EATER OF SOULS
Chapter Thirty Rose felt empty inside as she was led back to Bezrek's room. When the transmat beam took them back up to the ship, Apophis ordered his guards to take the Doctor to the laboratory so he could check to make sure he was truly dead. He looked at Bezrek. "I will have my pilot fly the ship to Sheltek Na'barak's ship and bring that on board as well. It will be displayed with the Time Lord after my scientists have examined it to see if we can use any of its technology." He walked up to Rose and smirked at her hate filled expression. "Too bad, human, it seems you followed the wrong man, he wasn't as immortal as you thought." "He's alive, just you watch, he'll come back somehow and stop you," Rose said. Apophis hissed out laughter which made Rose even angrier. "Ah, I love these humans' simple beliefs in things like faith and hope. It's almost childlike and endearing. I intend to check the Time Lord thoroughly, human, before I display him but I have a feeling that this miraculous resurrection won't happen." "I want to see him," Rose said. "Perhaps. If you behave, I might let you see him. But for now, you're to go with Bezrek. He'll take care of you now. Bezrek, take her away while I go and check the Time Lord." "Come on, Rose," Bezrek said, tugging on her chain. For a moment, Rose thought about decking him again but decided not to risk it. She knew she had to wait and bide her time until Bezrek let his guard down and then she would kill him and either escape the ship in the TARDIS with the Doctor's body or try to take out Apophis and as many of his guards as she could before she was killed. Either way, she swore she'd have her revenge. She glared silently at Apophis before she turned and walked away with Bezrek. Apophis hissed out laughter while he watched her go and then turned and headed for his laboratory. When he reached the laboratory, he went inside. The guards had taken off the Doctor's loincloth and laid him out on the metal examination table. There was no movement from the Time Lord and Apophis felt a burst of joy, knowing that his adversary was dead. Still, he felt the need to check and be sure so he ordered the guards to bring over a scanner. He used the handheld scanner to scan the Doctor from head to toe and then looked at the tiny monitor. His smiled widened when the reading showed no signs of life. "He is dead," Apophis said to his guards who hissed in pleasure. "The mighty Sheltek Na'barak has fallen, never to rise again." He threw back his head and laughed while the guards hissed their joy. He summoned the guards to come closer. "Clean him off and put perfume on him so the body doesn't smell. Dress him in ceremonial robes and set up a temporary bier for him in my throne room until we can construct a permanent one. We'll let his human lover see him one last time before we begin the embalming process. Let me know when you're finished so I can go and get her." The guards bowed and Apophis turned and walked out of the room, heading for the control room so he could tell his pilot to retrieve the TARDIS. After a few hours, the Doctor was lying in state on a funeral bier in Apophis's throne room. He was dressed in a long gold silk robe that had embroidered hieroglyphics of Apophis on each side of the robe above his chest. There was no movement from him and then suddenly, he took a breath as he slowly came out of the deep trance he had put himself into in order to conserve oxygen and prolong his life. He frowned when he noticed light was shining through his eyelids and he opened one eye, then both eyes as he looked around. "Well, well, seems I've been moved," the Doctor said. "I need to go into trance more often when I'm in a bind. And it seems I've been moved to the mothership. Guess old Pophy didn't want me rotting away when he could display me as a trophy. Jolly good for me and jolly bad for him." He heard noises outside the door and closed his eyes. He activated his bypass system so he wouldn't need to breathe and stayed still while he listened. The door slid open and his blood boiled when he heard Bezrek saying, "you get fifteen minutes, make them count!" before the door slid closed. Then there was silence except for the hiss of the air conditioning unit but the Doctor could sense someone in the room and he knew who it was without looking. He resisted the urge to open his eyes or move since he wasn't sure yet if she'd come in alone so he kept still while he sensed her moving towards him. She could hear her soft sobbing and he longed to take her in his arms and hold her but for the moment, he still acted like he was dead. Then he felt Rose knell down beside him and put her hand on his right hand. He could hear her breathing and feel it on his face as she leaned over to look at him. "Ugh, they could have done without the perfume." The Doctor resisted the urge to smile at that. He had to agree, that was another reason why he turned on his bypass system so he wouldn't have to put up with inhaling the overpowering musky scent they had slathered all over his body. He felt Rose put her other hand on the top of his head and he opened his eyes just a tiny crack. She was crying and his hearts ached when he saw the tears running down her face. She stared at him in silence for a moment before shaking her head. "Why won't you regenerate? You can't be dead," she sobbed. The Doctor closed his eyes as she leaned closer and kissed his forehead. "This is wrong, you're not dead," Rose murmured as she stroked his cheek. "Suffocation will not kill you stone dead." The Doctor had to fight to keep from smiling at that. His hearts warmed with love when Rose kissed his cheek and laid her cheek against his. His hearts ached when he felt the wetness from her tears against his own skin. "If you are…d…dead," she choked out. "I promise I'll get revenge on all of them for what they did to you. Especially that bastard, Bezrek. I'll wait till that wanker's asleep and I'll stab him in the throat and throw him to the dogs. They won't get away with this. I'll kill them all or die trying." The Doctor was touched by that and also a bit amused when the image of Amazon Rose standing over sleeping Bezrek with dagger in hand entered his mind. "I love you, I'll never love anyone else the way I've loved you," Rose whispered. Again, the Doctor fought the urge to take her in his arms and kiss her. The urge to tell her he was alive was overpowering and he debated whether to let her know he lived or wait till he was alone and sneak away. He heard Rose let out a harsh laugh and he concentrated on listening to her. "I s'pose what they said about you brainwashing me is true because I can't stop thinking about killing myself now that you're dead," she said. "That's how much you mean to me and how much a part of my life you were. I can't bear the thought of living as Bezrek's slave and knowing that you're in here, embalmed, like some hunting trophy. I want to be where you are, my love. I want to go to sleep and never wake up." The Doctor knew he couldn't let Rose leave the room without knowing he was alive since he was scared she would harm herself out of desperation. He didn't want to alarm her by suddenly sitting up so he slowly opened one eye and quickly shook his head when she gasped and was about to say something. "I knew it," Rose whispered before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I knew it had to be an act. Oh, Doctor, I don't think I've ever been so relieved in my whole life." Is anyone in here with us? He mouthed to her. "No, my love, we're alone," Rose said softly, stroking his cheek. "There are guards just outside the door though." "Then I won't speak very loudly," he said softly. "I just wanted to let you know I was alive because the last thing I want is for you to pull a Romeo and Juliet on me. I want you to pretend I'm still dead because I want to wait till everyone's gone so I can sneak away." Rose nodded. "As for revenge, leave that to me," the Doctor said. "I don't want you having blood on your hands; I'll take care of them, yeah?" Rose nodded. "How did you fake your death though?" Rose said. "I tried to find your pulse and I couldn't and you weren't breathing…actually, I can't hear you breathing now." "That's because I'm using my respiratory bypass system. I wanted to be sure we were alone before I revealed myself and any guards standing nearby could have heard me breathing. As for faking my death, I can put myself in a deep trance and slow my hearts down until they're barely beating. I did that to conserve oxygen and give me time to think of a way out. When I came up for air, I realized they brought me back here. Apophis couldn't resist opening up the crypt to check if I was dead?" "Part of that was me. I begged Bezrek to spare you and told him I'd rather have you be a slave and be alive than be without you. I told Bezrek I would kill myself if you died and I think I scared him enough that he went to Apophis to ask him to check on you." "Good job Bezrek's smitten with you then," the Doctor said. "Or who knows how long I would have been in that tomb." "They're bringing the TARDIS on board as well. They're gonna display it next to your body. Apophis wants to use you as a trophy and gloat that he killed you." The Doctor snorted. "Sorry to disappoint him but reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated," he said while Rose smiled and nodded. "So…he's making it easy for us then. With the TARDIS nearby, we'll have a way to leave without having to leave the ship. All that remains is taking care of them so they don't kill anyone else down below. We have to get them to leave Egypt at the very least so they don't muck with history. Plus, I want to get in on that whole throat slitting scheme of yours, sounds like fun." Rose chuckled and kissed his lips. She glanced back at the door and sighed. "S'pose my fifteen minutes are almost up," she said. "I have to go back to Bezrek now." "Has he done anything to you…besides take your clothes off," the Doctor said, turning his head and gazing at her unclothed breasts. "Blimey, you must really be freezing now. Do you need me to wrap you up again?" "Yes, I am freezing and wrapping me up sounds good right about now," Rose said. "Oh God, I'm so glad you're alright. You don't know how glad I am to see you." "I know, that's how extensive my brainwashing is," the Doctor said. Rose snorted and the Doctor chuckled before he kissed her again. Rose laid her forehead against his for a moment and gave it a kiss before she leaned back up. "I better go before they come in to get me," Rose said while the Doctor nodded in agreement. "Be careful." "You too, don't throw yourself off a building before I get out there." "You're alive now? Not a chance," Rose said. She gave him one more kiss and ran his finger down his cheek before she stood up. The Doctor watched her walk towards the door and then quickly pretended to be dead when Rose yelled through the door that she was ready to go.
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