*DISCONTINUED* Between Dimensions (A Doctor Who Fanfiction)

Chapter 28: Distrust

"There. Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Adrian looked up from the cold corpse on the floor to the Keeper, who was smiling sympathetically at him. He extended a hand to help Adrian up, and then enveloped him in a warm embrace.

"I suppose not," Adrian mumbled, squeezing him back.

"Remember that there is good and there is evil. Sometimes, sacrifices need to be made to keep the evil at bay. You did the right thing."

"I guess." Then Adrian took a step back. "So, who's next?"

The Keeper pulled a tiny tablet from the pocket of his white robe and glanced at it. "Archibald Chralos of Usharya."

"What crimes has he committed?"

"Let's see here..." the Keeper murmured as he swiped his finger along the surface of the tablet. "Murder, human experimentation, and racial persecution."

"Seems legitimate." Adrian reloaded his laser gun and headed back to the ship.

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"You can stay in the guest bedroom, if you like," Sarah Jane offered, opening the door to a small room. An oak-colored desk sat across from a full-size bed with pale green sheets. A dresser made of the same wood as the desk was near the door as Susan walked in. It was simple, yet comfortable.

"Thanks," Susan said gratefully.

"I don't suppose you have any belongings with you?"

Susan searched through her pockets and only found a tube of Chapstick, a bobby pin, and a handful of ripped up paper. "Not much, no."

"Mum!" Luke's voice called from downstairs. "Someone left a package." Susan and Sarah Jane exited the bedroom and went down to the living room.

It was a large cardboard box, slightly worn around the edges. Taped to the top was a small piece of paper, with a note written in neat, red cursive.

"Do not deliver until December 1st, 2008," Sarah Jane read aloud.

"Can we open it?" Susan asked. Sarah Jane gave her a shrug, and Luke left the room. He came back holding a small kitchen knife, and handed it to Sarah Jane. She carefully slit the tape covering the top of the cardboard box and lifted the flaps.

Nestled amongst bundles of clothing was Susan's blue backpack, with everything inside still intact. She grinned and sifted through the pile of clothes to find a note.

You're welcome.

-Amy

"Well, now we got the clothing situation sorted out," Susan remarked, and then she closed the box and carried it upstairs, shoving it into her new room. When she came back downstairs, Sarah Jane was talking urgently to someone on the phone.

"Is something wrong?" she asked once Sarah Jane had finished.

"Sorry, got to go," she said quickly. "Luke, love you! Bye!" With that, she ran out the door, slamming it behind her.

"Bye, mum!" a voice called from the other room. Moments later, Luke ran into the living room.

"Did she leave already?" he asked. Susan nodded.

"How often does she leave like that?"

"I thought you would already know that from your television show." Luke crossed his arms and his eyebrows had pinched together in an expression bordering on contempt.

Susan narrowed her eyes at him. He had been untrusting of her from the start, she knew that, but he could have at least been considerate enough to make it less obvious. She felt a pang of disappointment. One of her favorite formerly-fictional characters had already disliked her. And for what reason? She sighed and went back upstairs to explore the attic.

The attic looked exactly like what Susan had seen on TV, slightly cluttered with strange alien devices, but with a cozy and inviting atmosphere. She recognized old photographs of the Brigadier, the strange communication device that was used to destroy the Bane mother several episodes earlier, that strange blue orb that sat on the windowsill that Susan had always wondered about back in her universe. Upon closer inspection, she was disappointed to find that it was only a strange-looking lamp with no specific purpose other than lighting up a small area of a room.

She walked over to the section of brick in the wall in front of her and traced the mortar in between the individual bricks, looking for any cracks that would give away the location of the large supercomputer. There were none.

"Mr. Smith, I need you," Susan said, taking a step back. A loud fanfare played as sections of the wall folded back to reveal the computer, cleverly hidden behind the bricks.

"Hello. Where is Sarah Jane?" a computerized voice asked.

"She's out doing some journalisty thing right now, but I think she'll be back soon."

"Who are you?"

"Susan Holland, former companion of the Doctor," she replied, grinning excitedly. "Nice to meet you."

A beam of light flashed from somewhere below the screen and scanned Susan's body. Then, several rows of indecipherable text crossed the large screen at lightning speed as Mr. Smith made calculations.

"There is no Susan Holland in my database that I am aware of," Mr. Smith said. "You do not exist."

"That's right!" Susan rocked up onto the balls of her feet, still grinning.

"You're not supposed to be up here," Luke's voice said from behind her. She turned around.

"Well, it's a little too late for that now, isn't it?"

"What were you trying to do?"

"Oh, just introducing myself to the humongous computer that resides within your walls." Susan felt annoyed by Luke's attitude. "Why are you being this way?" She gestured broadly to him. "I mean, you usually don't act like this."

"See, that's the point. You know everything that is going to happen, and you know everything about people who haven't even seen you before. Everything we do, you've seen before. You make us so predictable, as if we have no free will."

Susan clasped her hands together and bent forward at the waist, as if she was bowing to him. "Well, thank you for your input, but I shall be going to bed now. I'll just leave you to dwell on the futility of your existence. Good night." As she left, she felt Luke glaring at her in frustration, exactly the reaction she was hoping for.

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