ARCADIA

Chapter Twelve

They walked back to the TARDIS, the Doctor leading the way after convincing Jackie he wasn't going to hurt her if he took control. They stopped at the TARDIS and the DoctorJackie looked around, half expecting Callisto to jump out at any moment. He didn't see anything so he put his hand on the door handle and grunted when he felt an electric shock going through Jackie's body. He tried to pull his hand away but it was held fast to the door by an electric force field.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Rose said, coming towards him.

"Don't come close to…"

He tried to tell her not to get too close but Rose came up behind him and grabbed his arms, intending to jerk her mother and him away from the door. Then suddenly there was an enormous flash of light. When the light faded, they and the TARDIS were inside a huge metal jail cell. The DoctorJackie's hand was still held fast to the door handle and the Doctor cursed as he tried to pull it away.

"He put something on the TARDIS to trap my hand," he said to Rose as she came around to his side. "Don't touch it or you'll be trapped as well. I told you to get away from me."

"I'm sorry, I was only trying to help," Rose said.

So now we're all trapped again, Jackie thought to the Doctor. Are you going to do anything right or are you just going to cock it up and kill us all?

"I'm working on it, Jackie," the Doctor growled.

So we'll all land up dead then, Jackie thought to him.

The Doctor sighed angrily, deciding to ignore her. Rose asked the TARDIS to open the door but she didn't respond.

"He may have overridden the controls so she can't do it," the DoctorJackie said to her. "He has my body and some of my memories so he would know how to enter her without triggering the emergency defenses. He probably did it while we were off on our little wild goose chase, that's probably why he did that. Gave him enough time to rig the trap."

And now we die, Jackie thought to him. And my daughter is a prisoner again after you promised…"

"I know what I promised, Jackie," the Doctor snarled.

"Mum, leave him alone, he didn't do this on purpose," Rose said to her mother. "He's trying to fix it."

And while he fixes it, we die, Jackie thought to the Doctor.

"Just ignore her," Rose said when the Doctor let out an angry sigh at that.

"It's a little hard to ignore her when I'm directly inside her mind and she can think to me, Rose," the DoctorJackie said.

"Then come back inside me," Rose said, grabbing his free hand. "You're finished with the blocks, yeah?"

"Yes. So yes, I will take my leave of you, Jackie, and…"

He shut up when a metal door beyond the cell slid open and Callisto came into the room. He turned up the overhead lights until they illuminated the entire cell block. There was nothing across the room that the DoctorJackie could see, only metal floors and ceiling. The metal door slid shut and merged with the wall while Callisto walked towards them.

"In a hurry to leave, Miss Tyler?" Callisto said to DoctorJackie.

The Doctor realized that he didn't know that he was inside Jackie. Especially since Callisto was looking at Rose and chuckling.

"And you, my dear Doctor," he said, addressing Rose. "You've come back to me at last."

Rose glanced at the DoctorJackie for a few seconds.

"Let them go," Rose said, deciding to pretend the Doctor was inside her. "Put me inside an android body and let them go."

"Still the same old song, Time Lord?" Callisto said after letting out a derisive snort. "You're like a broken music stream with your constant repetitions of mercy for your companion and her mother. It's beginning to bore me. So for the millionth time, Time Lord, no. They are mine and so are you."

"Then you'll feel the wrath of the Oncoming Storm," Rose said with as much conviction as she could muster. "You'll learn what happens when you cross me."

Callisto threw back his head and laughed.

"What happens is I get your body and you end up with your hand stuck to the door of your time machine. Bravado and cliché talk will get you nowhere here, especially since I hold the upper hand at the moment."

He reached into the pocket of his trousers and held up a remote control.

That's the thing he used to control me, Jackie thought to the Doctor.

Then we're about to see if my mental blocks work, the Doctor thought back. If they hold, I'm going to pretend you're hypnotized so he'll let his guard down. If he thinks you're under his control, he'll let you go and we can help Rose.

Just don't let her suffer or die, that's all I ask, Jackie thought to him.

Believe me, Jackie, those are my exact intentions, the Doctor thought back.

Callisto activated the slave band and the Doctor paused for a moment. To his relief, the blocks held and he sensed Jackie's mind was still free but he relaxed her body and gave her face a blank look for a moment, hoping this was what it looked like when he first put her under his thrall. Callisto looked convinced and the Doctor was relieved that so far he was pulling off the slave routine. Callisto put the remote back inside his pocket and pulled out another one. He pushed a button on it and the Doctor could pull Jackie's hand away from the door. He stood still with a blank look on his face while Callisto pulled a key out, unlocked the door and slid inside the cell, hurriedly locking the door behind him.

"So, Doctor, what is your next move?" he said to Rose. "More brave speeches about how you'll defeat me?"

The DoctorJackie tensed Jackie's body slightly. Callisto had no idea he was inside Jackie and free of his control. He could wait and pin Callisto up against the TARDIS and put his fingers on the sides of Callisto's head and get back inside his body. But to his dismay, Callisto pulled out another remote control, activated it and a visible force field came down between him and Callisto, Rose and the TARDIS, separating him and preventing him from entering his body.

"So, Doctor, what's your next move?" Callisto repeated when Rose fell silent and tried to think of something to say to him.

"Why are you doing this to us?" Rose said, trying to stall for time.

Callisto gazed at her intently and Rose shifted a bit under his penetrating gaze. Callisto smirked at that and Rose forced herself to stay still when he fingered her hair.

"Tell me, Time Lord, what happened at the Battle of Thane Drover? We were told about that victory many times after the battle. So what happened in it and what was your part in defeating the Daleks?"

The Doctor silently groaned. He know knew that Callisto hadn't been fooled and he knew full well that he was no longer inside Rose. He still kept still, hoping that he didn't know he was inside Jackie but that was a weak hope. Callisto isolated Jackie from Rose and the TARDIS and he figured it was because he knew he was inside her mother and wanted him cut off from helping her or escaping. He saw Rose floundering for an answer and he knew the jig was up. He was about to tell Callisto where he was when Callisto suddenly seized Rose and threw her up against the TARDIS door.

"I'm no fool, Rose. I know full well where the Doctor is," he said, pointing to Jackie. "And I know what he did to your mother. Jackie never went rigid when I turned on the slave band so he must have blocked my control of her, right? Isn't that right, Doctor?" he said, turning his attention to Jackie.

"Well, it was worth a try," the DoctorJackie said, shrugging Jackie's shoulders.

Callisto chuckled.

"You are a fool, Doctor," Callisto said. "However, the kitty still feels like playing a bit with my mice before I dispatch them."

He moved his hand around Rose's neck and Jackie shuddered inwardly when he began to choke her. Rose gagged and tried to get away from him but he threw her to the floor and used the forcefield control to throw up another forcefield between himself and her and the TARDIS, splitting the room into three parts. He then made a hole in the forcefield long enough for him to get to the cell door before closing it again.

"I will return," he said, looking at Rose and then at DoctorJackie before he opened the cell door, stepped outside and closed it behind him.

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