A Lost Cause

[quinnmcghann]

Quinn had moved as quickly as she could after being held up by that alien with the creepy attitude, but the trail was mostly cold now. She was nearly under the water tower, searching desperately for a trail. It could have been anyone, anything, she reminded herself. But she wanted so bad for that energy signature to be one of her own, someone who could help her with her predicament.

There. That was the end of it. The trail had gone completely. Quinn was filled with such a strong sense of loneliness it seemed to pulse from her. She had come all this way for nothing.
She looked around mournfully; where was she to go now? It was hardly as if she needed a roof over her head or a warm meal, but she didn't want to be chased around like an animal, flitting around in the dark for the next hundred years. She hated when those curious humans tried to come after her, thinking she was a ghost or some other paranormal figure. She didn't want to be videotaped or photographed; she only wanted to go home!

Something murmured to itself nearby. Quinn looked around, surprised. She had thought she was alone. Was there someone else here? Checking herself for solidity, Quinn then looked more closely, in case someone was sneaking about.

"Who's there?"

Out of the corner of her eye, something dark blue. She turned to look, but it was gone. And yet still there. She had gotten used to looking at things like a human, but this thing wasn't meant for human eyes. Beneath the sheath of it invisibility was the projection of a blue box, and beyond that, the signature twist of time-space that was a TARDIS. It was still alive, breathing, murmuring to itself. Quinn understood the gist of what it was saying, though it was speaking very quietly. It was waiting.

"I don't want to wait with you!" she told it, frustrated with her own sorrow. It had probably caused the energy signature she had been chasing; it spent most of its time in the vortex, like her kind. It was hard to tell now, though, as the TARDIS had dimmed itself for some reason, not giving enough of a signature for Quinn to be sure. It was talking, but so lowly Quinn could barely understand it now. Was it talking to itself or to her?

"I don't care!" she told it. "I don't care what you are up to. I don't want to talk to you! I just want to go home." Quinn sulked. She wanted one of her own kind, not this behemoth of a creature. She wanted someone to tell her it was alright, how to fix things. She was only a child, afterall.

[The Doctor]

[[ooc: the stuff in blue is the TARDIS]]

She was waiting for her Doctor. He was off as usual, to who knew where. But he always came back he always did. Her Doctor was probably off doing something for the better of the universe. Once a pon a time ago he stole her from the TARDIS gardens and they haven't stopped running since. She took him all over time and space and learned to love him. She did love her Doctor more so than any of his companions tied together as the bond between a TARDIS and a Time Lord--or Lady was deep as time itself.

::I am here Sarcenet.::

The TARDIS knew what she was, she could speak the tongue of her cousin as many others as it was one of the many powers of the TARDIS. She could feel her sorrow and wanted to help her. Yet the Doctor, her Doctor who guided them thought the vortex was no where to be found. She could sense his essence but not pin point where he was.

::Wait with me sweet cousin. I know one who can help you. Come here, I'll let you in.::

Sending out a telepathic cry she beckoned her to come. She knew it might bring some happiness at the end of the tunnel. The Doctor could help.

::My partner can help you. I promise you he can. He helps everybody.::

Feeling a pang of pity strike her he wished and longed to be unbroken to take her back home to the vortex so she could be free again.

::We can do that, but the thing is I am broken TARDIS and can not fly.::

The Doctor was near she could feel him.

••

Waltzing out from the alleyway the Doctor beamed stepping in time to a song that was on a very twenty-first century music tool called an I-Pod. He head the buds in his ears and he was listening to the opening of the Muppet Show. He loved the Muppet Show as it was brilliant and extremely catchy.

There was a woman or something that resembled a woman who appeared to be yelling at his TARDIS for no apparent reason. He looked questionably at her and she gave him no reply. "Bloody TARDIS," he mused to himself. Of course he didn't mean it like that but he was frustrated that she was broken.

"OI don't be so negative. I have negativeness. Let's all look on the bright side of life eh?" he pulled the ear buds from his ears and stuffed the I-Pod into his breast pocket with his sonic screwdriver. "I am the Doctor and I don't like people or whatever you are messing around harassing my TARDIS cos she has feelings too." He shrugged for a moment thinking. "Of course you probably already know that because your yelling at her. So who in the Rasslion are you and I demand by the 15th right of Shadow Proclamation you tell me what is going on here."

[quinnmcghann]

If illusions could cry, Quinn would have shed tears, but she had not experience in such a complex task. Her body hunched over instead, as if trying to fold in on itself to avoid the pain of what would happen next.

"I am the Doctor and I don't like people or whatever you are messing around harassing my TARDIS 'cos she has feelings too. Of course you probably already know that because your yelling at her. So who in the Rasslion are you and I demand by the 15th right of Shadow Proclamation you tell me what is going on here."

A man had stepped out from the alleyway and began to talk very quickly. Quinn only got one glance at him- the frustrated despair on her face immediately blanked out to be replaced by fear. Her entire human form disappeared in a puff, leaving only the little gold cloud of energy. To panicked to stay a moment longer, Quinn zipped off in the opposite direction from which the man came. staying in human form would have slowed her down immensely: trying to coordinate all those limbs was just too hard. Their was no doubt in her mind that the fellow was some sort of scientist or paranormal investigator come to flash dazzling lights at her and maybe even try to trap her in a jar. Fear of being alone again was what had made her cry out in frustration at the TARDIS: at least the creature understood the language of her temper tantrum. But she shouldn't have even allowed herself that. Now she would have to be on the run again.

[The Doctor]

Maybe he was a little too harsh on the female alien--whatever she was. He had a tenancy of making simple things messier by simply overdoing the dialect. His tongue seemed to never shut up since he regenerated into his present form. Sometimes he wondered what might have happened if he was ginger and had less of a temper but honestly the Doctor could not recall a time when he was either of those things. He always seemed to be heated up like a flask on a bunsen burner.

"OI....why am I always running...." he tried calling after her but it ended up being useless so he trotted behind on the hot trail. His tan jacket flapped behind him as he darted after the mysterious girl. He had to find her and find out what the deal was between her and his TARDIS. The Doctor knew she was no Time Lady as she lacked the scent. Yet there was something, something in his mind--his head that made him yearn to find her. He had to find this mysterious lady. The Doctor simply had to.

Running on he half cursed to himself for being an idiot. "WAIT!" He called hopping to catch her attention. "I didn't mean to be rude--its this regeneration...I just want to talk. Honest. I'm on the good side... really. I don't mean any harm I just want to help you. That's all."

[quinnmcghann]

Quinn went a ways further, then chose to stop behind the corner of a building (floating fifteen feet above the ground) to see if she was still being followed. He might have given up by now. If he was still following, he had to have some sort of tracking device, which she would have to get rid of before she fled, otherwise no matter where she went there was a possibility of being tracked.

"WAIT! I didn't mean to be rude--its this regeneration...I just want to talk. Honest. I'm on the good side... really. I don't mean any harm I just want to help you. That's all."

Quinn didn't understand all of what he said, which made her feel anxious about his plea. What in the world did he think he could help her with? She dimmed her light and retreated a bit further into the shadows as he started to catch up with her, waiting to see what might happen.

[The Doctor]

He didn't have a said device. he just had his brains and his sonic screwdriver along side some other random things in his collection. Running a hand though his messy locks he looked around and stopped falling against a wall as the alien --energy or whatever she was seemed to have vanished from his sight. Yet he could still somehow sense her. Maybe it was old energy similar to his own spices. Oh, Rasslion knew. If only, if only.

Sighing he stayed in his spot to see if this method would help get her attention. He simply remained still and played pathetic. Sometimes it worked, others it did not.

Maybe if I use telepathy with her....

::I swear by Rasslion's name I will not hurt you.::

He mused if this would work or if it would fail. The Doctor hoped it would. He honestly truly did.

[quinnmcghann]

::I swear by Rasslion's name I will not hurt you.::

The voice was very firm, but did not come from the fellow's lips. This was a first for Quinn; most humans- well all, if she made a general assumption about the species from those she had met- could not do that. Was he something else? Quinn's thoughts lingered in the scrawny blonde man she had met in the alley. From what he had said, it seemed she wasn't the only non-human in the area. But she hadn't sensed anything remotely close to her own except the TARDIS, so whatever other beings lived here besides that fellow probably followed the same timeline.

Panic was still topping the earlier sorrow for now: currently Quinn's main focus was survival. Finding out what was chasing her was the most important issue at the moment. It would be safe to question him from here, she thought, since he hadn't shown any ability to fly and if she used his form of language, he wouldn't be able to pinpoint her location.

:: >*%*%##* :: she started to ask, then realized that was the informal version of the native tongue she and the TARDIS had shared, so she switched to human tongue.

:: What are you? ::

[The Doctor]

Wacthing her closely he nodded and before she switched to English the Doctor felt like bouncing up and down. Collectively he told her :: The Doctor, I can help promise. Your Sarcenet then.::

[/color] he noted nonchalantly as he could tell from her dialect.

Cocking his head to the side he folded his hands into his pockets and waited for her to reply. The Doctor kept his distance as he did not wish for the girl to be afraid of him. That would be horrible. So he kept his stance and tried to be a cool and collective as possible. Rasslion was in the details. He observed her closely from his spot and made mental notes as he waited. With time and patience he might be successful. Even though his words as he was non-violent and hated the usage of violence. It sickened him.

:: I'm a Time Lord, the last of the Time Lords. They all died in the Time War. I'm know your aware of that. All is given in the vortex. Though I'm not surprised that you showed up all the way here in Cardiff because of the Rift.::[/color] [/blockquote]

[quinnmcghann]

:: The Doctor, I can help promise. You're Sarcenet then.::

::I am nothing.:: Quinn replied bitterly, offended that this stranger was already trying to classify her. It was true in a sense: she wasn't human, which was the main thing that counted in this planet from what she could tell.
::Also a Doctor is a who, not a what.:: she added firmly.


:: I'm a Time Lord, the last of the Time Lords. They all died in the Time War. I know your aware of that. All is given in the vortex. Though I'm not surprised that you showed up all the way here in Cardiff because of the Rift.::

Images sifted through Quinn's mind: ugliness, brutality. Not just one side against each other but the both of them tearing apart Time itself to have the upper hand. THEY HAD DESERVED DEATH FOR WHAT THEY DID- Quinn startled herself and was only just able to keep from transmitting the thought. She sank lower and lower towards the asphalt as she tried to wrestle with the information he had awoken her to- it was too much for a young mind. If she was older, if she was grown, maybe then she could understand...

"I didn't come through the Rift. I was birthed here. Well, further north. I followed the...scent?" she didn't know the right word in the language they were using to explain better.

[The Doctor]

"The Doctor. Difference in the definite article."

[/color] he noted causally as he said this sort of thing many times. His fourth self was very fond of saying it. Honestly he didn't really know why he was at the moment. He broke out of the telepathy and began back with normal speech as the Doctor preferred it.

Observing her he continued to not wander too close as he feared scaring the poor dear off. That would be bad and then he would have to go about playing the game of cat and mouse once more. It wasn't that he hated the running he did a lot of running it was the fact that she was running from him when there was nothing to be afraid of. All the Doctor wanted to do was help her.

Letting his mind wander he tried to get his thoughts to think of something other than the tragedy of the Time War. It was a depressing thought yet it had to be said. He needed her trust right now and thus he let the words fall from his lips and his eyes tear up for a slight moment before he let himself cover it up. The Doctor wanted her to see that he was harmless and was doing what he had earlier professed.

Nodding, the Doctor let her correct him and try to explain. He followed and stood there thinking about her words. So she's not from the Rift but from -- the North of here. Earth-- or does she mean outside of it but North of....[/color] His thoughts brewed in his mind and let him see a wider picture. A smile fell across his lips as he thought of Rose and his own little joke about his old Northern accent in his former body. He told her that all planets had a North and it was true as they did. "Yes well all planets have a North. Do you mean North of Earth or just North of Cardiff?"[/color][/blockquote]