The Doctor’s People (5/6)
Title: The Doctor’s People
Author: sarah531
Rating: PG13
Fandom: Doctor Who
Characters: Eleven, Amy, Rory, Mickey, Martha, OCs
Summary: A pair of old companions reappear in the TARDIS and the whole group heads off to a holiday planet. But something sinister and dark is going on, and it will test them all…
“Did you know?” the Doctor whispered.
“No,” Grace sobbed. “I didn’t know. I’m a ghost, Doctor. I’m a ghost.”
“No,” the Doctor said. “You’re not, you’re Grace. You’re Grace and you’re real and you’re going to save us.”
“My father made me work for him, after I died,” Grace whispered. “I remember now. I can feel it. I was a trap. I trapped you. I was meant to get you here, so they could kill you. A crying girl who’d you’d come save. They’ll kill your friends and show you their corpses and then they’ll kill you!”
“Grace,” said the Doctor.
“What?”
“Grace, they can’t kill me. People have tried.”
“I don’t believe you,” Grace said.
“Alright, fine, that was me exaggerating. But they’re not going to kill anybody anymore, Grace.”
He stood up.
“I need to ask one more thing of you. Because my idea has finally come to me.”
“What do you need me to do?” she whispered.
“Grace, you’re part of the transmitter, aren’t you? The thing that kills people with pure fear. That’s why you have those abilities. It’s all one big psychic network.”
“Yes,” whispered Grace.
“There’s other robots like you dotted about this place. I guess they have thousands, and this is where they keep them. If we could activate all those robots, we can have them break the door down, and save the others. But they only react to fear, and only you can connect yourself up to them. I might be able to take over once they’re activated, use this scary brain of mine, but now I need you to be afraid.”
“I’m not a human,” Grace whispered. “They only react to humans.”
“You’ve got a human soul in there, Grace!”
*
Brian started towards Amy.
“Girls first,” he said.
“If you want her you’ll have to kill me,” Rory said.
“Oh, shut up,” said Brian. “I get that so much.”
Rory suddenly ran forward, fists raised, but Brian easily caught him and flung him aside.
“Right! I’m sure you’ve guessed how this works. All the fear felt by the people in this tower is transmitted up here. Where it can kill you either slowly or instantly. It’s up to you.” He smiled. “Just think, when you were in the tower, you must have killed at least one of my victims with all that screaming.”
“You’re a monster,” Martha said.
“We should have killed you,” Mickey snarled.
“Yes, yes,” Brian said. “You. Redhead. You’re first.”
*
“I can’t be afraid,” Grace said. “I can’t feel anything except sadness! That’s what I was made for! I was programmed to cry and scream in grief.”
“Grace,” said the Doctor, “I’m going to do something terrible. Something you will never forgive me for.”
“What?”
“Grace,” the Doctor said, “your father killed you.”
*
“Amy!” Martha screamed. “Amy!”
Amy herself was screaming. Mickey ran forward, but like Rory he was thrown to the ground. Martha picked up the nearest thing- the head of a robot- and hurled it. Brian dodged it, and laughed, and dragged Amy ever closer to her death.
And then Rory started screaming, but in the voice of someone older, wiser, wilder and desperate.
“She’s already been dead once!” Rory shouted. “You think you can kill her? You’re pathetic! Amy’s been a walking paradox! A girl whose parents didn’t exist, a girl who wasn’t born! And I’ve not existed, and I’ve lived for thousands of years, sort of, and I can fight and win! I don’t know what Mickey does but it’s probably awesome, and Martha knows everything about anything and owns her own flamethrower! We’re the Doctor’s people! Between us we’ve got the memories of thousands of years back and forth and through all of time! You can’t beat us, I know for a fact you can’t.”
For one very brief second Brian Wilkinson was stunned into silence, but then he just laughed.
“Oh,” he said, “that’s nice.”
*
“He killed me,” Grace whispered.
“Yes. When you were looking into his mind, I was looking into yours. I didn’t even mean to, but I did.”
“He killed me.”
“Yes. It was bad for his business to have a daughter to look after. You were always getting into fights, you were rude to his partners, you were more trouble than you were worth. He killed you, Grace, and he made you his ghost in his machine.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. I hope I never do.”
*
Amy was biting and kicking but it didn’t do much good. And Rory ran to save her, again, but was just kicked to the side. Brian was strong, stronger than any human being should be, and they didn’t stand a chance.
Rory screamed his wife’s name over and over.
*
“He murdered me.”
“Yes.”
“For no reason.”
“Yes.”
Grace screamed. It was a scream that would probably echo in the Doctor’s mind forever. “Grace,” he said, hating himself more than he had ever hated anything, “you have to remember what you felt when he killed you. I’m so sorry. But it’s the only way.”
“I HATE HIM!”
“Oh Grace, I know.”
“I’LL KILL HIM!”
“Grace, remember. Save us. I’m so sorry.”
“I’LL MURDER HIM!”
“Grace, Grace, think, you have to. I can take over once the robots are activated but only you can save us, Grace.”
Grace sobbed in rage and despair.
“You’re not a ghost, Grace. You’re real. You can do it, I know.”
*
“You let me go! I’ll kill you! Let me go! You’re worthless and evil and you can’t hurt me! I’ve seen the world end!”
“AMY!”
*
Grace remembered.
“He took me to that machine. He killed me with that machine! Just to test it! Just to see if it would kill! Everything I’d ever been scared of, I SAW!”
“Oh, Grace, Grace.”
“Monsters and death and everything evil in the world!”
The Doctor had his arms around her.
“It’s working, Grace, it has to work. I’m so sorry.”
*
Throughout the complex the robots changed.
One of them became Grace’s monster under the bed, a hideous yellow creature with one staring eye. Another became a vampire, another a werewolf, as every monster from every story Grace had ever heard came to life.
And one of them, one of the many robots stored in a dark room on the floor below, became her mother. Because Brian had killed his wife as well, and told his child evil stories about the monster her mother had been.
*
Amy Pond was still screaming.
“You let me go! You let me go, you pathetic excuse for a man! When I was a little girl I’d bite adults if I didn’t like them! And I don’t like you!”
And from behind Brian a hideous green creature with huge teeth and vicious claws rose.
Brian saw its shadow on the wall and turned. He dropped Amy, and all three of the others ran to her.
The monster swiped its claws at Brian, flinging him across the room before he had time to scream. He hit the wall with a crack, and crumpled to the floor.
“Is he dead?” Amy shrieked.
“He’d better be,” Mickey said. He stumbled to his feet.
“Amy,” Rory said, “Amy, oh God…”
The monster lurched towards the door, ignoring them all.
Amy swallowed and reached out a hand. She poked Brian, hard. He didn’t move.
“And also,” she whispered, “I’m not a wide-eyed innocent.”