𝔘𝔱𝔞𝔥, 𝔘𝔫𝔦𝔱𝔢𝔡 𝔖𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔰, 𝔈𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔥
𝔍𝔲𝔩𝔶 2012
Relief was not something that EJ was confidently able to say he had a positive experience with. Usually, it came with the knowledge that whatever hardships had occurred were over and never coming back. He had never been so lucky. Even now, and saved by the Doctor, relief was something he was extremely conscience of.
After the Dalek, they decided that there was no reason for them to hang about. Van Statten was going to be treated according to his actions, which was enough for them to leave without any extra guilt.
The Doctor lead them back to the exhibit room where the Tardis had landed, Rose and EJ arm in arm with small smiles on their lips. Perhaps now wasn't the time, but it didn't matter so much. They were happy to be alive, and they were happy to have their little dysfunctional group back together. It was always a pleasure to make new friends, and after as harrowing an experience as that, EJ could we positively say that he and Rose were friends.
He knew already that, should the occasion arise, Soren and Taylor would adore her completely. She was exactly the type of person they mooned over in high school. It had, of course, been a hilarious thing to watch as he and Angel sat back and laughed as they flailed their undesirable qualities.
As they stepped towards the Tardis, the Doctor looked rather melancholy and run down. He supposed that it was the Dalek's fault: it had brought back far too many memories he was trying to forget. EJ understood. Everyone had dirty laundry that didn't deserve to be aired in front of strangers.
"Little piece of home." He muttered, softly, as he touched its wooden edge. "Better than nothing."
"Is that the end of it?" Rose asked, cluelessly. "The Time War?"
"I'm the only one left." The Doctor shrugged, shaking his head."I win. How about that?"
"The Dalek survived." She attempted to give him some shred of hope, though he wasn't certain about anything she said. "Maybe some of your people did too."
He clicked his tongue. "I'd know."
Rather skeptically, the blonde boy shrugged. "Would you?"
"In here." He tapped the side of his temple, like a madman would. "Feels like there's no one."
"Well then," Rose smiled to him softly. "Good thing we're not going anywhere."
"Yeah."
EJ scrunched his face slightly. "Except in the Tardis."
"That's not funny." Rose blanked, shaking her head mockingly. "You're so not funny."
"I'm hilarious." He bumped her side with his hip. "You don't appreciate me."
"We better get out!" The brunette boy who had abandoned Rose ran towards them, slightly panicked. EJ tensed at the sight of him. "Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base. Goddard says they're going to fill it with cement, like it never existed!"
The girl sighed. "About time."
"Shame." The Thompson boy huffed. "Some of this shit is cool."
"I'll have to go back home."
"Better hurry up then." The Doctor urged, unimpressed. "Next flight to Heathrow leaves at... 1500 hours."
Rose swung on her heels slightly, placing on of his hands on the boys shoulder. "Adam was saying that, all his life, he wanted to see the stars."
They'd been associated with this stranger for hours, and yet, EJ had only just learned his name. It wasn't one of his finer choices, but names always made him curious. He wanted to know the thought process behind it, if he'd chosen it himself and abandoned another. Adam. It was a nice name. It was a really nice name.
The Doctor replied, bluntly. "Tell him to go and stand outside, then."
"You're brutal sometimes, you know." EJ chuckled, a little too loud.
"He's all on his own, Doctor." Rose replied, her eyes sharing a knowing glance with the Thompson boy. "And he did help."
"He left you down there!"
"So did you."
"What are you talking about?" Adam looked around wide eyed. "We've got to leave!"
EJ patted his back, smugly. "Patience, young grasshopper."
"Plus," The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "He's a bit pretty."
"I hadn't noticed." Rose deflected.
"Am I not?" EJ pouted, shallowly, suddenly frowning, genuinely He pulled his hoodie closer to his body, unwinding himself from his friend's grasp .
Sarcastically, the Doctor mocked. "The prettiest."
"Oi." She replied, competitively softly, wrapping her arm through his once again. "Never said you weren't."
It pulled a small smile from his lips. "Thanks."
He shrugged. "On your own head..."
"Really?" EJ raised an eyebrow; he wasn't upset by it, only confused. He didn't know if the Doctor always have so many friends. "We're bringing weedy along?"
The Doctor pushed open the door to the Tardis as Adam panicked. "What are you doing? She said cement!"
EJ followed, swiftly, enjoying the familiar wonder of the machine. It was otherworldly in the best way possible, and he loved just standing in it, never mind doing anything else. To him, it made no sense that it wasn't overwhelming, but he was glad. He would spend every moment there if he was allowed.
Rose joined them last, her head peeking out of the door, beckoning for Adam to join them. It was good to be skeptical, and it was good to be afraid. However, his was something that stuck out like a sore and red thumb.
"She wasn't joking-" He paused, attempting to draw them out with him, away from the Tardis. "We're gonna get sealed in! Doctor? What are you doing inside a box?"
The Tardis thrummed as it did when it was ready to take off, and their only clue that Adam had joined them was the large, unruly gasp which greeted them swiftly. If this was what it was like every time, the Doctor must have been bored very quickly. It couldn't be his favourite part, if he even had a favourite part.
Adam stepped around the space, his mouth agape. He was in awe of everything he saw, as EJ clearly still was. His feelings were almost mirrored in the new boy. It was all very much real, and very much dancing inside of his chest.
"It's... it's bigger on the inside!" He exclaimed as the Doctor pressed a few buttons on the centre control panel. "I mean, it's actually bigger in the inside!"
"Yeah..." Rose wrapped an arm around his shoulder, in the attempt to look more impressive. "You'll get used to it."
"But..."
"Excuse me, Rose." EJ smiled as he stood in front of them both. "But we-" He gestured to Adam. "Haven't actually met yet."
"Oh, sorry." He rushed over and shook the blonde's hand.
"I'm EJ."
"Yeah, yeah, I gathered." He nodded, before rectifying his statement, mortified. "I mean, because you said it in the office, not that... this is not going well..."
The Thompson boy grinned. He liked Adam. He reminded EJ of Soren, quite a lot. Bouncy. Excitable. Saying the first thing that came to mind. Something which made him think of home. He didn't miss the place, but the people.
"I'm Adam."
"Yeah," EJ mocked. "I gathered."
"I want to... give him a tour." Rose gestured with her eyes to let the boy go. It was subtle, but he caught on easily. "Show him around."
"Go on, then."
"Do you mind?" She questioned. "Doctor?"
"Off you pop." He allowed, not looking up from the console, like it was the most interesting thing he could find. "But do not go in the swimming pool. Don't think we'll be too long."
Rose took Adam's hand and lead him through the first corridor to her left. EJ hadn't had any time to explore himself, yet, but he didn't mind. In his eyes, there was all the time in the world. There were more pressing things in his mind. Things that most definitely couldn't wait.
EJ stepped towards the Doctor, each time with more reluctance than the last. His palms sweated as he clutched his hands into fists. It wasn't something he wanted to talk about.
"Uh..." He sighed, turning his back on the central machine, so that he could see the Doctor's face slightly better. "I just wanted to say thank you."
"What for?"
EJ had hoped he would be able to leave it there, but clearly, he couldn't. "For... you know, not saying anything to Rose about what Van Statten said."
"Wasn't mine to say." He shrugged, nonchalantly, which only made him smile. "You alright, though?"
"Yeah, nothing that hasn't been done before." The words came out before he was able to stop them. "What about you, Doctor? Are you alright?"
He just smiled at EJ, like he had practiced it a thousand times before. "Yeah, I'm always alright, me."
𝔏𝔬𝔫𝔡𝔬𝔫, 𝔈𝔫𝔤𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡, 𝔈𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔥
𝔄𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔩 2005
There were few people in the world who knew exactly of the struggles in EJ Thompson's life, and the gruesome detail which had inwardly occurred. His biological family were aware, of course, but his recovery had been viewed in great detail only by two. Elliott Jones and Angel Summerly were like saints, sent to fix all of his wrongs.
They weren't so different in age to him (Angel being twenty himself, and Elliott slightly younger at eighteen) so they shouldn't have been as efficient as they were. However, EJ was glad of their presence. He wouldn't have survived without them.
As soon as they were eighteen, Angel and EJ moved in together. Ty joined them not too long after, but that was after the worst had passed.
They had always been cautious about EJ and the things which might make him remember. And even when he wasn't present, they found themselves catching their words, just in case. It was a real predicament, and they weren't completely sure how they were going to get through it all.
But they did, because they had to. Two years seemed to do him a world of good, or so they thought.
After 10 Downing Street blew up from the inside, EJ had returned back to them grinning like there was no tomorrow. It was the happiest he'd been since then. Only, he hadn't come home the next day.
As a lover of people, and the world, it wasn't uncommon for EJ to be gone for a night or two at a time. Perhaps because he hadn't called them once they were a little on edge, but they had assured themselves that nothing was wrong. It was what they needed to stay sane.
Two days quickly became a week, and that was when they knew that something had happened. He was absent, but he wasn't heartless.
"Should we go to the police?" Elliott asked as they lay in bed, entangled in one another, hoping that it might bring some comfort. "They might've found him."
"If they'd found him, they would've brought him home." Angel gritted his teeth, turning onto his side so he could face his boyfriend. "I just don't understand."
"Maybe we're not supposed to." The black haired boy sighed. "Something might have triggered a memory."
"But he wouldn't just not talk to us."
"Yeah..." He trailed. "I guess so."
Angel shook his head, trying to rid himself of all the horrible images flooding through his mind. He didn't want to imagine EJ dead, or maimed in anyway. There was every chance that he was completely okay, and that was what he had to focus on.
"Can't your work do something?" Elliott suggested. He didn't have much of an idea about what his boyfriend did for a living: he assumed it was government related because he wasn't really allowed to talk about it. "You say that they help people all the time."
"They won't care about one person going missing." Angel shook his head again. "I just don't think he'd ever leave Josh behind."
"No." Elliott agreed, solemnly. "No, he wouldn't. He loves him too much."
"I wish Zoë would let him see him more." The redhead smiled a little to himself. "He'd be a great Dad."
"He already is."
"Yeah."
"Then we'll go to the police." Elliott kissed his forehead, pulled him in closer, sensing how sad his partner was. "And we'll find him. I promise."
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Disclaimer!!!
I do not own Doctor Who, it's characters and original storylines. The only things I do own are my own characters, my addition to the series and my own storylines. Any similarities to real life are purely coincidental.