The Doctor and The Nightingale {1}

love & monsters

SHORT CHAPTER AHEAD

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The Doctor, Nova, Rose, and Tate were in a warehouse, scrambling about on the latest of their adventures. "Doctor! Nova! The trap!" Rose calls out. They were currently trying to trap a creature.

"Where's he gone?" The Doctor asked. "Can you see him?"

"There he is!" Tate points out. "Stop! No! Watch out! There!"

"Where? Where?" Nova asks.

The Doctor finds the creature they're chasing. He stands behind it, waving around a porkchop. "Here, boy. Eat the food. Come on, look at the lovely food. Isn't that nice? Isn't it? Yes, it is" The creature turns to look at The Doctor.

Meanwhile, Nova comes up behind the man that was staring in disbelief at the creature and The Doctor. "You might want to get out of here" She says to the man.

The Doctor continues waving the porkchop in front of the creature. "That's a boy. Wouldn't you like a porky-choppy then?"

"Why are you staring like a deer caught in the headlights?" Nova scolds the man. "Run!" The man finally runs off. As he's running off, Rose comes running by with a blue bucket filled with hot liquid. Tate is following close behind her. Rose yells as she throws the contents of the bucket over the creature.

"Wrong one!" The Doctor says as the creature clutches it's face. "You made it worse!"

"You said blue!" Rose says. She turns to Tate. "Did he not say blue?"

Tate crosses his arms as he nods. "I definitely heard blue"

Nova shakes her head. "Well you must both be going deaf because he clearly said the red one"

"I did!" The Doctor speaks up. "Well, technically I said not blue" The creature begins to chase Rose and Tate. "Hold on!" Both The Doctor and Nova disappear behind the door.

The man from before just continues to watch with a stunned look in his eyes as the creature proceeds to chase the four strangers through the corridor, very much in a similar manner to the old Scooby-Doo cartoons. The creature suddenly stops in it's tracks and quickly turns. Rose has a red bucket and begins chasing it. 

As Rose and Tate continue to chase the creature, The Doctor and Nova both stop to look at the man that had been watching the chaos ensue. "Hold on" Nova steps closer to the man. "Don't we know you?" The man doesn't say anything. Instead, he just runs outside.

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The Tardis materializes in an alley way with the creature and the man that the team had encountered before. The Doctor and Nova step out of the Tardis first. "Someone wants a word with you" The Doctor says to the man, whose name is Elton.

Rose and Tate then come out of the Tardis. Rose glares at Elton. "You upset my mum!"

Elton stares in disbelief. "Great big absorbing creature from outer space, and you're having a go at me?"

Tate steps forward. "Believe me, I've met Jackie Tyler, and you don't want to go upsetting her"

The creature looks at The Doctor and Nova specifically. He looks a little too happy to see them. "At last. The greatest feast of all. The Doctor and The Nightingale"

"Actually, it's Nova" She corrects the creature.

"Interesting" The Doctor says, turning to Nova. "A sort Absorbatrix?"

"Absorbaclon? Absorbaloff?" Nova adds.

The creature points to her. "Absorbaloff, yes"

"Is it me or is he a bit Slitheen?" Rose mentions.

"Not from Raxacoricofallapatorius, are you?" The Doctor asks the Absorbaloff.

"Wow, that's a mouthful" Tate mutters.

"No, I'm not. They're swine" The Absorbaloff says rather defensively. "I spit on them. I was born on their twin planet."

"Really? What's the twin planet of Raxacoricofallapatorius?" The Doctor asks.

They were expecting another completely outrageous and randomly long name. But instead, they got something short and simple. "Clom"

"Clom" Nova repeats, trying to keep in her laughter.

"Clom. Yes. And I'll return there victorious, once I possess your travelling machine" The Absorbaloff states.

The Doctor shakes his head. "Well, that's never going to happen"

"Oh, it will. You'll surrender yourself to me, Doctor and Nightingale, or this one dies" The Abosrbaloff pointed at Elton. "You see, I've read about you, Doctor and Nightingale. I've studied you. So passionate, so sweet. You wouldn't let an innocent man die. And I'll absorb him, unless you give yourselves to me"

The Doctor scrunches his face and scratches the back of his head. "Sweet, maybe. Passionate, I suppose. Nova is definitely both of those things"

Nova smiles proudly, crossing her arms. "I really am"

The Doctor grins at her and then returns his attention to the Absorbaloff. "But don't ever mistake that for nice. Do what you want"

"He'll die, Doctor and Nightingale!" The Absorbaloff says.

"Go on, then" Nova nods encouragingly.

The Absorbaloff is stunned and confused. "So be it!"

"Mind you, the others might have something to say" The Doctor says, referring to the others the Absorbaloff had absorbed.

"Others?"

"He's right" One of the faces on the Absorbaloff, Ursula, speaks up. "The Doctor's right. We can't let him. Oh, Mister Skinner, Bridget, pull!"

"No!" The Absorbaloff protests.

"For God's sake, pull!"

"No, don't - get off, get off!"

"If it's the last thing we ever do. Bliss! All of us together. Come on, pull!"

"Stop it!"

"LINDA united, pull!" The faces all begin pulling out of the Absorbaloff. It drops its cane. "Elton, the cane. Break it!" Elton snaps the cane over his knee. Energy sparks out of it. The clasped hands that are on top of it open up.

"My cane! You stupid man. Oh, no!" The Absorbaloff turned into a puddle on the ground.

Elton looks at the puddle, and then to the Doctor and Nova. "What did I do?" He asks them.

"The cane created a limitation field. Now it's broken, he can't stop. The absorber is being absorbed" The Doctor explains.

"By what?" 

"The Earth" Nova answers. 

Elton looks to see the liquids dribbling down the cracks. A face appeared on one of the slabs. "Bye, bye, Elton. Bye, bye" The face then disappears.

"Who was she?" Rose asks Elton, noticing the way he was looking sadly at the spot where the face was.

"That was Ursula" Elton begins to cry. Rose and Tate both sit on either side of Elton and they hug and comfort him.

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The Doctor and Nova decide to confront Elton about the night when he first saw the both of them. When he was just five years old. "You don't remember, do you?" The Doctor begins to explain. "There was a shadow in your house. A living shadow in the darkness. An elemental shade had escaped from the Howling Halls. We stopped it, but we weren't in time to save her"

"We're so sorry, Elton" Nova says.

The Doctor stands up and walks over the slab where Ursula's face was. He scans it with his sonic screwdriver. "If I can key into the absorption matrix and separate the last victim. It's too late for total reconstruction, but" He sees something happening and quickly stands up. "Elton! Fetch a spade!"

And so, The Doctor gave Elton a parting gift. Elton was reunited with the woman he loves, and he didn't care if she was a slab of pavement now. It only mattered now that they were together. Forever.