Fic: A Tale of Two Tylers (3/6)
Chapter Three: And Harkness Makes Three
After a normal day Jaye needed a few drinks at The Barrel. Today, after learning that the talking animals she heard were a result of aliens possessing her brain, she figured she could take just about everything they had. The Doctor had offered Jaye a few hours to regroup before they took action, and she planned to make the very most of that time by getting very, very drunk.
“Hit me with something,” she ordered the bartender. Eric gave her a kiss.
“Something alcoholic,” she clarified. Grinning, he readily complied.
“Long day?” Eric asked as he mixed her drink.
Jaye sighed. “Yeah. These two British…relatives of mine are visiting. They want to know stuff about me.”
“You have relatives?” Mahandra asked, sidling up to the bar. “I thought your family basically got emancipated from them after that Jerry guy embarrassed your parents at your second cousin’s wedding.”
“Not just my parents,” Jaye reminisced happily. “I don’t think Sharon will ever eat spaghetti again.”
“Are you going to tell your family that these two are here?” Mahandra asked.
“I don’t think so. My life is insane enough as it is.”
“Can we meet them?” Eric asked “Where are they, anyway?”
* * *
Rose stared out at the gigantic waterfall, the water colored greens and purples by artificial lights. “It’s beautiful.”
“Niagara Falls. It’s the most powerful waterfall in North America. There’s more than a hundred thousand cubic meters of water pouring over that edge every minute.”
“I think I’d forgotten how pretty Earth could be,” Rose admitted, “spending all that time out in space.” She listened to the thunder of rushing water and smiled. “I like it here. Not that I don’t like the other planets, or the danger. I love those. I just…I just really love-” She stopped and turned, curious, as she barely made out the sound of running feet over the noise of the falls. “Jack!”
“You just really love Jack?” the Doctor questioned, staring at the water. “What does-” he turned around and suddenly understood. “Jack,” he stated evenly.
Rose’s reaction was a bit different. “I thought you were dead!” she cried, already scooped up in a hug.
“Are you kidding? An army of Daleks couldn’t stop me.” He was smiling, too. The Doctor coughed surreptitiously, and Jack put Rose down.
“It’s okay Doctor, you don’t have to be jealous.” He swept the Doctor into a hug as well. “New look for you,” he observed as he let go of the Doctor. “I like the change.”
The smile never left Rose’s face. “I want to know everything. Where you’ve been, what you’ve done-”
“How in the universe did you find us now?”
“Well, it wasn’t all me,” Jack answered. “You lent a hand.”
“How did I help?”
“No. You lent a hand. Literally. Remember Christmas Day?”
“No!” Rose said, finally getting it.
“You have my hand?!”
“You weren’t using it. It let me know you were in the era, and I teleported here. But I assume this isn’t a stop home.”
“We think a local is possessed by aliens.”
“I can do possessions! It’ll be nice to get a break from all the Weevils.” Off Rose and the Doctor’s glances, he explained. “I joined Torchwood. After the Sycorax shooting; I heard you weren’t too happy about that.”
“So you teleported here,” Rose questioned. “But how did you find us?”
“Coincidence, I guess,” Jack shrugged. “I did run into a local first. Teleported right into her office-a Sharon Tyler.”
Rose and the Doctor stared at him.
“What?”
* * *
“Jaye,” Sharon muttered, storming into The Barrel. She spotted her sister (not surprisingly) by the bar, and, smiling at Jaye’s little friends with as much politeness as she could muster, yanked her sister away. She had no real idea if her sister had anything to do with the weirdo in her office, but Aaron wasn’t around and she was not about to bring this up to her parents. Plus, it wouldn’t surprise her if Jaye knew a thing or two about breaking and entering, what with her enchanting criminal record.
“Jaye, do you know why some strange man ‘teleported’ into my office today?”
Jaye immediately looked suspicious. “What do you mean?”
“Has anyone just appeared around you recently-”
“No.”
“And flirted with you-”
“No!”
“And talked about ‘Alien technology?’”
“Oh. Uh, no. Definitely not…Maybe?”
“Jaye, where do you find these weirdos? Are they attracted to you somehow? Jaye, have you been abusing the internet?”
“No!” Instinct told Jaye to keep her mouth closed, because this stuff was weirder than Sharon could handle. Problem was, it was weirder than she could handle, too, and, well, she was curious. “Which one flirted?” she asked.
“Them? There are more?”
Jaye groaned. “Oh God. I’m so screwed up that they had to call in reinforcements.”
“You’re not screwed up,” Sharon said mock-comfortingly. “Beyond your immaturity, your inability to start a career, and your criminal record, you’re completely normal.”
Jaye made a small, pained sound.
“Look, you got a life coach. That’s not that bad; I talk to mine all the time. Although,” she said, “I have one, and he doesn’t think he’s an alien…” She leaned in, whispering. “Why do they think they’re aliens?”
“They…do magic. They don’t really think they’re aliens. Oh, and I told my friends they’re relatives.”
Sharon was nodding doubtfully.
“Wait-you have a life coach?”
* * *
The next day after Jaye finished her shift at Wonderfalls, she returned to her trailer and Jack, Rose and the Doctor set to work.
“This will be painless,” the Doctor reassured her as he put a hand on each of her temples.
“How do I know I won’t wake up catatonic three years from now?”
“He’s not going to change anything,” Rose reassured her.
“I’ve done this hundreds of times.”
“He’s just looking around.”
“Close your eyes,” the Doctor ordered, and closed his own. Within seconds Jaye’s body slumped in her chair, as if she wanted to fall backwards.
“Well,” Jack asked. “What now?”
The Doctor shushed him. “I’m trying to find the connection the aliens have in her brain. They’re in there, that’s why Jaye lost consciousness, but every time I get close they slip further into her memory.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Rose worried.
“I just have to be fast enough to catch one and pull it forward.” He startled. “There! Easy enough.” He opened his eyes.
“Doctor? I don’t see any aliens.” Jack asked.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and waved it around. The blue light pulsed in time with a rapid beeping the device emitted. “Oh, they’re here all right.”
“What about Jaye?” Rose asked. “Are they out of her brain now?”
The Doctor paused, wondering how to explain. “Not permanently. I can’t force the aliens from her, not at the risk of hurting Jaye. Right now they’re still anchored in her mind, but the messages they send can exist in ours-I just increased their projection range exponentially. None of which explains why we can’t see them.”
“We are here,” a chorus of voices answered from all around the room. Jack pulled out his gun and, standing, whirled around the trailer. Every single stuffed, bronze, wax and plastic animal with a mouth was speaking to them. Hundreds of artificial eyes were trained on their faces.
“I can see why she doesn’t like this,” Rose confided.
“Who are you?” asked the Doctor.
“We are here,” they repeated.
“Who? Who is here?” he was shouting now.
“You need to leave this body!”
“Who are you?”
“We are the Mineites.”
“No…” Jack murmured.
“What’s going on?” Rose asked. “What’s a Mineite?”
“We are here,” the animals chanted. “We are here to stay."
Chapter Four
After a normal day Jaye needed a few drinks at The Barrel. Today, after learning that the talking animals she heard were a result of aliens possessing her brain, she figured she could take just about everything they had. The Doctor had offered Jaye a few hours to regroup before they took action, and she planned to make the very most of that time by getting very, very drunk.
“Hit me with something,” she ordered the bartender. Eric gave her a kiss.
“Something alcoholic,” she clarified. Grinning, he readily complied.
“Long day?” Eric asked as he mixed her drink.
Jaye sighed. “Yeah. These two British…relatives of mine are visiting. They want to know stuff about me.”
“You have relatives?” Mahandra asked, sidling up to the bar. “I thought your family basically got emancipated from them after that Jerry guy embarrassed your parents at your second cousin’s wedding.”
“Not just my parents,” Jaye reminisced happily. “I don’t think Sharon will ever eat spaghetti again.”
“Are you going to tell your family that these two are here?” Mahandra asked.
“I don’t think so. My life is insane enough as it is.”
“Can we meet them?” Eric asked “Where are they, anyway?”
* * *
Rose stared out at the gigantic waterfall, the water colored greens and purples by artificial lights. “It’s beautiful.”
“Niagara Falls. It’s the most powerful waterfall in North America. There’s more than a hundred thousand cubic meters of water pouring over that edge every minute.”
“I think I’d forgotten how pretty Earth could be,” Rose admitted, “spending all that time out in space.” She listened to the thunder of rushing water and smiled. “I like it here. Not that I don’t like the other planets, or the danger. I love those. I just…I just really love-” She stopped and turned, curious, as she barely made out the sound of running feet over the noise of the falls. “Jack!”
“You just really love Jack?” the Doctor questioned, staring at the water. “What does-” he turned around and suddenly understood. “Jack,” he stated evenly.
Rose’s reaction was a bit different. “I thought you were dead!” she cried, already scooped up in a hug.
“Are you kidding? An army of Daleks couldn’t stop me.” He was smiling, too. The Doctor coughed surreptitiously, and Jack put Rose down.
“It’s okay Doctor, you don’t have to be jealous.” He swept the Doctor into a hug as well. “New look for you,” he observed as he let go of the Doctor. “I like the change.”
The smile never left Rose’s face. “I want to know everything. Where you’ve been, what you’ve done-”
“How in the universe did you find us now?”
“Well, it wasn’t all me,” Jack answered. “You lent a hand.”
“How did I help?”
“No. You lent a hand. Literally. Remember Christmas Day?”
“No!” Rose said, finally getting it.
“You have my hand?!”
“You weren’t using it. It let me know you were in the era, and I teleported here. But I assume this isn’t a stop home.”
“We think a local is possessed by aliens.”
“I can do possessions! It’ll be nice to get a break from all the Weevils.” Off Rose and the Doctor’s glances, he explained. “I joined Torchwood. After the Sycorax shooting; I heard you weren’t too happy about that.”
“So you teleported here,” Rose questioned. “But how did you find us?”
“Coincidence, I guess,” Jack shrugged. “I did run into a local first. Teleported right into her office-a Sharon Tyler.”
Rose and the Doctor stared at him.
“What?”
* * *
“Jaye,” Sharon muttered, storming into The Barrel. She spotted her sister (not surprisingly) by the bar, and, smiling at Jaye’s little friends with as much politeness as she could muster, yanked her sister away. She had no real idea if her sister had anything to do with the weirdo in her office, but Aaron wasn’t around and she was not about to bring this up to her parents. Plus, it wouldn’t surprise her if Jaye knew a thing or two about breaking and entering, what with her enchanting criminal record.
“Jaye, do you know why some strange man ‘teleported’ into my office today?”
Jaye immediately looked suspicious. “What do you mean?”
“Has anyone just appeared around you recently-”
“No.”
“And flirted with you-”
“No!”
“And talked about ‘Alien technology?’”
“Oh. Uh, no. Definitely not…Maybe?”
“Jaye, where do you find these weirdos? Are they attracted to you somehow? Jaye, have you been abusing the internet?”
“No!” Instinct told Jaye to keep her mouth closed, because this stuff was weirder than Sharon could handle. Problem was, it was weirder than she could handle, too, and, well, she was curious. “Which one flirted?” she asked.
“Them? There are more?”
Jaye groaned. “Oh God. I’m so screwed up that they had to call in reinforcements.”
“You’re not screwed up,” Sharon said mock-comfortingly. “Beyond your immaturity, your inability to start a career, and your criminal record, you’re completely normal.”
Jaye made a small, pained sound.
“Look, you got a life coach. That’s not that bad; I talk to mine all the time. Although,” she said, “I have one, and he doesn’t think he’s an alien…” She leaned in, whispering. “Why do they think they’re aliens?”
“They…do magic. They don’t really think they’re aliens. Oh, and I told my friends they’re relatives.”
Sharon was nodding doubtfully.
“Wait-you have a life coach?”
* * *
The next day after Jaye finished her shift at Wonderfalls, she returned to her trailer and Jack, Rose and the Doctor set to work.
“This will be painless,” the Doctor reassured her as he put a hand on each of her temples.
“How do I know I won’t wake up catatonic three years from now?”
“He’s not going to change anything,” Rose reassured her.
“I’ve done this hundreds of times.”
“He’s just looking around.”
“Close your eyes,” the Doctor ordered, and closed his own. Within seconds Jaye’s body slumped in her chair, as if she wanted to fall backwards.
“Well,” Jack asked. “What now?”
The Doctor shushed him. “I’m trying to find the connection the aliens have in her brain. They’re in there, that’s why Jaye lost consciousness, but every time I get close they slip further into her memory.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Rose worried.
“I just have to be fast enough to catch one and pull it forward.” He startled. “There! Easy enough.” He opened his eyes.
“Doctor? I don’t see any aliens.” Jack asked.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and waved it around. The blue light pulsed in time with a rapid beeping the device emitted. “Oh, they’re here all right.”
“What about Jaye?” Rose asked. “Are they out of her brain now?”
The Doctor paused, wondering how to explain. “Not permanently. I can’t force the aliens from her, not at the risk of hurting Jaye. Right now they’re still anchored in her mind, but the messages they send can exist in ours-I just increased their projection range exponentially. None of which explains why we can’t see them.”
“We are here,” a chorus of voices answered from all around the room. Jack pulled out his gun and, standing, whirled around the trailer. Every single stuffed, bronze, wax and plastic animal with a mouth was speaking to them. Hundreds of artificial eyes were trained on their faces.
“I can see why she doesn’t like this,” Rose confided.
“Who are you?” asked the Doctor.
“We are here,” they repeated.
“Who? Who is here?” he was shouting now.
“You need to leave this body!”
“Who are you?”
“We are the Mineites.”
“No…” Jack murmured.
“What’s going on?” Rose asked. “What’s a Mineite?”
“We are here,” the animals chanted. “We are here to stay."
Chapter Four