Two Ponds, A River, And A Rose {[Doctor Who Fanfic]}

7: Family Tree

"Katelyn Rose Juniper," I hear the Siren whisper to the console. I creep around the corner and crouch down, watching her. "Oh, come on!" he exclaims in a whisper. "You've got to have one picture of them. Just one!" Her voice slowly raises until she's not quite yelling. She hits the console with the side of her fist. "Why don't Sirens take pictures?" she mumbles at the sky. I step around and make myself visible.

"Probably because they don't want to reveal what they truly look like. You can't fool a camera." I say, making her jump. She quickly gets over her surprise and resumes her, admittedly good, if the Doctor's right, act.

"What are you talking about?" she asks, her voice much too innocent.

"I'm talking about you. I know what a Siren is and what they can do. I tried so hard to see good in you, but there's no such thing with your kind, is there?" She looks appalled.

"I don't know what you're implying, but-"

"Drop the act already! I know what you're doing here. You're here for the Doctor. You think you can just waltz in here, looking all pretty and innocent and 'oh, dear, sweet Doctor, they blew up my planet and now I'm all alone! Won't you please help me?' I don't buy it, so you might as well stop." There's a loud screech in my ear where my earpiece is. Feedback. The Doctor is on the other end, giving me step-by-step instructions on what to do and say. Sirens, he'd said, are creatures of the mind. They invade your thoughts and slowly twist them, so you don't notice. Over time, you could go from peacefully protesting against a war to being the general of the army and not think anything of it. If asked, they will, of course, deny such trickery. But if you approach them like you already know, then the careful cover will fade and they will reveal themselves. That's what I'm doing. We have every reason to trust Katelyn, what with her saving our lives, but we have to be sure it's not just a trick of the Sirens.

"I've seen your family. I looked them up, same way you are. Except I'm on the Doctor's side, so I got results. Your mother and father were the most wanted criminals on your planet," this part was true, "and your sister was killed in an armed robbery she instigated four years ago. Your oldest brother was locked up as soon as he turned fifteen. Why did he feel the need to throw that kid off the balcony? You and Anthony are the only ones with clean slates. How do I know your not just waiting to make your move and kill the last timelord in existence?" Wow, the Doctor got creative there. In truth, her sister went missing. No one knows what happened. Same with her brother. She looks me right in the eye and says,

"I guess all you've got is my word. That's the most proof I can offer you. If it's not enough, then you can either back off or throw me out those doors," she says, pointing at the exit.

'Alright, Grace, that's enough,' the Doctor says into the earpiece. I smile and he comes around the corner.

"Okay, thank you, Gracie! Ooh, can I call you that? Gracie? Sounds marvelous. Anyways, Katelyn, we just had to be sure. Sirens are tricky. I've never traveled with a Siren before. It's exciting! And a bit terrifying, I confess. Okay, now that we've got that bit out if the way, I need to show you around. Big place!" he claps and turns on his heel, expecting but not checking to make sure that she followed. I smile and shake my head in their direction.

I approach the console and look at the screen. "What. . ?" I whisper to myself. My own picture is displayed, my parents above it. My grandparents above them. And. . . There's information below me. From the future me. I should turn away now. I already know the risk of foreknowledge. But I can't help myself. I look below my picture. Three children. Two girls, one boy. Amelia, Rose, and Jack. Next to me, with a bar signaling a marriage, is a man and a name I've never seen before. Kaden Hallows. I giggle. My last name. I touch my picture and move down what I now understand to be my family tree. Four generations before and after me. My great-great grandchildren will apparently all die in the year 2173. I tap the year. Solar flares will wipe out half of Earth's population. I cringe in sorrow for people who, for me, haven't been born yet. I'm about to turn away and leave my future family behind until it unfold for real, when I see it. My death date. August 23rd, 2041. That's a long way off, but it still nearly stops my heart. You aren't supposed to know when you die. That's the most dangerous kind of foreknowledge. I pretend to pull it from my head, to discard the memory forever, to forget what I saw and leave it alone forever. So, of course, the image in branded into my brain forever. I throw up my hands in frustration and consider telling the Doctor, but he's had enough on his mind lately without my little problems. I decide to just go up to bed and figure out what to do in the morning.