Finding The Doctor

Two

Ramone opened his cutlery drawer and took out a small spoon to stir the tea. He found his thoughts wandering back to River. He had been planning on telling her how he felt about her before all this had happened. Now it didn't feel like the right time to tell her.

With a sigh, he dumped the spoon in the sink and made his way back to The Doctor, or the man he knew best as Damsel.

When his eyes landed on the empty sofa, he almost dropped his cup of tea.

River was going to kill him!

He had somehow managed to escape!

"Doctor!" He called out, knowing he couldn't be too far. The man had a broken leg for crying out loud! "Damsel!" 

He went out into the hallway and sighed in relief as his eyes found his guest. He was crawling on all fours towards the front door. 

"There you are! What are you doing!?"

The Doctor's eyes met his and they were wild with panic. Ramone frowned, kneeling down to his level and placing both his arms around him.

"Come on!" He sad firmly. "I made you some tea"

"Stay still 2391!"

The Doctor thrashed against their hold, refusing to comply with them. He would NOT let them put that syringe in him. Syringes were never a good thing. 

"Hold still!"

"No!" The Doctor screamed, lashing out and making contact with someone's cheek.

Ramone stumbled back, falling against the wall and reaching a hand to his cheek. He was going to have a nasty bruise in the morning...

"Damsel! What was that for?! Wait until River gets back! She is NOT going to be happy!" Ramone exclaimed, his cheek still stinging. "Ow!"

The Doctor stared back at this stranger in front of him. He had seemed so nice a few minutes ago. But he was clearly one of them! He had to get out of there. And fast!

He tried to crawl forwards but his left leg was dragging behind. He tried moving himself with his upper body but his arms did not have the strength to carry him. He whimpered as Ramone loomed above him, ready to drag him back to where he was originally.

"Doctor, you need to..."

At that moment, the door swung open and River stepped inside. Her cheeks were red from the cold and her hair a little wilder from the wind. But all-in-all she seemed composed. 

"Ramone!" She greeted politely. "I've spoken to UNIT and the've found the...what happened to your cheek?" She asked, only just registering her surroundings. Then her gaze fell on the Timelord at her feet. "Sweetie? What the hell are you doing down there?!" 

The Doctor looked up at her, eyes wide with fear. It was a look she found hard to recognise on her husband. He was rarely ever scared. She slowly lowered herself to his level, feeling completely out of her depth. He flinched a little at the sudden intimate presence but made no attempt to flee or strike her. 

"We've found the Tardis! She's a bit grumpy and her cloister bells won't stop ringing but...she's in London. We could take you there now if you want?" River told him gently. 

"What's a Tardis?" 

River was taken aback by two things. One, The Doctor still had no memory of his beloved spaceship. And two, this regeneration had a Scottish accent!

"It's home." River explained simply. "Do you want to go home, Doctor?"  

He nodded eagerly. Although he had no idea of where home was, he knew it would be safe. Anywhere that wasn't that place was good enough for him!

...

"Here we are!" River announced as they drove into the underground base of UNIT headquarters. "This is UNIT. Unified Intelligence Taskforce. They're the ones who helped me find you." River explained to him.

The Doctor was sat in the back seat, gazing out of the window in awe like a small child at a fairground. They were surrounded by dormant planes from World War II and parts of machines unassembled and reassembled back together again. She had worried that the sight of soldiers might have triggered something again but The Doctor seemed relatively calm.

"This is a military base. So there will be guns and soldiers and things that might seem a little...extreme but everyone here is on our side, okay? Nobody wants to..."

"Is that a Sontaron ship?" The Doctor asked, pointing at an alien spaceship which looked very ancient and out of condition. 

"I don't know, maybe." River replied honestly. "Sontarons?" She asked, hoping that she could bring back more memories with her gentle enquiring skills.

"Oh River, don't be a pudding brain! You know about the Sontarons! They're a warrior race. They're...argh...!" 

River frowned as The Doctor grimaced suddenly. He scratched the back of his head and scrunched his eyes closed.

"Doctor?"

He tried to keep his eyes fixed on her but his vision was distorted. River noted how his eyes were all glazed over and unfocused. He blinked slowly and relaxed his features.

As they pulled up into the UNIT headquarters, River's gaze did not leave The Doctor. He had settled again but that blank expression had returned to his face.

Kate Stewart approached their car and stood by her side window. "Hello. I'm Kate Stewart. Head of Scientific Research" 

"Professor Song. Timelord babysitter" She smiled, shaking her hand. "He's back there if you want to see him" 

Kate peered past River and found The Doctor sat in the backseat. He had not registered her presence, his gaze flickering around their surroundings instead. She decided to leave him be. "We have a Doctor returned recently from New York. She's Freelance but she's worked for UNIT before and she knows The Doctor well" 

River frowned, trying to recall a companion that had worked for UNIT. She found it hard to believe that The Doctor would ever travel with a soldier. 

Then again, he had married a woman who had been raised to kill him.

"If you drive through the ranch up there, we'll use a transportation beam to send you to the medical bay" Kate explained, finding herself looking at The Doctor without realising she was doing it. "Maybe you can fill me in on everything whilst he's being examined?" She suggesed to River.

The Doctor froze at her words. 

Examined? 

They were going to examine him? 

Like the others had?

No. 

He wouldn't let that happen again. 

Without a second's hesitation, he undid his seatbelt and threw himself against his side door, trying to pull it open. But it was locked and they had already clocked on to what he was trying to do.

"Doctor! What are you...?!"

His eyes landed on the gun nestled in Kate's belt. He reached out quickly and lunged for it. Before she could react, it was in his hands and loaded. He pointed it at River's skull and placed his finger on the trigger.

"Nobody move!"

...