Out There ✿ The Doctor [1]

14- The Empty Child (pt. 2)

The Doctor and Avery quietly follow Nancy as she goes to a shack in some railway sidings and hides the food she took from the Lloyd's kitchen. Feeling eyes on her, she stands up and turns around to see Avery and the Doctor's smiling faces, asking, "How'd you follow me here?"

"I'm good at following, me. Got the nose for it." He quips.

"And, I just follow him." Avery shrugs, "He typically knows where he's going."

"People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to." Nancy tells them defensively.

"My nose has special powers." He jests.

"Yeah? Is that why it's so..." She trails off and Avery finds herself smiling slightly with amusement, seeing where Nancy was going with her question.

"What?" The Doctor asked.

"Nothing." Nancy dismissed.

"What?"

"Nothing." She replied before asking, "Do your ears have special powers too?"

"What are you trying to say?" The Doctor questioned as Avery snorted slightly and covered it with a cough.

"Goodnight, Mister." Nancy said before offering a nod to Avery, "Miss."

"Nancy, there's something chasing you and the other kids. Looks like a boy but it isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right?" Avery asked, gaining Nancy's attention and an approving nod from the Doctor, "The thing we're looking for, the thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

"There was a bomb. A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station." Nancy told them.

"Take us there." The Doctor instructed.

Nancy shook her head, "There's soldiers guarding it. Barbed wire. You'll never get through."

"Try me." The Doctor challenged.

"You sure you want to know what's going on in there?"

He nodded, "I really want to know."

"Then there's someone you need to talk to first."

Avery furrowed her brows, asking, "And who would that be?"

"The Doctor." He furrowed his brows at Nancy's answer and he shared a look with Avery before following Nancy as she walked away.

***

Once they reach Limehouse Green station, The Doctor pulls out a pair of high-tech binoculars to scan the area. "The bomb's under that tarpaulin. They put the fence up overnight." Nancy told him, "See that building? The hospital."

"What about it?" The Doctor asked, zooming in on the hospital.

"That's where the doctor is. You should talk to him."

"For now, I'm more interested in getting in there." He points towards the tarpaulin.

"Talk to the doctor first." Nancy instructs.

"Why?" Avery wonders.

"Because then maybe you won't want to get inside." She answers vaguely before beginning to walking away.

Avery grabs her wrist lightly to stop her, asking, "Where're you going?"

"There was a lot of food in that house. I've got mouths to feed. Should be safe enough now." Nancy answers as Avery releases her.

"Can I ask you a question?" The Doctor asked Nancy, "Who did you lose?"

"What?" Nancy replied.

The Doctor lowered his binoculars and handed them to Avery, for her to get a feel for the area, before he turned to Nancy and leaned against the railing, "The way you look after all those kids. It's because you lost somebody, isn't it? You're doing all this to make up for it."