I Didn't Mean It (Doctor Who)

Ch.13: Unsinkable

Recap:

I tapped him on the shoulder, gasping as I felt something that was not flesh on my fingertips. I screamed, backing away, as I saw a massive metal creature turn towards me. It had a strange looking bar over its head, and it stared at me with empty eyes, looking almost human.

"Who are you? You must be deleted!" It said in a rough mechanical voice. It pointed its metal arm towards me, a gun rolling out of it. A blast of blinding blue light shot towards me, and I fell to the ground.

~o0o~

I barely felt someone shaking my shoulders from above me, everything feeling vague and distant. I tried to reopen my eyes, but a blinding light forced them closed again.

"Ow," I groaned, lacing my fingers over my eyes like a sheild.

"Just let your eyes adjust," I heard the Doctor's voice from behind me, and for a moment I struggled to get up, but I felt a hand gently guide me back down.

I peeked out from half-closed eyelids, watching the blinding light slowly fade away and the area around me begin to materialize. The strong ringing in my ears slowly began to subside. I sat up groggily, feeling as if someone had stuffed my head with cotton balls. I was in the same area I was before the metal creature...shot me?

How am I still alive? I thought, eyes widening.

"What was it?!" I began to breathe heavily.

"What was...what?" Doctor asked, looking at me in a way someone would look at an insane person with a knife.

I struggled to my feet, but my legs felt like pencil lead ready to snap and I immediately collapsed. "The...thing!!!" I stared at him, searching for some sign of recognition in his eyes, as if there should be.

"The... metal creature. It said it was going to 'delete me', and it shot me...Just now," I said, knitting my eyebrows in confusion. I searched my body for some sign of injury, but there wasn't one. It was as if I had died and come back to life again.

"A Cyberman," Doctor replied quietly, his eyes widening, "How are even you still alive?".

I yelped as the ship shook violently once again. I clung onto a wooden plank in the deck that had been turned upwards from the others as a loud scraping noise erupted against the side of the ship.

"Doctor! We have to get out of here!" I yelled over the chaos breaking out around us, "This is a fixed point in history! There's nothing we can do for them!".

Doctor nodded in response and we ran towards the TARDIS, stumbling over the swaying ship beneath us. I stopped dead as I saw the blank area of where the TARDIS used to be, leaving what used to be my bed behind in shattered pieces. I walked in circles around the empty outline of its presence, wracking my brain for a logical explanation. I looked over to see the Doctor doing the same.

"I don't understand. How could it just...disappear?" Doctor asked, more to himself than to me.

I fidgeted nervously as I realized something I wish I hadn't. "I...might have...left the door open..." I scrunched up my eyes as if preparing for a beating.

"You left the door open?! After all the times I've told to lock the door! And now we're stuck on the blasted Titanic!" Doctor sighed exasperatedly.

"I know, and I'm sorry. But how did anyone even use it? Only you can drive the TARDIS," I pointed out.

Doctor knitted his eyebrows, his eyes clouded with confusion. But we didn't have long to think before another loud scraping against the side rattled the entire boat. I ran over to the edge and peered out into the sea, spikey with waves that lapped visiously against the side, expecting to see a large iceberg damaging the side of the boat, which I had always been told was the cause of the ship sinking, but I gasped as I saw a large metal spaceship looming horribly out of place from the water. A gaping hole had been cut into the side of the ship, water pouring in.

"Doctor! What is that?!" I asked in horror.

"It's the Cybermen's ship," he replied.

"There are more?" I said, my heart picking up its pace.

Doctor nodded, "Yup, and they're about to sink the 'unsinkable'".

I looked down into the black water surging in all directions, thinking in terror about swirling helplessly through it, drowning. My lip wobbled, my eyes heavy with the threat of tears at the thought. Memories flooded back to me, memories I had tried for so long to forget. I was scared, terrified. I started to breathe heavily, but stopped as I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay. What's wrong?" Doctor asked gingerly.

"What's wrong?! We're about to die! In the worst way! That's what's wrong!" I shook his hand away, sliding to the ground, the tears beginning to roll out.

"Hey, we're not going to die, we've made it this long, we are not done yet," Doctor sat beside me.

"How? What's your brilliant plan this time. Don't you see? We can't get out of this. The TARDIS is gone!".

Doctor remained silent, staring at me with questioning eyes. "You're afraid of water," He realized.

"What?! No!" I tried my best to put on a fake scoff, but I could tell he could add right through it.

I looked down, sighing, "Some kids at my foster home used to dunk my head under the water when I was a kid. They were just kidding, but it scared the hell out of me. I know it's stupid, but I haven't gone in water since."

The Doctor sat quietly, listening in a way that made me feel important. But it didn't last long as another wave of violent rocking back and forth swept over the ship, creating more chaos around us. People began to flood out towards the life boats, crawling over each other like animals. I got to my feet, overwhelmed by the sea of panicked people. I was shoved to the ground, trampled over by relentless feet. I managed to crawl to the side, hauling myself out, and searched for the Doctor anxiously.

"Doctor!" I called out, but I couldn't even hear my own voice against the crowd. I didn't see him anywhere, "Doctor!!!"

I had lost the Doctor, on the Titanic, as it was sinking.

Great.