The Doctor and Delphine I

Chapter 8

"Oh, grapes!" The Doctor exclaimed to me, "Let's have some of those!" He said, gesturing over to the fruit stalls. "Sure," I said, and we walked over to the seller. "Wait, do you have any money?" I asked, looking at him in his new jacket. "Ah..no," he said, hitting his sides, looking for money, where there weren't any. "Do you have any change?" he asked me. Nodding, I made my way back to the TARDIS. "Wait," he shouted after me, and I turned around. "You might need this!" he said, throwing me the key. "Oh, and can you bring me the sonic, please and maybe the psychic paper? " Nodding again, I unlocked the blue box and walked into the much cooler main room. "That's better," I said aloud, about to start going up the stairs to the changing room. Instead, there lay the sonic screwdriver, change and the psychic paper, all laid out on the console. "Thank you, good sir!" I said as I turned around walking out of the TARDIS, locking it again. "Delphie?" I ran up the stairs to get back to the marketplace where I had left The Doctor. "The TARDIS sorted it out for me," I said as The Doctor paid for the grapes. "It does that, she's a sentient time machine, she knows what you want," He said as I froze. "What's wrong?" He asked as I sighed. "I called her a 'he'," I said as The Doctor laughed, tucking the psychic paper and grapes into a briefcase he had somehow gotten. "Where's the sonic?" He asked, looking scared. "Missing something?" I asked, taking the sonic out of my fist and waving it around in front of his face. He reached out to grab it, but I took out of his reach and ran down the sandy path, imitating the way he pointed and whirled it around. "Hey!" he shouted, "I don't look like that, I'm not so wavey!" He protested as he took the sonic from me.

"Let's go talk to some people!" He said, beginning to walk off. I came up beside him and we made our way back into the main part of the market. The Doctor pulled out something resembling a wallet and flipped it open. "What's that?" I asked, looking at the piece of blank paper. "Psychic paper," He replied. "I can make people believe that I'm anybody, for example..." He closed it and opened it again, showing it to me. I looked back at the paper and it read, 'Private Investigator for The Queen of Zella' I laughed, and he put it away again. "Fancy planet, that Zella," He said as we picked who we were going to talk to. "We certainly look the part!" I said, walking over to the fruit stall. "Hello. What would you like?" asked a super-tall tinman looking alien who stood behind the stall. The Doctor held the Psychic Paper up, and the man nodded understandingly. The Doctor leaned in and whispered, "Have you seen anything funny going on around here? Any people acting weirdly or talking funny?" He drew back up to his full height, and sadness suddenly filled the tinman's eyes. "Just a week ago, I and my friend went to see the glass dome over yonder. It was a big thing you know, and I was looking forward to it, I get so bored in this town. Anyway, we were halfway there when two people behind us pulled off their masks and marched towards the crowds, shouting in odd voices. I was so afraid, I ran for my life, but my poor friend, he was grabbed by one of the things, and it dragged him away, through the glass dome. I never saw him again," he finished, a tear running down his tin like face. I watched as The Doctor leaned over the fruit and looked at him sympathetically. "We'll find out what happened to your friend, I promise," He muttered. The alien smiled sadly. "Thank you pointy chinned man, and you, pretty girl, " He replied. I smiled slightly and nodded as The Doctor nodded and sighed looking a bit disgruntled. As we walked away from the stand, I saw the Doctor scratching at his chin. "Oh cheer up, Mr. Grumpy," I said to him, hitting him on the arm as we walked back to the TARDIS, which looked slightly out of place in the ancient marketplace.

"How come no one ever notices a really obvious blue box just sat there right in front of them?" I asked as we went back into the blue box. "Air conditioning on! Well, it's so weird, nobody gives it a second glance," he replied, and the room cooled down instantly. Giving him a weird look, I watched as he ran up the stairs and into the closet. "You might want to clean up," I said as I stepped over his clothes and looked at the variety. While I didn't see his reaction, I could almost imagine him rolling his green eyes, before I heard him mutter something. I waited for him to open the door as he ran back down the stairs to the console room, back in his bowtie and tweed blazer. "Are you ready to go see some Cybermen?" He asked, going over to the main console. "Yeah, sure, sounds awesome," I said, holding back laughter at The Doctor fangirling about meeting aliens. He began flicking buttons and pulling levers as he danced around the room, leather boots sliding across the floor. I gazed at the flashing panels in fascination, wondering how on earth he knew what everything did. "It's a bit quiet in here Delphie, put some music on!" he exclaimed, coming to a skidding halt in front of the typewriter. Shrugging, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and searched for my music. "How does Lady Gaga sound?." I asked as he pointed to the Gramophone. "Sure, what do you think of my poker face?" He asked, making a song reference. I laughed as he told me how to play it. "Just plug that wire on the gramophone into your phone," he said, as I plugged the golden wire into my phone, and pressed 'Play'. The Doctor beamed as he heard the start of the song. "Ah, Born This Way, always made me feel better about being an alien. Went to go see her, early 2010-ish. Great singer, amazing fashion sense, although she never quite grasped the craziness of her clothing..." he trailed off, deep in thought. Suddenly, the TARDIS lurched and The Doctor went flying. I threw my head back in laughter, as he sighed at me. I could feel him rolling his eyes. "Don't you go rolling your eyes, time lord!" I exclaimed, grabbing onto the console just in case. "For the record, I was NOT rolling my eyes at you, Miss Winchester!" he stated insistently pulling the handle downwards with such force that he almost pulled it off the console. "Liar," I murmured, fixing my red hair again.

"Hey! I heard that you ninny!" he responded, as we materialized onto what I guessed was an alien spaceship, whirring and creaking, before coming to a complete stop. Curious, I opened the door a bit, poking my head out to see where we were. The sight that met my eyes sent a shiver down my spine. Harsh blue lighting dimly illuminated the stone cold metal corridor that continued into the darkness. I quickly closed the TARDIS door, and span around to face the Doctor's questioning expression. Just then, a haunting sound of an emotionless, robotic voice, not far from us began to sound. The Doctor put a finger to his lips and pressed his face up against the door, all his attention focused on hearing what was going on outside. I copied him, leaning up against the wood, completely silent. "The Cyber Army is decreased. We must open a new time window. The Doctor and his companion destroyed the last one. The upgrading process of the earth must continue. We must report to the Cyber Leader." We took our faces away from the door as we heard them marching away, and I looked at his serious expression. "Not while I'm here," he murmured. He looked at me, smiling slightly, holding out his hand. I took it, grinning, and he opened the door of the blue box slightly poking his head out, as I had done. He tugged on my hand, so I tiptoed out into the eerie blue light. I closed the TARDIS, before following The Doctor down the metal walkway. He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and pointed it at the dim lights above us, so they gave out a warmer glow of white light. All of a sudden, I heard the sound of robotic marching behind me, so I grabbed the Doctor's hand, and told him to look behind. The moment he did he exclaimed the one thing I really didn't want to do.