(AN: The meme at the top is for Runclevergirl13, we had a talk about motivation and stuff. Secondly, I make a joke about Alabama that may or may not be offensive, but to be fair, my ex boyfriend was the one who made it and he is from Alabama. So don't hate me.)
We walked onto the side street behind the bus company. "This is where the Artron signals converge."
"At the bus company. All roads lead to Rosa Parks." Yaz spoke glancing around. People were hauling crates and tools all around us. Working on buses and engines.
"Bit of a worry. Let's have a look around." The Doctor said as we approached a door with at least five padlocks on it.
"I'm not sure about this." Graham muttered.
"Neither am I, and that's saying something." I whispered back. This is where the energy reading was strongest, and this is where I felt the most uneasy. "I don't feel comfortable here Doctor." She continued to use the sonic screwdriver on the door as each lock began to fall into the gravel below us.
"I know, and I'm sorry, but we need to find out what's causing all of this." She opened the door and we all walked into the seemingly empty warehouse.
Ryan took one glance into the room. "There's nothing in here."
"Why padlock an empty room?" Yaz asked. The Doctor continued to scan the room as we proceeded to walk closer to the center.
"Unless it's not empty..." the Doctor got a lock on something and ran to the very center.
She used her sonic to remove what seemed to be a perception filter off of a suitcase. "That wasn't there a second ago." Graham said.
"Yes it was, it must've had a perception filter on it." I said walking closer to the case.
"Why would anyone do that to a suitcase?" Yaz asked, concerned. As she should be, because she was right.
"There could be something valuable, or something completely dangerous on the inside that they don't want us to find." I said taking a small step back.
"Can we open it?" Ryan asked the Doctor and I saw a grin grow on her face.
"Is the right question!" She exclaimed pulling out her sonic again crouching down next to it. "Is anyone excited? Because I'm really excited."
"You are such a child!" I exclaimed.
"You won't be excited if it's a bomb." Graham said and I nodded in agreement.
"Don't kill the vibe, Graham!" She exclaimed opening the case.
"Woah, not very 50's" Ryan muttered. I walked past him and looked over the Doctor's shoulder.
"I knew it. See now there's a problem, we're not the only ones in Montgomery who don't belong here." She said.
"Maybe that's why the Tardis brought us here. To fix whatever this person's trying to break." I supplied looking down at the kit. "Whoever they are, they know what they're doing."
"Information brick. Multi-intercepting surveillance device. All a bit knackered though." She said examining the tools.
"Well, why has it been left in here?"
She gasped. "This explains the Artron signals. This is very bad news. Secondary charger for a-" she was cut off by someone firing a weapon clearly not of this planet or time period. I ducked to the ground pulling the Doctor out of the way. The firing continued and we all got to our feet and ran for our lives out of the building. We ran around back to a yard of old rusted tankers. "In here." The Doctor said pulling me behind one. The other's followed behind us. We waited for a moment and it was silent. Then I heard the sound of metal clanging as if a ladder was being climbed. The the sound of boots on an empty tank followed. "Stay here." She said and she left me alone with the others. I rolled my eyes and quietly followed her. "Oi, Brando. Looking for us? I'm not armed." I stood at the base of the ladder waiting for the opportune moment.
"Is that supposed to make me not shoot you?" He asked.
"Ideally." She sighed. "So, temporal displacement weapon. Horrible things, can't stand them."
"Thank you."
"Not a compliment. It takes a lot of power to displace things in time. I think you and I, both know your weapon is pretty much out of juice. And I've got your spare battery. You've been leaving traces of residual Artron energy all over 1955."
"What are you, the Artron police?" He huffed at his own joke. "Maybe you are. Blue box in the alley, is that a Tardis?"
"Might be. What's it to you?" She replied.
"It could be worth a lot." He said.
"Nah, not that one. Second hand, huge mileage." She said and I proceeded up onto the top to join them.
"You forgot, one very careless owner." I said standing next to her. "But I'll tell you what, it most definitely is better than that vortex manipulator on your wrist." I said nodding to him.
"Cheap and nasty time travel." The Doctor added. He looked at his wrist and used his manipulator to charge his weapon. "So, what do you want with Rosa Parks?"
"Who?" He was playing dumb now and it was irritating.
"Now you're being annoying." She said.
"My thoughts exactly." I said as I crossed my arms.
"Feelings mutual."
"How long have you been here?" She asked.
"Get out of Montgomery." He warned.
"You're not the first to say that to us, and probably not the last." I said back.
"If I see any of you again, I will kill you." He said darkly.
"Don't threaten us." The Doctor said and I could tell there was a bit of the storm in her voice. She narrowed her eyes at him for a split second. "(Y/n), let's go." She said and I quickly got down. She soon followed and we walked back towards the others.
"Chop, chop, on your way now." He said. The Doctor then whipped around and scanned him with the sonic. "What are you doing?" He chuckled as she turned back towards me.
We began walking again but this time without looking back. "Come on, Gang." She called and the others ran to us from their hiding spot.
"Are we actually leaving?" Yaz whispered.
"Not in a million years." We followed the Doctor to a nearby motel. I stopped looking up at the neon sign. It had a smaller sign under it that said 'whites only' I narrowed my eyes at it and the others stopped and followed my gaze.
"I'm getting pretty sick of seeing that sign." Ryan said and I nodded in agreement.
"So how are we going to do this?" Yaz asked. Graham and the Doctor went to go pay for a room while I helped Ryan and Yaz sneak around back. We waited there for a moment before one of the back windows opened.
I helped Yaz into the motel room. "In you come before anyone sees." Graham said offering Ryan a hand. I waited until Ryan was out of the way before I made my way into the window.
"Last time I sneaked into someone's room by a window was Danny Biswas in year 10." Yaz said helping Ryan move out of the way.
The Doctor gave me her hand and she pulled me to my feet. "You just went right down in my estimation."
"All right!" She exclaimed.
"Danny Biswas? He was punching well above his weight." Ryan said and I smirked.
"Did you just accidentally pay me a compliment?" She asked shocked.
The Doctor and Graham were talking in the motel room and I decided to join them. "Why can't we just stay in the Tardis?" He asked.
I walked over to the bed closest to the window and plopped down onto it laying back. "Our friend with the temporal displacement weapon has got eyes on it. We go in and out of there, we're gonna run into him again, and I don't want to just yet. Not until we've figured this out."
"And this is better? Smuggling ourselves into crummy motels?" Ryan said.
"I just need a moment to work this out." She said.
Yaz took a step forward. "Yeah, like what do we actually know?" She asked.
"Montgomery, Alabama, 1955. Tomorrow Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus, and a time traveler who doesn't belong sneaking around the bus company. With a temporal displacement weapon, which cannot be good." I supplied from the bed.
"I understood 'weapon,' but I'm not sure about 'temporal displacement.'" Ryan said.
"It displaces you through time. A blast hits you, you're thrown through time to wherever the user has set it. He had it set for the very far future." The Doctor explained.
"That's horrible."
"Yes! And it uses Artron molecules. That, plus his vortex manipulator are presumably what the Tardis detected when it brought a here." I sat up and looked between the Doctor and the others.
"So, do we think he is trying to kill Rosa Parks? Or use that weapon on her?" Yaz said.
"Quite possibly, but I mean he's been here for a while, if he was going to go after her he would've already." I said and the Doctor nodded.
"The sonic picked up something else on him, but I need to go back to make sure." She paused for a moment before exclaiming. "Right!" She casually stepped onto the bed and walked to the wall.
"Hey!" I said as I fell back at the sudden movement on the bed.
She pulled out a pen and began to write on the wall. "What do you remember about Rosa from school?" I leaned my head back on the pillows and watched her write above me.
"Oi, whoa. What are you doing?" Graham asked and she turned on the bed to face him. "That is vandalism. We're gonna have to pay for that!"
"Don't worry. Special pen." She turned back around and began writing again.
"No, pack it in. You ain't Banksy!"
"Or is she?" I said and she smirked at him before turning back to the wall.
"Rosa takes the bus, on the 1st of December, 1955. What time of day?"
"Evening. She was going home from work. I remember because she said, people thought she didn't stand because she was tired from working, but she wasn't." Yaz added and the Doctor wrote it down.
"Where did she work?" She asked next.
"I think she's a seamstress, she told Mr Steele his 'suit would be ready tomorrow.'" I said and so the Doctor wrote.
"That's it, she did clothing repairs." Yaz confirmed. There was suddenly a loud banging on the door. I jumped up off the bed as did the Doctor. "Bathroom."
"Seriously?" Ryan asked.
"Yes, go I'll help you." I said and the three of us walked back into the bathroom. I opened the window. Ryan looked hesitant. "Come on, I have an idea but you need to trust me." He nodded and began to go out the window. Once he was out Yaz went next. "Ok, I'll help you back in as soon as they leave." I looked back and saw the Doctor standing in front of the door that was left open just a crack. "Shit!" I whispered. I closed the window but didn't lock it. I needed to think fast.
"Here we are darling," she said and I could tell she was slightly uncomfortable. "This police officer was so keen to come in, he didn't feel the need to introduce himself."
"Is there a problem, officer?"
"Mason." He said clear authority in his voice. "Montgomery police." The Doctor closed the door slowly so it wasn't noticed.
I turned on the facet and ran the water for a moment. Wetting my hands began turning off the water and patting them somewhat dry. I then exited to join the others. "Oh, I'm sorry officer, s there something wrong?" I asked in a deep southern accent.
He looked me over once then turned and glanced at the others. When he heard my accent he seemed to ease up some. Moron. "You don't happen to know a couple of mongrels, hmm?" He asked. "Negro boy? Mexican girl?"
"I don't recognize anyone by that description." The Doctor said and I could tell the officer knew she was being difficult.
"You see the Negro has been going around picking fights with upstanding citizens. You can appreciate it's an offense to harbor coloreds in a room here." He said stepping up to the Doctor. The tensions in the room grew and I chose to step in before someone got hurt.
"Officer," I said drawing his attention. "I can assure you, we aren't harboring anyone who doesn't have a right to be here." I said firmly. He stepped away from the Doctor and took a step towards me. I shot a warning look to the Doctor.
"What's your business here in Montgomery?" He asked us before making his way to the bathroom.
"Oh uh, I'm looking for a house. I heard there were great homes down here." I said and he walked back after his inspection. He eyes me suspiciously then to Graham and the Doctor. "My family," I said quickly. "Came to help me move."
"Cousins!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Twice removed." She added and he seemed to by this lie. He nodded to us before heading to the door. When he left I let out a sigh of relief and ran my hands over my face. "I did not warm to him."
"You think?" I asked sarcastically. "And you had to say cousins? We're in Alabama."
"So, what does that mean?" She said and I chuckled at her confusion.
I walked up to her and whispered into her ear. "I'll show you later."
"Ok." She said simply. Clearly she didn't understand what I was talking about. I pulled away and gave her a look that said it all. "Oh..." her face then went a bright red and she coughed awkwardly.
I laughed as I went to open the window. "Ok, he's gone. Where are you guys?" I asked looking out the window. They both stood up from behind the dumpster. "Oh, there you are." I offered Yaz a hand and she took it. Then Ryan was next. I walked back over and laid back in the bed again. The Doctor used her sonic to bring the writing back to the wall. "Back to work then?"
The Doctor stepped back onto the bed and pulled out her pen again. "We need as much intel as we can get. If we're gonna protect Rosa, we need to know the facts of her life. Home address. Daily routine. Where she works. The route she takes and the church she attends. Also the name of the driver she refused." She listed.
"I know that, it's James Blake." Graham said. The Doctor then turned and added it to the list of things we knew.
"How do you know that?" Ryan asked.
He turned to face him. "Well, your nan, when she found out I was a bus driver, said to me, 'You better not be like James Blake.' 'Blake the snake.' That's what she called him. I had to ask her who he was and she just said 'He gave all bus drivers a bad name.'"
"She said that when you had only just met?" Yaz asked.
"Yeah." He replied.
"That's pretty hardcore." I said from the bed. I looked up and just continued to watch the Doctor write.
"That's me nan." Ryan said with a sad laugh.
"She had a t-shirt that said, 'spirit of Rosa.' And well, I wish that she was here." We all looked at Graham sadly.
"I don't. She'd start a riot." Ryan said to lighten the mood. A smile grew on Graham's face.
"Right, operation Rosa Parks." The Doctor said getting off the bed again. "Come on, (Y/n), work to be done." I sighed before getting up off the bed. "Right. Let's get to work!" The others left to gather information and I stood in the motel with the Doctor.
"Ok, so what do you want me to do?" I asked.
"Tell me honestly, now that we are alone." She said and I crossed my arms. "Are you ok?" She asked seriously.
"Doctor I'm fine, how many times do I have to tell you?"
"I just want to keep you safe." She said defensively.
"I know." I said pulling her into a hug. She held me tight resting her head on my shoulder. "I know you do. I'm sorry for snapping at you outside the bar. I was just so frustrated, and the uneasiness I few with the Artron energy wasn't helping."
"It's ok. It was my fault as well. I shouldn't have said anything. I should've trusted you to known your limits." She said pulling away slightly so we could look each other in the eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried about you."
"I know, but Doctor, if these were to be my last moments-"
She cut me off. "Don't say that, we'll fight this together, you and me. Like we always do." I saw a tear form in her eye. I put my hand on her cheek and wiped it away as it fell. "I've lost everything, everyone I've ever cared about.." she said sadly. "I can't lose you too."
"Doctor, hey it's going to be ok." I said pulling her close to me. "Let's make the most of today instead of thinking of the possibilities of tomorrow." I said and she nodded against my shoulder. After a few more minutes within the embrace I pulled away. "Now, how the hell are we going to save Rosa Parks?" I asked and that seemed to put a small smile on her face.