SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
Chapter Seventy Seven Alan drove on through the night towards Memphis. The rain was coming down at a steady clip but it and the wind weren’t as severe as the night before. Rose was beside him and she was turned in her seat talking to Awinita. Alan was listening to them as they made small talk about their favorite things. A lot of what Rose was saying was new to him and it occurred to him that the Doctor had never really asked her much about her likes and dislikes. Keeping her at a distance, I suppose, he thought, the less said, the better with him. But then again, he wasn’t exactly spilling his guts out in return. I s’pose it also has to do with him being a full Time Lord, being half human I can relate more to this trivial stuff. And that is one of the few reasons why I’m glad I am the way I am right now. “Alan?” Alan glanced in the rearview mirror when Awinita said his name. “Huh?” “How ‘bout you? What are some of your favorite things?” she said. “Being here with you guys, that’s my favorite thing,” he said. “Yeah, but do you have any favorite actors or singers or writers?” Awinita said. “I mean, you’re trying to be your own person so you need to decide who and what you like.” “Good point. Um, I love Shakespeare,” he said. “He’s one of my favorite dramatists. Love Agatha Christie, I think she’s brilliant. Hmmm…love Enrique Caruso and Pavarotti and The Beatles and Queen; those are some of my favorite singers. Um…blimey, this is tough…” “Do you have any favorite movies?” Awinita asked. Alan thought. “Um…I have so many favorite movies it’d take all night to name them,” he said. “Well, what kinds of movies do you like, drama, comedy…” “Mainly comedy but I like a good drama now and then or a historical film if it’s done accurately.” “And you like cheesy, badly acted, low-budget sci-fi movies,” Rose said. He laughed. “Yup, those too.” “How about...periods of history?” Rose said. “If we had the TARDIS here right now, where would you fancy goin’?” “Oh God, there’s too many to name. I like history in general and there’s so many fascinating time periods,” he said. He glanced at Awinita. “How ‘bout you? If you’re gonna be travelin’ with us, then you need to help us out with places and people we could visit. If we had the TARDIS right here, right now and you could go anywhere in time and space and meet anyone, where would you like to go and who would you like to see?” “Oh man, anywhere? Um…” Awinita trailed off while she mulled that over. “Anywhere in time and space, “she murmured. “Um…” She chuckled. “I would like to go see Andrew Jackson and kick him in the ass for what he did to my people,” she said. “You mean The Trail of Tears?” Alan said. “Yes.” “Okay, so once we get the TARDIS, we’ll take you back to the 1800’s so you can give Andrew Jackson a swift kick in the bum for all three of us. Is there anything else?” She thought. “I’d like to meet Abraham Lincoln,” she said. “He’s a nice guy. But he was very depressed when the Doctor met him, which was understandable since the Civil War was raging at the time. But a very, very sweet and caring man so we can definitely go see him again. Anyone or anywhere else?” Hmm, I like Ancient Egypt, I’ve always been fascinated by it,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind seeing that and also go back to before Columbus came here and see what it was like when there were only Native Americans on the continent. Um…other planets…is it possible to go to any planet in the universe?” “The TARDIS can go anywhere at any time,” Alan said. “Yeah, but I mean, are some planets not safe to be on?” “How d’ya mean? That could mean any number of things,” Alan said. “You mean atmosphere-wise?” “Yeah.” “The TARDIS can protect us against any kind of environment. If there is a planet that we can’t breathe the air on, we can observe it from the TARDIS or we can don spacesuits and explore that way. Same thing if a terrain is too hazardous to set foot on. The TARDIS has a special force field that can protect us if we open the door in deep space or on uninhabitable planets. Now, if you’re talking government-wise, well there are some dangerous planets out there ruled by nutters who will torture and kill you if you get in their way but if we happen to go to any of those there are ways we can protect ourselves and of course, in time, you’ll become stronger and tougher in body and mind. Just ask Rose. The Doctor took her under her wing and taught her how to be a fighter and I can do the same for you. Course you have to have inner strength and courage and a natural curiosity to travel time and space but I think you have that and both Rose and I can help bring that out even more. Don’t worry; I won’t let you get killed just like I won’t let Rose get killed. I’m a professional or rather I’m the clone of a professional.” “Have any companions ever died?” Awinita asked. He fell silent. “Three,” he said. “There was a man called Adric and two women called Astrid and River. Well…actually, to be fair Astrid was kind of a half companion since she died before she could travel in the TARDIS, but she did help the Doctor out so that’s why I count her. But that’s three people out of many that have traveled in the TARDIS. Nearly everyone else left at some point for varying reasons when they grew tired of traveling. I say nearly everyone because a few left the TARDIS because the Doctor decided they should go but those were in the minority because the Doctor loves for people to travel with him. When he first started out he traveled with just his granddaughter, Susan and then he met her teachers, Ian and Barbara and they became the first non-family companions. After that, he realized how fun it was traveling with others since he was able to experience planets and people through their eyes so he made it a habit to find people who were worthy enough to see the stars with him. Rose here is one such member of a very exclusive little club and if you want, you can be too. You can travel with us for as long as you like and if you feel the time has come to leave, just say so and I’ll take you back home. I’ll be sad to see you go but I won’t force anyone to come with me just as the Doctor wouldn’t. It wouldn’t be fun for you or me if you were traveling with me when you didn’t want to. So just so you know that I’m really not pressuring you to travel with us, I’m just extending the invitation because I like you and I think you’re good companion material. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. All I ask is you let us keep in touch with you and drop in every once in awhile.” “It’s a deal,” she said. Finally they reached Memphis around nine at night and found another Holiday Inn. They checked in and found their room. “I hope this room is ghost free,” Alan said. “Maybe it’s got the ghost of Elvis in it,” Awinita said. Alan raised his eyebrow. “If Elvis is haunting the Memphis Holiday Inn then he must be really bored or just slumming it,” he said as she laughed. “Do you want the shower first?” “It’s up to you guys,” Awinita said. “Could you?” Rose said. “I want to talk to Alan in private for a moment.” “Sure.” She grabbed her rucksack and entered the bathroom. Alan watched as she closed the door and then looked at Rose. “Okay--“ Rose held up her hand. She waited until she heard the shower running and then nodded. “Did I say something wrong?” Alan said softly. Rose shook her head. She sat down on the bed and indicated for him to sit down beside her. She glanced over towards the bathroom as he did and then gave him her full attention. “I’ve been thinking about this all day and I wanted to wait until we could have some privacy,” she said. “Okay, we have privacy, so what do you want to talk about?” Alan said. Rose sighed. “Alan, I want you to show me…the Valeyard, what he looks like.” Alan felt his heart sink. “No, Rose.” “Alan, please, I wanna know if those dreams are really dreams or visions of the future.” “Starlight, please, don’t ask me to do this. I don’t want you frightened and having nightmares again.” “I won’t, I promise.” “How can you promise that? You can’t control what you dream about.” She took his hands. “Alan, I promise I can handle this. Please, I wanna know. I have to know if what I’ve seen are visions of the future. Please, do this for me.” Alan let out a defeated sigh. “As long as you promise me that if what you see matches your dreams, you won’t freak out and start preparing for something that may never come to pass,” he said. “And even if it is in our future, some things can’t be changed and if the Valeyard is going to appear at some point, there’s more than likely nothing we can do to prevent that.” “I understand, I do. I promise I won’t freak out.” “Alright, then I’ll show you.” He hesitated a moment and then put his fingers to his temples. Again, there was a moment of hesitation and then he projected an image of the Valeyard into her mind. He heard her let out a gasp and his blood run cold when he heard her murmur… “It’s him.” He took his fingers away. “It’s him, Alan. That’s who I’ve been seeing in my dreams.” He took her in his arms. “Don’t be afraid. If he comes here, I’ll protect you from him,” he murmured. “Just don’t worry about it until if and when the moment comes.” “I won’t worry, not as long as you’re here with me.” Alan kissed the top of her head. Just then he heard the shower cut off. He tilted her head up to his and rested his forehead against hers secretly hoping that what Rose had seen would never come to pass. He was in no hurry to see the Valeyard but he knew that if he came, he would protect Rose and Awinita even at the cost of his own life. “Guys, are you done talking?” Awinita called from the bathroom. Alan looked at her. “Was that it?” he asked. Rose nodded. “Yeah, we’re done, it’s safe to come out,” Alan called out. He stroked Rose’s cheek. “Shower with me next,” he said. “I think both of us could benefit from it after this.” Rose nodded. She gave him a tight hug and kissed his lips before they broke apart, grabbed their rucksacks and went past Awinita into the bathroom.
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