Touch The Sky: Doctor Who/Studio C [Book 3]

Trouble Finds Us

Trouble Finds Us

(Original Interlude)

A/N: I honestly can't remember the last time I updated the same story twice in the same day... I think it might have been during LotTL. But I was just so excited for this one I couldn't wait!

Once the doors were locked, the panic in the bank had died down a little, and the two mysterious women were firmly in control of their floor-bound hostages. Mallory kicked herself for not putting it together sooner. It hadn't been someone's allergies acting up—it had been the Daughter sniffing out something.

But what?

The Family had been hunting for the Doctor in their quest for longer lives, but now the Doctor wasn't here.

"Over here, Mother of Mine," the Daughter called, holding a gun to one of the tellers. He blubbered until she shoved her gun up under his chin. "Shut up or I'll shoot," she snapped. He quieted.

Mallory watched with interest as the Mother began to empty out the cash on hand into a burlap sack, the Daughter covering her and keeping an eye on the hostages. Their movements were deliberate and careful, not swift and panicked as she would expect bank robbers to be.

There was yet more at play here.

As she tried to puzzle that out, an older woman, her brown hair falling to her shoulders and going gray like the Mother's, shifted across the floor toward Mallory. "Are you all right?" she murmured, lips barely moving.

Mallory glanced over and gave a tiny nod before turning her attention back to the two robbers. "You know, I always thought the pregnant hostage trope was overdone," she said through the side of her mouth. She watched the woman's gaze dart to her bump.

"When are you due?" the woman asked, just as softly as before.

"Not till August. Hopefully no unexpected surprises in the department." She shot the woman another glance before saying, "Mallory."

"Sarah Jane," the woman answered.

Mallory squinted, wishing the robbers would do something that could give her a hint of what they were up to. "What are they doing?" she murmured. "If they wanted money they should get in and get out. There'll be cops here any minute, I'm sure someone would have set off the silent alarm."

The Daughter's face went suddenly vacant, and if Mallory hadn't been convinced of their species before, she was now. She'd seen the Family communicate in the same fashion. Worse...

"They've got a third somewhere," Mallory murmured to Sarah Jane. The Daughter was speaking too quietly for the words to be made out, but she plainly wasn't talking to the Mother.

Sarah Jane gave a short nod. "Look at them," she said. "Watch how they move. Like... they're not quite familiar with their own bodies."

"Keep quiet!" the Mother snapped, looking over at their ring of hostages, perhaps fifteen in total. "No talking!"

A moment passed before Sarah Jane's voice came again, even quieter than before. "You might think I'm bonkers," she said, "but I don't think they're human."

Mallory shot her a glance, wondering if she'd managed to find someone legitimately familiar with aliens or just some conspiracy nut. "What makes you say that?"

Sarah Jane took a deep breath, her thoughts likely following the same trail as Mallory's. "They're more common than you might think," she finally said. "Plenty look like humans, or can make themselves look like humans, or can possess humans."