Electricity (10th)
{Not my gif}
Words: 3341
Originally posted to my Wattpad account.
"Put on a fancy dress, Donna!" The Doctor screamed as she disappeared down the hall. Hearing her call of acknowledgement, he nodded in satisfaction before skipping over to his reflection. Quickly fixing himself up, he smiled at himself before wheeling on his heel.
Hastily, he set the coordinates of the TARDIS, humming as he skipped and hopped along to drive her. She shook and wavered, shuttering before landing with a small crash to the ground. Just on time, Donna stumbled out into the console room.
"You idiot!" She immediately shrieked, pointing an accusing finger at him. "I was just slipping on my dress, when I fall head first into a bloody rack of clothes and take a couple buttons to the nose!" Immediately, he put his hands up in surrender.
"Oops?" He muttered sheepishly. Then, as she began to march over to him he began to try and save his hide by appealing to her interests.
"Wait, wait!" The man cried. "We're somewhere expensive! Mini quiche, escargot! And fancy wines! Think of the chocolate wines! Yum!"
Donna continued to march towards him, not stopping as she backed him up into his own ship's console. However, her gaze had softened from anger to curiosity faster than he had ever imagined.
With a stomp of her foot, she demanded, "Well, tell me where we are, then!"
Letting a relieved sigh pass his lips, he ran a hand through his hair. Slightly rolling his eyes, he turned on his heel and began to march towards the door. For a moment, he stopped to look over his trench coat. However, instead he checked he had his sonic screwdriver with him and left the coat as he opened the door for Donna with a dramatic bow.
"My lady," He teased, causing her grumble angrily.
"Well, at least you have manners," She mumbled, stepping out the door. Looking around, she noticed they were on a familiar street of London. However, it was night and the street was almost empty save the people crowding into a large building about a block away. Glancing at the street, she noticed how clean they were, and how old the concrete appeared.
The Doctor closed the door behind him, stepping out beside Donna and taking a deep breath in through his nose, "Year two thousand fifty two, January third. London, England. The day a new power source was born."
Glancing at him, she nodded slowly, "A new power source? Or, a perfected one?"
"A new one! Isn't that exciting?" The Doctor exclaimed, reaching out to loop his arm around Donna's. "Allons-y!"
Quickly, he tugged her along as she suddenly complained, "Man, and I thought my dress was fancy." The Doctor turned to catch what she was looking at, and grimaced at a woman wearing a full ballgown seeming to be completely made out of different types of feathers.
"Oh, I think I like your dress better," He admitted, continuing to pull her along. Easily using his psychic paper as an invitation, he got the two of them inside without any problems.
Suddenly, just as he was about to lead her to a couple of seats, Donna jumped excitedly, "Oh look! Fancy punch!" Confused, the Doctor's head swivelled as he turned to glance at a giant fountain filled with a bright red liquid. He watched as people dunked their cups under, before turning around to chug it.
"Fancy indeed!" With a grin he agreed, going off course. Grabbing a cup for both Donna and himself, he dunked it under the falling liquid. Immediately, he handed the second cup to Donna, and together they tilted it back and took a nice gulp.
A satisfied moan left Donna's lips as she cried, "By God this stuff is good!" People turned to glance in her direction, and she shied away from their glances. Just as her eyes turned to meet the Doctor's gaze, she caught him once again dunking his cup under the fountain.
"Did you already drink all of that?!" She hissed, slapping his shoulder as he chugged it. With a yelp, he nearly sent the drink flying all over himself.
"Oi! What was that for?!" The poor man asked, rubbing the shoulder Donna had just smacked.
"For being an alien-pig!" Shamelessly she scolded him. "I swear, I can't take you anywhere."
"You? Take me anywhere?" The Doctor repeated slowly, mouth slowly starting to gape open before he began his attempt to argue. "You know, that's kind of funny because last I checked-"
But before a real argument could ensue, a sudden wail of a microphone caused everyone in the room to jump in sync through their surprise.
"Welcome, everyone!" An old, withered voice echoed through the room. "I am Brendon Kiger, one of the founder's of Solid Gold Energy! And also, one of the few scientists who created the Auric Energy Source."
The Doctor set his cup lazily on the table beside the fountain, forcing Donna to put hers down as well before dragging her over to the group of people beginning to take their seats. Leading her to the first row, he chose the last two seats filled by a couple of young men before flashing them his psychic paper.
"Sorry, but I believe these are our prepaid seats," He claimed nonchalantly. With a bit of hesitance, the boys glanced at each other before getting up and attempting to find a couple other good seats.
Frowning, Donna watched them go before turning to the Doctor, "I don't know about you, but I feel kind of bad for that." Shrugging, he sat down and glued his attention to the stage.
"And, I am Herod Prince. The latest member to join the wonderful crew of Solid Gold Energy working on the Auric Energy Source," A man about Donna's age introduced himself. "Today, we are here to give a small presentation on our new, amazing product."
The older man stepped forward, and began talking as his hands waved in the air, "Our new product is not only efficient, but gorgeous. Instead of the boring wires, or even your wireless devices, you can show off the gorgeous gold hue that bolts through the clear wires specifically meant to display the beautiful colour."
"In just a moment, we will show you a large example of just how alluring the energy itself it," The young man once again took over speaking. "However, we figured that we should mention just how much the amount of energy you are about to see is capable of.
"Within this pipe-" He pointed to a long, clear cylinder about as wide as a human head that grew from the floor to the ceiling behind him on stage. "-there will soon be enough energy to power the whole of England. Every single home, every single facility, car, plane, and boat."
The audience seemed to gasp, and with a wide smirk the young man continued, "Now, finally we will show you the amazing product we have been able to produce."
Stepping aside, the whole crowd seemed to lean in to witness the raw, visible energy that would be passing through the clear tube. The Doctor himself tilted forward in his seat, confused beyond all means as he tried to imagine how the science behind it could work, even trying to remember if he had ever seen such a thing- suddenly, his brain seemed to malfunction.
A familiar, golden energy suddenly blasted through the tube and up into the ceiling. Everyone, including Donna, gasped in amazement as the light glimmered and danced. The Doctor's mouth fell open, and his brows rose.
"No," The Doctor began to panic. Already recognising the golden glow of the regeneration energy, he almost bolted from his seat and onto the stage before Donna grabbed his arm.
"Oh my god, it's gorgeous!" She gasped, not noticing the look on the Doctor's face.
He frowned, foot beginning to tap anxiously as his eyes stared down Donna, " I know." His eyes turned back to the raw energy he knew so well just as it disappeared. His whole face seemed to sink, and every breath he took appeared to be stunted. It was dawning on him that there was a slim possibility of another Time Lord. Fear, excitement, and dread coursed through his veins, and he shook the whole line of seats through his anxious hopping in his chair.
"Just the reaction we were hoping for!" Mr. Kiger exclaimed with a victorious laugh. "This is the absolute best energy source we have. Currently, our source is classified. However, the source has more hope of spurring on humanity's technological growth than any of the other ideas.
"From harnessing the sun's solar energy; harvesting lightning; using the Earth in geothermal energy; and even at one point using humankind itself to produce energy-" The man paused, a large grin that made the Doctor sick to the stomach stuck on his face. "None of it compares to what we can give to our planet!"
Finally, the Doctor grabbed Donna's hand and hauled her out of her chair. With a confused grumbling, she unhappily trotted behind him as she tried to keep up with him. Keeping her head down in an attempt to avoid peoples' stares, she stepped on his heel to catch his attention.
"Why are we leaving?" She asked, sulking as she glanced back at the stage.
Gritting his teeth, he stopped just beside a little red box, "That wasn't regular energy." He began, causing Donna's eyes to narrow.
"Then what was it?" She asked, watching as he whipped out his sonic screwdriver. For a moment, he paused to glance at her.
"It had to come from a living being," He tried to explain it vaguely, but knew he couldn't pass off being so upset without giving up the full reason. "More specifically- a living Time Lord."
Immediately, Donna gasped, "Oh my god." At her shock, the Doctor pressed a button on his screwdriver and set off the fire alarm. Grabbing Donna's hand, he turned around and bolted into the crowd of confused people who rushed out of the building quickly.
Squeezing by angry, confused people and keeping a tight grip on Donna, he reached the stage. The men talking earlier had disappeared, probably fled the building.
"To the back!" The Doctor hollered over the loud screech of the alarm. He and Donna broke into a run, bursting through the curtains and dodging workers as they leapt onto the stage.
Suddenly, the Doctor caught sight of an elevator opening up backstage. Out wheeled a large clear capsule. Inside, there was a young (h/c) woman who kicked around weakly as she was completely strapped inside. The metal that wrapped around her head, arms, legs, hips, and chest were tightly squeezing her. Wide, humiliated (e/c) eyes darted around wildly as she fought the cage she was trapped in.
Suddenly, her eyes connected with the Doctor's. Both of them seemed to freeze for just a moment, and she desperately tried to keep her eyes on him as the men pushing her pod forward ripped him from her view.
"Stop!" The Doctor rushed forward, grabbing one of the men's arms. "Stop right there!"
Donna immediately shoved herself right in the path of the pod, and put her hands on the glass, "Sweetheart, can you hear me? Are you alright?"
"Who the hell are you?!" One of the men asked, shoving the Doctor off of him. When the Doctor nearly fell, he stood up and immediately rushed back to grab onto the man again. Immediately, the man brought out pepper spray. The Doctor quickly took a step back, ready to roar.
Taking a deep breath, the Doctor gave him a glare, "I'm the man who's shutting all of this down."
A laugh echoed behind him, and a hand suddenly clasped his shoulder, "It's alright. She's not human, only looks like it." Herod tried to reassure. Immediately, the Doctor whipped around and aggressively threw his hand away from him.
"Exactly!" The Doctor growled. "She is a being from another world. One of the last of her species!"
With a roll of his eyes, Mr. Kiger stepped forward, "We treat her as if she were porcelain. There will be no harm to come to her-" The Doctor couldn't help it, for so long he had been against violence- yet in that moment he delivered a strong right hook that caused his hand to ache. Donna gasped and hollered something unintelligible at his action, she never expected to see that in her life. The struck man wailed as he crumpled to the ground, and an employee rushed forward to replace one of the guards holding the Time Lady's cell. The guard grabbed hold of the Doctor, muttering threats if he tried to get loose.
"Do you even know her name?" The Doctor asked, venom dripping from his words. With barely any effort he shrugged out of the guard's grip, who followed him warily as he walked around the glass so he could face the young woman. The girl's eyes seemed to light up upon seeing him, and his mouth dropped open for just a second. Taking his screwdriver, he scanned the glass. Glancing at it, he put an arm out to Donna and took a step back.
"Close your eyes," He warned to the girl. With no hesitance, she complied. Once her eyes were closed, he pressed a button and the glass shattered and crashed to the ground.
Once he could reach her, he turned to Donna, "Scold them or something." He gestured to the men who were either too shocked to step in, or were helping the bleeding man on the floor.
Then, he turned back around to the girl. Connecting eyes, he was glad to see just how relieved she appeared. With gentle hands, he reached forward and cupped her face. The guard behind him tried to reach out and seize him once again, but Donna quickly put a stop to it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," She warned, stealing his pepper spray right from his own hand in a wave of bravery.
Both the Doctor and the girl closed their eyes, and immediately he began to search through her memories. A mutual understanding seemed to pass between the two: One at a time. So, she kept from his mind for the time being.
Quickly, the Doctor searched through her memories. He saw how they stole her energy, and grimaced at the screams he could hear echo from her memory. Then even further, he found how they had captured her.
She had just arrived on Earth in a different face, horribly wounded. Dragging herself over to a alley way as she whimpered, he watched as she regenerated. The blast of energy had drawn in locals who came running to get a peak, and the Doctor recognised the face of Brendon Kiger among those who appeared to gawk at the girl who just changed faces.
When she had collapsed to the ground, new (h/c) hair thrown across the pavement, Kiger raced forward and grabbed onto her. He fought with other people for the right to take her, and quickly hauled her into a car and drove off with her.
As he went further back into the girl's memories, he discovered she had only appeared on Earth after barely escaping the Time War. It hadn't been long for her since she had lost her planet- and as he quickly discovered she was so, so young to him. Only two hundred and thirty three years old. He couldn't imagine how it must have felt to be so young and loose all you have, just to be captured and turned into an experiment.
Suddenly, he could feel the girl spurring him on. She wanted him to keep going, and began to take control of showing him her memories. Soon he saw her place in the Time War: She was a hero. The girl before him had rescued thousands of Gallifreyan children. Even through all the strife, she continued to head back into the fire just to save another crying child and take them someplace safe. Before she was sent to Earth, she had jumped in front of two older boys to ensure their safety as they were about to be struck.
In payment, the boys and other children had taken her life into their own hands, and against her will sent her to Earth. Her kindness was repaid in full- but he could feel just how devastated she was to not have been able to protect them in the end. The Doctor could feel how it tore her apart as if it were her own fault.
Then, finally, she showed him her name: (Y/n). Nothing grand, simply a human name she had chosen.
Slowly, he retracted his hands. His eyes stared into her solemn, lost irises.
"It wasn't your fault," He told her quietly. Then, he used his sonic to release her. Slowly, (Y/n) stumbled out on shaky limbs, grabbing onto the Doctor. Quickly, he responded and steadied her. The guard also rushed forward to help stabilise her- and together they lowered her to the ground.
"What are you doing?!" Herod suddenly yelled, angrily shaking a fist as he helped Kiger to his feet. "Somebody stop him!"
However, a woman who had previously been helping his partner shook her head in disappointment, "This is just barbaric!"
In a moment, it seemed her words took full effect on anyone who had stopped to gawk at the almost fairy tale situation. One man even approached Herod with white knuckles and stuck a finger to his chest, scolding him with harsh words.
The Doctor watched it all go down, before he felt a soft hand pull at the collar of his jacket. Glancing back at (Y/n), he reached down to cup her head as it practically lolled around on her neck. He figured she had been in there so long, even the muscles in her neck had begun to deteriorate.
Her wide, (e/c) eyes stared up at him. Slowly measuring him, studying everything about him. Then, with hesitant fingers she began to reach up to touch his face. Even with his encouraging nod, she still froze a mere inch from his skin. So, he reached up and held her hand against his cheek.
Then he showed her his past. When he first started the telepathy link he worried how she would react. But he had quickly discovered she was different from all the other Time Lords. Even largely different from himself. The way she acted in general, and all her regenerations were almost strikingly human in his eyes.
Slowly, she softly picked through his mind. While her eyes were closed, he took the time to observe her face. When she stumbled upon something that interested her, her lips would pucker as she seemed to think about it. Connecting all the lines of who he was, she opened her eyes.
However the Doctor kept her hand firmly on his face. (Y/n) stared up at him, brows furrowed. She wasn't judging him for what he did- rather, she seemed curious and understanding. Finally, she let a relieved sigh pass through her lips and she curled herself against his chest and shut her eyes.
Even through Herod and Kiger's anguished screams and all the people who tried to get in his way, he shoved his way outside. He waited for Donna to catch up, who glanced up at the Doctor after observing the girl in his arms.
Giving him a knowing look, she laughed as he rolled his eyes. Then, her entire face softened.
"So," Donna began softly. "Are you going to tell me who she is?"
Gradually, a smile grew on the Doctor's face. Watching the grin that slowly overtook his face, she couldn't help a smile of her own to see him so happy.
"Special," He answered at first. "Strong, even. A hero."
"Well, you sure got lucky then," Donna commented, causing him to laugh. Then, she opened the TARDIS door for the Doctor, and he carefully carried the girl inside her new home.