Because You're Special - Chapter Sixteen
Because You're Special
Some Cricket Fanatic
Donna was going to kill that man. He never answered her questions. He was pompous and arrogant. He took turns treating like she mattered to him and then that everything she said was stupid. A stupid human female. She scrubbed her teeth a little harder, staring at herself in the mirror. Maybe she was stupid, but she was every-bit as valuable as a Time Lord, thank you very much.
"Time Lords," Donna spat into the hotel room sink, "lording all their knowledge of time and space over us humans. No wonder the Doctor likes this planet, he can treat everyone like their beneath him because they 'are beneath him'. I'm gonna kill that man."
It wasn't that Donna was unhappy with the Doctor's instant conclusion that she couldn't be a Time Lord and that she was silly for thinking such a thing. Who wanted to be a Time Lord? It was just his attitude about it. The way he'd shot the idea down and swanned off to rent scuba-gear. He hadn't even explained why it was impossible or why his future self would claim such thing.
Donna wiped her mouth and began applying her makeup. She looked like she'd been dragged through the woods by a bear, with tired circles under her eyes and her hair-although freshly washed-still looked like wet dark auburn tangle about her face. As soon as she and James Bond solved the mystery of her "magnetic" Doctor-attracting qualities, but, not that they were attracting all 'couple-like'…perish the thought…. they would put an end to this "haunting" and she would be able to sleep some. Maybe she'd actually be able to enjoy her holiday.
Donna heard a strong knock at the door and wrapping her hair in a towel, she padded out in her slippers. Glancing through the tiny peephole, she only saw two normal looking young women in maid's uniforms. People actually still wore those black-dresses with the silly white aprons?
She opened the door. "Hello?"
The first maid, a delicate looking woman with a pixie-like face and loose brown curls, smiled cautiously. Her voice sounded educated and melodic, "We would like to service your room, please?"
Donna lifted her eyebrows and quirked her lips to the side. She shared a quick glance with the second maid. Maybe the first maid had only recently learned English, but her clearly British accent made the awkward phrasing of the question seem curious.
"What she means to say is…" The second maid, a brash sounding Australian woman with a curly teased hairdo that could have only come from the late seventies, jabbed her shorter friend in the side with an elbow. She leaned a bit toward the door, as if trying to peer inside. "We're room service."
"I'm fine." Donna noted the poorly stocked cleaning cart in between the two women. Clenching one hand into a fist, she tucked it behind her back. Why did she always get into trouble the moment the Doctor disappeared? She figured she could take both of the pseudo-maids, if it came to it, but she didn't particularly relish the thought. Donna plastered a smile on her face, "How 'bout just some clean towels?"
"Well…" The Australian maid seemed shocked by Donna suggestion and tried to cover the abnormal reaction. But because she did it so badly, Donna became even more suspicious. "Well…that'd be something. Less work for us, I suppose. Nyssa, give the nice lady some towels."
"But we haven't got any, Tegan." The confused child-like woman said quietly.
"Silly, us…we'll have to come back with them." The second maid, Tegan, grabbed the cart's handles and began pulling it away from Donna's door. "Poor customer service, Nyssa, that means no tip for us…"
Nyssa trailed after her friend, questioning, "What is 'tip'?"
Right. Not maids. Not maids at all.
Donna slammed the door shut, locked it, shoved a chair against it and unburied her cell from her yesterday's pants pocket. Since she didn't have the Doctor's number, she called the front desk. "Hello, this is Ms. Noble in room 206. Do you have maids called Nyssa and Tegan working here? Because there were some characters up here trying to con their way into…"
Her door opened with a bang, the chair flying into the walls and smashing. A man strode in, wide-eyed, youthful and confident. While Donna was too busy ducking behind the bed, clutching the phone to her ear, she did notice that the blond intruder was dressed like some cricket-fanatic.
"There she is!" The man addressed the Doctor's blue-box as if he was greeting an old friend. He pulled out a pair of gold half-rimmed glasses and popped them on his face. "Oh yes, this TARDIS might explain all of the time distortions all emanating from this room."
"I thought we were going to be subtle about this, Doctor." The "maid" Tegan reappeared in the doorway, her less-aggressive sidekick "maid" arriving shortly after. "I thought that you said we didn't want to disturb the guests."
"Did I?' The youth mused, idly running his hands over the walls of her Doctor's TARDIS. "Ah, well, I must have decided differently."
"You might have told me, before I got dressed in this ridiculous get up." Tegan complained, tugging off her apron.
"We tried asking nicely, and failed. On to plan B…" The intruder, who was apparently yet another Doctor, circled the spaceship, consulting some clunky gadget that looked like it was an eighties-version of high-tech. He paused and looked at Donna, "Oh marvelous. I've terrified someone. My apologies…We are quite harmless-well, they are-and I chose to be…quite, perfectly harmless."
As Donna was fuming and preparing a really good shriek of indignation for the "new Doctor", a strange teenage boy with dark hair cut in a stupid-looking bowl-cut shape and dressed in loose partially patch-worked clothing entered her room. The "maids" didn't seem to find his presence unusual and shifted to the side to allow him more room. Scanning the room with dull looking dark eyes, the teen headed into her bathroom.
"Who the hell is that? What is he doing in my bathroom?"
"Ah. Never mind him." The intruder placed his hands in his pants packets and noted in a mellow friendly tone of voice, "He's my assistant, Adric. He probably just looking for something to eat. You know, hungry young boys..."
"What is he going to find to eat in my bathroom?" Donna rose from the floor, clutching her bathrobe tighter. "And you, Tan-Man, what give you the right to march in her and start…groping a space-ship that isn't yours! Bringing all your weirdo costumed friends along. Just who do you think you are?"
"The Doctor," the blond man announced cheerily, moving in for a handshake with a cheeky grin.
"Well, Doctor whatever-regeneration-you-are, that is not your TARDIS and this is not your hotel room and the time distortions are not your mystery to solve…" Donna slapped him hard, "so bugger off!"
"Excuse me…" The man said meekly, stumbling back towards the door. He looked appropriately ashamed of himself and slightly confused.
"Rabbits!" Tegan cried, rushing in between Donna and the intruding Doctor. "No one treats the Doctor that way...well, except for me."
"I think perhaps this is getting slightly out of hand…" The Doctor mildly interjected, "why don't we…?"
"What? Your Doctor is so pathetic he needs to hide behind the bouffant of his French maid?" It was perhaps, a very uncharitable judgment to make, but Donna was through being sensible. She wanted her space. She wanted her room free of them.
Into the tense silence, came the familiar sound of her sonic-toothbrush. Was that little freak using her toothbrush? Nyssa, turned to peer into Donna's bathroom, asking in a puzzled tone, "Adric, what are you doing in there?"
"That's it! I don't care if you're the Doctor…I've been pushed around and toyed with quite enough!" Donna shouted. Slapping the Australian maid soundly-for no particular reason besides that she was in easy reach-Donna grabbed Tegan and the intruding Doctor by the hair and dragged them towards the open door. Unsurprisingly, Tegan put up the greater fight.
"Excuse me," came a new voice. A slim old woman in a security guard's uniform was standing in the hall outside Donna's room. She had a military-look about her, even her long pony-tail seemed to be military-precise, and her blue eyes were clear and intelligent. Flanked by two other guards, the old woman stared at the fight and pursed her lips before adding calmly, "We'll take it from here, Ms. Noble."
Finally, something was working out for her. Donna shoved the intruders at the lead guard, while one guard gently guided Nyssa into the hall and the other dragged Adric kicking and screaming from her bathroom. Struggling in the arms of the guard, Adric still clenched a spit-soapy buzzing electric toothbrush between his damp lips and made unintelligible unhappy noises. Adric paused when he saw Donna, looking at her with inscrutable dark-brown eyes.
The guard glanced at Adric, who had begun kicking and wriggling again, and Donna. He seemed to realize that the toothbrush had been stolen. Prying the toothbrush from Adric's soapy lips, the guard offered it to Donna. Adric squirmed, looking like a lollipop had been wrenched away from him, "Give it back!"
"I think it's safe to say that it's your toothbrush now, scarecrow-boy." Donna motioned for the guard to return her toothbrush to the Doctor's freakiest companion yet. She crossed her arms, tucking the collar of the bath-robe higher.
"Sorry about the trouble, Ms. Noble." The old woman stepped forward, "All these…foreigners…here for the Guild meeting… they are a bit eccentric."
"I'm just glad you showed up so promptly."
"Why are you wearing a side-arm? Hotel security isn't allowed…" The tan crickety Doctor was cut off as he was pushed down the hall with his companions. He kept turning back and staring at the old woman, frowning.
Donna glanced down. The woman did have a pistol of some kind clipped to her belt. Fear coiled through her. "Isn't that a bit of over-kill…?"
"Better safe than sorry," The old woman said grimly, taking one of Donna's hands in her own. Donna felt the fear melt away in the firm, soft grip. Of course, these were the good guys. The woman didn't mean anyone any harm. She was only here to help. "Donna, I want to ask you some questions about what's happened."
"Hmm…?" Donna muttered drowsily.
"Can I come in…?"
There was a crackle of static on the woman's radio. "…Are you coming, sir? We will need your assistance, he's quite powerful…"
The old woman clamped her hand over the radio. Looking straight into Donna's eyes, she smiled, "Another emergency, I'm afraid. I'll be back momentarily, for a full account of the incident."
"Oh…" Donna blinked, noting to herself that she really needed a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. Jet-lag and constant "adventuring" was making her feel sluggish. "Oi, yeah, fine. Room 206. I'll be here."
The old woman paused, patted her gently on the shoulder, "Good. I'll be back soon. This whole incident will soon be forgotten."
Author's Note: Apologies to all Adric fans out there...I don't know who you are, or why anyone would really love Adric but he was an odd character. He's just really odd in this fic.