Quantum Travel

Almost People II

The Doctor is soon out here, he was getting stressed. He can feel the flesh like I can. He knows how much pain it is in.

Amy follows, "I'm sorry. What I said about you being almost the Doctor, it's just really hard, because I've been through so much with him. I've even seen. I've even seen the moment of his. Can you die? If you really are the same, then you can die. You can be killed, and I might have seen that happen."

I grab my head and ball up, "Why?!" I feel it strike me like lightning. I feel so much pain, Jen... The eyes... HELP! My voice is too soft to interrupt their conversation.

"Why?" The Doctor asks, as I cry out softly.

"Why?" Amy thought he was talking about what she said... No, RUN! "Because you invited us to see it. Your death."

He pushes Amy against the wall, "Why?!"

"You're hurting me." Her fear fills my head. I am no longer myself any more. It didn't affect me thing bad since... Them.

"It's all the eyes say. Why?" The Doctor and I state at the same time. Then he continued,
"I can feel them as they work each day, knowing the time was coming for them to be thrown away again. Not again, please. And then they are destroyed and they feel death, and all they can say is, why?"

He lets Amy go, and she runs back inside. The Doctor helps me up, "You feel it too?"

I nod, "It burns... There is always that one burning question."

We went inside. When Amy saw us she shouted, "Keep him away from me!"

"Did you sense it?" I am practically leaning on him, it took so much out of me. It still is.

"Briefly. Not as strong as you two."

"Amy, I'm sorry." He tries to go and comfort her, but she backs away.

"No, you keep away. We can't trust you."

"It would appear I can connect to the Flesh-" The Doctor began to delve into it, but was cut off.

"You are Flesh." I had had enough of her.

"Just stop it!" Both Doctor's flinched, "They are no different then us! They are scared, confused about a new life in their head. You don't understand, it's the pitiful thing about your species... you tend to put yourself above everyone else."

"I'm beginning to understand what it's been through," He was cautious, as to not trigger anything else from me, "what it needs."

"What you want. You are it." Ignorant.

The Doctor shook his head, "It's much more powerful than we thought. The Flesh can grow, correct?"

"Its cells can divide."

"Well, now it wants to do that at will. It wants revenge. It's in pain, angry. It wants revenge. Hence, why Iris is acting this way." You are too you dumbo.

"I was right. You're not the Doctor. You can't ever be. You're just a copy." I was so close to strangling her, I was beyond mad. She better fucking shut her mouth.

"Doctor, it might be best if you stayed over there for now, hmm?"

"Hold on a minute, hold your horses. I thought I'd explained this. I'm him, he's me."
"If you don't feel comfortable with him, then you shouldn't feel comfortable with me." We both tried to defend the Doctor, currently in trouble for being a Ganger.

"Doctor, we have no issue with you, but when it comes to your Ganger-"

"Stop with this bullshit." My voice was eerily calm.
"Don't be so absurd." The Doctor stated.

"Buzzer."

"Sure, boss." Buzzer puts out a barrel for the Ganger Doctor to sit on. "Take a seat, mate."

"Nice barrel, very comfy. Why not?" He glanced at Amy, "Is this really what you want?"

Amy didn't respond.

***

I was sitting by the barrel with The Doctor when a pilot radioed in.

"This is the shuttle. We're right above you, but we can't get low enough. Gamma static could fry our nav-controls. Sit tight. We'll get to you. Just-"

The Doctor scans Cleaves with his sonic screwdriver. But no one else is focused on it. Jimmy is too focused on the pilot.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

Amy opened her ignorant trap for the first time since she argued, "I can't find Rory. I'm going out there."

"We could use the sonic to track him. Humans and Gangers give off slightly different signals. The sonic needs to tell the difference."

"Oh, so the sonic knows Gangers are different. The other Doctor is different."

The Doctor shook his head slightly, "He is the Doctor."

"Not to me. I can tell." Liar.

"Sure you're not prejudiced?"

"Nice try, but I know, okay? We've been through too much. You're my Doctor. End of."

***

Buzzer perked up when he was bending over the screen, "Hey, there's a camera up. We've got a visual."

Amy rushed over, "That's Rory and Jennifer."

"They're heading for the thermostatic room."

Amy headed towards the door, "Let's go get them."

The Doctor throws the sonic screwdriver to his counterpart. This halts Amy, "Hang on."

"We can't let him go." Cleaves insisted, "Are you crazy?"

"Am I crazy, Doctor?"

Doctor Ganger nodded, "Well, you did want to plumb your brain into the core of an entire planet just to halt its orbit and win a bet."

"He can't go rescue them. I'm going." Amy, the more help the better.

"Do you know, I want him to go. And I'm rather adamant."

"I'll go too." I smiled at both Doctor's, ignoring Amy.

"Well then, they'll need company. Right, boss? It's fine. I'll handle it."

"Thank you, Buzzer. It'll be all right. I'll find him." And we left.

***

We were out in the court yard when the sonic went off the charts, "I'm getting something."

"Is it human?" I don't understand why Buzzer came too, I thought he hated Gangers and anyone on their side... I need to stop being petty. Since when did I become petty?

"Yeah, it's human, but it's fading. It's fading. This is bad. Fading is very bad. Argh. The signal's gone. She's dead." We find Jennifer, we were seconds too late.

"She was hanging onto the edge of life and she just, just slipped away. Oh, Jennifer, I'm so sorry. She's been out here for hours."

"But if the real Jen's been lying out here?"

"Rory's in trouble." The Doctor turns around to go help Rory but,  Buzzer hits him over the head with his torch.

"Sorry, pal. it's boss's orders. Us and them, innit?"

"You can't do that! What the fuc-" and he knocked me out too.

***

When we wake up, we find the other Gangers standing over us.

"Got anything for a sore head?"
"Fucking hate humans sometimes."

"This is how they'll always treat us. Do you see now? After all, you're one of us, Doctor. You can be too Iris." Cleaves was smiling, that desperate smile.

"Call me Smith. John Smith." He took her hand and stood up.

"And call me Missy."

***