Thorn Bush (Doctor Who Story)

Chapter 23: The Next Doctor

In the years before and in between, Kathy meets Anne Lister (3 April 1791 – 22 September 1840), who was an English diarist, famous for revelations for which she was dubbed "the first modern lesbian". Kathy had to meet her and less needed to have an affair with her but things happen. She can't wait for when the woman's diary is discovered to see if she's in it.

——

"...and stay out!"

Kathy comes crashing down on the snow covered pavement face first with a huff. She pulls herself up and spins herself around so she can stare at her attacker. The looming stony face of Reverend Aubrey Fairchild stares back at her.

"I'm trying to help!" She cries. "If you could just pull that misogynistic stick that's been lodged so far up your—"

The Reverend's face turns stonier. "How dare you!"

"How dare I?" Kathy pulls herself up to her feet. "I'm trying to save your life!"

"A woman has no business here!" He slams the door in her face. That went well.

Reverend Aubrey Fairchild, a man Kathy was trying to save but not for the man himself, but for the children and others that'll be killed, is a man who worked for several children's charities in the 19th century. Soon he'll be killed by the Cybermen to gather all the workhouse managers at his funeral where they could be quickly dispatched by the Cybermen. His body will be found with burns to the forehead, most likely a result of a Cyberman's electro attack.

The Cybermen are here in 1851 Victorian London from the void they'd been sent to in Doomsday and got through because of the events in Journey's End and Stolen Earth, which had weakened the barriers allowing the Cybermen to escape the void and return. It's funny how she does all this backwards considering she hasn't experienced any of those adventures nor met half the people who appeared, or will appear, in them.

Kathy knows the importance of this adventure. Ten meeting what he thinks is his future self though it turns out to be a red herring. It sets in motion his final story arc, which foreshadows his death and cultivates in the End of Time adventure, which she's already witnessed.

It's not long till Christmas Eve when the Tenth Doctor will appear. Kathy has already seen Jackson Lake running around thinking he's the Doctor for almost a couple of weeks with Rosita (Spanish for Little Rose). She come in contact with them a few times. This has given her a time frame and she realised that it won't be long now till the Reverend is killed. She had planned to try and change things, maybe, to stop Miss Hartigan from becoming the CyberKing. Hadn't exactly worked out for her.

Kathy hasn't mingled with Jackson Lake too much, not wanting to confuse the man and make things messier than they already are. She just needs to bide her time.

——

Before Kathy knows it, Reverend Aubrey Fairchild is found dead and his funeral arrives. Kathy knows it's no time like the present to slip into the man's house, which she had done a scope of last time she was there before being caught and thrown out, and where she'll bump into the Doctor and Jackson.

She arrives at the house to see a well attended cortege, with quite a solemn crowd following the four black horses pulling the hearse and leaving the Reverend's home. Jackson Lake and Rosita are watching the procession as it passes them. Having sensed him nearby, Kathy glances around and spots Ten watching from a short distance.

"Snooping are we?" Kathy remarks as she appears behind him.

The Doctor turns to her and grins at the sight of her but then pouts when he realises what she just said. "No! Investigating!"