"So, um... does he surrender to every loud noise he hears?" Lyssa asked quietly, sending a bemused glance in the direction of voices. It got very loud for a minute, as several people seemed to start talking at once before lowering again.
Howie shrugged, tugging his open jacket a bit tighter around his shoulders. "Sort of? Any time he thinks there's someone around, he immediately offers his complete servitude. It gets a bit old after a while, honestly. He did the same thing when he and I first met. Don't really know why."
"It's almost like he's got this... need to surrender," Lyssa said thoughtfully, frowning when the phrase struck a chord in her memory, but her mind was still too clouded for her to bother chasing it down. "Do you think it's more people who got trapped here?"
"It could be," Howie agreed. "The yelling has stopped, so I don't think there's any immediate danger. It's hard to say for sure, though. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to our arrivals, most likely to keep us confused and in the dark."
"Well, it's working," Lyssa grumbled, running Rita's comb through her hair once more to distract herself. "All that's left to complete it is for one of us to walk into a room that's completely dark and get locked in." She wrinkled her nose and sighed. "I'm not normally scared of the dark. But after the day I've had... I just want to be back in the TARDIS. Maybe in the library, with a cup of hot chocolate, and the Doctor and I can finally finish the Agatha Christie book we were working on."
"That's the second time you've mentioned this 'Doctor' fellow. Is he your husband, or something? And what's a TARDIS?" Howie asked curiously, pushing his glasses back up his nose with one finger.
Lyssa's cheeks immediately began to burn, and she mentally begged for them to lose their color again, all to no avail. "No! Of course not," she denied immediately, laughing a little too hysterically and hoping it could be passed off as leftover hysteria from her panic attack.
"Why would you think - no, definitely nothing like that. He's just my friend - my best friend, he has a thing for situations like these, he's very good at pretending he knows what's going on and what to do, and I kind of wish he were here because that would mean that we have a much higher chance of getting out of here, and the TARDIS is where we live - not together, mind you, it's like this place only different but - yeah, basically it's complicated." She finally stopped to take a breath, grinning sheepishly when Howie looked taken aback.
"I see," he said after a moment, very clearly not seeing.
She laughed nervously. "It's complicated," she explained again.
"Say no more," he held up a hand. "I understand."
The elevator music that had become part of the background suddenly switched off, and both of them started, looking around nervously for any potential threats.
"So... what were you doing when you ended up here?" Lyssa asked after a tense minute. "I think I was asleep, and just woke up here."
"Oh. That. I was blogging," he answered, running a hand through his curls. "I'd just found out some evidence that the CIA was behind the attempted kidnapping of the president a few years ago. I was going to write about it, and I guess they found out before I could post it, because here I am. I must have become too much of a threat," he concluded, eyes darting about worriedly.
The music switched back on again, suddenly sounding more ominous than annoying, both of them casting worried looks down the hallway towards it.
"Right, then. I don't think we should stay here," Howie muttered. "Do you think you can stand up?" he asked, pushing himself to his feet and offering her a hand.
"I think I'd better be able to," she said, biting her lip and glancing down the hallway once more. Wrapping her hand around her charm once more, she accepted Howie's hand and let him pull her up, groaning when her legs protested the action. "Should we go after them, or...?"
"Lyssa! Lyssa, where are you?" the cry came from a new voice, making them both freeze, though Lyssa relaxed when she realized she recognized the voice. A few seconds later, the sound of pounding feet was followed by the appearance of the Eleventh Doctor, complete with dorky bow tie and worried face as he charged down the hallway towards them.
Despite herself, Lyssa felt a relieved smile spread across her face as he grew closer, already feeling calmer just by seeing him. Letting go of Howie, she flung herself into his arms when he grew close enough, burying her face in his chest and wrapping her arms tightly around him. His arms closed around her, and she breathed out a sigh of relief as she finally felt truly safe for the first time since she had arrived.
"Lyssa, are you all right? The woman back there, Rita, she said you'd been hurt, that you'd had a panic attack." She could tell that his face was angled towards her, but she didn't want to move at all from her place of security, instead nestling deeper into his shirt as his hands automatically began to rub her back.
"Better now that you're here," she mumbled honestly, not having the energy to prevaricate at the moment. "What do you know about this place?"
If he was surprised by the question, he didn't show it. "It's a hotel. The doors and windows are fake, meaning escape is impossible at the moment. The walls shift about, meaning it's easy to get lost. And, apparently, the rooms are filled with bad dreams." He shifted his hold on her, arms slowing to a stop. "Is that... is that why you had a panic attack? Because you found your room?"
"No. Yes. No. I don't know anymore," she complained. "I found lots of rooms, heard a monster, and decided to hide. I made a horrible choice, regretted it immediately, and then they found me, and then you found me. Where's the TARDIS? How'd you get here?"
"The TARDIS is gone," he told her regretfully. "We were drawn off course by something, presumably whatever is responsible for the TARDIS going missing. Now, what happened? The panic attack - what happened there? And are you physically hurt as well?" He tugged her away from his chest to scan her, frowning when he saw the blood on her sleeve. "Your arm! What happened to it?"
She blushed under his gaze, wincing when his fingers grazed the cut. "Would you believe me if I said it was a giant chicken?"
He stopped in his examination, face rising to stare at her in bemusement. "I'm sorry, what?" he asked slowly.
"Yeah, that was what I said, too," she said dryly. "Woke up in a hotel room with a giant angry chicken standing over me. Don't know why, or how, but there it was. As you can tell, it got in a few good pecks before I managed to escape, then eventually ended up in a room full of spiders. Walked straight into a massive spiderweb, and I'm pretty sure I caught a glimpse of the spinner."
She shuddered, trying and failing to avoid thinking of the massive arachnid she had seen. "I got the heck out of Dodge, deciding to take the monster over the spiders, but..." she shrugged unhappily. "I felt like I was still trapped in there, trying to get out of the webs while there were spiders crawling all over me. Not my best moment. Might as well have had a relapse to the whole Canary Wharf thing. Had another stupid panic attack, could have gotten myself killed if the monster had been close by."
"Hey." The Doctor grasped her shoulders firmly and waited until she looked him in the eyes. "It's not stupid, and it's not your fault. Millions of people would have reacted the exact same way to a situation like that, or worse. If there's anyone to blame, it's whoever created this place. They're deliberately forcing people to come face to face with their worst fears. That's all on them, not you. You're not weak, and you're not stupid. It's a completely understandable reaction, especially given that you had already been attacked today. Got it?"
Her eyes dropped, and she rubbed her injured arm uncomfortably. "Fine. How about we find whoever made this place then, so that we can get out of here?"
"That's an excellent plan, but I'm going to look you over and take care of a few things first," he informed her. Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, he turned it on and ran it over her arm until the cut had faded to a thin line, informing her that that was as much as he could do with the sonic.
He then proceeded to scan the rest of her, before doing the same to the bruise on her wrist and forehead and offering her a small peppermint, telling her it would help complete the healing process and give her some energy.
"Sorry to interrupt, but... what happened to Lyssa?" A new male voice broke into the conversation, and Lyssa turned with a smile to see Rory and Amy standing awkwardly behind the Doctor.
"Rory! Amy!" she exclaimed happily, waving at them from behind the Doctor. "It's been a while since I've seen you last! Although I think it's been longer for Rory than Amy."
"Ah yes. Should we match up, then, fairy-girl?" the Doctor asked her easily, slipping the sonic back into his pocket. "I'm going to hazard a guess and say my future, as I don't remember seeing you wearing these clothes before."
"That's probably because I'm going to burn them as soon as I get the chance," Lyssa muttered, glancing down at the cobwebs scattered around her black pantsuit with a grimace. "And yes. Future. Far future. Before that, I think it was... Satellite Five? With Adam? Sorry, memories are still a bit blurry. Um... I think the last time I saw you and Amy was...."
She tilted her head as she tried to think. "Daleks? With Churchill? And then the last time I saw Rory was with the Siren." The Doctor tensed at her words, and she hastened to clarify them. "The Siren who was actually a doctor, or whatever. Some medical program on a pirate ship."
The trio nodded in comprehension, but they were the only ones.
"Sorry, I'm not going to pretend I followed all of that - in fact, I don't think I understood most of it, but we should really probably keep going," Rita interrupted, Gibbis standing nervously behind her. "We need to get back to Joe."
"Joe. Yes. You mentioned him before," the Doctor agreed, spinning around to face her and draping an arm around Lyssa's shoulders. "You said he was tied up. What's he doing?"
"No, I mean... he's actually tied up," Rita explained awkwardly. "He's in the dining room."
xXx
Five minutes later, they were all entering the hotel dining room. It had the same theme as the others, but seated at every table was a ventriloquist dummy, identical to all the others. They were all laughing eerily, heads bobbing as their heads turned to the open door.
A man in a business suit sat tied to one of the chairs next to a dummy, laughing along with them. They all stopped laughing as soon as the Doctor entered the room, the others following slowly behind him.
"Hello. I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said cautiously.
Joe smiled dreamily. "You're going to die here."
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Well, they certainly didn't mention that in the brochure. Is Joe there? Can I have a quick word?" he asked, taking a seat opposite the madman.
"Oh, it's still me, Doctor, but I've seen the light," Joe assured him. "I lived a blasphemous life, but he has forgiven my inconstancy, and soon... he shall feast."
The Doctor nodded slowly. "Right. Well, you've been here two days already. What's he waiting for?"
"We weren't ready. We were still raw," Joe explained, still in that dreamy tone of voice.
Lyssa shuddered and stepped closer to Amy and Rory as the Doctor continued his interrogation. "But now you're, what? Cooked?"
"If you like," Joe said complacently. "Soon you will be, too. Be patient. First... find your room."
"My... room?" the Doctor asked slowly.
"There's a room here for everyone, Doctor" Joe assured him. "Even you."
Lyssa flinched, and his eyes swung to her, his grin becoming slightly more manic. "You've found it, haven't you? Your room?"
Lyssa shrunk in on herself as everyone turned to her with worried eyes. "I haven't gone inside."
"But you've seen it, haven't you?" Joe pressed. "Felt the urge to go inside. And when you finally do..." he smiled blissfully. "You finally understand. Everything becomes so much more clear."
"You said you'd seen the light," the Doctor interrupted, watching Joe with narrowed eyes.
Joe nodded eagerly. "Nothing else matters anymore. Only him. It's like these things. I used to hate them! They make me laugh now." He laughed. "Gottle o' geer! Gottle o' geer!" He laughed again, the creep factor upping when the dummies all opened their mouths and joined him. "You should go. He'll be here soon."
The Doctor gave him a thin smile before standing up. Joining the group, he turned to Howie and Rory. "Can you two look for a hand dolley? I think Joe needs to come with us for our little trip." He waited until the two had moved further into the room before turning to Lyssa with worried eyes. "You said you'd found your room."
Lyssa crossed her arms uncomfortably and stared down at the floor. "I didn't go inside, if that's what you're asking. I meant what I said."
"But that's not what I was asking," he said gently. "What did you feel? How did you know it was your room?"
She frowned. "I don't know. I guess I just... There was something about it that just seemed to draw my attention. I knew something was behind it, and to find out what it was, all I had to do was open it. I was going to. Had my hand on the handle and everything. Then I heard the monster growl again and took off. I really didn't want to, though. Almost turned back, in fact, until I heard the others and got scared again. I hid in a random room, and we all know how well that turned out." She rolled her eyes.
The Doctor frowned thoughtfully, not losing his train of focus when Rory and Howie came back with a dolley. Sliding the dolley under Joe's chair, he tilted it back and wheeled Joe towards the door. "I think you should come with me," he told the man quietly.
xXx
After several tense minutes - not at all helped by Joe's occasional outbursts into laughter - they were back in Reception, the elevator music still going strong as they gather around the counter.
"Why you four?" the Doctor complained. "That's what I don't understand. Aside from all the other things I don't understand," he added, shutting off the music.
"What does it matter?" Gibbis protested. "Sooner or later, someone will come along and rescue us. Or enslave us."
"First, we find the TARDIS," the Doctor decided, ignoring him. "Quick thing before we go. If you feel drawn to a particular room, do not go in, and make sure someone else can see you at all times."
Rita held up a hand. "Joe said 'he' will feast. And Lyssa mentioned something about a growl. Is there something here with us?"
Joe laughed.
"Something to add, Joe?" the Doctor asked in a cool voice.
Joe smiled and began to sing. "Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head. Chop, chop, chop, chop." He burst into laughter once more.
"Can we do something about him?" Howie complained, opening up a drawer behind the desk and searching through its contents.
"Would this help?" Rita smiled, holding up a roll of duct tape.
xXx
With Joe safely duct taped and on his trolley once more, they made their way to an intersection splitting into two hallways, Lyssa falling back to the end of the group. Casting a nervous look over her shoulder for any sign of someone following them, she slowed to a stop when her eyes fell on the middle section of the opposite hallway.
She knew the group had taken the other hallway, but something about this one just felt... right. Too focused on her goal to bother calling out to them, she stepped cautiously into the hallway, the feeling of rightness growing stronger with every step. At last she came to door number 11 and stopped before it. The feeling was there again, urging her - compelling her - to open the door and find out what was inside.
Placing a hand on the doorknob, her heart nearly beating out of her chest, she twisted the knob and pushed the door open, stepping inside.
The War Doctor glanced over his shoulder at her briefly before shaking his head in sadness, tears falling down his cheeks. "No more of these illusions. No more," he said softly, turning away from her and back to the room's other occupant.
Lyssa studied the figure for a moment, brow furrowing in confusion as she saw familiar aspects in the woman - more than familiar, in fact. Though she had mostly gold locks, there was a hint of her shade of brown hidden underneath, and the eyes and cheekbones were so similar to hers they might as well have been hers.
They were the same height and body structure as well, although there was a coldness in her semi-clone's eyes and face that sent chills down her spine. A hint of silver flashed at the top of her tunic, stained with blood that didn't seem to be hers.
"No more of this, please," the War Doctor begged the woman. "It doesn't have to be this way. Lyssa..."
The woman laughed harshly, and very sound made Lyssa jolt. It was her laugh, though colder than she had ever been. "Lyssa's gone. Just me, now. And it's all thanks to you. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that it's your fault. I am only here because of you."
The War Doctor flinched, shaking his head desperately. "No. I refuse to believe that Lyssa is gone. She'd never give in like that."
The woman shrugged uncaringly. "Deny it all you like. It's still the truth. With you so focused on the war, you never even noticed what they were doing. And now Lyssa's gone, and I'm here." Her form flickered. "Well, not really. I don't actually want to meet you in person yet. There's a bit more destruction I want to do. I hear there's an orphanage close by. Victims of the war, as I understand it. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to them."
"Don't do this," the War Doctor begged her. "Please. Don't make me fight you."
The woman smirked, pulling back her sleeve to reveal a vortex manipulator. "But you won't. So what does it matter?" She toyed with the buttons, teasing him. "Do you like the upgrades I made? I can slow down time now so that people feel what I do to them longer. I've always wondered what it would be like to watch someone experience decades in seconds."
She smiled wickedly."It didn't always have this function, of course. I kept it because it was a gift from a friend. Back when I was human and still had friends, you know. She died later. It was sad. I cried, I think. Enough to fill a river, if you can believe it." Her eyes danced with a wicked humor. "I hear you were involved with her death. Just like everyone else's."
"Stop. Please," the War Doctor pleaded, not denying her accusations. "Gallifrey and so many others are already hurting. Why are you trying to add to it? Why are you hastening their destruction?"
The woman smirked again. "Because it's fun. Why else? They're going to die anyways. I'm just making it last a little longer. Or a lot. But thanks for distracting everybody else for so long. It helped me set things up. I think the Daleks might be rather friendly to me if I open up some of the defenses here on Gallifrey. And once Gallifrey is gone, it'll be easy enough for them to move on to a few other places. Like, you know, Earth. You wouldn't care about that, though, would you? You never have. Just like you never really cared about me," she accused.
The War Doctor could only shake his head wearily. "Earth is your heritage, your home. Why would you destroy it?"
The woman raised an eyebrow. "This Earth is not my home, and never was. I lost my home long ago. But that's enough stalling. Time for me to leave. Thanks again for being responsible for my creation. Bye, sweetie." Blowing him a kiss with a sardonic smile, she tapped a button on her vortex manipulator and vanished in a flash of light.
The War Doctor bowed his head, his shoulders shaking. At last he wiped his face and stood straight, glancing down to his feet where a small bag rested. "Lyssa or Gallifrey, Gallifrey or the universe. Once again, I have to sacrifice my world to save another. And every second I delay means prolonging the pain and death of innocents."
He pulled a necklace out from underneath his shirt with shaking hands, cupping the single item at the end in his hand. "But no more," he promised, reaching down and picking up the burlap sack. "No... more."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: The last bit has several misleading clues scattered about, so I think it should be interesting to see what you guys come up with. :) And yes. The Doctor's door is, in fact, canonically 11. No other comments shall be made at this time. ;)
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)
General Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, just Lyssa.