Prisms of No Color, Ch 9 by rose_of_pollux [Doctor Who, Canon]
Title: Prisms of No Color, Chapter 9: Question, But no Answers
Author: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Theme: 3; Canon
Fandom: Doctor Who
Warnings: PG13
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, and the story is.
Summary/Comments: Zoe decides to take the situation in hand.
Notes: N/A
Cross-posted to fanfiction.net, tumblr, and whofic.com
Zoe didn’t know what to do. Her own upbringing made it very difficult for her to empathize with people, and though she was worried about the Doctor and Jamie, she was finding herself surprisingly unsettled by Jamie’s misery.
“Jamie,” she said, softly, raising the water bottle to his lips. “Jamie, you need to drink.”
He halfheartedly took the water bottle and began to drink.
“What does it matter?” he said. “We’ve lost the Doctor.”
“We haven’t lost him yet!” she said. “There’s still a chance that he can-”
Jamie slammed the water bottle down on the bedside table, startling her.
“I know what I saw!” he retorted. “And we both know that the Doctor is nae invincible! We nearly lost him once, remember!?”
“…How can I forget?” Zoe asked, quietly.
“And ye were nae there the time before that when I nearly lost him in that prison-ye were too busy being brainwashed!”
“Jamie…”
“I’m nae going to sit here while they burn him like a witch!” Jamie ranted.
“Oh, yes you are!” Zoe snapped.
Jamie stared at her, startled; he had never heard her raise her voice in such a manner. He quickly regained his poise, however.
“How dare ye-”
“How dare you, Jamie McCrimmon, even think of taking such a risk when the Doctor is worried sick about you-and for good reason! You’re in as much danger as he is, and to throw your life away after he specifically told you to look after yourself is the worst disservice you could possibly do to him!”
Jamie stared at her again as she caught her breath, looking just as startled as he did. In all of her years of life, she had never lost her temper before. She took a few deep breaths, calming down.
“Look. If the Doctor does find a way out of that warehouse and stops the problem with the Vortex… can you imagine how he would feel he if came back here to see that you had died because you didn’t keep yourself hydrated like he begged you to? I hope you can imagine that, because I can’t.”
Jamie looked down.
“You mean so much to him, Jamie. Even I can see that, and I have trouble reading emotions. He talks about how he found you after he had changed and was still trying to find himself-you are so much of who he is. If he lost you… He would never be the same without you.”
“And I would nae be the same withoot him!” Jamie said, tears in his eyes. “Ye saw what happened to me when we thought he was dead…”
“Yes, I did,” Zoe said. “And that’s why I’m going to save him.”
“What…?”
“You saw him in the warehouse, which was on fire. And you saw him seemingly give up. But that doesn’t mean that there still isn’t a chance that someone could save him. And that someone may as well be me. I know the Doctor said that we’re not supposed to leave the TARDIS, but if one of us has to, then it can only be me.”
Jamie exhaled.
“Can ye do it?”
“I’ll do my best,” she promised. “But you have to promise to look after yourself.”
“Aye, I will.”
“Do you really mean that?” she asked. “Because you haven’t done a very good job of it so far.”
“Aye, I promise; no more trying to get visions. I’ll keep drinking the water,” Jamie said, and to illustrate his promise, he took a long drink from the water bottle.
“…I really shouldn’t leave you,” Zoe said, after a while. “But I’m going to. And you just remember what I said-about how the Doctor would feel if he saw you dead. You can’t do that to him.”
“I know.”
Zoe hesitated, but as Jamie took another drink, she now left the room, headed down the corridor to the console room, and took one more look back before heading out the doors, locking them behind her.
The crowd had not returned, and no one had claimed the unused hovercrafts, either. It only took a moment for Zoe to figure out how to control one, and she was soon speeding towards the city.
Like the Doctor, Zoe was startled to see all of the wanted posters of Jamie displayed all over the city.
“They’re blaming him?” she asked, shaking her head in confusion.
But what puzzled her more was the fact that while they listed the Doctor as one of Jamie’s “accomplices,” they hadn’t mentioned her at all.
“Victoria Waterfield…?” she read.
Jamie and the Doctor had mentioned to her about Victoria, frequently. But that didn’t explain why her name would be on the wanted poster instead of Zoe’s, unless…
“…Whoever made these posters knew them,” she murmured.
She knew that the Doctor would not have allowed Jamie’s name dragged into this. So it had to be the work of someone who knew them… but who? Those Daleks that the Doctor had warned her about when she had stowed away on the TARDIS?
She was lost in her thoughts as she rode the hovercraft down the street-and then suddenly stopped as she saw a familiar face walking on the footpath.
“Doctor!” she exclaimed.
The man turned sharply to face her; the Doctor had seemingly changed his clothes and had parted his hair to the side-a disguise, no doubt, Zoe told herself.
She grinned as she leaped down from the hovercraft.
“There you are!” she said. “Oh, you have no idea how worried Jamie and I were-especially Jamie!”
The Doctor had a peculiar look on his face as he stared at her. She blinked at this reaction to her presence, but continued to walk with him down the footpath.
“Are you alright?” she asked, sensing that something was wrong.
The Doctor placed a hand to his neck, trying to clear his throat.
“Oh!” Zoe said. “The smoke from the fire bothered your throat? We’ll head back to the TARDIS straight away and fix that-Jamie will be happy to see that you made it out after all. He kept saying that he had this vision of you giving up… Oh, but I told him you’d find a way out! Of course you would!”
The Doctor responded with a curt nod.
Zoe sighed, and now looked back to the swirling Vortex.
“Oh dear,” she sighed. “I suppose we have to fix that before we return to the TARDIS?”
The Doctor nodded again.
“I see,” she said. “Well, it’s good that you’ve got this brilliant disguise-what with all those wanted posters. Why would anyone blame Jamie for this? …And why would they mention Victoria instead of me? Did they not see me running with you and Jamie? You know, I think it must be the work of someone who knew you back when Victoria was traveling with you. That’s the only explanation!”
Again, the Doctor nodded. Zoe looked away for a moment, unable to shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
“I wish there was some way of letting Jamie know you were alright…” she said. “Maybe if we find a call box, we can call the phone on the TARDIS!”
Again, the Doctor indicated his throat.
“Well, I would do the talking, of course; I would just need the number from you,” Zoe said. She looked up at him, and suppressed a chuckle. “You know, you do look strange with your hair parted like that. But rather dashing. You should have it like that more often, I think…”
The Doctor just gave her a blank look, and Zoe’s smile faded.
“Well, while we’re figuring out what to do,” she said. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. I… I did something today I’ve never done before. I yelled-I was yelling at Jamie. Oh, I didn’t mean to, but it just… happened. I don’t understand; you keep saying that emotions are normal and healthy and good, but… How can that be good when it was my emotions that made me yell at Jamie?” She shook his head. “But I had to get some sense into him-he wanted to rush out here and save you, when he wasn’t even looking after himself like we discussed… He wasn’t staying hydrated, and you said that his cells would break down if he didn’t…”
The Doctor’s eyes suddenly flashed, but Zoe was too absorbed in her own thoughts to notice.
“…So I yelled at him, saying that you would be devastated if anything happened to him. And of course, you would be, wouldn’t you?”
The corners of the Doctor’s mouth twitched as she looked back up at him. And Zoe suddenly felt uncomfortable; she wasn’t good at reading emotions, but it seemed that he had been trying to suppress… a smile? No, that couldn’t be! The Doctor wouldn’t have found the prospect of Jamie’s death as anything to smile at!
But her fears were quickly dispelled as the Doctor nodded again, and she sighed once more.
“There’s something else I feel right now, Doctor,” she said. “Scared. I hope we can solve the problem with the Vortex. Otherwise, saving you and keeping Jamie hydrated won’t matter, will it? I’m… afraid.”
The Doctor responded by placing a hand on her shoulder-in a rather tight grip. Zoe smiled at first, but then the smile was quickly wiped from her face.
The hand on her shoulder was warm-too warm.
Thirty-seven degrees Celsius, she mentally realized. Slowly, she placed her own hand over the “Doctor’s,” adjusting her fingers so that she could feel his wrist for a pulse. …And only one heart…
Her own heart started hammering in her chest now. Once again, she was scared, but for a different reason; whoever it was walking next to her was human-and, therefore, most certainly not the Doctor.
Author: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Theme: 3; Canon
Fandom: Doctor Who
Warnings: PG13
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, and the story is.
Summary/Comments: Zoe decides to take the situation in hand.
Notes: N/A
Cross-posted to fanfiction.net, tumblr, and whofic.com
Zoe didn’t know what to do. Her own upbringing made it very difficult for her to empathize with people, and though she was worried about the Doctor and Jamie, she was finding herself surprisingly unsettled by Jamie’s misery.
“Jamie,” she said, softly, raising the water bottle to his lips. “Jamie, you need to drink.”
He halfheartedly took the water bottle and began to drink.
“What does it matter?” he said. “We’ve lost the Doctor.”
“We haven’t lost him yet!” she said. “There’s still a chance that he can-”
Jamie slammed the water bottle down on the bedside table, startling her.
“I know what I saw!” he retorted. “And we both know that the Doctor is nae invincible! We nearly lost him once, remember!?”
“…How can I forget?” Zoe asked, quietly.
“And ye were nae there the time before that when I nearly lost him in that prison-ye were too busy being brainwashed!”
“Jamie…”
“I’m nae going to sit here while they burn him like a witch!” Jamie ranted.
“Oh, yes you are!” Zoe snapped.
Jamie stared at her, startled; he had never heard her raise her voice in such a manner. He quickly regained his poise, however.
“How dare ye-”
“How dare you, Jamie McCrimmon, even think of taking such a risk when the Doctor is worried sick about you-and for good reason! You’re in as much danger as he is, and to throw your life away after he specifically told you to look after yourself is the worst disservice you could possibly do to him!”
Jamie stared at her again as she caught her breath, looking just as startled as he did. In all of her years of life, she had never lost her temper before. She took a few deep breaths, calming down.
“Look. If the Doctor does find a way out of that warehouse and stops the problem with the Vortex… can you imagine how he would feel he if came back here to see that you had died because you didn’t keep yourself hydrated like he begged you to? I hope you can imagine that, because I can’t.”
Jamie looked down.
“You mean so much to him, Jamie. Even I can see that, and I have trouble reading emotions. He talks about how he found you after he had changed and was still trying to find himself-you are so much of who he is. If he lost you… He would never be the same without you.”
“And I would nae be the same withoot him!” Jamie said, tears in his eyes. “Ye saw what happened to me when we thought he was dead…”
“Yes, I did,” Zoe said. “And that’s why I’m going to save him.”
“What…?”
“You saw him in the warehouse, which was on fire. And you saw him seemingly give up. But that doesn’t mean that there still isn’t a chance that someone could save him. And that someone may as well be me. I know the Doctor said that we’re not supposed to leave the TARDIS, but if one of us has to, then it can only be me.”
Jamie exhaled.
“Can ye do it?”
“I’ll do my best,” she promised. “But you have to promise to look after yourself.”
“Aye, I will.”
“Do you really mean that?” she asked. “Because you haven’t done a very good job of it so far.”
“Aye, I promise; no more trying to get visions. I’ll keep drinking the water,” Jamie said, and to illustrate his promise, he took a long drink from the water bottle.
“…I really shouldn’t leave you,” Zoe said, after a while. “But I’m going to. And you just remember what I said-about how the Doctor would feel if he saw you dead. You can’t do that to him.”
“I know.”
Zoe hesitated, but as Jamie took another drink, she now left the room, headed down the corridor to the console room, and took one more look back before heading out the doors, locking them behind her.
The crowd had not returned, and no one had claimed the unused hovercrafts, either. It only took a moment for Zoe to figure out how to control one, and she was soon speeding towards the city.
Like the Doctor, Zoe was startled to see all of the wanted posters of Jamie displayed all over the city.
“They’re blaming him?” she asked, shaking her head in confusion.
But what puzzled her more was the fact that while they listed the Doctor as one of Jamie’s “accomplices,” they hadn’t mentioned her at all.
“Victoria Waterfield…?” she read.
Jamie and the Doctor had mentioned to her about Victoria, frequently. But that didn’t explain why her name would be on the wanted poster instead of Zoe’s, unless…
“…Whoever made these posters knew them,” she murmured.
She knew that the Doctor would not have allowed Jamie’s name dragged into this. So it had to be the work of someone who knew them… but who? Those Daleks that the Doctor had warned her about when she had stowed away on the TARDIS?
She was lost in her thoughts as she rode the hovercraft down the street-and then suddenly stopped as she saw a familiar face walking on the footpath.
“Doctor!” she exclaimed.
The man turned sharply to face her; the Doctor had seemingly changed his clothes and had parted his hair to the side-a disguise, no doubt, Zoe told herself.
She grinned as she leaped down from the hovercraft.
“There you are!” she said. “Oh, you have no idea how worried Jamie and I were-especially Jamie!”
The Doctor had a peculiar look on his face as he stared at her. She blinked at this reaction to her presence, but continued to walk with him down the footpath.
“Are you alright?” she asked, sensing that something was wrong.
The Doctor placed a hand to his neck, trying to clear his throat.
“Oh!” Zoe said. “The smoke from the fire bothered your throat? We’ll head back to the TARDIS straight away and fix that-Jamie will be happy to see that you made it out after all. He kept saying that he had this vision of you giving up… Oh, but I told him you’d find a way out! Of course you would!”
The Doctor responded with a curt nod.
Zoe sighed, and now looked back to the swirling Vortex.
“Oh dear,” she sighed. “I suppose we have to fix that before we return to the TARDIS?”
The Doctor nodded again.
“I see,” she said. “Well, it’s good that you’ve got this brilliant disguise-what with all those wanted posters. Why would anyone blame Jamie for this? …And why would they mention Victoria instead of me? Did they not see me running with you and Jamie? You know, I think it must be the work of someone who knew you back when Victoria was traveling with you. That’s the only explanation!”
Again, the Doctor nodded. Zoe looked away for a moment, unable to shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
“I wish there was some way of letting Jamie know you were alright…” she said. “Maybe if we find a call box, we can call the phone on the TARDIS!”
Again, the Doctor indicated his throat.
“Well, I would do the talking, of course; I would just need the number from you,” Zoe said. She looked up at him, and suppressed a chuckle. “You know, you do look strange with your hair parted like that. But rather dashing. You should have it like that more often, I think…”
The Doctor just gave her a blank look, and Zoe’s smile faded.
“Well, while we’re figuring out what to do,” she said. “There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about. I… I did something today I’ve never done before. I yelled-I was yelling at Jamie. Oh, I didn’t mean to, but it just… happened. I don’t understand; you keep saying that emotions are normal and healthy and good, but… How can that be good when it was my emotions that made me yell at Jamie?” She shook his head. “But I had to get some sense into him-he wanted to rush out here and save you, when he wasn’t even looking after himself like we discussed… He wasn’t staying hydrated, and you said that his cells would break down if he didn’t…”
The Doctor’s eyes suddenly flashed, but Zoe was too absorbed in her own thoughts to notice.
“…So I yelled at him, saying that you would be devastated if anything happened to him. And of course, you would be, wouldn’t you?”
The corners of the Doctor’s mouth twitched as she looked back up at him. And Zoe suddenly felt uncomfortable; she wasn’t good at reading emotions, but it seemed that he had been trying to suppress… a smile? No, that couldn’t be! The Doctor wouldn’t have found the prospect of Jamie’s death as anything to smile at!
But her fears were quickly dispelled as the Doctor nodded again, and she sighed once more.
“There’s something else I feel right now, Doctor,” she said. “Scared. I hope we can solve the problem with the Vortex. Otherwise, saving you and keeping Jamie hydrated won’t matter, will it? I’m… afraid.”
The Doctor responded by placing a hand on her shoulder-in a rather tight grip. Zoe smiled at first, but then the smile was quickly wiped from her face.
The hand on her shoulder was warm-too warm.
Thirty-seven degrees Celsius, she mentally realized. Slowly, she placed her own hand over the “Doctor’s,” adjusting her fingers so that she could feel his wrist for a pulse. …And only one heart…
Her own heart started hammering in her chest now. Once again, she was scared, but for a different reason; whoever it was walking next to her was human-and, therefore, most certainly not the Doctor.