Lost In Time: A Doctor Who Fanfiction

Chapter 69 - Conversion

The first thing he could see was black. Total darkness until it was lit with a bright light, and he wished he could go back to being blind. Fire raced through his veins and burned itself into his vision until the only thing he could see was the white-hot agony as his body started to tear itself apart.

He'd been walking in the gardens with Amy, both of them struggling to be honest with each other in the midst of a painful conversation when the Atrellians had come. Scientists and guards, too many for them to outrun and spraying a gas that made the plants around them come to life. The last thing he'd seen was a vine winding around his leg.

He could hear something ripping. Fabric tearing, bones breaking and knitting themselves back together. Someone was screaming. A child, perhaps, or maybe a man. It might have been him,

He'd woken up in a laboratory strapped to an examination table with multiple needles in his arm. He could hear the low mutter of conversation through an open door into a nearby room. Amy lay on a table next to him, out cold and in similar straits. He whispered her name. She didn't respond. She didn't wake up when he started screaming either.

He could taste blood in his mouth, a hot gushing liquid that spilled out over his chin and down his throat, making him cough and retch.

He could taste blood in his mouth, making him sputter and cough as he struggled against his restraints. He turned his head to the side, trying to clear his mouth enough to breathe.

In one of the brief pauses between flashes of pain, he collapsed to the floor, the familiar scent of the TARDIS filling his nose and letting him relax. He was safe here.

He collapsed back against the table, panting, his eyes struggling to open again each time he closed them. The scent of metal and blood, of sweat and tears filled his nostrils, forcing him awake each time he almost gave in to the tempting darkness. He wasn't safe here.

His back arched off the floor as another jolt of agony ran through him. He could feel stretching and pulling, breaking and healing, everything at once, seizing up his lungs and locking his muscles as his body pulled itself apart and put it back together over and over again.

His fist smacked against flesh as he punched the Atrellian threatening Amy. Ignoring the now unconscious soldier, he ripped at the straps trapping her to the bed until they tore. Lifting her into his arms, he suppressed the urge to just lay down and sleep as he ran out of the laboratory and through the building, trying to find a way out. He was so tired, but if he fell asleep here, neither he nor Amy would ever wake again.

xXx

He sat upright with a gasp as consciousness returned completely, senses abuzz and all the mental shields he carefully maintained completely gone. It was a sensory overload, and he curled into a ball, trying to limit the stimulation his brain was currently being flooded with. He heard the concerned hum of the TARDIS before a warm feeling akin to a heavy blanket was draped across his mind, blocking out all but the minimum amount of information needed.

He nearly collapsed in relief, smiling weakly as he struggled to rebuild his shields. "Thanks, old girl," he muttered, patting the floor in a weak effort to show his gratitude.

He sat in silence, barely noticing his surroundings as he slowly put his shields back up, one by one. In turn, with each successive shield back in place, the TARDIS lightened the barrier it had placed around his mind, although she kept it in place until he was fully recovered and nodded his assent, smiling gratefully at her, though it fell when his memories returned as well.

Pushing himself to his feet, he leapt for the controls only to stop when the TARDIS flashed her lights at him warningly. "What?" he asked indignantly, glaring at the ceiling. "Lyssa's in danger, and so's everyone else. What do I possibly need to do that can't wait?"

The voice interface flickered into existence, taking on his form. It didn't speak, just stared at him silently.

He glanced down and sighed. "Point taken."

The interface disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"I mean, I want to get a reaction when I show up," he admitted as he ran down the staircase below the floor and opened up a storage box, pulling out a set of spare clothes. "But getting arrested for public indecency is not the reaction I'm going for. If I'm to be arrested, I'd rather it be for blowing stuff up. That's much more fun."

One of the downsides of being changed into a toddler, then back to an adult again? The clothes don't change with you, and toddler clothes are not designed to accommodate a grown adult.

"Really, that's a serious design flaw," he muttered, charging back up the stairs once he was fully dressed minus his coat. "I mean, you'd think they'd have come up with a solution by this point!" Grabbing his coat off the floor, he swung it on and searched around until he found his old shirt. Grabbing Lyssa's necklace, he kissed the snowflake charm before setting it on the console.

"C'mon, old girl," he called, twirling a dial and watching in satisfaction as the rotor began to move. "It's time to find our girl."

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A/N: Just to allay any confusion, this is happening roughly the same time as last chapter. I don't want to reveal too much, but rest assured that the final confrontation between fake!Eleven and Lyssa is very much still going to happen, and the real!Eleven will not be nearly as involved in the take down as he might like to be. 

In other news, we've been buried under like three feet of snow this week, and there are snow drifts - drifts mind you - that are almost as tall as I am. :/ I can't wait for summer. :P

Also, I watched HTTYD Hidden World this weekend. 10/10, would cry again if I watched it.

Thank you all so much for voting, following, and commenting! Your support is amazing!

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! :)

General Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, just Lyssa