. “Knock again.”
She shrugged, and did as he asked.
Before anyone could open the door, Nat caught hold of her arm, and then he kissed her, taking her by surprise.
“What are you doing in -?” Kennedy halted midway through the sentence, and then said, wearily, “Never mind. Look, I leave you for one minute and -”
Tilly hurried out, past him. “Yes, yes,” she said. “So you keep saying!” Then she swung around with a glare for Nat.
“It was the only thing I could think of,” he said, before she could complain. “Anyway, Matilda, we are married after all, so even you -”
“That doesn’t mean we should kiss in the closet in the lab!”
“No,” agreed Nat, with a grin. “It does sound less reasonable when you put it that way. Anyway, quick, before it happens again. There must be something causing this - something that it left here, maybe. Kennedy, help us - look for anything that seems odd -”
“Odder than you two?” said the Sergeant.
Tilly looked along the bench, and then frowned. “But what exactly are we -?”
*
“- looking for?” She slumped back against the shelves.
Nat looked at her. “I thought we’d done it, then.”
“With a kiss?”
He leant forward, towards her. “There’s no need to sound so revolted by the idea, thank you, Matilda. By changing something - breaking the loop, that’s all.”
“Well, try something else next time,” said Tilly. “It isn’t right, not in front of the Sergeant. And I hit my head on a bracket.”
Nat pulled a face at her that was wasted in the darkness. “I’m sorry, then. But the point is how do we get out of this?”
“Nat, is it us?” she asked, suddenly.
He turned. “I thought I said just now -”
“No, I mean, is whatever it is on us somehow - not in the lab? Because it’s only us going round and round, isn’t it? The Sergeant doesn’t know he’s asked the same thing over and over, but we do. And I can’t - I don’t think I can remember what it did any more.”
Nat stopped. What had happened after the person or alien, whatever it had been, was very unclear for him, too. She had a point. He frowned, and slid his hands into both front pockets of his lab coat, and then looked at her. “Tilly. I think I’ve got something, but I can’t see -”
“Knock on the door, then,” she said.
He leant towards her instead. “We still need to do something to disrupt the cycle - we’ll need the extra time again.”
*
Sergeant Kennedy turned towards the sound of the knocking, and paused on identifying the store cupboard as the source, unlikely as that seemed. He moved over cautiously, and pulled the door open. As soon as he did, UNIT’s scientific advisor and his assistant leapt out and yelled at him.
“What the -?” He stared. “What? Have you two lost it? I don’t know, I leave the room for one minute… And I’m armed; I could bloody well have shot you -”
They failed to answer him, or seem to register he had spoken, Nat pulling out a clear globe from his pocket, and both of them closing in together, examining it. Tilly then took it from him, and placed it carefully on the floor. Then she glanced up at Nat.
“I don’t know,” he said, in answer to her unspoken question. “We’d better have a proper look at it.”
“I am still here,” said the Sergeant, “but don’t worry. Ignore me. Fine.” He followed along the general gist somewhat belatedly and became wary. “Look, what is that? Do I need to tell the Colonel?”
Tilly chewed her lip in response, then looked down again, and stamped on it as hard as she could.
*
There was a small explosion, and a bright flare of light. Nat grabbed at Tilly instinctively, blinking as it faded, leaving behind only the fragments of the globe on the floor. “That,” he said in her ear, “wasn’t very scientific! Tilly!”
“There wasn’t time,” she said, not looking at him, but pressing into his hold, not moving away. “What would have happened if we’d ended up in the cupboard then, with it outside?”
Nat closed his eyes. “I don’t know, but even so... You could have killed yourself! You could have killed us all!”
Kennedy coughed behind them. “Either of you want to explain?”
“Yes, sorry,” said Nat, vaguely, turning. “Er. There was an alien. I suppose you’d better get people out looking for him - it - whatever.”
Kennedy paused. “Next time,” he said, “either I’m not leaving the room, or I’m not coming back in again.”
***
From belantana: Nat and Tilly are stuck in a closet (up to you whether this is before or after they're married!) I assumed from this that at least some mild Nat/Tillyness was required… (Nat and Tilly being my 1980s UNIT OCs from a scarily epic series of Doctor Who fanfics I did a while back. There aren't any particular spoilers here, but I'm not sure it would make sense to anyone who hasn't read at least one of those. Sorry.)
Title: Circles
Author: lost_spook
Rating: All ages
Word Count: 1261
Characters/Pairings: Nat Webber, Tilly Holmes, Sergeant Kennedy (1980s UNIT Ocs).
Notes/Warnings: None.
Summary: It’s just another day at UNIT HQ. There’s an alien visitor and Nat and Tilly find themselves locked in the cupboard - over and over again.
***
“Now what?” Nat murmured in Tilly’s ear.
Tilly shifted position; he could feel the movement of her skirts against him, even before she gripped his arm. There wasn’t much space in the store cupboard. “Knock on the door.”
“Seriously,” he said, keeping his tone low. Why they were now shut in the cupboard in the lab was a very good question, and the best answer he had as yet was that it was merely another day at UNIT HQ. A man who had looked mostly human but with a distinct bluish tone to his skin had turned up and ordered them in there at gunpoint, and then locked them in. More than that, Nat couldn’t say without further evidence. “Any ideas?”
“No, I mean it, Nat. I heard the Sergeant.”
“But that’s impossible,” said Nat. “There hasn’t been time -” He stopped on hearing Kennedy’s voice from the lab, evidently wondering where the two of them had got to since he left. “How -? Tilly?”
Tilly rapped on the inside of the door as loudly as she could manage.
Sergeant Kennedy pulled it open, temporarily blinding them with the light. “What are you two doing? I don’t know, I leave the room for one minute and when I come back you’ve locked yourselves in the cupboard?”
“As it turns out, yes,” said Nat, emerging into the room, Tilly behind him. “Except we -”
*
“- didn’t lock ourselves in.”
Tilly stopped. “Oh.”
They were back inside the cupboard again. Nat blinked. “Okay, this is weird. More than usual.”
“Yes.” Tilly knocked on the door again, harder this time.
The Sergeant pulled it open, stared back at them and then raised his eyebrows. “What are you two doing -?”
*
“It’s something to do with time,” said Nat, as they found themselves shut in the dark again. He moved position, being between a broom handle and a box. “We didn’t get back in here - we never left. And I suppose that’s how our friend turned up out of nowhere, and got away before Kennedy came back.”
Tilly said nothing.
He turned his head, but it was impossible to read her expression at that angle, and in this gloom. “Don’t panic.”
“I’m not,” she said. “But Nat - why?”
“It did something,” he said, firmly. “Whoever or whatever it was that put us in here. It’s got nothing to do with you. If this sort of thing kept happening, maybe, but it doesn’t, does it?”
Tilly sighed. “So, how do we get out? We didn’t even have as long to try and explain to the Sergeant that time.”
“I don’t know,” said Nat, but he thought about it. The only thing he could think of was to try doing something different, something to disrupt or break the worryingly small circle of events they seemed to have become trapped within. “Knock again.”
She shrugged, and did as he asked.
Before anyone could open the door, Nat caught hold of her arm, and then he kissed her, taking her by surprise.
“What are you doing in -?” Kennedy halted midway through the sentence, and then said, wearily, “Never mind. Look, I leave you for one minute and -”
Tilly hurried out, past him. “Yes, yes,” she said. “So you keep saying!” Then she swung around with a glare for Nat.
“It was the only thing I could think of,” he said, before she could complain. “Anyway, Matilda, we are married after all, so even you -”
“That doesn’t mean we should kiss in the closet in the lab!”
“No,” agreed Nat, with a grin. “It does sound less reasonable when you put it that way. Anyway, quick, before it happens again. There must be something causing this - something that it left here, maybe. Kennedy, help us - look for anything that seems odd -”
“Odder than you two?” said the Sergeant.
Tilly looked along the bench, and then frowned. “But what exactly are we -?”
*
“- looking for?” She slumped back against the shelves.
Nat looked at her. “I thought we’d done it, then.”
“With a kiss?”
He leant forward, towards her. “There’s no need to sound so revolted by the idea, thank you, Matilda. By changing something - breaking the loop, that’s all.”
“Well, try something else next time,” said Tilly. “It isn’t right, not in front of the Sergeant. And I hit my head on a bracket.”
Nat pulled a face at her that was wasted in the darkness. “I’m sorry, then. But the point is how do we get out of this?”
“Nat, is it us?” she asked, suddenly.
He turned. “I thought I said just now -”
“No, I mean, is whatever it is on us somehow - not in the lab? Because it’s only us going round and round, isn’t it? The Sergeant doesn’t know he’s asked the same thing over and over, but we do. And I can’t - I don’t think I can remember what it did any more.”
Nat stopped. What had happened after the person or alien, whatever it had been, was very unclear for him, too. She had a point. He frowned, and slid his hands into both front pockets of his lab coat, and then looked at her. “Tilly. I think I’ve got something, but I can’t see -”
“Knock on the door, then,” she said.
He leant towards her instead. “We still need to do something to disrupt the cycle - we’ll need the extra time again.”
*
Sergeant Kennedy turned towards the sound of the knocking, and paused on identifying the store cupboard as the source, unlikely as that seemed. He moved over cautiously, and pulled the door open. As soon as he did, UNIT’s scientific advisor and his assistant leapt out and yelled at him.
“What the -?” He stared. “What? Have you two lost it? I don’t know, I leave the room for one minute… And I’m armed; I could bloody well have shot you -”
They failed to answer him, or seem to register he had spoken, Nat pulling out a clear globe from his pocket, and both of them closing in together, examining it. Tilly then took it from him, and placed it carefully on the floor. Then she glanced up at Nat.
“I don’t know,” he said, in answer to her unspoken question. “We’d better have a proper look at it.”
“I am still here,” said the Sergeant, “but don’t worry. Ignore me. Fine.” He followed along the general gist somewhat belatedly and became wary. “Look, what is that? Do I need to tell the Colonel?”
Tilly chewed her lip in response, then looked down again, and stamped on it as hard as she could.
*
There was a small explosion, and a bright flare of light. Nat grabbed at Tilly instinctively, blinking as it faded, leaving behind only the fragments of the globe on the floor. “That,” he said in her ear, “wasn’t very scientific! Tilly!”
“There wasn’t time,” she said, not looking at him, but pressing into his hold, not moving away. “What would have happened if we’d ended up in the cupboard then, with it outside?”
Nat closed his eyes. “I don’t know, but even so... You could have killed yourself! You could have killed us all!”
Kennedy coughed behind them. “Either of you want to explain?”
“Yes, sorry,” said Nat, vaguely, turning. “Er. There was an alien. I suppose you’d better get people out looking for him - it - whatever.”
Kennedy paused. “Next time,” he said, “either I’m not leaving the room, or I’m not coming back in again.”
***