MISSING IN ACTION
Chapter 2 It was dark. That was the first thing the Doctor noticed. Was he blind, then? Or wasn't there any light where he was? Groggily he shifted his sore body, letting out a small groan as stiff joints cracked painfully. Time Lord's didn't get arthritis, but the way his body felt at the moment, you'd never know that. The surface he was lying on was hard and cold. Possibly cement or permacrete, he pondered idly. He'd woken up just seconds ago, bound tightly with what felt like some sort of thin metal cables. As his senses slowly returned, the Doctor realized that he couldn't see because he'd had some sort of hood thrown over his head. "Oy!" he called out, "What's with the hood? My face isn't that bad, is it? I rather like this face. It has character, and might I even say, a certain measure of pizazz. It's very cool, this face." No one answered him. His voice, muffled though it was, seemed to bounce back at him, almost leaving an echo behind. An empty room then, thought the Doctor. Shimmying his body backwards, the Doctor eventually found a wall. Grunting with the effort, he inched his back up the wall, until he was in a sitting position. Which wasn't easy, as the cables seemed to become even tighter, every time he moved. Still, the activity helped to restore his circulation. His feet and hands had become slightly numb, from the inactivity. Which must mean that he'd been out of it for quite a while, the Doctor reckoned. The last thing that he remembered was coming back to the TARDIS with Rory and Amy, after dealing with that amorous lumberjack in the backwoods of Lakelandia. They'd decided to relax by going for a swim, and to pass the time, he was watching the football on the monitor screen. He was yelling his displeasure at one of the officials, whom he felt had made a completely rubbish call. Then, without warning, he'd been enveloped by a bright white light in middle of saying something quite rude in old high Galifreyan. Only to wake up here. Wherever 'here' was. "That's it!" The Doctor shouted out loud. "Transmat beam!" Then he fell silent. That should be impossible, in the TARDIS, though. The last time that had happened... "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. Please. Not them. Not again." The Doctor whispered to himself, his hearts beating just a little faster. A cold finger of fear slowly walked its way up his spine. He tried his best to ignore it. As if in answer to his worst suspicions, a voice abruptly echoed back to him from somewhere: "Doc-tor!" ### Once inside the TARDIS, River shut the door and went into the interior of the ship without another word to Amy or Rory. Amy gave Rory a puzzled look, and he simply shrugged his shoulders in an 'How should I know?' gesture. "Erm—just make yourself at home, River." Amy called out. "Thanks, I will!" Came her shout from somewhere through the doorway. "Shall I put on a pot of tea?" Amy asked sarcastically, standing with her arms akimbo on her hips, eying the doorway. "No dear, can't stand the stuff. I wouldn't say no to a pot of Costa coffee, though, Amy." River called back. "Extra cream, no sugar, ta." River came bounding back into the room. She'd changed out of the gown, and was now wearing more practical beige and black futuristic combat fatigues. "Where did you find those?" Amy asked, askance. "TARDIS wardrobe, of course." River told her. "I always keep something extra on board. You know, to change into just in case some giant alien animal dribbles snot on me." She said, glancing at Rory. "Is it that obvious? Do really I smell like cow snot?" He asked anxiously, sniffing his sleeves and armpit. "Nothing to worry about, Rory." River said, smiling mischievously at him. "Gives you a manly man smell." Rory grimaced. Amy was trying hard not to laugh. She gave Rory a consoling pat on the back. "You're fine, Rory. You...manly man, you." Looking down at her clothes, River said,"Anyway Amy, it was either wear this, or Zena's warrior princess get up. And you know, I'd rather not have a wardrobe malfunction in the middle of a rescue. Although..it might serve as a good distraction, in the right company." "How can we find the Doctor?" Rory asked. "We don't know how to fly the TARDIS." "Oh, but I do." River responded smugly. "Figures you'd know how to fly the TARDIS." Amy stated begrudgingly, feeling an unbidden jealousy rising within her. "When did the Doctor teach you to do that?" River just looked at them knowingly, and, winking, patted her finger beside her nose. "Yeah, we know." Amy sighed. She and Rory looked at each other and said simultaneously. "Spoilers." "While I was back there," River went on to explain, "I was also back there borrowing the Doctor's hair brush." She showed them the hair brush she was holding. "It contains the Doctor's unique DNA pattern. The TARDIS is programmed to home in on that, in case of an emergency recall. Which he never uses, of course. Too safe for him, I suppose. I can use it to trace his whereabouts. At least I can, if he's still inside the time stream, and in the known universe." Holding up the brush, River pulled a strand of hair from it. She looked at it distastefully and tsked. "That man has way too much of a fixation on using hair gel in his younger regenerations. I can't wait till' he grows up." She said, putting the hair down on the console and wiping her fingers on her pants. Amy noticed that they left a greasy smudge. "That one hair will help us to locate the Doctor?" Rory asked, looking over River's shoulder. "Yes." River nodded. She'd placed the hair on a flat disc on the console, and was now busy pushing a few buttons and toggling some switches. "Either that, or find us a really good hairdresser." A steady bleeping came from the console. River flicked on the monitor screen. On it, was a map of a certain section of the universe, along with words in Galifrey's unique language. They always reminded Amy of the swirling spirals she used to draw with a plastic thing that came in some kid's drawing kit her mum had bought her one Christmas. She always suspected her mum bought her things like that, in hope of taking her mind off of her imaginary raggety Doctor. Punching in some codes on the typewriter, River watched the monitor as it narrowed down to one particular section of the map. Suddenly, the area in space came into greater detail. It was a map of a galaxy. Mostly it was dark, but tiny pinprick dots were, Amy guessed, stars. The larger dots were probably planets or moons. There weren't very many of those, she noticed. All of the sudden, a red dot flashed on the screen, on top of one particular planet. Amy heard River gasp when she brought up the specifics of the planet. "No, it can't be!" She said in a whisper, stepping back from the console, staring at the monitor screen. Amy was startled to see her looking so pale and frightened. "What?" A suddenly alarmed Rory and Amy asked together. Looking at them somberly, River said quietly, "Maybe I better take you home, and do this on my own." "What is it?" Amy demanded. "Tell me, River!" "That planet he's on, is home to one of the Doctor's most dangerous enemies." River answered in a whisper. "I don't know if anyone can save him, this time."
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