The first sensation she became aware of was a dull throbbing in her cheek, like the time she'd tripped as a child and bashed it into the dining room table. Others began to trickle in after, and she slowly became aware of cool tile pressing into the side of her face, of fabric rustling nearby as someone shifted. She scrunched her forehead slightly, trying to draw her scattered thoughts together enough to figure out what was going on. She didn't think she'd gone to sleep on the floor again, but stranger things had happened.
"No, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it," someone was saying, their voice echoing painfully as her head protested at the sound, and she resisted the urge to groan, some hidden instinct whispering to wait. "Go on."
She heard the faint whirring of gears and the click of metal, something heavy stepping against the floor as it passed her, and fought the urge to tense, not wanting to draw their - its? - attention. She didn't recognize it, not yet, but something deep within her feared being noticed. She cracked her eyes open, and saw the bright red of Santa's robe over black boots shuffling by before shutting them again. The elevator opened then closed with a ding, humming as it began to move. The same voice sighed, then fabric rustled nearby again.
"Hey, wake up," the voice hissed, now close to her face.
A hand reached out and shoved her shoulder and she flinched, eyes jerking open and fully awake in an instant as adrenaline roared through her. She flung herself in a roll to the side, throwing her back to the wall as she glanced around wildly. There were no Cybermen nearby, no saws circling overhead. She was in the hallway of a nice looking business, and a dark skinned man in a tuxedo was kneeling across from her, eyes calculating.
Lance.
She glared at him to hide her fear, cheek throbbing painfully. "You gonna try and explain your way out of this one?" she challenged him with a sneer. She opened her palm to reveal the emergency button the Doctor had given her, thumb held centimeters away from the button. "You have thirty seconds before I call the Doctor down on your head. Tell me, what do you think your chances are of surviving being shoved out an airlock? And that's if he's feeling nice."
"There were two robots behind you," Lance informed her coolly. "If I hadn't taken you out of the equation before you could see them, they would have taken you as an eyewitness and disposed of you. I saved your life."
"And there was nothing else you could have done?" she scoffed. "The only possible solution was to knock me out?"
"Well, I could have offered you up to them now, couldn't I?" he retorted. "But I didn't. Way I see it, I saved your life." He paused, softening his expression to something approaching remorse. "I'm sorry I had to hurt you to do it, but it proved my continued loyalty to the robots and saved your life. I didn't have enough time to warn you."
She narrowed her eyes at him, skeptical of his sudden change of heart, true as his argument may have been. "I hope you realize I don't trust you as far as I can throw you, and that the Doctor is liable to see just how far he can throw you."
He spread his hands wide in a gesture of innocence. "That's completely understandable. I was just trying to save your life, but I know my actions of late haven't been the most trustworthy," he winced. "I wish I could change them, but I can't."
She raised an eyebrow at the massive understatement. "What are you trying to say? You don't actually want to kill Donna? You're not going to betray the entire human race for an empty promise? You regret taking advantage of her feelings and poisoning her slowly over the past six months? Or are you just trying to stall long enough for them to capture Donna?"
He sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. "When I first met Donna, I didn't care about her," he admitted. "I'd made some bad decisions, wanted to forget about life here. The empress promised me the chance to escape all that, and all I had to do was give her the dosed coffee. She didn't tell me until after I started that it could be deadly, but then said that if I kept giving it to Donna, she'd be able to remove the particles once they reached the correct dosage, and Donna would be safe. If I refused to continue, Donna would die, and they'd choose a new victim. And a new courier," he said grimly.
He frowned. "I don't particularly care about Donna, but I don't want her blood on my hands either. I couldn't back out, and by the time she started to mention marriage, I had to agree to keep her alive." He glanced at her. "I don't love her, but I don't want her death on my hands either. I've been going along with everything because I had no other option." He paused. "Do you really think the Doctor will be able to save her?"
She nodded cautiously, hearing the ring of truth in his words. Beacon of morality he was not, but... perhaps he was no murderer, either. "He can. He can help you too," she reminded him. "The empress will turn on you. You have to know that. But the Doctor can help you, if you let him."
"Even after this?" he gestured at her face, and she tried and failed to repress the urge to flinch. He nodded knowingly. "Will he really want to help me after that?"
She looked him steadily in the eye. "Yes. Because that's the kind of man he is. Because he's the type of man who will help when no one else will. Doesn't mean you won't escape justice. But he will help you."
He nodded slowly, expression giving nothing away. "You should go," he told her, glancing at his wristwatch. "Get as far away from here as you can, contact your Doctor and Donna. Get to safety, all of you. And stay off the streets. If the empress manages to harvest the particles, she'll attack the public, killing everyone she can to feed her children."
"What about you?" Lyssa pointed out, casting a wary glance down the corridor as if she might see the Racnoss beginning her attack already.
"What about me?" he asked, resigned. "I'm expected down there. I don't show up, who knows how she'll react. Plus, this way maybe I can do something to stop her, warn your friend if he hasn't found you yet."
She frowned, not happy with his idea but unsure what else she could do - the emergency button, if it was a teleport, wouldn't bring Lance with her. The TARDIS had no records of his bio-signature, wouldn't be drawn to him like she would the Doctor, or Donna with the particles she'd been poisoned with. And she definitely didn't want to set the Racnoss off early. But still.
"We can bring the TARDIS to you," she insisted stubbornly. "Fine, you have to act like everything's normal, whatever. Make your appearance, then make your excuses and stay out of the empress's way. Stick by the Doctor, if you can. He'll do his best to get you out of there." Lance gave her an odd look and she scowled. "What?" she asked defensively, still on edge.
He shrugged. "Just learned something, that's all." She narrowed her eyes at him and he shook his head. "The Doctor. He's got a look in his eyes. I know it 'cause I see it every time I look in the mirror. Every time I think about how the Racnoss ship that I've been actively helping to wake is going to destroy this planet when they leave. Six billion people, and their blood would be on my hands. I may not care about most of them, but even I can't pretend I'm wholly okay with that."
She frowned. "What does that have to do with me?" she challenged him, refusing to address his comment on any guilt the Doctor's eyes may hold. Because the Doctor may view himself as guilty of all those lives, but he'd done it - or not, as the case may have been - to save the universe.
Lance had just been trying to help himself.
Said man just watched her steadily. "Because when he looks at you, it leaves. His burden becomes easier to carry. And now I know why."
"What?" she frowned, scrunching up her nose. "I don't... why would I have anything to do with that?" She certainly hadn't noticed anything of the kind.
Lance looked at her like it was obvious. "Lyssa, I just told you that I am partially responsible for the potential end of the Earth. I poisoned a woman I claimed to love and promised to cherish and protect. I hit you in the face, and have offered no proof that I've actually changed, and am not about to just hand you over to them. And you're still concerned about my safety, even though you're still mad at me. If that's how you treat me, what must you offer to someone you so obviously care about as much as him?" he finished in disbelief. "The Doctor may be there to protect you physically, but you... you heal his spirit."
She swallowed hard, suddenly speechless. Did... did she really help the Doctor that much? Enough that a relative stranger - one with little empathy for others at that - could notice?
He glanced at his watch again and frowned. "I need to go. If I don't make it back..." He stood to his feet and offered her a hand up. She considered him for a moment before taking it, mind still reeling as he helped her to her feet. "St. John's Cemetery, on Polar Avenue. By the west entrance, there's a grave marked Elizabeth Bennett. My sister," he said with more emotion than she'd seen from him all day. "Could you tell her I'm sorry?"
She studied him, noting the genuine grief and remorse - genuine enough to convince her - and nodded mutely. She didn't think she was imagining, either, the gratitude that flickered briefly before he nodded once sharply and disappeared into the elevator, heading down. She swallowed hard, wondering if she would ever see him again, then shook herself.
Uncurling her hand, she looked down at the little white device resting innocently in her palm and let out a long breath. She cast one last, hesitant look at the elevator, lights indicating it was no longer in use, and pressed the button.
Everything swirled around her in a dizzying array of colors before spinning out again, reforming to reveal the inside of the TARDIS console room. Her stomach protested the abrupt change in surroundings and she clutched it with a grimace, waiting for the nausea to fade. Time travel without a capsule sucked.
She forced herself to draw in slow, deep breaths until her stomach settled and her vision reoriented itself before looking up. She wasn't alone, with the Doctor and Donna standing in front of the open doors, looking out at something in space. She raised a hand to shift some loose curls out of her face - she really needed to redo her braid - and winced when she brushed against her new bruise.
Evidently hearing her, the Doctor and Donna turned around when they saw her. The Doctor's face instantly hardened, while Donna... Donna just looked sad. Heartbroken, really. She must've found out about Lance, Lyssa realized with a pang.
"Lyssa? Are you all right? Why did you leave?" the Doctor asked immediately, shutting the doors and striding over to her, scanning her for any sign of injury. "What happened?"
She frowned, leaving her hand up to cover her cheek and trying to pretend she was scratching it thoughtfully. "I got off the elevator with Lance, we talked for a bit, then he came back down, and I pressed the button because it seemed safer. Why? Did something happen?" she asked as innocently as she could manage, finally lowering her hand but angling her face away from him in an attempt to hide any redness or swelling that may have appeared.
"Lance didn't... try anything? He didn't hurt or threaten you?" he said carefully, ducking his head slightly to look her in the eyes.
Despite her best efforts, her eyes slid away in an all too telling sign of guilt, keeping the side of her face turned away from him. "He didn't threaten me, no. Why would he?" she asked, voice pitched just a shade too high, and she winced when she heard Donna suck in a pained breath.
"Lyssa..." The Doctor's voice held a warning note. "The empress just revealed that Lance had been working for her all along. He'd deliberately poisoned Donna, and you've just used the emergency teleport after being alone with him. And I can tell when you're hiding something from me. What is it?"
Lyssa hesitated, thoughts flying as she tried to come up with the best way to word it. "So... he might've admitted to have been working for the Racnoss after I tried to give him an out," she admitted slowly, fidgeting with her fingers and still avoiding his gaze. "But he isn't entirely on their side," she blurted in a rush when he stiffened.
"He didn't know the particles were deadly until after he'd started giving them to Donna, and then it was too late to do anything about it," she started. "If he'd tried to stop, they would've killed both him and Donna and just found a new victim. He told me the empress promised that once she removed the particles, Donna would be safe."
"You expect me to believe Lance just kept poisoning Donna over the course of six months, unwillingly; and never warned her, never told anyone, never tried to seek help in any way?" the Doctor asked incredulously, eyes hard. "And that it wasn't just some desperate bid to keep you from telling us all that happened once you used your teleport?"
She hesitated, unwilling to admit she'd wondered the same thing. "That's... actually kind of hard to say. He admitted he joined them willingly, but then that he didn't actually want to kill anyone, he just didn't see a way out. I mean, I don't think he actually felt guilty about knocking me out, but he didn't just hand me over to the robot Santas either when that would've proven his loyalty, and he did let me go," she rambled nervously. "And -"
"Hold on." The Doctor held up a hand. "Did you just say he knocked you out?"
"Maybe?" she admitted nervously, wincing when his eyes darkened with fury and Donna gasped. "But it saved my life!" she added hastily before he could go and do something permanent. "After we left the elevator, there were two of the robots waiting. They saw me talking to him, and if he hadn't done that, and claimed he would've taken care of it, they would've gotten rid of me for seeing too much, or taken me to the empress. And he didn't try to stop me from pressing the button!"
"He could've killed you if he'd hit you wrong, still might have done severe damage," the Doctor muttered darkly, eyes hard as ice as he pulled out his sonic and scanned her. "Where did he hit you? And how long were you out?"
She turned to face him, gesturing to her left cheek. "Right there. And I don't think it was very long, just a few minutes at most. I feel fine, it's - ow!" She hissed, jerking away as his hand brushed against the bruise. "Just painful when you touch it," she finished wryly, giving him a dirty look.
"Sorry." And he did look genuinely apologetic, if no less burning with fury as he examined her face. Finally he sighed, stepping away and slipping his sonic back into his pocket. "No permanent damage, and only minor bruising. Your body is stressed beyond belief, but somehow, miraculously, you're alive," he told her, pulling her in for a tight hug. "No more adrenaline, today, all right?" he told her, reluctantly stepping away. "For both our sakes."
She rolled her eyes affectionately. "Yeah, 'cause we're definitely not hiding from an evil spider queen who wants to blow up the Earth."
He went to respond, only for the TARDIS to shake violently, nearly sending all of them tumbling to the ground. Wrapping one hand around her arm to steady her, they stumbled towards the console, gripping onto it as he tried to stabilize the TARDIS.
"What's happening?" Donna demanded as she joined them, some of her hair flopping into her face at a particularly violent shudder.
"Trouble," he said shortly, trying to regain control of the TARDIS as the room continued to shake around them. "Remember that little trick I pulled, particles pulling particles? It works in reverse, they're pulling us back!"
"Well, can't you stop it? Hasn't it got a handbrake? Can't you reverse or warp or beam or something?" she tried over the sound of the struggling engine.
"Not like this," Lyssa called, her voice stuttering at a particularly large bump. "We're basically caught in a tractor beam, and unless we can break free somehow, we're stuck."
"The extrapolator!" the Doctor shouted in excitement, diving under the console and pulling out what looked like a massive circuit board and hooking it up to the console. "Can't stop it, but it should give us a good bump!" There was a groaning sound as the TARDIS began to land, only for him to slam his fist on the extrapolator, starting it up again.
He grinned in satisfaction as they took off once more, landing for good a few seconds later. "We're about 200 yards to the right this time. Come on!" He pushed open the door, only to stop abruptly, turning to Lyssa with a worried expression, the familiar metal walls gleaming behind him.
She held up a hand to forestall him. "My cheek hurts, but otherwise I'm fine. I'm not gonna let my issues stop me from helping you. Not this time. It's too urgent. I'll stick close to you, but I need to try and save Lance, if possible." She frowned, straining her memories for any hints and finding none. "I just don't remember exactly when it happens."
He narrowed his eyes at her, but she refused to budge, and he finally sighed, giving in with a reluctant nod. "Fine. But you stay within eyesight at all times, and tell me if you feel any worse. Deal?"
She nodded, right as Donna barged in. "Hold on. What's supposed to happen to Lance? And what do you mean remember? Remember what?"
"I have a time machine, we tend to know things out of order. Really not the time," he explained in an absent, rapid-fire manner. He took Lyssa's hand, gripping it tight as they set off down the green-lit corridor, Donna right behind them. She shuddered at the sight, resolutely ignoring the tramp of metal boots behind them and grateful for the grounding feel of the Doctor's hand in hers.
They reached a door marked Torchwood - authorized personnel only and stopped in front of it, the Doctor pulling out a stethoscope and placing it on the door. Lyssa bent over, resting her hands on her knees and panting, and only a little bit miffed that he wasn't even breathing hard.
"What are we going to do?" Donna asked fearfully, trying to get her own breath back.
"I don't know, I make it up as I go along. But trust me, I've got a history," the Doctor assured her, still listening to the door. "Ask Lyssa. She knows." He jerked his head at her, standing off to his right, but kept his eyes on the door, eyes narrowed in concentration.
"He's right. He doesn't know what's going on, and he usually does just make it up as he goes along. Either that, or he asks me. Clueless, that one," Lyssa teased.
"Lyssa..." the Doctor warned, amusement just barely discernible.
Not repentant in the least, she just stuck her tongue out at him.
"But I still don't understand," Donna said sadly, dropping the smile from Lyssa's face as she turned to the redhead. "I'm full of particles, but what for?"
"There's a Racnoss web at the center of the Earth, but my people unraveled their power source. The Huon particles ceased to exist, but now the Racnoss are stuck," the Doctor explained, Lyssa listening with interest - she'd forgotten that part. "They need you to open it and you have never been so quiet," he muttered quietly, spinning around and scanning the now empty corridor. His hand tightened on Lyssa's.
She followed his gaze and gasped. "I forgot!" she realized guiltily, one hand coming up to cover her mouth.
"Not your fault she was taken," he reminded her, tucking his stethoscope away and pulling out his sonic instead. "I'm guessing she's been taken back to the empress?"
She nodded, jumping when the door opened to reveal an armed robot waiting for them. The Doctor reacted immediately, swinging Lyssa behind him with one hand and brandishing the sonic at the robot with the other as it raised its weapon. "Not on my watch," he snarled, vibrating his sonic at a high frequency, eyes narrowed as the robot began to quiver before slumping over, smoke pouring from a few crevices.
"Right, then. Just need the basic code, and..." he trailed off, bending over the robot's head and scanning it. "Got it!" he grinned triumphantly. "Now, all I need is the controller, a bit of jiggery-pokery, and we're done!" He began rifling through the robot's clothes, looking for hidden pockets, and laughing when he managed to produce the controller. "Hold on." His eyes narrowed as he flipped it over, pulling off the back and poking at the wires within. "Lyssa, could you run back to the TARDIS and find the small green lever just left of the monitor and flip it? Should be just what I need to finish this."
She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Is that all it's gonna do? Not gonna send me away to somewhere safe and out of reach, is it? Or lock the door behind me so I can't get out?" she challenged him, knowing his protective instincts had to be raging at the moment.
He sighed in frustration, running a hand through his hair. "No. The controller's locked, but that switch will increase the input to my sonic, allowing me to override it. It won't lock you in, but yes," he turned to face her, eyes a little wild. "I would like you to stay there. You were nearly killed a few days ago, you were nearly killed today, and we're facing a threat capable of both destroying the Earth and sneaking up on me."
He started to speak, eyes burning, then shook his head. "I am... beyond thrilled you are alive," he told her at last, voice filled with some deeper meaning, resting his hands on her shoulders as he met her gaze, letting her see how much he meant every word, how much he was struggling. "But I can't... focus... on anything else, not when I'm so worried about you," he admitted. "I need you to stay that way. I need you safe. At least for now. Please."
She faltered, unable to keep her determination up against his pleading eyes. And... he'd been so respectful of what she needed after Canary Wharf, wasn't it only right she did the same for him? "All right," she said quietly, noticing with remorse how some of the tension left his shoulders. How had she missed that the past few hours? He probably wasn't ready for an adventure any more than she was.
He closed his eyes. "Thank you," he breathed, pulling her in for a quick embrace. "The TARDIS will let me know once you're safely inside. Now go - I don't know how much time they have. And please, be careful."
"Right," she nodded, eyes wide and sheepish to admit she'd forgotten how tight their timeline was. "I will. You too," she told him strictly as she began to back up down the corridor. "I expect to see you safely back at the TARDIS by midnight, you hear?" she added. "So don't you dare be late. And be careful! I think Lance might be the backup if they can't get Donna."
He nodded silently, eyes following her all the way down the corridor until she had to round the bend and he was lost to sight. Keeping a careful eye out, she picked up the pace, footsteps echoing against the metal until she pulled to a stop outside the TARDIS.
The door clicked open when she placed her hand on it, and she stepped into the console room , eyes already scanning for the lever as she let the door fall shut behind her. It turned out to be tiny, nearly invisible in its placement, blending into the console. She immediately flipped it, wondering if there would be any sound or light as she did so.
Instead there was only silence aside from her rapid pants as she tried to catch her breath. She glanced around the empty console room, slightly unnerved without the Doctor's presence and trying not to be. It felt... odd to be there, safe and unharmed, when she knew he was out there, trying to save the planet and facing down an old, old enemy.
"Is there any way you can show me what's going on?" she asked the TARDIS pleadingly. "I dunno, connect to some cameras, or something? I - I need to know what's going on. If he's all right."
The monitor flickered on and she jumped at the sudden light before whispering her thanks to the ship. Moving to stand in front of it, she found herself looking at a large, manmade chamber with a massive hole in the center, lit by green and blue glows - she was starting to sense a theme - and white fur circling the edges of the camera. The TARDIS must've hacked into the cameras in one of the robot Santas, and she patted the console with a grateful smile before focusing her attention back on the screen.
She found the Doctor standing on a metal railway by the far side, arms stretched out wide, right as Donna, swinging on what looked like a spiderweb, slammed into the wall beneath him. There was no sign of Lance. Lyssa winced with the Doctor, seeing the look of resigned anger on Donna's face as she got back to her feet. There was no sound, but she was pretty sure she knew exactly what Donna was saying all the same. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, staring at it curiously as it began blinking, before his shoulders relaxed slightly.
He switched his gaze, the screen following to show the hideous Racnoss empress for the first time. Shaped like a giant red spider with a vaguely humanoid torso and face above her massive abdomen and legs, with six black eyes, she inspired horror even through a viewing screen. She and the Doctor exchanged a grim conversation before he revealed the robots to be under his complete control. He warned her one last time, face hard, before throwing a handful of the Christmas baubles from earlier into the air, some of them hovering, and some of them going to surround the empress.
Everything seemed to happen all at once after that, bright fire and dark smoke curling over the screen and blocking her vision. By the time it cleared, the Doctor was standing in the middle of ever deepening water and flames, his eyes dark and full of pain as he watched the Racnoss burn. Pouring water covered the camera, blocking her sight of him, and Lyssa turned away, feeling sick.
"Turn it off, please," she begged. There was a sympathetic sounding hum from the TARDIS as the monitor shut off again, and silence filled the room once more. She swallowed hard, and began to pace nervously until she realized that this was probably not the resting the Doctor had wanted her to be doing.
She forced herself to sit down on the bench, drawing her knees up to her chest and burying her face in them, wrapping her arms loosely around her legs. She'd known the Racnoss empress was going to die unless something drastically changed, had known it all along. It was the price of saving the Earth. She had known that the Doctor would be the one to bring her down, always the one to stand between the innocent and those who would destroy them.
But seeing it in real life - seeing the Doctor standing there, forcing himself to make the hard choices once again, was something very, very different than knowing something would happen. It was different, knowing he would come back to the TARDIS and grieve for what he had been forced to do again. Grieve for the lives he had been forced to take, the lives he couldn't save.
Because she had seen the pain, the resignation in his eyes. He didn't want to have to kill the Racnoss, had offered them a way out. But the empress had refused, and he had been forced to act, stopping her before she could hurt anyone else.
And she hadn't been able to do anything to help him. Hadn't even warned him, too busy being scared of stupid walls. And now he might be dead. Was dead, in an alternate universe where there had been no one to stop him. To help him.
She only became aware that there were others in the TARDIS when an arm wrapped around her, pulling her into a tight hug against a wet chest. She gasped and flinched away from the cold, looking up to see a soaked Doctor sitting beside her, looking worried. She flung her arms around his neck before he could say anything, too glad to see he was all right.
"I was so worried!" she exclaimed, not caring about the fact that her dress was getting soaked. "The TARDIS showed me a little bit of what was happening, but then everything started on fire, and the last thing I saw was you, surrounded by explosions and pouring water, and I was so worried, and, and -"
"Lyssa, breathe," he interrupted her sternly. She stopped and sucked in a sharp breath, suddenly aware that she had been rambling. "I'm all right, and so's Donna, if a bit soaked. She got me out of there, and the Racnoss have been stopped. The ship was defenseless once she used up all her Huon energy, and the humans were able to destroy it. We're all safe, and the danger's gone. You'll be stuck with me for a while yet. Does that help?"
She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry." She turned back to Donna, who had been standing by the console, a small smile on her face and just as soaked as the Doctor. "How are you doing, Donna?"
The older woman shrugged wearily. "I'm ready for my bed. This day has been long enough."
The Doctor got to his feet with a groan, helping Lyssa up and making his way over to the console. "I can help with that. Get you back home."
"But, is your ship all right?" Donna asked. "I mean, the spider lady was able to draw us back, and we couldn't stop her. Will you be able to fly to my house?"
"Donna, Donna, Donna." The Doctor shook his head in mock disappointment. "After all that's happened today, do you really doubt my ship? She's perfectly fine. I'll prove it to you, too," he challenged.
Lyssa chuckled, taking a firm grip on the console as the Doctor removed the extrapolator and started the TARDIS. "Shouldn't have done that, Donna. Don't you know better than to question boys when it comes to their cars?" she teased.
"Don't I know it," Donna mourned, imitating Lyssa and grabbing the railing as the TARDIS began to move. "I just thought he'd be a bit different, seein' as how he's a Martian, and all."
"I'm not a Martian," the Doctor said in the same weary tone he had earlier. They landed with a groan a few seconds later, and stepped outside to reveal what was evidently Donna's house. "There we go," he said proudly, patting the console. "Told you she'd be all right. She can survive anything."
"Even your bad piloting skills," Lyssa teased. "If she's made it this far, she probably isn't going to crash now. She's good at that sort of thing."
"More than I've done," Donna sighed.
The Doctor pulled out his sonic and scanned her, although he kept a wary eye on her, leaning his face back out of reach. "Nope! All the Huon particles are gone, no damage done. You're fine."
"Yeah, but apart from that, I missed my wedding, lost my job, and became a widow all in the same day... sort of," Donna said despondently.
"I couldn't save him," the Doctor apologized, glancing at Lyssa. She had guessed as much from his lack of appearance, but her shoulders still sagged at the confirmation.
"He deserved it." Donna tried to play it off as if she didn't care, but when the Doctor raised an eyebrow at her, her face softened. "No, he didn't." She looked around at the house, with the windows all lit up. "I'd better get inside. They'll be worried about me."
"Best Christmas present they could have," he commented, watching her parents embrace through the window. "Although, I forgot. You hate Christmas, don't you?"
She nodded emphatically, ignoring Lyssa's shocked look. "Yes, I do."
"Even if it snows?" he challenged, reaching inside the TARDIS and hitting a hidden lever by the door, sending a ball of light shooting up into the sky, where it exploded like a firework into softly falling snow.
"I can't believe you did that!" Donna laughed with delight, holding out a hand to catch a few snowflakes.
"It's Christmas, Donna. There's got to be some sort of miracle," Lyssa teased her as the Doctor slung an arm around her.
"Oh, basic atmospheric excitation," the Doctor shrugged it off casually, though his grin gave him away.
"Merry Christmas," Donna offered with a smile, seeming to put aside her hatred of the holiday for the moment.
"And you... what are you going to do with yourself now?" the Doctor asked.
The redhead shrugged, looking up at the falling snow. "Not getting married for starters. And I'm not gonna temp anymore. I dunno... travel... see a bit more of planet Earth... walk in the dust. Just... go out there and do something."
The Doctor glanced at Lyssa, seeming to ask her approval. She smiled at him and nodded. Even if she knew what the answer would be, it was still good that he asked. "Well, you could always... come with us," he offered tentatively, tugging on his ear with one hand.
Donna smiled gently at them. "No. I can't."
"No, that's fine," the Doctor said, feigning indifference.
"No, but really. Everything we did today, do you live your life like that?"
He hesitated. "Not... all the time," he admitted.
"I think you do. And I couldn't," she said sadly.
"But you've seen it out there, it's beautiful," he protested.
"And terrible," she countered. "That place was flooding and burning and they were dying and you were standing there like... I don't know... a stranger. And then you made it snow. I mean, you scare me to death!"
The Doctor's arm tightened around Lyssa at that, his body tensing, although he kept his face light. "Well, then." She curled her arm around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.
"Tell you what I will do, though," Donna offered. "Christmas dinner."
The Doctor shook his head immediately. "I don't do Christmas dinner."
"You did it last year, you said so. And you might as well because Mum always cooks enough for twenty."
The Doctor hesitated, glancing down at Lyssa, before seeming to come to a decision and shaking his head. "Lyssa's still weak. She needs to rest, and I need to check her out more thoroughly. And I don't think either of us are really up for dealing with more people right now. I'm sorry."
"No, that's alright. You do need to be checked, just in case," Donna said, looking at Lyssa. "And, for what it's worth, I'm sorry about what Lance did."
"It wasn't your fault," Lyssa pointed out. "And he might've saved my life by it anyway, so." She shrugged. "We're safe, and you're alive, which is what he intended. I guess this is goodbye."
"Will I ever see you again?"
The Doctor shrugged. "If we're lucky."
Lyssa grinned. "If you want to see us again, just go looking for trouble. You'll usually find him, and where he is, I'm usually right behind."
"Unless you're in the Infirmary until I decide you're fully healed and actually able to spend five minutes outside the TARDIS without getting hurt in some way," the Doctor grumbled. "Or you haven't arrived yet."
"I'll keep that in mind," Donna nodded. "But... just promise me this. Find someone."
He drew back. "I don't need anyone. I've got Lyssa."
"But she's not always around, is she? You said so yourself, and today... you need someone to stop you when she's not around," Donna remarked quietly.
The Doctor was quiet for a minute before softly agreeing. "Thanks, then, Donna. Good luck, and just... be magnificent."
She laughed. "You know, I rather think I will be." She paused, her face becoming thoughtful. "Doctor. Your friend. What was her name?"
He didn't answer at first, turning around and leading Lyssa back to the TARDIS. Then, turning around in the doorway, he looked at Donna, his face heavy. "Her name was Rose."
"Goodbye for now, Donna," Lyssa called from the doorway, desperately in need of a nap now that the adrenaline was gone, but pushing it aside in favor of saying her temporary farewell. "And remember - don't ever let anyone tell you that you're not amazing. You deserve to be treated with respect, and don't ever let anyone act otherwise."
Donna nodded slowly. "I won't," she promised, a bit of her fire coming back, and Lyssa smiled proudly.
She retreated into the TARDIS once more, watching on the monitor as the Doctor prepared to send them off. Instead of dematerializing, he opted for a more showy takeoff, shooting them straight up into the sky, leaving Donna staring up after them with a look of wonder.
xXx
A few days later, in a quiet cemetery, a freshly-dug plot of dirt could be seen, a new gravestone above it. Next to it sat a smaller gravestone, older, but well cared for. On one, the name Elizabeth Bennett. The other, Lance Bennett. One, lost to cancer too soon. The other, paying for past mistakes. A purple hyacinth lay at the base of them both, an apology. One to a sister, for not being enough. The other, to a man neither of them knew, but were sorry none the less for being unable to save him.
A woman dressed in mourning clothes, a veil covering her head, knelt by Lance's grave and carefully plucked the flower from the stone. "An apology, Doctor? This seems like Lyssa's influence," she murmured, her voice echoing and layered, cultured and rough. "Rather late for that, I should think." She smelled the flower, a cold smile gracing her pale lips as the sweet scent floated on the air. "But it's accurate enough, I suppose. You always were sorry, weren't you? But not sorry enough."
The smile fell from her lips as she snapped the flower in half and tossed the broken remains carelessly on the ground, the flower withering as it fell. "You will be sorry for what you've done," she promised bitterly. "You believed me dead, and you mourned, abandoning me to a life of torment as you left to grieve. The day will come when you find out who I am, and your hearts will break. This I promise."
The next moment, there was no one in the cemetery. Only the withered, broken remains of an apology lay on the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Foreshadowing? Where? I don't see any...
Friendly reminder that getting knocked out for more than a few minutes typically can indicate/lead to severe brain damage, so the movies aren't quiiiiite accurate on that front (I know, I was shocked too).
No, Elizabeth Bennett was not chosen with the Jane Austen character in mind. Why? Because I completely forgot all about her until I started wondering why the name sounded so familiar. I just liked that name over any other ones I might have picked.
Also, the purple hyacinth typically represents asking for forgiveness/apologizing.
Special thanks to everyone who's voted, commented, and followed. Your supports really means so much to me!!
Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)
General Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, just Lyssa.
Edited January 2023