Lost In Time: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

Chapter 49 - The Long Game, Part 1

"The Siren?" the Doctor asked Adam slowly. "Van Statten had the Siren trapped in one of those cells?"

Adam looked at him oddly. "You know about the Siren?"

The Doctor nodded, his face a mask. "How did she get there? How many people died?"

Adam shrugged. "She was there before me. I think she actually just appeared in his base one day, out of nowhere. Kind of like you did, come to think of it. Thirty levels down, didn't know what was going on. It was pretty clear she wasn't human, so Mr. Van Statten locked her up, tried a few experiments. Didn't go down very well. Something skewed the results every time, so all we know is that she's nonhuman, older than she looks, and very powerful."

"Why'd you call her the Siren?" Rose piped up, slowly pulling her hair back into a high ponytail. "Did she tell you to call her that?"

Adam shook his head. "She never talked, just like the Dalek. Just screams or cries. Mr. Van Statten called her that after the fourth time someone went down to her cage to try and help her escape after one of her 'sessions'. Apparently when they heard her cry, they all wanted to help her. It supposedly sounded like a child's cry. He had them all wiped and let go."

Rose curled her lip in disgust. "He just tortured people when he wanted them to talk?"

Adam shifted uncomfortably. "It was really just her and the Dalek. They were the only living ones in his museum. She said something when she first arrived. 'He can't reach me now, I'm free'. Something like that. Almost seemed relieved, until Mr. Van Statten got hold of her. I think she was down there for something like three years before she escaped.

"Took advantage of a power surge when they were transporting her to a lab for some testing. She incapacitated all three guards and vanished right in front of Mr. Van Statten. I hacked the video feeds. He nearly exploded. Wiped everyone involved with the incident, and that's when I started stockpiling alien weapons," he glanced at the Doctor, "and apparently a hair dryer, in case I ever needed to fight my way out."

The Doctor was too lost in the thought to respond to the jab. "She didn't kill anyone?"

Adam shook his head. "She never had the chance until the end, and she didn't then, either. Just knocked out the guards and literally vanished from sight. At least on the cameras. Mr. Van Statten always maintained that she just made her way up to ground level and took off from there. But the only fatalities while she was there came from Mr. Van Statten himself. Not that he'd ever admit it, of course. But I hacked the cameras and the reports."

The Doctor relaxed slightly, looking down at Lyssa. "Must've not been her, then. If she had survived the Time War, she would have killed everyone on the base. Must've been some other poor soul who got trapped."

Lyssa nodded, memories of seeing a hooded form behind the Master when he faced down the Twelfth Doctor popping into her mind. "Poor girl. I hope she's all right now," she whispered.

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "I'm sure she's fine now that she's away from Van Statten."

"And what about you?" Lyssa asked him carefully, lowering her voice as Rose started chatting with Adam, apparently flirting. "He - well, I don't know what exactly he did, but I know it was painful. Are you all right?"

He shrugged, playing it off. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. Want to see something funny?" She smiled and nodded, deciding to hold off on her questioning until later. He smirked in return and raised his voice. "Rose, want to take a brief look outside? Make sure everythin' is as it should be? Lyssa'll stay here with Adam," he added when the blonde looked confused.

Rose nodded, grabbing her pink and black jacket from over the railing and stepping outside of the TARDIS with him, leaving Lyssa and Adam alone inside. It was slightly awkward, but not too bad. Adam was clearly antsy, still glancing about the console room with awe now that he was no longer distracted by Rose.