Caitlin Burns (quien_es) wrote in thereincarnates, @ 2011-04-01 01:09:00 |
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Entry tags: | caitlin burns |
Who: Lin Burns and Andrew Burns (NPC)
When: March 30, 2011 and November 27, 2010
Where: Alabama / London
What: Lin makes more bad decisions. How do you tell your dad that you're a reincarnate AND that you're now a dude?
Rating: PGish.
Caitlin Burns locked himself inside the TARDIS and tried to remember how to breathe. His stomach was a knot of emotion, his own rage mixed with the Doctor’s indignation and disgust, and over it all was a growing sense of frustration and futility. Tyler. The black rose. This neverending war. His own allegiance to the Agency, which put limits on what kind of stupid, reckless moves he could make. He was restless. He wanted to fight. He wanted to flee. He wanted to crawl up the walls of his own skull and punch through to the outside. He knew he was being neither rational nor productive, but that didn’t stop the squirming, gnawing sensation inside. This wouldn’t stand. Lin paced back to the door as if to go out, then changed his mind. No. No, he wasn’t going to go back out there to do something he’d regret, but he would take action. He’d take care of something he ought to have handled a long time ago. It was a terrible idea, but the Doctor didn’t fight the decision once it had been made. However, he did turn the shared body and start for the TARDIS wardrobe. If they were going to do the thing, they were going to do it properly. He couldn’t take any of the others, dear as they were. Not patient, brilliant Stella. Not wise, earnest Reggie. Not Kai, who didn’t seem scared of anything, nor Liz and Roman, no matter how good they were at talking him out of foolishness. This was something he’d best do on his own. When the TARDIS dematerialized from its spot in the corner of Agency Special Projects, it carried only one passenger: the pilot. The date: March 30, 2011. Local time was 7 pm, central standard. The location? Alabama. Andrew Burns would be home from his work as a geological engineer. His daughter - now son - left the TARDIS sitting in the middle of the back yard and trotted up the steps to the patio door. He knocked. Andrew opened the door to find a fellow in a three-piece suit - vest, tweed coat, trousers - lurking on his porch. He blinked. “Bit overdressed for trespassing, aren’t you?” Then his eyes tracked back to the blue police box sitting in his yard. Andrew Burns gave it a suspicious, disbelieving look. “And you bring along props. Did Caitlin put you up to this? It’s a bit much, even for April Fools.” “Mr. Burns,” Lin began, but his voice stuck in his throat. “You’re going to think I’m mad, and that’s fine, but there’s something you need to see.” “Mad? That’s also a bit much. What sort of mad things do you need to show me, young man?” “Do you want to know why your daughter has stopped calling you?” That sobered Andrew right up. His face grew stern, almost angry, and he started to shut the door. Something stopped him; perhaps the pleading look on the stranger’s face, perhaps the desire to wheedle more information from the stranger before calling the police. “What do you know about Caitlin?” “Your daughter’s fine. I’d just tell you, but you’d never believe me - you’re going to have to come see.” “You have ten seconds to give me a reason not to call the police.” Lin had been expecting that reaction. He paced backwards a few steps then turned and trotted to the TARDIS door. He threw it open and let the elder Burns get a look inside. Andrew’s expression went blank. He knew what the TARDIS looked like. He also knew if that interior was a fake, someone had done a remarkable job of perspective painting. It really did look as if it were larger on the inside. “Who are you?” It was that question -- the question. He knew the answer already but didn’t believe it. “You already know my name.” “You’re not the Doctor. The Doctor’s a fictional character -- a fellow in a costume and reading a script.” “Not that name,” Lin replied. “There’s another. Two others, technically. You know one of them and you’ll call me by it before the night is through.” Andrew stared a weighty, suspicious stare. Logic was saying to turn around and call the police. “Grab your mobile. If I’m lying to you and that’s a trap, you can place a call. It won’t work where we’re going, but you can reassure yourself before we go. It’s a TARDIS. It’s not as if you can’t take your time and explore.” “I have my mobile already,” Andrew shot back. And, in spite of immense reservations, he locked up his house and trotted down the steps to the police box. “Why are you doing this?” Caitlin was so proud of his father, of Andrew’s calm and his dignity in the face of what must have seemed insane. “Because we can’t go home again, like Thomas Wolfe says, but we can tell the truth.” In the TARDIS, Lin let Andrew wander about and take the place in. He had his ears peeled for the sounds of telephone conversation, but once inside the blue box the elder Burns seemed less inclined to fight. He looked worried - possibly frightened - but a strange man had shown up with an impossible machine and that same man claimed to have information about his daughter. Was he frightened? Yes. Most especially frightened for Caitlin, but if he could learn more, he would. Then he’d call and get the world’s politest kidnapper arrested. Burns didn’t entirely believe that he’d be unable to place calls wherever they were going. This was because he still didn’t entirely believe in time travel. The TARDIS made a strange vroosh noise. It didn’t feel as if they were moving - no turbulence, nothing trying to knock them from the sky - and then all of a sudden the noise stopped. “I’m going to need you to promise me something,” Lin began. “The date is November 27, 2010. What we’re about to see has already happened. You’re a fan of the show, you know the consequences of meddling in established events. You cannot. Interfere. You can’t call out. You can’t even wave. Do you understand?” Andrew set his jaw. “You swear to me that she’s alright? Not in 2010. Now. March 2011.” “I swear to you.” Andrew Burns nodded. If time travel weren’t possible, what did the promise matter? Lin wasn’t entirely satisfied, but that’s why he’d chosen a rooftop high enough to complicate matters if Andrew wanted to meddle. It was just across the street from the building where the Doctor/Master confrontation had occurred. Upon emerging from the TARDIS? Andrew Burns proceeded to break down a little. To his credit, he didn’t ask questions like ‘how’ or sputter that it was impossible. There were better questions. “Where are we?” “London.” Lin replied. “Watch. Watch who goes in, and watch who comes out.” They stood silently, shoulder-to-shoulder, and observed. They saw everyone arrive. They saw the Master leave. Then? Someone else limped from the door, clearly male and clearly wearing Caitlin’s tattered clothes. He walked as if her little red shoes hurt his feet. Lin glanced sideways to watch his father’s face. At first the man was confused. Then recognition set in. The bloke on the street was a dead ringer for the bloke standing beside him on the roof. “Caitlin?” “Hi, dad.” “You’re not a Time Lord, and not just because they don’t exist. I was there when you were born. I think I’d know.” Muttering sarcastic things about absurdities made them easier to handle. Andrew raked a hand down his face. “Jesus, Cait, what happened to you?” “I’m something called a ‘reincarnate.’ I’m myself. I’m also the Doctor.” Lin lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “The girl with the short hair is the Master. What happened is what always happens when we cross paths. Someone got hurt.” “She killed you.” Andrew’s shoulders tensed up. “Why did you bring me to see this, Cait, why couldn’t you just have told--” “Would you have believed me otherwise? Honestly. Even if the TARDIS had materialized in your parlor. Even being a fan of the show.” Andrew’s silence said everything. “I’m going to want the full story.” “We’ve got time,” Lin replied, and gestured back to the TARDIS door. “Come inside?” |