Checkmate (Doctor Who fanfiction)

Ruby Explodes

"Really? Mediaeval expert are you?"

"No, it's just that I can hear Dusty Springfield."

He was right. I chuckled. Ah, Rory. Forever the practicalist.

The Doctor inspected a hole in the ground with a pipe running through it that I'd almost just stepped on. The pipe was labelled "Danger Corrosive," but I'd already kind gotten that from the sizzling sound the leaking drops of liquid made.

"These fissures are new. Solar tsunami sent out a huge wave of gamma particles. This is caused by a magnetic quake that occurs just before the wave hits," The Doctor announced. I bit my lip, which was purple today from lipstick Amy had insisted I wear.

"Well, the monastery's standing," Amy pointed out.

Somehow, The Doctor managed to pull an entire snow globe out of his jacket pocket. He shook it briefly, and handed it to me to play with.

"Yeah, for now."

"Doctor, look," Rory said. I looked up. It was weird- I'd started responding to his name. If someone called for him, I immediately looked up as if they were calling me, too. And I wasn't the only one. I'd noticed he often glanced up- even if just briefly- when Amy, or Rory, or someone else said my name.

My best guess was the habit was some kind of subconscious instinct to protect each other; both of us making sure the other wasn't about to walk off a cliff or something, which was likely with both of us, really. The only way we were responsible with life, it seemed, was when we weren't handling our own.

"Yeah. It's a supply pipe. Ceramic inner lining. Something corrosive. They're pumping something nasty off this island to the mainland."

"You don't say," I said. "It's not like the pipe is labeled 'corrosive,' or anything crazy like that."

"My mum's a massive fan of Dusty Springfield."

"John Wayne was tall," I said, rolling my eyes playfully.

"Who isn't?" Reasoned The Doctor. I promptly raised my hand, unsure which statement he was answering, but knowing I was neither tall, nor did I like Dusty Springfield. He ignored me. "Right, let's go! Satisfy our rabid curiosity."

"So where are these Dusty Springfield loving monks, then?" I asked, folding my arms as I walked. The Doctor raised his eyebrows at me, and looked back up at the old stone building.

"I think we're here. This is it," he said.

"Doctor, what are you talking about?" I asked. "We've never been here before."

"Hmm?"

"We came here by accident?" Amy reassured, but I got the feeling that it was more than just a trick in a disc and a solar flare.

"Accident? Yes, I know. Accident."

He needed to get a grip on reality. He was rubbish at lying.

"Ow!" Rory cried suddenly. I looked over, ready to kill, and saw he'd burned his finger on some acidic liquid on the wall.

"Acid," The Doctor decided automatically. "They're pumping acid off this island. That's old stuff. Fresh acid, you wouldn't have a finger."

Intruder alert. Intruder alert.

Oh, wonderful.

"There are people coming. Well, almost," The Doctor said.

"Almost coming?" Amy demanded.

"Almost people."

Okay, when had he been here before? He knew something.

"I think we should really be going," Rory reasoned.