Lost In Time: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

Chapter 58 - The God Complex, Part 1

"So, um... does he surrender to every loud noise he hears?" Lyssa asked quietly, sending a bemused glance in the direction of voices. It got very loud for a minute, as several people seemed to start talking at once before lowering again. 

Howie shrugged, tugging his open jacket a bit tighter around his shoulders. "Sort of? Any time he thinks there's someone around, he immediately offers his complete servitude. It gets a bit old after a while, honestly. He did the same thing when he and I first met. Don't really know why."

"It's almost like he's got this... need to surrender," Lyssa said thoughtfully, frowning when the phrase struck a chord in her memory, but her mind was still too clouded for her to bother chasing it down. "Do you think it's more people who got trapped here?"

"It could be," Howie agreed. "The yelling has stopped, so I don't think there's any immediate danger. It's hard to say for sure, though. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to our arrivals, most likely to keep us confused and in the dark."

"Well, it's working," Lyssa grumbled, running Rita's comb through her hair once more to distract herself. "All that's left to complete it is for one of us to walk into a room that's completely dark and get locked in." She wrinkled her nose and sighed. "I'm not normally scared of the dark. But after the day I've had... I just want to be back in the TARDIS. Maybe in the library, with a cup of hot chocolate, and the Doctor and I can finally finish the Agatha Christie book we were working on."

"That's the second time you've mentioned this 'Doctor' fellow. Is he your husband, or something? And what's a TARDIS?" Howie asked curiously, pushing his glasses back up his nose with one finger.

Lyssa's cheeks immediately began to burn, and she mentally begged for them to lose their color again, all to no avail. "No! Of course not," she denied immediately, laughing a little too hysterically and hoping it could be passed off as leftover hysteria from her panic attack. 

"Why would you think - no, definitely nothing like that. He's just my friend - my best friend, he has a thing for situations like these, he's very good at pretending he knows what's going on and what to do, and I kind of wish he were here because that would mean that we have a much higher chance of getting out of here, and the TARDIS is where we live - not together, mind you, it's like this place only different but - yeah, basically it's complicated." She finally stopped to take a breath, grinning sheepishly when Howie looked taken aback.

"I see," he said after a moment, very clearly not seeing. 

She laughed nervously. "It's complicated," she explained again.

"Say no more," he held up a hand. "I understand."

The elevator music that had become part of the background suddenly switched off, and both of them started, looking around nervously for any potential threats.

"So... what were you doing when you ended up here?" Lyssa asked after a tense minute. "I think I was asleep, and just woke up here."

"Oh. That. I was blogging," he answered, running a hand through his curls. "I'd just found out some evidence that the CIA was behind the attempted kidnapping of the president a few years ago. I was going to write about it, and I guess they found out before I could post it, because here I am. I must have become too much of a threat," he concluded, eyes darting about worriedly.

The music switched back on again, suddenly sounding more ominous than annoying, both of them casting worried looks down the hallway towards it. 

"Right, then. I don't think we should stay here," Howie muttered. "Do you think you can stand up?" he asked, pushing himself to his feet and offering her a hand.