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"Wait!"
Lynda froze in surprise at the Doctor's sudden exclamation. "What's wrong?" she asked, turning around. Then she flinched because, really, what wasn't wrong?
There was an unreadable look on the Doctor's face as he glanced between her and the blonde girl - Rose, was that her name? - that he'd been so set on finding. "Tell me, Lynda with a 'y', who's waiting for you down on Earth?"
She stared at him for a moment. "No one, really," she said, shrugging slightly. "I mean-- it's Earth."
Something unreadable flashed in his eyes. "Stay here," he ordered, holding up a finder. "Change in plans."
Lynda blinked in surprise, but she didn't argue. She merely stepped to the side, looking away to give the Doctor and his friends some privacy. It was obvious that they were saying "goodbye," probably forever.
Someone touched her arm a minute or so later, and she looked up. The Doctor's friend - the man, though she couldn't remember his name - grinned at her. "Good luck," he said, reaching out to brush her face. He winked at her, giving her a flirtatious smile. "Too bad we didn't meet at a better time."
Without another word, he turned around and disappeared out the door. She still couldn't remember his name, and it almost broke her heart. He was going to die trying to save her, and she didn't even know his name. What kind of person was she?
Lynda took a shaky breath, quickly reaching up to wipe her eyes as she turned back toward the Doctor and Rose. "What do you want me to do?"
"Wait inside the TARDIS," the Doctor said, gesturing toward the blue box that he'd claimed was his ship. "I might need you to bring me or Rose something in a minute, and it will go faster if you're already in there."
Nodding, Lynda walked over to the box - no, the TARDIS, that's what he had called it - and stopped in front of its doors. She gave it a skeptical look, but she didn't hesitate as she pushed open the door and walked inside.
Then she froze.
"This is impossible," Lynda whispered, spinning around. She resisted the urge to step back out and take a closer look at the outside of the TARDIS, but just barely. Taking a deep breath, she slipped closer to the center of the room, toward what she assumed was the control console.
Lynda reached out and hesitantly touched the console, careful not to touch any of the buttons or levers that covered it. It felt warm, and she could almost feel a gentle pulse of energy coming from it. It was almost as if the ship was alive. She suddenly felt lost and completely out of her element.
"Why did he ask me to stay?" she asked, unsure if she was talking to herself or to the ship. "There's nothing I can do here."
Behind her, there was a clattering sound as Rose rushed in the door.
Lynda spun around, staring in surprise. "What's happened?" she asked worriedly. "Are they here already?"
"The Doctor's thought of something," Rose said, shaking her head. "I'm supposed to--"
The TARDIS doors suddenly closed.
Both women stared at the now closed doors. "I'm new to this," Lynda asked, trying to keep her voice steady. "Was that supposed to happen?"
All of the color drained from Rose's face. "No," she replied, rushing toward the doors. "Doctor! Something's happening with the TARDIS! I don't know what to do!"
A loud groaning sound filled the room, and the rotor in the center of the control console began to rise and fall. Rose spun around, staring at it with wide eyes, before turning back around and starting to bang on the doors. "Doctor! Doctor, let us out! What are you doing?"
Lynda sat down, bringing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. She didn't know what was happening, but this wasn't right. She shouldn't be here.
"This is Emergency Program One."
Lynda jerked her head up, spinning around at the sound of the Doctor's voice. She scrambled to her feet, staring wide-eyed at the flickering image in front of her. It was a hologram.
"Rose, now listen, this is important," the hologram said, the Doctor's image not quite looking at either of them. "If this message is activated, then it can only mean one thing. We must be in danger. And I mean fatal. I'm dead or about to die any second with no chance of escape. And that's okay. Hope it's a good death."
There was a shuffling sound behind her, and the next thing Lynda knew Rose was standing beside her. The other girl was staring, wide-eyed.
"No," Rose whispered. "No!"
"But I promised to look after you, and that's what I'm doing. The TARDIS is taking you home."
Rose lunged at the hologram, and Lynda didn't even stop to think. She grabbed Rose, forcing her to stop. "Wait," she said softly. "Just wait. Whatever he has to say, it must be important."
"He can't do this," Rose said, her voice breaking. "Why is he doing this?"
"And I bet you're fussing and moaning now - typical." The Doctor's holographic image look almost amused. "But hold on and just listen a bit more. The TARDIS can never return for me. Emergency Program One means I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine. So this is what you should do: let the TARDIS die."
Rose let out a moan, and Lynda felt her heart sink. She couldn't help but let her gaze drift around the room, taking in everything around her.
"Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open it; no one will even notice it. Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years, the world will move on and the box will be buried. And if you want to remember me, then you can do one thing. That's all. One thing." The hologram turned toward them, as if it knew where they was standing. Where Rose was standing. "Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life."
The holographic image of the Doctor flickered once or twice more before disappearing just as suddenly as it had appeared. Lynda and Rose stood there a moment, staring at the empty space where it had been.
"No," Rose repeated, a horrified look on her face. "No, no, no. Take us back. Take me back!"
Lynda simply sunk back to the floor, her legs too shaky to hold her up. She watched distractedly as Rose rushed to the console and started randomly hitting buttons, her mind rushing wildly with a million different thoughts. She'd known she was going to die, no matter what the Doctor had promised her, and now-- what? What happened next? Her world had been ripped out from underneath her, her life sent spiraling, and she had no idea what was happening.
Where was she doing to find herself next?
*
Lynda jerked awake with a cry, sitting up like a shot. Her heart was racing, and terrified screams were echoing in her mind. It took a few seconds for her to realize that her blanket was wrapped around her legs, the majority of it dangling down onto the floor.
"What's wrong, sweetie?"
Before Lynda could process what was happening, Jackie Tyler had sat down beside her on the sofa and was hugging her. "You're fine," Jackie murmured comfortingly. "Don't worry, you're safe."
Her breathing calmed after a minute or so, and Lynda hesitantly pulled away. "Thank you, Jackie," she said softly. "I'm fine now."
Jackie snorted. "I doubt that."
Lynda managed a wry grin. It faded a moment later when she heard sounds coming from elsewhere in the flat. "Is Rose awake already?"
"She's been up for twenty minutes already," Jackie said tiredly. She reached up to brush some hair out of her face, suddenly looking years older. "Maybe you could talk to her?"
"I-- I really don't know her that well," Lynda said nervously. "I mean, obviously, I've known her for the month that I've been living here, but--" Her voice broke slightly. "I don't know why the Doctor sent me back here with her instead of their friend, Jack, or--"
Jackie patted her arm. "I'm sure he had a good reason." She chuckled, though it didn't reach her eyes. "He usually does, not that he'll ever hear it from me."
Rose suddenly walked into the room, not even glancing at them as she kept walking straight through and to the door. She opened it and continued outside without a word, shutting it behind her.
Lynda sighed. She reached down and grabbed her shoes from the floor where she'd dropped them the night before, pulling them on. Then she reached up and ran her fingers through her hair, straightening it out the best she could. "I'll try talking with her again."
"Thank you," Jackie said softly. "I'm starting to think that I've lost her."
*
Rose didn't even look up as Lynda sat down beside her.
"Your mum's worried about you," Lynda said after a minute or so of silence. "So's your boyfriend. Well, ex, I suppose. They think you should be happy to have made it home safe."
Finally glancing over at her, Rose let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Happy that the Doctor and Jack are out there dying while we're just sitting here?"
Lynda shivered. The Doctor's face flashed in her mind. He offered her his hand, giving her the chance to escape. To live. She remembered Jack's grin as he flirted with her, his sad smile as he said goodbye.
"There's nothing we can do," Lynda protested quietly. The words sounded hollow even to her own ears.
Rose's eyes flashed with anger. "We can't just give up!" she shot back. "The Doctor never would."
Lynda didn't know what to say. She hesitantly reached out and touched Rose's arm, flinching when the other girl pulled away at her touch. "Don't forget, I saw that message he left you."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Rose snapped, glaring at her.
Lynda met her gaze, even though it took everything she had not to flinch and look away. "He loved you. Loves you. He sent you here because he wanted you to be safe."
Rose let out an inarticulate noise, something halfway between a laugh and a groan. "I'm not some damsel in distress," she shot back angrily. "I didn't need him to try to protect me."
Lynda looked down at the table, not able to meet Rose's gaze anymore. "Maybe not," she said quietly, gently running her finger over two words that had been carved into the table's top, "but he cared about you enough that he did it anyway."
For a few seconds, Rose didn't say anything. Then she sighed. "I don't know what to do," she whispered.
"Live," Lynda said, reaching out to rest her hand on top of Rose's. "That's what he wanted you to do, isn't it?"
Rose met her gaze again, but the anger was gone now. It had been replaced with exhaustion and maybe a bit of exasperation. "Why should I live when he and Jack can't?"
"I don't know," Lynda said simply. She looked down at the table again, tracing the words carved into it with one of her fingers.
For a moment, Rose didn't say anything. Then she let out a startled gasp.
Lynda looked up, surprise. Rose was staring at her. "What?" she asked.
"Bad wolf," Rose said, wide-eyed.
Frowning, Lynda glanced back down at the table. Those were the words that were carved into it, the ones she had been distractedly tracing with her finger. "I'm still not familiar with a lot of the cultural references from this time period," Lynda said slowly. "Does 'bad wolf' mean something?"
Rose stood up, spinning around. "It's everywhere," she said slowly. "Look, Lynda, it's everywhere."
Lynda stood up as well, looking around. Rose was right. She could see graffiti outside the window, the words 'bad wolf' written everywhere. It was inside too, carved into most of the tables around them and written on the flyers hanging on the walls.
"Bad Wolf Corporation," Rose said. "That's who runs the Game Station, yeah?"
Wide-eyed, Lynda looked around some more. "Yeah," she agreed. "That's right."
"I thought it was a warning." Rose's face was flushed with excitement. "What if I was wrong? What if it's not a warning? What if it's a message?"
"What kind of message?" Lynda asked, but she thought she might already know.
"It's a link," Rose said. "A link between me and the Doctor."
Lynda took in a sharp breath. "Bad wolf here, bad wolf there."
"Two hundred thousand years," Rose whispered, her voice breaking a bit. "All that time, all those years. It has to mean something. It has to mean that I can go back. That I can help him escape. Help them escape."
"We," Lynda said, correcting her. "We can help them escape."
Rose looked at her sharply.
"What?" Lynda asked, smiling weakly. "He saved my life too, you know. I might not know him as well as you, but I owe him that much."
"If you go back, you might die," Rose pointed out.
Lynda felt a shiver run down her spine, but she simply shrugged. "The same could be said for you."
"It's worth it," Rose said, not hesitating. "He's worth it. They're worth it."
Lynda nodded. "Like I said, we can help them escape."
Rose grinned at Lynda, her eyes sparkling with life for the first time since they had left the Game Station. Before Lynda knew what was happening, Rose had grabbed her, pulling her close to press their lips together in a quick kiss.
Lynda gasped as Rose pulled away. "What was that for?"
"Luck," Rose said, still grinning. "Come on, let's call Mickey and get back to the TARDIS. We have a Doctor to save."