Prisms of No Color, Ch 7 by rose_of_pollux [Doctor Who, Rubato]
Title: Prisms of No Color, Chapter 7: Pay the Dancer
Author: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Theme: 11; Rubato
Fandom: Doctor Who
Warnings: PG13
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, and the story is.
Summary/Comments: The Doctor heads into the city and comes to a realization.
Notes: N/A
Cross-posted to fanfiction.net, tumblr, and whofic.com
The Doctor was spared from a long walk to town when, after starting his journey on foot, he happened upon some of the hovercrafts that the crowd of mercenaries had left behind. It was still a puzzle as to why they had left so abruptly, but with only a finite amount of time with which to get captured, hopefully escape, and reverse the damage to the Vortex, he didn’t question it; he immediately activated one of the hovercrafts and headed towards the lights of the city.
Even though he was focused on heading for the city, there was the lingering doubt of what would happen once he got there. He certainly didn’t want to regenerate, of course, but there was something that worried him greatly if that ended up happening; he remembered how Ben and Polly had reacted when he regenerated for the first time, after what had happened with the Cybermen-how they hadn’t even believed who he was at first, despite the fact that he had changed right in front of their eyes. Would Jamie and Zoe ever believe it was still him if he changed-especially if they never even saw it? Would they accept him? And what would he do if they didn’t?
Of course, that was all dwarfed by the larger problem at hand. He had to get in and out of that blaze in time; if the continuum collapsed because he was too late, it wouldn’t matter how many regenerations he had left. And it wasn’t just himself who would suffer from the collapse; Jamie and Zoe would, too, as would anyone else he had ever known and loved. Having Jamie and Zoe upset and distrusting of his next regeneration was preferable to losing them in this manner.
He exhaled, convinced that he had made the right decision. And, of course, in order for this decision to prove fruitful, he had to get captured.
One he arrived within the city limits, he found it fairly easy to ease into the lane of other one-seater hovercrafts, who took no notice of him. Hovercrafts seemed to be the choice method of transportation in Neo Serenity-larger units were used to transport families and couples in the multi-seater lanes. In his lane, the Doctor wasn’t moving as quickly as the others; he contemplated merging into one of the other lanes. He knew that this was more than likely illegal, but considering that his end goal was to be captured, he decided that it was well worth the maneuver.
He had just been about to make the lane change when he began to notice posters stuck to lampposts and street signs.
“Hello, what’s this…?” the Doctor murmured.
The posters were everywhere, but the lampposts weren’t close enough for him to get a good look at them. He soon left the main road altogether when he found the chance, turning onto the streets of downtown Neo Serenity. As he approached the nearest lamppost, he pulled the hovercraft over to the side of the street and switched it off.
The paper had folded over by a breeze, and he walked over to it, folding it back. And a breath caught in his throat.
A sketch of Jamie stared back at him from the paper; the word “WANTED” was printed above the piper’s image.
“What…?” the Doctor asked, stunned.
Speechless, he read the description below Jamie’s sketch.
James McCrimmon
Wanted for sabotage and conspiracy against the City of Neo Serenity.
Likely to be found in the company of a man called the Doctor and a girl called Victoria Waterfield. McCrimmon has been sabotaging the weather machine by means of stealing energy from the open portal, and he is responsible for the current drought as a result; there is a reward for information leading to the capture of McCrimmon and his compatriots.
The Doctor began to pace the pavement, running his hands through his hair as he attempted to try to make sense of the situation.
“He hasn’t done a thing!” the Doctor exclaimed aloud, to no one in particular. “Why would they accuse him of sabotage and conspiracy and have the gall to blame him for the drought!?”
He stopped dead in his tracks.
“…And how would they know our names?” he asked.
He turned back towards the wanted posted, rereading it again a few more times. At last, he finally took notice of the glowing mistake on it.
“Victoria…” he murmured. “Not Zoe-Victoria.”
He gripped the lamppost to steady himself; he was shaking from the sudden realization of the significance of Victoria’s name being dragged into the picture.
“This is personal-a vendetta,” he realized. “Whoever is behind this knew Jamie and myself while Victoria was still traveling with us… But who? Klieg is dead… The Great Intelligence?”
A look of fear crossed his face and he ducked into the shadows of an alley and now peeked out, looking for Yetis.
“Of course…” he sighed. “Since the Intelligence did escape, it would want to lure me into another trap…”
He trailed off again, realizing that there were no signs of Yetis around-the people of the city were milling around as though nothing was out of the ordinary.
“No…” he breathed. “It’s not the Intelligence. The Intelligence wouldn’t have made such a mistake-it would’ve possessed enough eyes and ears to have had one of those mercenaries at the crystals under its direct control. And if it had done that, it would’ve seen Zoe and known she was not Victoria. But then who…?”
The Doctor looked back in the direction he had come from. Even from where he was standing, he could see the swirling, open Vortex.
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…” he said. “The Time Vortex… the weather machine… It could only be…” He glanced down, staring at his reflection in a discarded glass bottle. “…Salamander.”
He scrambled backward.
“Oh… oh, goodness me! I’m in the wrong place! I need to fix the Vortex first and then worry about that fire!”
The Doctor now ran back out of the alley, intending to get back on the hovercraft and head back out to the weather machine, but he froze in his tracks upon seeing that the hovercraft was not where he left it.
“Oh, now, this is ridiculous!” he exclaimed aloud. “They’ve stolen my stolen hovercraft!”
“I would not advertise your thievery at such loud volumes, Doctor. You are merely incriminating yourself of further crimes. And aiding and abetting a saboteur is a serious enough crime as it is.”
The Doctor froze upon hearing the voice. Slowly, he turned to see a man with a face that was practically his reflection. Salamander stood with his arms folded, a smug expression on his face. He was flanked by a squadron of his mercenaries-dressed the same way as the squad that had attacked them at the weather machine.
“Good to see you again, Doctor.”
“There’s no need to lie for my sake, Salamander.”
“Oh, but it is not a lie, Doctor-it truly is good to see you like this…” Salamander replied. He snapped his fingers, and the mercenaries trained their weapons on the Doctor. “…Under arrest.”
Author: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Theme: 11; Rubato
Fandom: Doctor Who
Warnings: PG13
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, and the story is.
Summary/Comments: The Doctor heads into the city and comes to a realization.
Notes: N/A
Cross-posted to fanfiction.net, tumblr, and whofic.com
The Doctor was spared from a long walk to town when, after starting his journey on foot, he happened upon some of the hovercrafts that the crowd of mercenaries had left behind. It was still a puzzle as to why they had left so abruptly, but with only a finite amount of time with which to get captured, hopefully escape, and reverse the damage to the Vortex, he didn’t question it; he immediately activated one of the hovercrafts and headed towards the lights of the city.
Even though he was focused on heading for the city, there was the lingering doubt of what would happen once he got there. He certainly didn’t want to regenerate, of course, but there was something that worried him greatly if that ended up happening; he remembered how Ben and Polly had reacted when he regenerated for the first time, after what had happened with the Cybermen-how they hadn’t even believed who he was at first, despite the fact that he had changed right in front of their eyes. Would Jamie and Zoe ever believe it was still him if he changed-especially if they never even saw it? Would they accept him? And what would he do if they didn’t?
Of course, that was all dwarfed by the larger problem at hand. He had to get in and out of that blaze in time; if the continuum collapsed because he was too late, it wouldn’t matter how many regenerations he had left. And it wasn’t just himself who would suffer from the collapse; Jamie and Zoe would, too, as would anyone else he had ever known and loved. Having Jamie and Zoe upset and distrusting of his next regeneration was preferable to losing them in this manner.
He exhaled, convinced that he had made the right decision. And, of course, in order for this decision to prove fruitful, he had to get captured.
One he arrived within the city limits, he found it fairly easy to ease into the lane of other one-seater hovercrafts, who took no notice of him. Hovercrafts seemed to be the choice method of transportation in Neo Serenity-larger units were used to transport families and couples in the multi-seater lanes. In his lane, the Doctor wasn’t moving as quickly as the others; he contemplated merging into one of the other lanes. He knew that this was more than likely illegal, but considering that his end goal was to be captured, he decided that it was well worth the maneuver.
He had just been about to make the lane change when he began to notice posters stuck to lampposts and street signs.
“Hello, what’s this…?” the Doctor murmured.
The posters were everywhere, but the lampposts weren’t close enough for him to get a good look at them. He soon left the main road altogether when he found the chance, turning onto the streets of downtown Neo Serenity. As he approached the nearest lamppost, he pulled the hovercraft over to the side of the street and switched it off.
The paper had folded over by a breeze, and he walked over to it, folding it back. And a breath caught in his throat.
A sketch of Jamie stared back at him from the paper; the word “WANTED” was printed above the piper’s image.
“What…?” the Doctor asked, stunned.
Speechless, he read the description below Jamie’s sketch.
James McCrimmon
Wanted for sabotage and conspiracy against the City of Neo Serenity.
Likely to be found in the company of a man called the Doctor and a girl called Victoria Waterfield. McCrimmon has been sabotaging the weather machine by means of stealing energy from the open portal, and he is responsible for the current drought as a result; there is a reward for information leading to the capture of McCrimmon and his compatriots.
The Doctor began to pace the pavement, running his hands through his hair as he attempted to try to make sense of the situation.
“He hasn’t done a thing!” the Doctor exclaimed aloud, to no one in particular. “Why would they accuse him of sabotage and conspiracy and have the gall to blame him for the drought!?”
He stopped dead in his tracks.
“…And how would they know our names?” he asked.
He turned back towards the wanted posted, rereading it again a few more times. At last, he finally took notice of the glowing mistake on it.
“Victoria…” he murmured. “Not Zoe-Victoria.”
He gripped the lamppost to steady himself; he was shaking from the sudden realization of the significance of Victoria’s name being dragged into the picture.
“This is personal-a vendetta,” he realized. “Whoever is behind this knew Jamie and myself while Victoria was still traveling with us… But who? Klieg is dead… The Great Intelligence?”
A look of fear crossed his face and he ducked into the shadows of an alley and now peeked out, looking for Yetis.
“Of course…” he sighed. “Since the Intelligence did escape, it would want to lure me into another trap…”
He trailed off again, realizing that there were no signs of Yetis around-the people of the city were milling around as though nothing was out of the ordinary.
“No…” he breathed. “It’s not the Intelligence. The Intelligence wouldn’t have made such a mistake-it would’ve possessed enough eyes and ears to have had one of those mercenaries at the crystals under its direct control. And if it had done that, it would’ve seen Zoe and known she was not Victoria. But then who…?”
The Doctor looked back in the direction he had come from. Even from where he was standing, he could see the swirling, open Vortex.
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…” he said. “The Time Vortex… the weather machine… It could only be…” He glanced down, staring at his reflection in a discarded glass bottle. “…Salamander.”
He scrambled backward.
“Oh… oh, goodness me! I’m in the wrong place! I need to fix the Vortex first and then worry about that fire!”
The Doctor now ran back out of the alley, intending to get back on the hovercraft and head back out to the weather machine, but he froze in his tracks upon seeing that the hovercraft was not where he left it.
“Oh, now, this is ridiculous!” he exclaimed aloud. “They’ve stolen my stolen hovercraft!”
“I would not advertise your thievery at such loud volumes, Doctor. You are merely incriminating yourself of further crimes. And aiding and abetting a saboteur is a serious enough crime as it is.”
The Doctor froze upon hearing the voice. Slowly, he turned to see a man with a face that was practically his reflection. Salamander stood with his arms folded, a smug expression on his face. He was flanked by a squadron of his mercenaries-dressed the same way as the squad that had attacked them at the weather machine.
“Good to see you again, Doctor.”
“There’s no need to lie for my sake, Salamander.”
“Oh, but it is not a lie, Doctor-it truly is good to see you like this…” Salamander replied. He snapped his fingers, and the mercenaries trained their weapons on the Doctor. “…Under arrest.”