Fighting Against Fire [One] (The Protector Chronicles)

The Long Game - I

This isn't my favourite episode of series one but it's definitely not my least. In some other news, I have plotted the key plot points from books 2-6 and have some scenes wrote for them which is slightly embarrassing considering we're not even done with the first book yet.

─── ｡ﾟ☆･*.☽ .* ☆ﾟ. ───

The Protector stepped out of the TARDIS first, the TARDIS having parked herself in the corner of a large room. The Time Lady raised a brow glancing around as the Doctor and Rose stepped out of the TARDIS.

"So, it's two hundred thousand, and it's a spaceship." The Doctor told Rose after she shut the TARDIS door. The Protector had already begun to walk around the room, looking at where they had landed. "No, wait a minute, space station, and er, go and try that gate over there." The Doctor corrected. "Off you go."

"Two hundred thousand?" Rose questioned.

"Two hundred thousand." The Doctor repeated with a nod as he leaned against the TARDIS.

"Right." Rose opened the TARDIS door behind her. "Adam? Out you come."

The boy did as told and stepped out and his jaw dropped the second his eyes fell on the sight in front of him. "Oh, my God."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"Where are we?"

"Good question. Let's see." Rose paused, pretending to assess where they were. "So, er, judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year two hundred thousand," Rose repeated what the Doctor had told her. The Protector shook her head chuckling from a nearby pillar. Rose playfully narrowed her eyes at the Time Lady. "If you listen-"

"Yeah," Adam replied. They both stopped and a humming noise in the background continued through the silence.

"Engines. We're on some sort of space station." Rose smiled. "Yeah, definitely a space station. It's a bit warm in here. They could turn the heating down." She muttered then nodded at the gate. "Tell you what - let's try that gate." She headed over and Adam continued staring at the room. "Come on!"

The Protector shook her head and clicked her fingers in Adams's face as she walked past, the man blinked and then quickly followed the Time Lords after Rose.

"Here we go!" Rose went up a few steps after opening the gate, a large window showing the full view of the Earth. "And this is... I'll let the Protector describe it."

"Oh, but I was enjoying your explanation so much." The Protector smirked as she replied in a sarcastic tone. She sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes as Rose glared playfully at her. "Okay then, welcome to the Fourth great and vast Human Empire." She nodded at the planet and then frowned slightly. It looked... off but she couldn't place her finger on how or why. "And there it is right in front of you." She looked at Adam for a moment. "Is planet Earth at its great height and it's mighty. Covered with enormous cities, it currently has five moons and because you lot are like rabbits a population of ninety-six billion." She paused for a moment and shook her head at the thought, they really were rabbits. "And not only that but you've reached for the stars now, Earth is the hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the heart of it." She frowned again as she finished. "Or it should be..." She muttered.

Adam fainted a moment after the Protector finished her speech, the Time Lady rolled her eyes and the Doctor sighed slightly. "He's your boyfriend." He said to Rose.

"Not anymore." She replied in a dull tone.

"Well, I'm not babysitting him." The Protector shook her head and reached into her pocket while kneeling down beside Adam. She pulled out a small bottle no larger than her finger and opened the top, putting it under Adams's nose. The man instantly gasped and his eyes snapped open.