13 Novella 2

Sketch

You stay up late that night thinking through possibility after possibility of why you had these abilities, creeping back to the console room long after Jenny and Yaz have gone to bed, sketchbook in hand.

Tired of searching for an explanation and with sleep alluding you, you needed to escape.

You sit yourself on the deck facing the Tardis console and try to understand yourself in the low golden light- courtesy of Tardis night setting.

She hums a greeting and you put a finger to your lips. She understands and goes quiet.

You shiver.

It had to be something to do with the regeneration energy, surely. This was all so new to you, and you hadn't put much thought into it in the past, brushing it off as a side affect of extensive therapy, drugs, trauma and mental illnesses. But now you were free, and it wasn't stopping. In fact, you feel it might be getting stronger.

"Still awake?" Someone asks but this time you don't jump. You had known she would be approaching.

You sigh and nod as The Doctor comes into view.

Ignoring her resolutely, you pick up your drawing pad, sketching out the Tardis interior to distract yourself from your mild panic.

"Do you want to talk yet?" She asks and you shake you head again. She shrugs and starts pulling plugs from the main screens, ending up with thirty or forty lying on the ground around her.

You continue to sketch, not really paying attention as soft images emanate from the back of your head, and pictures float in front of your vision of The Doctor and what she was doing next. It was actually quite peaceful, and handy not to live in a heightened state of anxiety at what the people around you would do next. But you couldn't think like that. You could be dangerous for all you knew.

You blink after half an hour and truly focus on what you have produced. You groan and rip the page out, scrunching it into a ball and lobbing it at The Doctor, the building stress finally causing you to lose your temper.

"Ouch" she cries rubbing her head as the missile hits her.

"Would you stop thinking about Yaz for one bleeding second!" you hiss angrily and she flinches in confusion.

"How did you know I...?" She begins but you groan again and whack your head back in the pillar in frustration.

"Hey hey now don't do that!" she says in concern, running over to you with her coat wafting out behind her, paper ball in hand.

You sigh and she looks down, smoothing open the paper and staring at it for a minute.

"You drew Yaz?" She says, surprised.

"No, I drew The Tardis, Yaz just got in the way" you mutter sullenly.

"(Y/n)? Tell me what's going on?" She says quietly, gripping the paper.

"I can still see them!" You explode, furious. "I fucking HATE it! I was told it would stop, that it was a symptom" you yell standing up with a long suppressed deep rage that had reached boiling point.

"(Y/n) calm down!" Says The Doctor in alarm and you try to take a breath. The Doctor darts forward and grabs your hands in shock, steadying you, and you catch a fleeting image of The Doctor restraining you so you slap yourself hard across the face to stop it.

You feel the impact and she looks at you worriedly.

"(Y/n) tell me what's happening! I can help!" She exclaims in panic.

You feel all your strength leave you in one go and slide your back done the pillar in defeat, tears rolling down your cheeks.

"I can still see them" you whisper with your eyes shut, utterly exhausted.

"Explain (Y/n) please, I'm begging you" she says carefully and you sigh.

"The last time I was in hospital it began. I was so unwell, but the Doctors told me it was psychosis, but it's not. Only I was told it would stop." You try to explain, your breath hitching. "It's not going away! I've tried everything! And it hurts" you sob and The Doctor holds you tightly. You don't even try to get away.

"It's ok (Y/n), it's all going to be ok" she soothes, stroking the back of your head. "Come with me, and we'll run a couple of tests"

She pulls you to your feet and leads you into the medbay where she scans you with different devices and does numerous tests, tapping and taking samples, asking you question after question which you try your best to answer.

"Ok (Y/n) don't panic, but I have a theory" she says calmly and you sit up, taking notice.

"When the regeneration energy hit you the first time it couldn't originally find anything to fix. Physically, you were healthy, but it needed to dissipate the energy somehow, so it tried to heal you mentally."

You stiffen at her words but she continues.

"It couldn't change your past, but it could protect you from the future. It gave you some level of telepathic understanding. From what you've told me, you can see to some degree what people are thinking, in a single image, especially in contact, to give you some context to your surroundings. If someone were you hurt you, you would be forewarned, which I'm guessing is why you don't flinch as much at my touch. The energy thought it was helping you." She finishes and you take it all in.

She unfurls the drawing again and holds it up.

"I was concentrating on Yaz, so you saw her" she marvels and you nod, embarrassed.

"(Y/n) this is nothing to be ashamed of" she says softly and you break eye contact and shake your head.

"I'm even more broken than I thought" you mutter, hoping she couldn't hear you. Of course her Time Lord ears pick that up.

"You're not broken, you're gifted" she says "But you do need to understand the danger in this. No one should have this insight, you're going to have to be very careful." she says and you look up sadly.

"I won't touch anyone." You say, feeling diseased.

"That's not what I meant. But there are many creatures in this universe who would greatly benefit from your abilities." She says and you nod.

"You can't tell the others!" you beg, seeing an image of her sitting them down and telling them straight.

"Very good" she says with a smile and you huff. Another test.

"Don't worry, this stays between us" she says, and you utterly believe her. What other choice did you have. Your secret was out.