Dreaming of a Blue Box ✧ Doctor Who ¹ ✓

3 - Lily (Part II)

Continuing from 'Lily - Part I'

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SOMEWHERE IN THEIR SPRINT DOWN THE CORRIDOR, the hand that was wrapped around her wrist transferred over to lacing Lily's fingers with his. She didn't struggle in keeping up with him- the thumping sound of the mannequins' feets advancing behind them. Lily allowed the unknown man to pull her into the service lift. As she moved to the further corner of the lift, she watched in horror as the lead mannequin forced his arm through the closing doors. Lily could only stand there in shock as she witnessed the unknown man grab the plastic arm and pull it off its body, allowing the doors of the lift to finally close.

He examined it for a short time and shrugged, tossing it towards Lily who fumbled in catching it. "You pulled its arm off." She muttered, bewilderedly pulling at its motionless fingertips- like she was waiting for them to start twitching.

"Yup," He crossed his arms and leaned his back against the nearby wall, watching Lily. "It's plastic." Lily's attention stayed on the plastic arm in her hands and the man noticed this- scanning her up and down. He took in the way her nose scrunched up as she pulled at the fingers and it made him, for some unknown reason, smile. "I'm the Doctor by the way." He introduced himself with a nod in her direction. "What's your name?"

Lily paused. She had to hear that again- to make sure she didn't mishear him. "Pardon?"

"The Doctor" seemed to have chuckled under his breath. But it was so muffled Lily could have only imagined it. "Your name?" He repeated.

"Lily." She answered short, quick to get back to her own question. "Just 'Doctor'?"

"Yep."

She could feel her face growing red. "The Doctor."

An eyebrow raised. "You don't seem as confused as I believed you'd be?"

This was definitely not another one of her infamous daydreams. It couldn't be. When he grabbed her hand she could feel it- every ridge of his skin and the warmth from his palm. He was as real as she was. Or maybe this was the aftermath of not taking her medication for nearly three days. She became used to finding it difficult- separating dreams from reality. Ignoring her medicine only made the problem worse.

Lily was still trying to focus on what was really happening when the lift doors opened. She let out a gasp when the Doctor pulled her out after him- taking out a pen-like object out of his leather jacket pocket. "Mind your eyes." Once he pointed it at the lift's control panel, sparks following after, she understood what it was.

"Follow closely behind. Exit's this way." The Doctor ordered her, which Lily obeyed. She was hurrying behind him- though she was quiet and her mind went somewhere else.

It was as if the sight of the sonic screwdriver sent Lily into a spiral of realization. Her head started to hurt. Lily stopped walking and looked down at her sneakers, focusing on the fact that her feet were on the ground. This was real. He was real. And those creatures are those she realized she'd seen before- once upon a dream.

She wanted to stay still and process more but the Doctor had noticed her pause and stopped himself, turning to her. "It's safer if you stick close, Red."

Lily snapped out of it and hurried to catch up with him, her mind reeling. "But why are the Autons .." She fought to find the right words. "Why are they-"

The Doctor led her down some stairs and further down the corridor. He was in a brisk walk but she didn't struggle in matching his stride, even when he had a good foot on her height. "They're made of plastic. Living plastic creatures. They're being controlled by a relay device in the roof, which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this." Stopping in front of the double doors he lifted up to show her a small device he held in his hand. "So, I'm going to go up there and blow them up," It was then when he opened the door and gently pushed her out onto the street. "And I might well die in the process, but don't worry about me. No, you go home. Go on. Go and have your lovely beans on toast. Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed." Then, after the speech where half of it went over Lily's head, he shut the door.