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Who: The Doctor, open
When: evening of day 97
Where: in the woods
What: The Doctor discovers that Jubilee is gone and does not take it well.

As time ticked away each and every day, something had been nagging at the Doctor recently. He couldn't place his finger on it, exactly, but something wasn't right. There had been more disappearances lately more than ever and it was creating an uneasiness amongst the town, or at least felt like it to himself.

However, searching for the town in attempts to help Meyer search for his friend, the Doctor decided to check on Jubilee, only to find her house empty and her pups she had been keeping run off. A sick feeling in his stomach developed and he ran to the woods. "Jubilee?" He searched further, "Jubilee!?"

The answer was simple: she was gone. His back slamming into a tree trunk and he slid down and sat silently, eyes fixed and staring off into nowhere and a frown upon his face. The guilt was built up and his hearts ached, knowing it was his fault for her disappearance, and what was possibly her fate.

What was worse, he was useless in protecting her and anyone else here, and he ran his hands through his hair with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Jubilee. I'm so, so sorry."

Time ticked by and the sky grew burnt orange as the sun set, making him long for Gallifrey for a brief moment. It was dangerous in the woods, despite it being half burnt (also his fault), but the motivation just wasn't there. He hated what this place had made him become.

And that was motivation enough for him to search for his own answers in the woods.

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The woods weren't Gabriel's favourite place in the world, to put it mildly. Generally he preferred to stay out of them - at least unless he was torturing Dean in them - but like the Doctor, he had a disappearance to completely fail to do something about. He'd made enough attempts over the months he'd been stuck in the Cape to get people back to know he couldn't, but he didn't tend to be particularly rational where his family was concerned.

He'd been trying and failing for long enough, though, that by the time he bumped into the Doctor he'd more or less given up. The sense of failure that went with that was overwhelming enough that he couldn't be bothered to muster up his usual repertoire of sarcasm and insults. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't going to be an asshole. Just a less convincingly chipper one... which was probably worse.

"If you're looking for the teddy bears' picnic, you can stop bothering. Turns out it was rained off."

Which would've been a better lie had it actually been raining, but he was pretty distracted.

"Ah-- Gabriel!" He was surprised to find him here and spins around to face him. "You alright?" He looked a little worse for wear, honestly, but as days had passed, things continued to become worse for wear for everyone.

Offering a smile to his comment, "I can't say I've seen too many teddy bears around here." But perhaps they'd find a mechanical one.

"Asks the guy wandering forlornly around the big bad woods."

Admittedly, Gabriel had been doing the exact same thing. But Gabriel had a reputation for being shifty - while his motives for being there might well have been questionable, it was generally acknowledged among his acquaintances that nobody would want to know the answers.

"I'm peachy. How about you? You're looking a little ragged, you know that?"

The Doctor rubs an eyelid, "Mm, yeah, I imagine so." But he looked far better than he had upon his initial return.

"There's been alot of people disappearing lately." He finally comments, dropping his hand to his side and straightening up, "I can't help but feeling something is about to happen." And then he half laughs, "And I'm not the cause of it this time."

"Has there?"

He says it casually enough one might think he hadn't noticed. With Gabriel, though, being that casual means he's doing it on purpose - it means he's trying to cover something up, usually Feelings. Luckily for his pride, the Doctor probably doesn't know him well enough to know that.

"Well, here's hoping it comes along soon. I've been pretty bored these last few days."

The Doctor glances over to him, not entirely believing his words, "C'moooon, I'm sure you've noticed! Less people roaming around! It's a tad quieter than usual. A bit off, don't you think?" He offers a genuine grin, both to his own statement and of Gabriel's.

"Bored? Ehhh, I dunno. Those dreams... Did you have them too? The dreams?" Did angels dream?

"I wouldn't know. I don't go out much." A lie. He may not actually talk to people in person much, but he spends plenty of time people-watching. A habit left over from the serial-killing days, to some extent, but it's fun even when he's not picking out victims: he likes people, and while he's by no means an introvert, just watching is sometimes a little more satisfying than bullying them. "Sure it doesn't bode well, though. We'll see."

As for the dreams - he makes a face.

"Had them, yes. Had plenty. Kinda jarring, given I'm not supposed to be able to sleep." And when he is able, he certainly doesn't enjoy it. It's all very well for those who're used to passing out for a few hours every day and hallucinating, but he's not, and even when he does have a good dream, waking up always ruins that. "But hey, can't complain. Little beauty sleep never did anyone any harm, right? -- well, probably. Why d'you ask? Just curious?"

"I don't often dream." The Doctor comments, pausing a moment to rub his nose, "But... arrgh, I dunno! I don't know if they're teasing us or leading us on. I hate being an experiment! But there was something strange about them. I'm not the only one that saw a crystal palace and people that were just blurred figures. Did you see them too? I think everyone had..."

"I think everyone did, too."

He's curious as to what it might be too. Not as curious as he is to where the fuck his sister is, but it's up there on the list.

"If it's nothing to do with anyone this side of the barrier, I'd guess it's part of whatever's behind the dream-sharing thing in the first place. Course, that's just my two cents. Maybe it's the afterlife. Maybe it's Yog-Sothoth trying to get in touch. Maybe it's a double bluff. Who knows?"

"Yog-Sothoth...?" Curious name. The Doctor was unfamiliar with that, but also knew Gabriel wasn't being serious enough to know he meant it.

"Bloody hell, I dunno about this place." He sighs.

"Never mind."

He's stopped being annoyed when people don't understand his references now. He's used to it - and he can't reasonably expect people from different worlds and timelines to understand the minutiae of his world's contemporary human pop culture. It doesn't stop him, but at least he knows the expectation's unfounded - it stops him from getting disappointed.

"Well, if you're having second thoughts, feel free to try and leave again. Lemme know how it goes for you."

"I've been running my whole life.... And I'm not so sure if I'm ready to stop just so soon."

Perhaps it was the conversation, or "pep talk" the Master had given him a few days previous, but he had been right. Consequences had never stopped him before, and even though he was scared - just how long could he be scared? His friends continued to disappear and it made him angry.

Maybe it will be his fall, but he couldn't hide and run forever here.

"Oh, sure - that's the spirit. Running away always helps, doesn't it? Always improves a situation exponentially."

It was more sarcastic than it should have been: Gabriel had spent millenia running and hiding from his problems and that was what he associated with running, not what the Doctor meant. He was distracted enough to let that show through, but at that point, he was also distracted enough not to care.

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Martha was, in fact, in the very tree he had slammed his back into. She was near the top, trying to get a better look at what was happening. Plus, she figured mechanical bears couldn't get her. Normal bears could climb... she's wasn't sure about mechanical ones.

But at the moment, she was more worried about the Doctor. She watched him silently from her perch in the tree, wishing she knew what she could do to help him. After he got up and moved off, she began making a slow decent, intending to follow him. Thus it was, she was in the process of swinging down from a branch as he came back across her path.

Edited 2013-08-03 18:05 (UTC)

Pausing to place his hands on his hips, "And how long have you been there?" It's spoken in a playful tone, trying not to be serious, but really there was many mixed emotions behind the mask he displayed.

"It's not safe in the woods, even though part of it is burnt down."

"Not long" she answered, not ready to tell him just what she had witnessed. She smiled to to disguise her own feelings and hopefully the fact that she still hadn't slept properly.

Martha looked around the woods and raised an eyebrow at him though when he remarked how unsafe it was. She had just got back from the most dangerous mission of her life... and he had pretty much ordered her to do it. Then she shrugged.

"I'm pretty good at handling myself. I learned a lot over that year."

A sad smile was offered and he nods, "Yeah, I suppose so."

He doesn't add much to that and stands there silently with the same expression before inhaling and a raise of his eyebrows. He released the breath and adds, "Well, since we're here, care to have a look around with me?"

The Doctor didn't know what he was looking for and wasn't really sure what to expect, but right now he was frustrated enough to want to find his own answers. Or at least try.

Well, this she can do. Play companion. Provided that's what he's asking. She'd only been doing it for however long they traveled together.

"Sure. What are we looking for?"

"I don't know!" Which was actually 100% the truth. He hadn't a clue, but was curious to see how far they could until they reached the barrier or were attacked.

"I've never really been back very far here..." For obvious reasons, of course, but he was willing to have a look around.

"OK! Anything strange or out of place then," Martha says with a faint smile. This was actually pretty standard. No idea what they were looking for but they had to find something.

"And I'm assuming the burnt trees have nothing to do with what we're looking for?" Otherwise he'd have mentioned something about them.

"Ehhhh possibly." He avoids her gaze, then glances over, "Remember the other day when we met I said I did something? And there were consequences? This was part of what happened... What I did... Well, it was someone else, but part of my plan. Actually I didn't except there to be fire, but..."

He didn't really know how to word things.

Martha studied him quietly. She knew she couldn't get him to talk. And she wouldn't try. she waited a beat and then reached out and took his hand. Words weren't really all that necessary. She'd traveled with him enough to know his mannerisms.

After a moment of silence, she spoke up. "Let's try going this way yeah? And watch out for bears?"

She wasn't downplaying his pain at all. But he wouldn't talk to her, and if she could get him doing something, anything, maybe he'd say something in his rambling. Mostly, she wanted to see him out of pain.

"Hopefully we'll hear them before they appear." He offers a smile, before adding, "There was an escape plan once before, here in the woods. It was before I came, but it wasn't successful. I'm curious of the barrier... How far can we go?"

"We'd be pretty useless if we don't," she replies.

"There's a barrier?" Somehow she missed that bit. "Have people actually made it that far before, or is this knowledge granted to us by the scientists?"

"Mm, no, not from the scientists. People have known about it, though it won't let you past its limits." Although it had been breached before, thanks to the Doctor. He wouldn't breach it again, definitely not this time, but he was curious to see how far it did extend.