Lost In Time: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

Chapter 66 - Sacrifice Play

Lyssa clutched Jamie tighter to her chest, backing up and turning to run. "Get back to the TARDIS! We have to protect the kids!"

"How? He's between us and the TARDIS!" Rory retorted, backing up with her, one hand instinctively coming up to protect Amelia's head.

"There's three of us and one of him, he can't get us all," Donna said brusquely. "We run three ways, I'll hold him off long enough for the two of you to get to the TARDIS."

"Donna, no," Lyssa started, but was cut off.

"I'm the only one not carrying a child, sweetheart, and I think it's pretty obvious that's what he wants," Donna interrupted her. "Now get going! You don't have time to argue!"

Lyssa wanted to argue, but the look in Eleven's eyes - cold and empty, and fixated on her and the sleeping child she held - convinced her otherwise. Donna could defend herself. Jamie and Amelia couldn't. Whispering a broken apology, she turned and ran further into the gardens, splitting off towards the left while Rory ran right, and Donna stayed behind.

Weaving in and out of the trees and hedges, she didn't dare glance back for fear that she would trip and give any followers a lead. Her heart nearly pounding out of her chest, she turned onto a path that led into a more private garden and darted behind a large tree, peering around the edge of it for any signs of pursuit. When she saw and heard nothing, she cautiously edged out, trying to calm her breathing so as to not attract unwanted attention.

Creeping further into the gardens, still ducking behind trees and switching paths every so often, she brought her hand up to check on Jamie again, hoping that he hadn't been affected by her flight. Placing the tips of her fingers on his neck to check his pulses, she was relieved to find that it was higher than it used to be, the double beats drumming against her fingertips in their more natural pattern.

She wasn't expecting the warmth to spread over her fingertips from the point of contact, and blinked at the last bit of assurance that Jamie was, in fact, the Doctor.

"You couldn't have come a little earlier?" she muttered in annoyance, only half joking. "Where were you when I was getting all paranoid?"

She wasn't expecting a response, and so she jumped when he stirred against her, his face pushing against her shirt as he squirmed before his face scrunched up and he started to open his eyes.

"'Sah?" he muttered grumpily, forcing his eyes open before squinting in the light and closing them again, trying to hid his face in her chest. "Too bwight! Turn light off!"

"Jamie, I'm sorry, but we have to be quiet right now," she hastily shushed him, lowering her own voice and looking around worriedly. There was still no sign of his clone, but that didn't mean much, and she picked up her pace. "We can't talk in loud voices right now, okay?"

He yawned widely before opening his eyes again, still squinting in the light, but keeping them open this time. "'Sah, why - why we running?"

"Because you were right and your adult clone is currently trying to capture and/or kill us," she managed, stopping behind another tree to try and regain her breath.

That woke him up. "What?"

"Shush!" She placed her hand over his mouth and whipped her head around, praying that no one had heard the high voice. When it seemed like the coast was clear, she relaxed a little and turned back to Jamie, who was staring up at her indignantly from behind her hand. She pulled it away guiltily. "I'm sorry, but he could hear you!"

He narrowed his eyes. "What's going on? What's really going on?"

She quickly filled him in, finishing with, "And that's all we know. We still don't know why they want you, or how they changed you, or what happened to Ten." She chewed her lip in worry. "I hope he's all right. I felt kind of bad leaving the two Doctors and Amy alone together, knowing that at least one of them was an imposter, but I had no way of knowing who was who, and so I couldn't warn either of them. All I could do was hope that, as the Doctor, he would be able to defend himself."