Forgotten (1/2)
Title: Forgotten
Author: tromana
Rating: PG13
Characters: Four, Romana II, Peri, Erimem, Five, Pelleas
Spoilers: For the audio The Bride of Peladon
Summary: Earth wants their princess back. Princess Pandora, that is. If not, Erimem’s daughter will do just fine.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. Oh well.
Notes: Written for sneakyangel in the newten_rose Secret Santa. In all honesty, I would have written her this anyway.
Forgotten
The TARDIS complained quite considerably as the randomizer dragged it through the time vortex and eventually landed with an almighty bump. Inside the antiquated machine, Romana threw a dirty look at the Doctor as the poor thing grinded into a halt and K9 crashed into one of the walls. Once she was sure they had settled, Romana rushed over to K9’s aide, despite the fact the little automaton insisted that he was perfectly fine and needed no assistance from his Mistress.
“Well?”
“Peladon,” the Doctor announced. “The furthest I’ve ever been into this planet’s future. I’ve been here a couple of times when I was into velvet frock-coats.”
Romana wrinkled her nose slightly. “I assume it’s safe to go out, then.”
She flicked the door switch and strode outside, leaving the Doctor in her wake. She could see why the Doctor had been rather drawn to Peladon in the past, the citadel was rather impressive and the landscape was lush and thick. What she hadn’t been prepared for, however, was a band of guards already waiting outside the TARDIS. They had been rather swift, after all.
“But that is not the Doctor.”
The words drifted over the crowd and a small Earth woman pushed her way to the front and stared defiantly at the Doctor and Romana. Her eyes flicked to the both of them before she started to speak once more.
“Who are you and what have you done with my friends?” she announced. “The Doctor and Peri. Where are they?”
“I am the Doctor,” the Doctor replied, thoroughly insulted. “And this is Romana, and the little metal chap is K9.”
Another figure pushed through to the front and whispered in the woman’s ear. She frowned but accepted his word for now, insisting that he would explain more about his certainty later. She quickly returned her attentions back to the two people standing in front of the TARDIS and their little metal contraption.
“I am Erimemushinteperem, and this is my husband Pelleas,” Erimem announced. “Come. You will explain in more comfortable surroundings.”
Their rest-room alone was certainly impressive and the Doctor whistled his appreciation. Erimem graced them both with a smile and the Doctor collapsed on the sofa, with Romana sitting somewhat more neatly.
“My husband has told me that you could be the same man as I knew,” Erimem announced.
“Well that is entirely possible,” the Doctor agreed. “However, I’m fairly sure I would remember a name such as Erimemushinteperem. Although it is also quite possible that this is my future catching up with me.”
“Ignore him,” Romana advised. “What he means to say is, as you probably know, having travelled with the Doctor, that time travel is a tricky business. You’ve obviously met him, but he’s yet to meet you.”
The door crashed open and two small children came bounding in. Pelleas had been thrilled, not to mention thoroughly relieved, that they had been able to have children. The fact that his wife was not only a different species, but from an age far in the past had always unnerved him. He scooped up the younger of the two, his daughter and tickled her gently. Erimem beamed as her daughter’s laughter echoed through the halls.
“Erimem,” he whispered, passing the little girl to her. “I have to go and tell the guards to stand down. There is no problem here.”
He stalked out of the room as Erimem placed the girl back down and she cocked her head, staring at the Doctor quizzically. There was something familiar about his manner underneath all the bluster and larger than life personality. It was the thing that made her trust him in the first place. She introduced her children to them, Jastor and Belladonia, after the Queen Mother. They both ran continually around the room, and Romana smiled at them briefly and looked wistful as the Doctor immediately joined in with them.
The Doctor was now thoroughly distracted and enamoured by Erimem’s young children. The young boy was whooping and cheering whilst riding K9 and Belladonia was listening, enraptured to some tall tale the Doctor was going at great lengths to tell. Erimem moved over to the Doctor’s companion. Romana, she had said. She thought she could remember the Doctor mentioning a Romana, once. At the very least, she knew this apparently young woman was a Time Lord; she had that same unearthly quality about her. This wouldn’t have been how she would have imagined her. The Doctor’s descriptions of his kind had always made her picture something… stuffier.
“Come,” Erimem whispered to Romana. “My children will be safe with the Doctor.”
She slipped her hand into the slight blonde’s and pulled her away from the scene. Romana followed Peladon’s Queen quite happily until they reached an outside stone staircase, where she appeared quite apprehensive. On the walled side, a flimsy rail had been erected, but was in need of some quite serious repair work. The other side, however, was a sheer drop.
“It’s quite safe,” Erimem assured her as they ascended. “In fact, it quite reminds me of home.”
“Egypt, Earth?”
“Indeed.”
They reached the top and Romana immediately peered straight down the tall tower to the ground, and had to quickly overcome a wave of vertigo. She hadn’t realised quite how high they had climbed. Erimem rested on her arms and gazed out to the distance, smiling serenely as she took in the view.
“Pretty, isn’t it?”
Romana nodded mutely at Erimem’s statement as she took in Peladon’s scenery for the first time. The rolling hills and forests, where Aggadors once roamed (and Pelleas hoped they soon would, once more) did offer quite a beautiful sight to gaze upon.
“I come up here whenever I need a sense of perspective,” Erimem whispered quietly. “It is not quite seeing the Universe from what appears to be a rather small blue box, but it is the best I can do on Peladon.” She paused for a sigh. “I had often dreamed of the Doctor’s return to Peladon, Romana. I never quite imagined he would be a man who never knew me. But now it has happened, I remember that anything is possible with a time machine. With the Doctor, that makes it probable.”
They were interrupted far too quickly. Pelleas and a small huddle of guards had bounded up the staircase, making far too much noise than Erimem and especially Romana thought necessary. Pelleas was gasping for breath, apparently either having run for quite a distance or being relatively unfit. He opened his mouth, paused again, trying to find the words.
“Erimem… the Doctor, Belladonia, gone.”
“And what of Jastor?”
“Safe. He is with their nurse.”
Romana kept to the back of the group, allowing Erimem and Pelleas to talk of their missing child. She knew the Doctor could look after himself, but was already intrigued as to what could have happened. The Doctor would have been particularly protective of the children, after all. Everyone else moved onwards whilst Romana snuck back into the living quarters, which had been left in a considerable state. She knew that was either due to two messy children and an even messier Time Lord, or, the kidnapper didn’t believe much in stealth and subtlety. She had a feeling it was more than likely to be a combination of the two.
She gasped in horror as she saw K9. His innards had been ripped out and head knocked off. Obviously, whoever was responsible had realised his capabilities and removed them in a rather grotesque and crude manner. Erimem walked in, holding the shock of the sight back and approached Romana, who was gently fiddling with wiring and attempting to reattach K9’s head.
“Will your metal dog be okay?”
“Yes, most of the repairs required are rudimentary.”
“We are going to search the forests for Bella and the Doctor. I would be grateful for your company.”
Romana agreed and Erimem took her arm as she led them out towards the forests. A handful of guards joined them, scouting out in front of them. Both women ignored the thorns scratching at their legs as they kept scouring the horizon, eyes and ears alert for any sight of the Doctor or Belladonia.
“Erimem, why did you stop travelling with the Doctor?” Romana knew that distraction therapy was one of the better practices to put in place for the concerned mind. Keeping Erimem talking would at least stop her from focussing on her worry and making her inconsolable.
“Love,” Erimem replied simply. “I miss it sometimes. I miss Peri more. She travelled with us. I thought she and the Doctor, my Doctor, would have visited by now. I had hoped that she could have seen my son as an infant.”
“You must have been close.”
“Very. Peri and I were like sisters,” Erimem stopped. “There is concern in your eyes, Romana. I can see it.”
“I just… it’s nothing.” Erimem squeezed Romana’s hand gently, urging her to continue. “I suppose I just feel the TARDIS is too small for two Time Lords. It is, after all, only one small box.”
“You feel you are outgrowing him?”
“Maybe.”
They fell into silence once again and Erimem looked to the sky. Through the canopy, she could see the sky darkening and different stars to the ones she had grew up under beginning to emerge for their night-time display. Romana’s hand felt reassuring in her own. Romana continually glanced across at Erimem, who caught her gaze once and smiled for the first time in a long while.
“You carry yourself regally,” Erimem announced. “Was your family royalty on Gallifrey?”
“Hardly,” Romana snorted. “I did model this body on royalty, though. Heartshaven, however, was important in it’s time, but by the time I was born, no. It was seen as one of those small traditional houses.”
“Then you must carry your ancestors’ ancient pride within you,” Erimem declared. “That is a good thing.”
The rustling ahead quickly drew their attention. The crash of a branch slamming to the ground caused Erimem to jump. Romana grabbed hold of her. Both of them held their breath as whatever it was approached closer and closer. Guards cocked their guns and pointed them accurately at the source of the noise. Eventually, the Doctor came shambling from behind the bushes, hat askew and collapsed at Romana’s feet. The two women let go of each other, thoroughly embarrassed at being scared of such a spectacle. They caught each others gaze and had to bite their lips to stop themselves from laughing at the absurdity of the situation. Erimem motioned to their guards to stand down, as the Doctor was quite safe. The Doctor, however, grasped hold of Romana’s skirt and looked up adoringly at her.
“Children!” he exclaimed. “Children are wonderful, Romana.”
“Yes, Doctor,” she replied patiently.
“We should, you know, get one,” he beamed from ear to ear. “I’ve been a father before, Romana, and I’m such a great Dad. And you, you’d be a marvellous mother.”
“Right, Doctor.” With Erimem’s help, she managed to get the Doctor to find his feet again. “Let’s go back to Erimem’s home, yes?”
“Yes!” He stumbled slightly before regaining balance. “Our children would be brilliant, Romana. They’d be as pretty as you and as clever as me and do marvellous things. Wouldn’t that be fantastic?”
The Doctor continually chatted enthusiastically about children all the way to a bedroom, which Erimem had promptly organised for him. Once next to the bed, he collapsed onto it, falling asleep instantaneously and began snoring loudly. Romana gently unwound his scarf and hung it in the wardrobe before pulling the covers over him. Erimem watched as Romana tended to him and smiled as she exited the room.
“He’s been drugged,” Romana informed Erimem. “He’ll be fine after a couple of hour’s rest.”
“You really care about him, don’t you?”
“I suppose so, yes.”
“That is why you are so unsure about moving on?”
“I guess,” Romana replied.
“You don’t want to talk about this further, do you?” Romana shook her head. “I was also wondering if you had any idea on leads for the disappearance of my daughter. Word from my husband seems to show that they are having no luck also.”
Romana nodded as once again she entered the rest room, asking Erimem for some tools, a screwdriver and the like, so she could work on K9. Erimem, confused as to how the robot could help the search for her little girl, but complied anyway. Soon, K9 was sitting on the table, with half his innards spilling out as Romana worked methodically, with Erimem helping her.
“How did you adjust to life on Peladon?” Romana enquired as she tightened a screw.
“Quite easily. Travelling with the Doctor made me realise just how much I was destined to lead,” Erimem replied, watching curiously. “Pelleas is wonderful though, and a great comfort when I miss having the stars at my fingertips.”
K9 creaked into life, taking the Egyptian by surprise, but she beamed as he batted away Romana’s concern for him flippantly, insisting that he had been rebuilt satisfactorily. Romana placed him back on the floor before crouching down to his level to speak.
“Do you know what happened just before you became damaged, K9?” Romana asked. “Who attacked the Doctor and took Erimem’s daughter?”
“Humans,” chirruped K9, brightly.
“Humans,” Romana echoed, annoyed. “Any other details, K9? Which era they were from, age, gender even?”
“The assailants were two men and one woman, all aged approximately 30 years. They were speaking of a Princess Pandora.”
“Does Pandora mean anything to you, Erimem?”
“She was betrothed to Pelleas but died underneath the Citadel. Sekhmet was responsible for her death,” Erimem announced. Quieter, she continued, “but I thought Pelleas had dealt with that years ago.”
Romana had already swept out of the room, with K9 trundling in her wake. Erimem shook her head and chased after them. Why had her own kind taken her precious daughter when they had already been informed of the tragic demise of Pandora? Why did that problem have to be re-opened at all? Erimem hated being reminded of the day she nearly died, the time she last saw Peri.
Once she caught up with Romana, she found her cajoling the Doctor into wakefulness. He was complaining loudly, whilst being quite offensive to Romana. Suddenly, he sat bolt upright and grinned at them both, thoroughly unaware that he had been sleeping at all. Romana sighed heavily and threw him his scarf, which he draped carefully around his neck before jumping to his feet energetically.
“Ah, Erimem,” he grinned. “Any luck in finding little Bella? I have to say, she is a delightful young lady.”
Erimem shook her head, trying to prevent the tears from falling. Romana quickly informed the Doctor of all the latest developments, including the fact he had been drugged. He seemed to take that information as some kind of personal violation and stormed off once again.
“Where are you going?” Erimem called.
“TARDIS,” the Doctor announced. “We should be able to follow the trace of the kidnappers and recover your daughter.”
“We’ll make sure she’s home safe,” Romana informed her quietly, squeezing her hand gently. “Try not to worry.”
to part 2