Midnight ⋆ Doctor Who²

29. The Battle Of Demons Run

A DAY AFTER KOVARIAN'S VISIT, COLONEL MANTON FELT THE NEED TO MOTIVATE HIS TROOPS. Aurora doesn't blame him; they trapped the Hybrid inside their walls, and the Doctor is coming. His troops are bound to be scared, and the generals are bound to be weary after Aurora's little speech.

And since Kovarian has a twisted sense of humor, it's the only thing that can distract Aurora today. She even opened the blinds, for once, letting her see the entirety of Demons Run. She can hear everything, as the sound is broadcasted in her room, but no one can hear her.

So, she stares blankly as Colonel Manton addresses his assembled troops, on his stage with three Headless Monks behind him. If the Doctor is coming, he better do it quickly before she dies of boredom. Or before she goes after Kovarian.

Her plan didn't seem very airtight. Keep her here, interrogate her about the Hybrid? Sure, it seems fairly sound said like that, but why make her Flesh? Why keep her, even after she told them that she wouldn't help them. They must have ulterior motives, but they're keeping it from her. Well, whatever it is, it must be bad then. Because as far as she's concerned, if the Hybrid wasn't her and she was part of a sort of crime organization and they weren't cooperating? Well, she'd kill them. Yet here she is, alive, so they must need her for something else.

She decides to focus back on the little reunion in the main hall, that she can see outside her window, before she has a panic attack.

"He is not the devil," Colonel Manton tells his troops. "He is not a God. He is not a goblin, or a phantom or a trickster. The Doctor is a living, breathing man, and as I look around this room I know one thing. We're sure as hell going to fix that."

The troops cheer and Aurora wishes the blinds had remained shut. Hearing people cheer the Doctor's murder isn't eaxctly her ideal distraction.

Aurora hears the soft woosh of the doors being closed, and turns around to see a girl, younger than her, standing in army clothes.

Her face is too soft for her role. Aurora can see it. She's nice, actually nice. "Sorry," she immediately says. "I shouldn't be here. I'm meant to be at the thing."

Aurora frowns at her, looking her up and down. "Who are you?" And what is she doing here in the middle of a soon to be war?

"My name is Lorna," she says slowly.

Aurora tilts her head to the side. "And why are you here, Lorna ?"

She gulps. "I — I saw Amy, earlier. And her daughter. They're fine."

Her eyes narrow, immediately going into defensive mode when Amy is mentioned. "Is this a trick?"

Lorna seems shocked that she'd even think that. "No!" she exclaims. "No, I promise."

"Then please, don't talk about them." She turns back to the window, watching the troops cheering. And she doesn't know if it's because Lorna is the only one she's seen who doesn't seem entirely hostile, or if it's Manton's speech that is starting to distraught her, but she starts to speak. "They're talking like he's a war criminal. The Doctor isn't a war criminal." She'd say he isn't a criminal, but she wouldn't go that far. He did steal the TARDIS.

"He meets a lot of people," Lorna explains slowly. "Some of them remember. He's sort of like a, I don't know, a dark legend."

She scoffs. "Dark?" He's the embodiment of a puppy. If a puppy could drive thousands of armies away." She thinks of all the silly things he did that made her laugh, and she can't help but smile. "Have you met him?"

"Yeah." It takes Aurora by surprise, and she turns to look at Lorna. She wries her hands, a bit awkward. "But I was just a little girl."

She can work with that, still. "Does he seem dark?"