Of Mice And Men [Owen]

[Owen Harper]

Owen shook himself off and picked his gun up which was now in two pieces. "Oh this is perfect" he muttered under her breath. He got to his feet and stood in front of the Doctor with his hands over his chest, protecting him. "Leave him alone" he gasped as he threw the rest of his gun to the floor, it was no use to him now.

"Your sorry?" he yelled. "She attacked us!" The first time his full anger showed, he turned his hands into fists but still stood in front of the Doctor, he had to protect him. Owen didn't know why he was being nice to this female alien or whatever she was, the female had attacked him, unless she had him under some type of mind control which wouldn't be good at all.

The female tilted her head to the side and looked the male up and down before staring back at Owen. She breathed ice on her staff which produced a sphere of moving images showing the pair of males that her home world was destroyed by an alien race and that she wanted revenge. She had thought that they were them but she wasn't sure that they weren't yet.

Owen softened as he saw babies being burnt and bodies being thrown on spikes before the world was destroyed they had killed all life on the planet. The male felt a tear fall from his face which froze as it fell yet it shattered as it hit the floor turning back to salty water. "I......Um....I" he muttered to the female. He didn't know what to say, she seemed to have literally turned into an icicle as her heart had been frozen. The medic just stood there protecting the Doctor but wondering what to do or say.

[The Doctor]

"Owen!" the Doctor said sharply, grabbing Owen's arms to stop him from doing anything like attacking her.

The Doctor had to give her a chance. She might have been frightened and acted in self defense. She might not have meant to do anything to harm them. And the Doctor wanted to believe that, he always tried to see the best in people and situations. Although he was often random and spontaneous, that didn't stretch to make him the 'shoot first, ask questions later' type.

He turned back to look at the woman, focusing on the image they were being shown.

"I'm sorry." he told her softly, watching the scenes of devastation "But we aren't going to hurt you. We're here to help, if we can. But we can't help you get revenge."

That wasn't what the Doctor did. His whole planet and people had been destroyed because of the Daleks, and there had been a time when he'd wanted to hurt them, to get revenge. But he knew it was wrong and he would never tell anybody otherwise.

"I understand," he said honestly to her "My world was destroyed. If I can help, I will."

Because he was too curious to let the subject drop, and because it might actually be helpful, he added

"Where exactly are we? And how did you create those images from our minds? I know a bit about psychic projection. We did it in school. I was rubbish, mind you..."

[Owen Harper]

The female nodded and beckoned for the two males to follow her. She could speak any language but she preferred to use gestures and such instead of speaking. It reminded her too much of her family who had all been chatter boxes. "Sorry human" she whispered to Owen with no emotion in her face or voice. She couldn't help it she was an cold heart, now and forever a frozen warrior only alive for one thing, revenge.

She walked into a large room that she had made visible in the wall, thats how she had got into the cave. She then pointed to a large gem that glistened different colors, it was connected to tubes that were connected to glass boxes, there were hundreds of them and in each one was a brain. She showed another image from her staff showing that the crystal used the brains combine knowledge to create anything although it needed her help. She physically controlled it although it drained her of energy a lot thus why she didn't waste ant on speech either.

The female then pointed to a console that said where they were, she couldn't pronounce the name but she hoped that the clever male did at least. She wasn't sure about the duo yet she wondered if they were partners or not. She showed an image of a couple kissing then pointing at the two men with a frown.

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Owen looked at the Doctor with sorry eyes, he felt like an utter twat. After all if he kept making mistakes then he wouldn't be able to travel with the Doctor which is what he wanted most at the moment. He would do whatever it took to help the female if that meant that he could travel with the Doctor again. He swore with his life and Owen wouldn't back down from a promise.

He followed the female alien and watched her images carefully, she only wanted revenge but she was clever to have set this place. To be honest he didn't understand a single thing about how the brains worked but he shocked at how well preserved they all. Then saw that they had all been frozen and looked dead although they must of been working or he wouldn't of seen the illusions.

The medic blushed as the female showed him the image of the couple, he raised his hands but quickly dropped them to let out a small laugh. "Well he did promise me one of those" he said with a grin showing that there was no hard feelings. He then slowly turned to the Doctor as if he should answer the question. "We have to help her somehow" he told the time lord with a serious expression.

[The Doctor]

"I'm the Doctor, this is Owen. What's your name?" the Doctor asked gently, following her along and gazing at the structure.

"Oh, that's genius. It's a covalent brain structure, I haven't seen one of these in years." he breathed, moving closer to look at the crystal.

He turned his head to explain to Owen how the system worked.

"It's like the carbon molecules in a diamond, that's how the brains are linked. But..."

He turned to the female with a frown, voicing a thought he'd had as soon as he'd seen the structure.

"Where did the brains come from?"

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know, but felt like he had to. Were they from her people? Or, he wondered morosely, did her people did this to somebody else? Even if they had, he still wanted to help. To him, this girl just seemed like a lost child, lost and alone. He glanced sideways at Owen with a slight smile at the image of the couple, the lightest of flushes covering his cheeks.

"Later, I said." he admonished Owen.

He returned his gaze to the woman with a saddened expression.

"But you don't have anybody? You're here, all alone?"

Yes, they had to help. Not to help her get revenge. But to save her. Maybe the reason she was so determined on revenge was because she was so alone. Like he'd been, before Rose.

[Owen Harper]

The female grinned as the male asked her where she got the brains from. She slammed her staff onto the ground and blew strongly on the device, the longer it had been the stronger she had to use her power. She showed them images of various creatures coming to her illusions and falling for them, then she would kill them. She had killed many as the images showed, there was too many aliens to count plus a couple of humans to boot and she had a single prized possession, a time lords brain which she had caught thousands of years ago at least. Due to her icy nature she didn't ask and was far older than the Doctor was.

She then looked up at the two men before turning away and slowing walking towards a single golden chair which she sat upon. She then held a doll close to her as her staff automatically showed the three life forms a short clip of the females daughter dancing as she created ice from her hands, making it dazzle around her. It was beautiful yet the female seemed angry at the clips as they shut down. She then looked at the two men before speaking. "I have long forget my name, i don't need one to kill and i don't need help" she answered in a chilling tone "Just leave"
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The brains freaked Owen out a little yet he was used to them from word so it didn't affect him too much. The clips were of the female killing, Owen even saw a few Weevils and a mutant bee that they had fought before. He looked at the Doctors expression but he wasn't giving a clue to what he thought, not yet anyway. "It wasn't your fault, they broke in" he said with a gentle smile although to be honest he didn't know really like what she had done, the Doctor seemed to trust her which meant that so did he. Then he saw the clip of the time lords brain. the Doctor was one of them, would he get angry or stay calm. He wasn't sure but carefully walked to the Doctor just in case.

The medic then watched the image of the little girl, he walked closer to it, holding out a hand. He had saved a girl that looked similar to that very female before yet at her age, she looked around 6, they all roughly looked the same. Owen hadn't when child got involved more than anything, he was a real child lover even though they did piss him off a lot.

She didn't have a name? Owen was taken back a bit, she looked like a queen of some sorts, she was beautiful yet very deadly as the clips before had shown. "You must of been here a long time to forget your name" muttered Owen "I know how it feels to be alone, trust me i do, as does the Doctor. We can help you"

He wondered if she would ever stop unless she got revenge, he wondered what they would do if she wouldn't stop killing. Could they leave knowing that she was about to kill again or would they have to perform a mercy killing? Something that Owen unfortunately was good at, although he needed to fix his gun first, well get a new one as the other one was trashed. He quickly returned back to the Doctors side waiting for him to talk or act.

[The Doctor]

The Doctor watched the images in silence. He'd had to know. Was he glad now that he knew? No. But he still knew he'd had to do it.

"But why? All you're doing is using illusions to catch more people to get more brains to help you make illusions to catch people. Why?"

His expression steely and his voice betraying no emotion.

"And if your enemies do come back and you get your revenge, then what? What good will it do? Listen to me: I'm like you. I'm the last of my kind, all of my people were killed by the most terrible creatures you could imagine. I wanted revenge, I did. But I soon realised there was so much more. My people are gone, my-- my family. But I realised that nothing I could do would bring them back."

He took a step towards her, his expression changing to be far more honest and a little hopeful. He hoped she would just realise that there was more to life than waiting to get revenge. He thought of his home, his children, his grandchildren- Susan... He'd lost them all. He understood how she felt.

"I could take you somewhere to start again. A new life. But you can't kill anybody else."

[Owen Harper]

Owen looked from the Doctor to the female and back again. He wasn't sure what to say so he walked over to the Doctors side, thinking about his choice of words yet maintained eye contact with the female alien. "The Doctors right" he told the female smiling "Killing for the hell of it and for revenge isn't the way to do it, iv have died twice, i would know"

The medic slowly nodded at the female and beckoned her over with a gentle smile. "Do you really want to live here on your own?" he asked with a frown "No one deserves that" Owen was getting into it now, he really wanted to help the female, besides she could of killed him by now and the Doctor.

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The female sat back down as the Doctor and Owen spoke, one after the other. She sat for a few minutes as she absorbed there words, taking them all in before she began to reply to each one separately while looking at the male that had told her the statement or asked her that certain question.

She turned to Owen and hissed at him. "You don't know what its like to be truly alone" she spoke softly to me "No one knows how alone you get when you are alone for thousands of years, each day i remember the same event which gets replayed over and over again, i cant cope, i need my revenge"

The female shrieked at the Doctor as she got more angry. "Why? To draw them in and as soon as i get one the rest will come, the biggest illusion i can muster will be created and they will think each other is the enemy thus killing themselves, a perfect way to die. Yet the leader is mine, he killed my family so he will fall by my hand" The female listened to the Doctor then rushed out of her chair at a amazing speed, some enough she reached the Doctors face. "How dare you compare you life to mine" she yelled. The Doctor then finished his sentence making the female soften her face. "Then you do know how it feels?" she said softly.

"A new life oh please" she laughed "Where would i go, theres no one out there for me, no where i want to go, the only thing i want is revenge" The female looked at the gem sparkling and then returned to face them two men who opposed her. "Why do you want to help me?"

[The Doctor]

The Doctor was not a fighter. He never had been. He'd fought in the war because he'd had to, on the front lines of the Time War to save his species and the universe. It had filled him with so much rage, and so much pain. So he did know. It was constant, and terrible.

"Then what?" he asked softly "You create your web of illusion. You draw in your enemies, and you slaughter them. Your revenge is complete."

He took a step forwards.

"What then? Will you be happy then? Believe me, it isn't the answer. I don't know exactly what happened. I don't know what your enemies are. And yes, maybe they are evil and maybe they don't deserve a second chance. But you killed innocent people to help you get revenge. Curious adventurers, lost wanderers, you tricked them with their own minds and you killed them. How is that better?"

He stood his ground, not flinching when she moved towards him, standing completely still to look her in the eye. He wasn't afraid of her, and maybe he should be. He knew what grief did to people, and she'd suffered millenia of bitterness and hurt.

"I know how it feels. I watched my enemies burn along with my people and that was the only thing that made me think that it was worth it. I hated them. Because it hurt so much. Focusing on hating them, it felt like it helped. But then I travelled, I met amazing, beautiful people. Human beings, Tree People, Ood... so many more. All over the universe. And I saw amazing things. Hate and revenge wasn't who I was, it was who I was becoming, and I stopped it because it was wrong. I wasn't happy. But now..."

He paused. Was he happy now? Could he honestly say he was happy now?

"Now I have a reason to live." he finished with "I want to help, because I want you to be happy. But I can't let you kill innocent people. It's wrong."

[Owen Harper]

Owen knew that he wasn't really helping as the Doctor and the female had a kind of link, a similar connection that the medic couldn't connect with. He walked towards the crystal and looked inside as the colors swirled around it and sparkled in his eyes. He then made his way to the cubes with brains in them, looking at each one as he went.

Every single one was different, in size, shape and even color although none of them had any blood on the, not a single drop. This fascinated him as he watched the signals being sent through the tube and into the crystal, well e didn't actually see them, he more or imagined them.

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She couldn't believe her ears, they still wanted to help after all that she had said and done to both of them. She listened as the Doctors words filtered through her ice and bringing a red glow to her heart, she almost heard a beat. She knew that she wanted to go but she would still be alone, no matter where she went.

The female looked into the Doctors eyes as icy tears dropped from her face. "I want to change, i didn't mean to kill all those people, the anger was too strong i couldn't fight it." Suddenly the shards of ice disappeared from her body as did the blue hair which turned into a dark brown color. Her clothes also suddenly changed into a long blue dress that sparkled. She twirled around in a circle and smiled.

"I want to go somewhere, i need to. Its time to leave" she slowly said. Her skin seemed to glow as she threw the staff against the wall but threw a gun at Owen. "I fixed it earlier without you knowing" she said smiling. In this form she was much happier, she had finally accepted her friends and family's deaths. She could go find a new home now.

She danced to the door as the crystal shattered causing the boxes to shatter making the brains fall to the floor. "We must go, i don't control this place anymore" she yelled as she ran towards a different exit that led to the surface.

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Owen saw her change with a shocked expression, she seemed to be happier in the way she acted although she looked roughly the same person. He then caught the gun with a grin "Thanks" Apart from her face had a golden glow instead to a pale look. He then jumped back as the brains shattered causing a few to fall on his feet.

The medic ran past them as more and more shattered behind him. He grabbed the Doctors hand and pulled, hoping that he wouldn't stay any longer. "You were right Doctor, I'm sorry. We gotta go" He wasn't going to leave the Doctor but the place was falling apart. Owen kept running as he held the Doctors hand connected with his.

[The Doctor]

"Then let's go somewhere!" he exclaimed, watching in delight as her form changed.

It had worked! They'd helped her, and managed to stop her from hurting anybody else. He had wanted to help and now he'd managed to do it. This was what this was all about, the people he could help.
For a moment, he'd felt as though it wasn't going to work, and that he'd have to do something to stop her so that she wouldn't harm anybody else. It would have been for the greater good, although he hated to think like that because it made him think of the Daleks. But he was never going to be like them, because his priority was to stop harm coming to people, while that was what they craved. He hadn't wanted to stop her because he did know how he felt and he'd hoped that it wasn't too late to help her as he felt that he'd been helped. It made him realise that actually, he had a lot to be thankful for that he never really appreciated.

He watched the brains cascading to the floor, sad that he was unable to save those people, and that it was too late for them. One of his people was among that, and he fleetingly wondered what she had learnt from the huge capacities of the brain of a Time Lord. All these people she had willingly killed, would that have any impact on her? The Doctor always remembered the people he killed, and regretted each one.

He was so busy staring at the brains that he didn't really focus on the cavern collapsing around them, until Owen grabbed his hand and forced him to run.

He glanced at Owen, and then around at the room, and then ran with Owen towards the exit, following the woman as he did, speeding up to get there before the place collapsed, holding tightly to Owen.

"This way!" he called out, spotting the TARDIS up ahead and pushing Owen lightly towards it, stopping to run forwards and take hold of the female's hand to pull her towards the TARDIS too.

"This is my ship, it'll get us out." he explained, tossing a key on a chain ahead to Owen for him to open the simple Yale lock while the Doctor helped their guest.

[Owen Harper]

Owen ran with the other males hand in his, to the TARDIS which was exactly where they had left it. He looked around as he saw the scenery drastically change. It when from images of earth, to the pyramids, to the sea, to the Doctor world, places with no grass at all and others made out of metal. They were only quick flashes so he could be sure what they were but he wanted to visit each one.

The medic them muttered as he wasn't sure if he would travel with the Doctor again, he had done was made mistakes, all day. He loved it but he wasn't sure if the Doctor could really do with Owen being around mucking everything up like he had done that day. He just hoped that the time lord believed in second chances.

He caught the key in his hand before quickly unlocking the door with it. The male ran into the room, although they wasn't much ground to cover, beckoning the other two into the TARDIS. "Quick" he yelled as a large piece of the so called sky fell and shattered close to the entrance of the cave.

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The female didn't know much that was happening but kept running with a smile upon her lips she had wasted too many years being unhappy and showing no emotion, she just needed to live again. She reached the so called ship and stared with widening eyes and a shocked expression. "Its kind of small" she murmured gently.

She screamed as the ceiling fell before sprinting into the TARDIS where she began to look around. "Its a Time And Relative Dimension In Space" she yelled with a smile "In other words a time machine, I leaned that from the time lord i killed" The female then sighed as she thought about the innocent people she had killed letting a tear drop fall from her eyes as she looked at Owen then the Doctor. "I'm not a murderer, the one you saw in there was, that wasn't me"

The female then decided that the first thing she would do was make up a name and she could only remember the one, which was her daughters. She modified it a bit before saying her own name, made from her mind and her daughters name, meaning that they would always be together. "I'm Ardeliah" she said with a smile.

[The Doctor]

Focusing on getting to the TARDIS, the Doctor didn't really pay much attention to the flashes of worlds around them, some that he recognised and some he didn't. He ran after Owen into the TARDIS, waiting for the woman to enter before shutting and locking the door securely behind them. The shields of the ship were up and so he was relatively certain that they'd be safe even while the place collapsed around them.

He frowned slightly when she recognised the ship. Of course, with a Time Lord's knowledge, that was to be expected. For a moment, he was simply worried at the lack of remorse she was showing, but it soon became apparent that she did care.

"Ardeliah." he repeated the name she'd chosen "We know it wasn't your fault. But now you can be happy. I know a planet where you can go and meet people who will case about you and accept you. You don't have to be alone anymore."

He looked kindly into her eyes, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

[Owen Harper]

She smiled at the Doctor who had only spoken nice words to her. "Thank you, i cant wait to go" she said with a bigger smile, almost like a grin. Ardeliah then ran to the console as she heard something collide against the doors of the TARDIS. She didn't take her eyes off of them as she backed away even more.

"Lets go" she yelled in an urgent voice to the Doctor. The female now known as Ardeliah was scared what was hitting against the door she had built it and now it was coming back to harm her, all of the souls of the people she killed. She had to get away and soon.

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Owen looked at the female as the tears fell from her face she looked as if she was in pain but she soon stopped as something thus against the door. The medic saw that she was distressed so he grabbed the key off of the Doctor and opened the door. It revealed a shard of a white glass type material being knocked into the TARDIS. He quickly picked it up and threw it away from the ship with little effort as it was quick light yet it made a loud crash when it landed and broke into pieces.

The male then slammed the door shut as another piece came flying at the TARDIS, he locked the doors then turned to face the Doctor. "Get this thing moving" he yelled "This place is attacking us" Owen stay leaned against the door as he felt the thuds on the outside, nothing was getting in, he knew that the forcefields were up but these things seemed to have got through but the torchwood medic wouldn't let them get in any further. "Hurry" he nodded as an object hit the door harder.

[The Doctor]

The Doctor was confident that nothing could get through the walls of his TARDIS. Okay, so it had once been rammed through by a futuristic version of the Earth Titanic, but he'd had his shields down so it was his own fault.

But he still realised that it was a good idea to get out, to stop the other two panicking for one thing, and also because he was confident but not certain, and he'd already established that this place was weird. With a couple of long strides, he reached the console and keyed in coordinates for a beautiful planet with an establishing community that he was sure would welcome and accept Ardeliah. Maybe the Doctor should have been worried that he was facing somebody pretending to be good and who planned on killing as soon as they reached a new planet. But he didn't believe it. He honestly believed that she'd changed. He knew firsthand what grief could do to a person.

"Right! We're off!" he declared, slamming his fist down on the console as the TARDIS dematerialised, on course to a new destination.

He glanced sideways at Owen, briefly wondering why he was so quiet. But it didn't occur to him that Owen was upset or worried about something, and he put it down to culture shock. Owen may have seen aliens before, but he didn't think he'd ever been on another planet. Well, he figured that Owen would get used to it.

"You can keep that key." he remarked to Owen, pushing a couple of buttons to fly the ship, made harder since he didn't actually know where they were "If you still want to stay, that is..."

[Owen Harper]

Ardeliah was scared at the door but as soon as Owen cleared it she relaxed a little and mouthed a silent thank you to the male. She then sat down on the only chair with a smile as she watched the Doctor work. "Where are you taking me?" she asked gently. She wanted to know a fair bit before they landed just in case she didn't like it, she didn't want it to be a wasted journey.

The female alien then smiled as Owen got the key from the Doctor, she could tell that he liked the time lord even if neither of them knew it. The way that he always protected the Doctor and the time lord calmed down Owen and when they could easily grab hold of each others hand to go anyway. She used to be like that to her husband until he died. She sat there quietly thinking of her family and her new destination.

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Owen slid to the floor as the TARDIS began to travel again leaving the male leaning against the double doors. He stayed there breathing gently with his eyes closed, he had loved the day yet he was a little worn out. He loved to run and was something that he had gotten better at with torchwood but he was not an athlete, he still needed oxygen to work, well he did now at least.

The medics face glistened as the Doctor said that he could keep the key. That meant that he could stay, Owen mentally did a million flips of joy before returning back to the TARDIS grinning like the Chester cat out of Alice in wonderland. He grinned and the time lord and his heart beamed stronger yet he resisted the urge to go and embrace the male, he after all was going to travel with him. "Thanks" he said softly.

The male then thought of torchwood and hoped that they would take it well. He needed to discover himself again yet he couldn't do that with Torchwood, he would just leave without word, he couldn't hurt them by saying good bye. He couldn't do that again yet he wasn't leaving them under maned they had another medic and a coffee girl so they would do fine, he was sure. "Sorry Jack" he muttered gently out loud.