(no subject)
Title: A Watch in Cotton
Rating: G
Summary: Utopia AU. Professor Yana and Chantho leave Malcassairo with the Doctor, Martha, and Jack.
“Chan - Professor, what is it? - tho.” Chantho and Martha hurried to Yana's side as he leaned against the table.
“There's time travel . . .” Yana said, sounding on the verge of tears while at the same time awed. “They say . . . there was time travel back in the old days.” He shook his head. “I never believed them. But - what would I know? Stupid old man . . .” he sniffed. “Never could keep time. Always late, always lost . . . Even this thing never worked.” He reached down to hold the fobwatch hanging from his vest, his constant companion since he could remember. “Time and time and time again. Always running out on me. . . .”
“Can I have a look at that?” Martha said. He blinked, glanced at her and then at the watch. She was staring at it like it had started glowing.
“Oh - it's - it's only an old relic.” He chuckled, no real humour in it. “Like me.” He held the watch up.
“Where did you get it?” Martha was still staring.
“Hmm?” He frowned, thinking back. “I was found with it,” he said finally.
“What d'you mean?” she asked, and now she sounded almost scared.
“An orphan in the storm,” Yana said, not looking at her now. He hadn't thought of that time in years. He could remember it clearly enough; fifteen or sixteen, they'd decided, injured as if in a fire and with no memory of anything before he was found. “I was a naked child, found on the coast of the Silver Devastation. Abandoned. With only this.”
“Have you ever opened it?”
“Why would I? It's broken!” There was something wrong here, something he couldn't grasp, just out of his reach. Martha knew it; Martha knew something, it was there in the way she looked at the watch and the careful, probing tone of her voice.
“How do you know it's broken if you've never opened it?”
“It's . . .” He fished around in his mind. Now, why hadn't he ever opened it? “It's stuck. It's old. It's not meant to be.” Yes, he knew that much. There was something just out of his reach, and maybe it was meant to stay there.
Martha reached out and turned the watch over, still in Yana's grasp. She made a little choked sound at the sight of the designs on it.
“Does it matter?” Yana asked, a frantic note creeping in to his voice. She had to stop pushing.
“No! It's . . . it's nothing. It's - listen, everything's fine up here, I'm going to go see if the Doctor needs me.” She backed away as she spoke
The drums started up in the back of his mind. This time, it didn't sound like they were coming closing, but like they were pounding to get out.
Martha was hardly a better liar than he was. Everything wasn't fine, that much was obvious. But the Doctor and Martha had saved the refugees and the Doctor had promised - well, implied, really - to he was going to save Yana. The Doctor knew far more about the universe than Yana did. Perhaps he should wait and ask him about it.
The drums were telling him otherwise, but even Yana knew enough to realize that doing what the voices in the back of your head told you was not a good idea.
“Chan - Yana, won't you please take some rest? - tho.”
Yana jumped. Chantho was standing right beside him, looking concerned.
“Yes, I suppose so,” he said after a moment. It's over, he realized. While he had been listening to the drums and the laughter in his mind, the ships had launched. He was the last human on Malcassairo.
Well, one of the last. He was reminded of this fact rather forcibly, as the Doctor, Jack, and Martha burst in through the door.
“What is it? Has something gone wrong?” Yana demanded, straightening up in a panic.
“No, no,” the Doctor said. “It's the watch.”
Yana frowned. “Doctor, sometimes I think you speak a different language than I do.”
“My English is perfectly good!” the Doctor said, offended.
“The watch.” Captain Jack Harkness cut in. “Professor, did you open the watch?”
“Uh, no.” Yana reached for the object in question. “Why? Should I?”
“No!” the Doctor said, and then paused, taking a deep breath. “Just - please. Let me look at it first.”
Yana held it out to him. As the Doctor reached out to take it out of Yana's hand, Yana found himself hit with the urge to yank it away from the Doctor. Whatever was in that watch wasn't meant to be loosed, but it was his, whatever it was.
But he managed to loosen his fingers and let the Doctor take it.
“Oh,” the Doctor breathed. “Oh, yes.” He adjusted his glasses and peered at it closer, relishing the sight of it.
“What is it?” Yana asked, somewhat surprised by the way the Doctor was looking at the watch. It was not an expression Yana generally expected to see directed at an inanimate object.
“It's a chameleon arch,” the Doctor explained, keeping his eyes on the watch. “It holds the essence of a Time Lord while the Time Lord is disguised as another species.”
If Yana had been told this in other circumstances, he would have been amazed at the ingenuity of such a device, would have wanted to know how it worked. As it was, he had more immediate concerns on his mind. “You think I'm a Time Lord?”
“Yes, you are,” the Doctor said, grinning. He looked like he was trying hard to be solemn, but that grin kept breaking through.
“Hang on,” Martha said, “Just a minute ago you though he was going to be some sort of danger!”
“Me?” Yana asked, taken aback.
“We-ell, it does depend on which Time Lord you are.”
“Am I someone you know?” Yana asked. This is a very strange conversation, he thought to himself.
“Possibly. Maybe. Hopefully not.” The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck.
“'Hopefully not?'” Jack echoed. “You don't want to meet your friends? Why?”
“Oh - no reason,” the Doctor said, tilting his head as if to shrug off the question.
The Doctor, Yana thought, is much better at lying than I am. Something in him is surprised at that thought. The Doctor couldn't lie to save his life! it mutters.
Out loud he said, “But the question remains: Who am I?”
“There's no way of knowing,” the Doctor said. “Except to open the watch.”
Yana reached to take the watch back, but the Doctor pulled it lout of his reach. “It's - not like that.”
“What do you mean?”
“You won't be - you. You'll be a Time Lord. An alien.” To Yana's ear, it seemed as if the Doctor was too ready to consider the Time Lords aliens. He wondered if the Doctor was lying about his species, and again found that something about that thought surprised him.
“A man who lived a completely different life, on a different planet,” the Doctor continued. “Do you understand, Professor Yana?”
Yana nodded slowly. “I think I do.”
“You don't have to decide now,” Martha added. “You have your whole life to decide.”
Yana nodded again. “I need a moment alone.”
Martha nodded. “Come on.”
The three travellers and Chantho filed out the door and stood, waiting, outside.
“What would you do?” Jack said, after a time passed. “If you found out you weren't human?”
“I'm - ” the Doctor started.
“Or not a Time Lord?” Jack amended, forestalling the obvious question.
The Doctor blinked, and looked like he was actually considering it.
“I - ”
But he was cut off by the door opening and Yana emerging, the watch in one hand. Nobody said anything, waiting for Yana's answer.
“I can't do it,” Yana said, dropping the watch onto the ground. “I'm human. I've been human for fifty-years. It's too late to stop now.”
The Doctor looked crestfallen and tried to cover it up hurriedly. “Want to come with us?”
“Come - come with you?” Yana asked, looking completely shocked.
“The more the merrier!” the Doctor said. “And Chantho, of course, if you want come.”
“Yes,” Yana said slowly. “I suppose I could come. Yes, I could.” He grinned, too.
“Chan - I will follow you, Professor, - tho,” Chantho, said.
“Then let's go!” The Doctor bounced across the room, throwing the TARDIS doors open and plunging through. The others followed them, Yana a bit tentatively.
A minute later, the TARDIS doors flew open as the Doctor ran out them. He hurried over to where the watch lay and picked it up, turning it over and around to examine it. He started to grin and dropped the watch.
And he went back into the TARDIS and dematerialized, Yana standing beside him and watching him.
Rating: G
Summary: Utopia AU. Professor Yana and Chantho leave Malcassairo with the Doctor, Martha, and Jack.
“Chan - Professor, what is it? - tho.” Chantho and Martha hurried to Yana's side as he leaned against the table.
“There's time travel . . .” Yana said, sounding on the verge of tears while at the same time awed. “They say . . . there was time travel back in the old days.” He shook his head. “I never believed them. But - what would I know? Stupid old man . . .” he sniffed. “Never could keep time. Always late, always lost . . . Even this thing never worked.” He reached down to hold the fobwatch hanging from his vest, his constant companion since he could remember. “Time and time and time again. Always running out on me. . . .”
“Can I have a look at that?” Martha said. He blinked, glanced at her and then at the watch. She was staring at it like it had started glowing.
“Oh - it's - it's only an old relic.” He chuckled, no real humour in it. “Like me.” He held the watch up.
“Where did you get it?” Martha was still staring.
“Hmm?” He frowned, thinking back. “I was found with it,” he said finally.
“What d'you mean?” she asked, and now she sounded almost scared.
“An orphan in the storm,” Yana said, not looking at her now. He hadn't thought of that time in years. He could remember it clearly enough; fifteen or sixteen, they'd decided, injured as if in a fire and with no memory of anything before he was found. “I was a naked child, found on the coast of the Silver Devastation. Abandoned. With only this.”
“Have you ever opened it?”
“Why would I? It's broken!” There was something wrong here, something he couldn't grasp, just out of his reach. Martha knew it; Martha knew something, it was there in the way she looked at the watch and the careful, probing tone of her voice.
“How do you know it's broken if you've never opened it?”
“It's . . .” He fished around in his mind. Now, why hadn't he ever opened it? “It's stuck. It's old. It's not meant to be.” Yes, he knew that much. There was something just out of his reach, and maybe it was meant to stay there.
Martha reached out and turned the watch over, still in Yana's grasp. She made a little choked sound at the sight of the designs on it.
“Does it matter?” Yana asked, a frantic note creeping in to his voice. She had to stop pushing.
“No! It's . . . it's nothing. It's - listen, everything's fine up here, I'm going to go see if the Doctor needs me.” She backed away as she spoke
The drums started up in the back of his mind. This time, it didn't sound like they were coming closing, but like they were pounding to get out.
Martha was hardly a better liar than he was. Everything wasn't fine, that much was obvious. But the Doctor and Martha had saved the refugees and the Doctor had promised - well, implied, really - to he was going to save Yana. The Doctor knew far more about the universe than Yana did. Perhaps he should wait and ask him about it.
The drums were telling him otherwise, but even Yana knew enough to realize that doing what the voices in the back of your head told you was not a good idea.
“Chan - Yana, won't you please take some rest? - tho.”
Yana jumped. Chantho was standing right beside him, looking concerned.
“Yes, I suppose so,” he said after a moment. It's over, he realized. While he had been listening to the drums and the laughter in his mind, the ships had launched. He was the last human on Malcassairo.
Well, one of the last. He was reminded of this fact rather forcibly, as the Doctor, Jack, and Martha burst in through the door.
“What is it? Has something gone wrong?” Yana demanded, straightening up in a panic.
“No, no,” the Doctor said. “It's the watch.”
Yana frowned. “Doctor, sometimes I think you speak a different language than I do.”
“My English is perfectly good!” the Doctor said, offended.
“The watch.” Captain Jack Harkness cut in. “Professor, did you open the watch?”
“Uh, no.” Yana reached for the object in question. “Why? Should I?”
“No!” the Doctor said, and then paused, taking a deep breath. “Just - please. Let me look at it first.”
Yana held it out to him. As the Doctor reached out to take it out of Yana's hand, Yana found himself hit with the urge to yank it away from the Doctor. Whatever was in that watch wasn't meant to be loosed, but it was his, whatever it was.
But he managed to loosen his fingers and let the Doctor take it.
“Oh,” the Doctor breathed. “Oh, yes.” He adjusted his glasses and peered at it closer, relishing the sight of it.
“What is it?” Yana asked, somewhat surprised by the way the Doctor was looking at the watch. It was not an expression Yana generally expected to see directed at an inanimate object.
“It's a chameleon arch,” the Doctor explained, keeping his eyes on the watch. “It holds the essence of a Time Lord while the Time Lord is disguised as another species.”
If Yana had been told this in other circumstances, he would have been amazed at the ingenuity of such a device, would have wanted to know how it worked. As it was, he had more immediate concerns on his mind. “You think I'm a Time Lord?”
“Yes, you are,” the Doctor said, grinning. He looked like he was trying hard to be solemn, but that grin kept breaking through.
“Hang on,” Martha said, “Just a minute ago you though he was going to be some sort of danger!”
“Me?” Yana asked, taken aback.
“We-ell, it does depend on which Time Lord you are.”
“Am I someone you know?” Yana asked. This is a very strange conversation, he thought to himself.
“Possibly. Maybe. Hopefully not.” The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck.
“'Hopefully not?'” Jack echoed. “You don't want to meet your friends? Why?”
“Oh - no reason,” the Doctor said, tilting his head as if to shrug off the question.
The Doctor, Yana thought, is much better at lying than I am. Something in him is surprised at that thought. The Doctor couldn't lie to save his life! it mutters.
Out loud he said, “But the question remains: Who am I?”
“There's no way of knowing,” the Doctor said. “Except to open the watch.”
Yana reached to take the watch back, but the Doctor pulled it lout of his reach. “It's - not like that.”
“What do you mean?”
“You won't be - you. You'll be a Time Lord. An alien.” To Yana's ear, it seemed as if the Doctor was too ready to consider the Time Lords aliens. He wondered if the Doctor was lying about his species, and again found that something about that thought surprised him.
“A man who lived a completely different life, on a different planet,” the Doctor continued. “Do you understand, Professor Yana?”
Yana nodded slowly. “I think I do.”
“You don't have to decide now,” Martha added. “You have your whole life to decide.”
Yana nodded again. “I need a moment alone.”
Martha nodded. “Come on.”
The three travellers and Chantho filed out the door and stood, waiting, outside.
“What would you do?” Jack said, after a time passed. “If you found out you weren't human?”
“I'm - ” the Doctor started.
“Or not a Time Lord?” Jack amended, forestalling the obvious question.
The Doctor blinked, and looked like he was actually considering it.
“I - ”
But he was cut off by the door opening and Yana emerging, the watch in one hand. Nobody said anything, waiting for Yana's answer.
“I can't do it,” Yana said, dropping the watch onto the ground. “I'm human. I've been human for fifty-years. It's too late to stop now.”
The Doctor looked crestfallen and tried to cover it up hurriedly. “Want to come with us?”
“Come - come with you?” Yana asked, looking completely shocked.
“The more the merrier!” the Doctor said. “And Chantho, of course, if you want come.”
“Yes,” Yana said slowly. “I suppose I could come. Yes, I could.” He grinned, too.
“Chan - I will follow you, Professor, - tho,” Chantho, said.
“Then let's go!” The Doctor bounced across the room, throwing the TARDIS doors open and plunging through. The others followed them, Yana a bit tentatively.
A minute later, the TARDIS doors flew open as the Doctor ran out them. He hurried over to where the watch lay and picked it up, turning it over and around to examine it. He started to grin and dropped the watch.
And he went back into the TARDIS and dematerialized, Yana standing beside him and watching him.