Lost In Time: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

Chapter 105 - Human Nature, Part 1

Lyssa closed her journal with a sigh, setting it down on her desk and crossing over to the window, resting her hands on the sill and gazing unseeing at the fall scenery outside. If she had been paying attention, she likely would have said that it was gorgeous. If she'd had someone there with her, she would have loved to have gone for a walk and explore.

The grass was still bright and green, but hints of the familiar red and orange and gold could be seen dotting leaves on the trees, fading into each other. The sun was slowly edging over the horizon, bathing the fluffy clouds in a beautiful gradient of colors.

And yet she didn't see any of it.

The scenery was beautiful, yes. But the reason she was there to look at the scenery in the first place was... decidedly less beautiful.

xXx

"They're following us!" the Doctor exclaimed in dismay, reading the results from the monitor.

"But... how can they do that? You've got a time machine," Martha protested.

"Stolen technology, they've got a Time Agent's vortex manipulator," he answered grimly. "They can follow us wherever we go, right across the universe..." He paused, a dark look stealing over his features. "They're never going to stop."

"Doctor?" Lyssa said quietly, hesitantly stepping forward and grimacing apologetically when they both flinched and turned to her. "What's going on?"

"Lyssa?" the Doctor stared at her, eyes wide. "When did you get here?" He looked back at the closed doors in sudden worry. "Did they see you? Were you here before we took off?"

"I only just got here," she assured him. "I've been in the TARDIS the whole time, no one should've seen me. But who are you worried about?" Given the insistence of the TARDIS that she have her journal on hand, she assumed it was the start of an episode, and one she would need to remember. And given the urgency of their actions, she really needed to know what was going on.

"There's this group on that planet we just left, they've targeted the Doctor," Martha explained. "Something to do about stealing his lifespan because they don't live for very long. But we escaped so I thought we'd be fine, except now they're somehow following us?" She turned to him with a frown, obviously hoping for answers.

"Those creatures are hunters," the Doctor obliged, opening a hidden compartment below the console and pulling out a small fob watch that made Lyssa stiffen when she saw it. "They can sniff out anyone - and me being a Time Lord; well, I'm unique. They can track me down across the whole of time and space."

Martha laughed humorlessly. "Okay. And the good news is...?"

"They can smell me, but they haven't seen me," the Doctor emphasized, hooking the fob watch up to the console and rapidly typing in commands. "And their life's bound to be running out, so, we hide, wait for them to die."

"But they can track us down, remember?" Martha pointed out. "Where can we hide for however long it takes them to die? What if it's a year? That's just not feasible, Doctor. And why do we have to wait this long at all? Can't you just stop them now?"

"If I stop them now, it'll be a permanent solution. I have to give them a chance," the Doctor muttered, still focused on his work. "And it won't be a year, should only be three months, max. This little thing," he hefted the watch in the air, "is what will make it feasible."

"A... watch?" Martha said slowly, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"Martha, this watch is me," he said seriously. He glanced over at Lyssa, easily reading her expression and tense posture. "You already know what this is, don't you?"