Helen looked over the walls of the castle and smiled. It was a clear day, and she just make out Calais, the closest city in France. Beneath her, on the other side of the wall, stretched the white cliffs of Dover. The wind blew across the channel between Calais and Dover and hit her with a strong but not unpleasant force. Helen always found Dover castle to be the most enthralling place to visit.
“Isn’t this amazing Doctor?” Helen asked enthralled by the view. There was no response. “Doctor?” she asked again, similarly not receiving any response. She turned around, and saw the Doctor, dressed in her usual slacks, green waistcoat and bowler hat, peering into a nearby bush. Helen chuckled to herself. Of all the astounding views and grand architecture that surrounded them, the Doctor just happens to find an ordinary bush to be fascinated in. Helen walked towards the Doctor, enquiring “Doctor what is it?” Finally, the Doctor turned in response, as Helen came close, the Doctor indicated a nest resting in the bushes. In the nest sat four chicks, three of which were quite similar in size and colouring, but the fourth was unmistakably larger with a darker colouring. This larger chick emitted a louder, more shrill call which drowned out the others in the nest.
“Why is this one so different?” the Doctor asked, with the curiosity of a child.
“That’s a cuckoo” Helen explained. “It’s not the same as the other birds, it’s actually a different breed, from a different family”.
“But… how did it get there? Was it orphaned? Did the mother bird take it in?”
Helen laughed. “Oh gosh if only nature was so sweet. No what happens is that the adult cuckoo lays its egg in the nest of another bird, and then the cuckoo tricks the other bird into feeding it. It’s a bit sad really, often the cuckoo chick kicks the other chicks out of the nest.”
This explanation appeared to trouble the Doctor. “So… the larger chick doesn’t belong there then? It’s an… impostor?”
Helen was taken back by the solemn nature which the Doctor had responded to her lesson. “Well… yes I suppose that’s one way of putting it.”
The Doctor pondered this for a moment. “That seems mean.”
“well it’s not exactly mean… it’s just the cuckoos nature.”
The Doctor replied with a simple “oh” and turned away from the bush. Helen was unsettled by the Doctor’s uncharacteristic tone and did her best to change the topic. “Doctor, maybe we should go check our rooms for the weekend!”
This broke the Doctor’s dour mood, a glint shone in her eye and a smile broke out across her face “does the lady wish to see her lodgings?”
When they had arrived in Dover Helen was quite heartbroken to see that the castle was closed off to the public, commandeered to be part of the war effort. But, after a few days exploring the town the Doctor hit upon a wonderful idea. The Doctor carried these small, golden brooches on her person, decorated with these curious circular symbols. These brooches were in fact magic, and made the wearer sort of invisible, not so much impossible to see, but impossible to notice. With the use of the brooches it was easy for the Doctor and Helen to sneak into the castle. After finding that some of the residential areas of the castle had been closed off they had decided to have a little holiday where they could play pretend at being ladies of the castle. Helen adored it. To her, this was the stuff of fairytales. She felt like a princess as she explored the halls and tunnels of the castle, able to go anywhere as long as she wore one of the brooches. The castle came with a wealth of history, containing not only a medieval keep but also a Roman lighthouse and a series of tunnels underneath the castle that were constructed during the Napoleonic wars. Helen’s latest find was the costume room. Frequently, the staff at Dover Castle would hold recreations of historic events at the castle, and so they had an assortment of dresses, pantaloons, robes and suits of armour stored in a spare room. Helen had to show this to the Doctor so she ran back to their personal quarters. She found the Doctor sat where she had left her, bent over a table with her green jacket hanging off the back of her chair. Helen watched her for a moment. The Doctor was fiddling with one of the brooches using some strange tools.
“Doctor, what are you doing?”
“I’m just doing some repairs, I’m afraid I must have dropped it carelessly when assisting Jeffery in Margate”
Helen felt a slight twist in her stomach at the mention of Jeffery’s name. She wasn’t sure what the feeling was, guilt? Apprehension? She didn’t like to think about it. Helen decided to change the topic “I have found the grandest selection of costumes! I must show you!”
“Oh no thank you” the Doctor replied, not looking up from the brooch. “I’m well suited in the clothing department, thank you”
Helen snorted “are you now?”
The Doctor looked up at her “what does that mean?”
“Well, you always wear the same outfit” Helen began to describe the Doctors clothes with a mocking, sing-song intonation “brown pinstriped trousers, white shirt, beige waistcoat and a green jacket.”
“and my bowler hat!” the Doctor protested.
Helen giggled “yes, how could I forget the hat. The thing is it’s a lovely ensemble, but doesn’t it get… dull?”
The Doctor pondered this for a moment “…no, no it doesn’t”.
“not to mention it’s a bit untidy”
The Doctor seemed offended by this comment. “it’s not untidy, it’s in fact, very clean!”
“well yes, I suppose” Helen admitted “but… when? I’ve never seen you clean your clothes, or where you might store a change of clothes, all you brought was your mysterious walking cane-sword thing and your even more mysterious blue briefcase”. Helen nodded towards the briefcase to add empathsis to her last point. The Doctor followed her gaze towards the briefcase, looked at it a moment before turning back to Helen.
“Should I brought something a bit bigger?”
“um yes? No? look it doesn’t matter right now come with me” Helen grabbed the Doctor by her hands and dragged her out of the room, ignoring her protests.
Helen tried to hold back a laugh as the Doctor came out in an admittedly impressive but definitely too big suit of armour. The Doctor was elated, almost skipping out as the weight of the armour almost caused her to topple over. Through the faceplate of the helmet Helen could see the Doctor’s nose and eyes just poking out above the rim of the chest plate, as the Doctor struggled to fill out the full suit of armour.
“GOSH ISN’T THIS SMASHING!” The Doctor cried out, as she wobbled from side to side with each step. “I FEEL LIKE I COULD GO TO GALLIPOLI AND TAKE ON A TANK IN THIS!”
At the last comment Helen let out a chuckle before restraining herself. “Yes its very… impressive Doctor, but I was thinking of trying something a bit more… pretty?”
The Doctor stood still in her tracks, and began to topple backwards, Helen reached out and steadied her. “Pretty?” the Doctor enquired.
“Yes, in fact I’ve taken out a dress for you to try on” Helen gestured to a green, medieval style dress. The Doctor appeared to look at it with caution, but it was hard to read through the suit of armour. The Doctor reached up to take off the helmet and struggled to do so. Helen helped her, revealing the charming face of the Doctor underneath, albeit a bit red from the exertion.
“Well I suppose I could try it on” the Doctor said “but I always saw pretty as more your thing”
The Doctor began to take off the rest of the armour as Helen pondered that statement. Pretty was her thing? Helen didn’t see that. She examined her reflection in a mirror. Pale skin, mousey brown hair… She was fond of her hazel eyes, however they were currently framed by dark circles underneath them… she hadn’t been sleeping too well.
“Tell you what” the Doctor declared “I’ll try it on if you try one on as well, deal?”
Helen smiled “deal”.
The Doctor stood behind a changing room divider, pulling on the dress that Helen had chosen for admit some weak protests. Helen waited patiently, wearing a red dress with long trumpet sleeves. She pulled at it self-consciously. She quickly glanced in the mirror at her reflection, hoping the foundation covered up the circles below her eyes, and making sure the rouge on her lips and cheeks was immaculate. She heard the Doctor clear her throat, turned to the Doctors direction and gasped. The Doctor stood there, in a green, floor-length medieval dress. The Doctor’s figure, usually hidden behind an oversized jacket, was now empathized by the bodice of the dress. While Helen always knew the Doctor was attractive, the dress empathized how beautiful the Doctor really was. The impact of the look was somewhat disrupted by how uncomfortable the Doctor looked, standing in a rigid, unladylike position, her shoulders hunched up. Helen gathered herself enough to speak “well Doctor… you look…”
“Silly” the Doctor stated bluntly.
“what? No not at all you look wonderful, just try to hold yourself a bit better.”
The Doctor stared at Helen blanky for a second before reaching and crossing her hands over her chest, with each hand clasping the opposing shoulder. Helen laughed. “no I mean, try standing like this”. Helen rolled back her shoulders and posed with her feet close together and her hands clasped in front of her. The Doctor mimicked her. “good” Helen stated “now let’s try a curtsy”. Helen pulled her dress out with both hands to the side, placed one foot behind the other, and then lowered herself by bending her knees. The Doctor copied her perfectly, the appearance it gave was absolutely stunning but very much not like the Doctor. “Yes you got it perfectly” Helen said elatedly, “now let’s try some makeup”. Helen picked up her makeup supplies and walked towards the doctor. As Helen raised the powder brush to the Doctors face she flinched away, raising her hands in a defensive manner.
“oh come on” Helen pleaded “just a little bit, you will look astounding.”
The Doctor looked at her cautiously, before slowly lowering her hands. “Okay, just a little.” Helen squealed with delight and leaned in with her brush.
The Doctor and Helen spent the rest of the evening talking, drinking wine and dancing in the halls of the castle. At one point they put on the brooches and wandered through some of the military-occupied parts of the castle, playing tricks on the soldiers and knocking their hats off their heads. At one point, the Doctor and Helen ran down the corridors declaring themselves the “ghosts of Dover” and watching the momentary confusion in the soldiers’ eyes before their existence was promptly forgotten again. Eventually they collapsed together in the luxurious cushions of the bed of the master bedroom. Helen’s head spinning from the wine and the excitement. Their laughter died down into a comfortable silence. “I haven’t danced like that in a long, long time” the Doctor suddenly announced.
Helen looked at the Doctor with bemusement “you? You used to dance?”
The Doctor paused for a moment. Helen was down deeper into the cushions of the bed and was positioned in a way where she couldn’t see the Doctor’s face and was unable to read her expression. Finally, the Doctor spoke. “Not often, I was just thinking of this time I was invited to a dance, well it was sort of like a dance.” The Doctor’s openness surprised Helen, the Doctor never spoke about her time before they met, she so desperately wanted to hear more, but the wine was having an impact, and she felt her eyelids grow heavy. The Doctor continued to speak. “It was quite some time ago, I had just… gotten a new outfit and this acquaintance of mine, well more of a… tutor I suppose, she invited me to this… dance. It was all a bit secretive, a strange part of the city with unfamiliar, but exciting people. I remember I was so, so nervous…” Helen fought to stay conscious and hear the rest of the story she failed to keep her eyes open and felt herself drift off into a deep, deep slumber.
Helen ran through the tunnels underneath the Margate grotto. The Doctor and Jeffery ran alongside her. Loud alarms where blaring, and something in the shadows behind them skuttled. The Doctor ran ahead “we are close to the exit” she shouted and ran around the corner. Helen and Jeffery ran around the corner to see the Doctor disappear behind another corner “Just around here” the Doctor cried out, so Helen and Jeffery turned the next corner, only to see the Doctor disappear behind another corner while shouting back “just around the next one!” But it was never the next one, no matter how many corners they turned there was always more, with the glimpses of the Doctor becoming more fleeting until Helen was straining to pick out her voice around every corner. Eventually Helen realised that Jeffery wasn’t next to her anymore. She didn’t know when she lost him. All she knew is that she had to find the exit. She couldn’t hear the Doctor’s voice anymore, she just ran around the corners at random, hearing the wretched skuttling behind her as it creeped ever and ever closer….
Helen woke up with a start. It was the nightmare again. The tunnels, those terrible tunnels. She realised the Doctor wasn’t lying next to her anymore, so she reached around searching for her in the dark. Suddenly she heard a shushing sound and looked to the window. She saw the Doctor standing at the window, facing away from her, still wearing the dress but clutching onto her walking stick tightly. “what-“ Helen began to ask before the Doctor cut her off.
“There’s people in the grounds of the castle” the Doctor hissed.
“the soldiers?” Helen whispered.
“Other people” the Doctor whispered back. “Figures in suits of armour, they came from the tunnels under the castle, an entire platoon of them”.
Helen was unnerved by this conversation. She was unnerved by the Doctor’s rigidity and coldness. A thought entered her mind. What if it wasn’t her Doctor? What if who she thought was the Doctor turned around and turned out to be an entirely different person. It could even be one of those horrid lizard things, posing as her Doctor. Helen tried to shake off this thought as silly, but she couldn’t. She started to believe that this wasn’t her Doctor at all. She couldn’t help herself, she had to know. She left the bed and crept towards her, every cell of her body screaming at her to turn around and run. Eventually she crept up to the Doctor and grabbed her on the shoulder. The Doctor turned around and Helen’s entire body relaxed when she was her same, lovely Doctor. The Doctor looked at her with confusion “Helen, what is it?”
“I…” Helen failed to respond. How could she explain her fears of the Doctor changing to her? How could she explain the nightmares? The Doctor would think she was foolish or not suited to travelling like Jeffery. Helen instead looked down through the window. The men in suits of armour stood motionless. Their appearances were utterly concealed, and they stood in distinct lines on the battlefield. There was one who stood out alone in front of them, he had no helmet, and his head was exposed. They could only see him from behind, but he had a thick, dark hair that was disrupted by scars that stretched around the back of his head. A small group of soldiers approached them, led by an individual that both Helen and the Doctor recognised as Commander Walters, who was in charge of the military effort in Dover.
“what’s… what’s going on?” Helen wondered out loud.
“I don’t know” the Doctor replied, with heavy concern in her voice “let’s find out”. They both attached one of the brooches to their dresses and made their way to the door.
Helen followed the Doctor out into the main courtyard of the castle, with the Doctor gripping one cane within their right hand. As they got closer to the armoured individuals, they began to make out the trail end of the commanders’ speech.
“…and so, it was under the purview of her majesty Queen Victoria that you, our ancient protectors of these British isles, were rediscovered deep in the tunnels of this castle. While it took, many, many decades to return you to your prior strength, we are gracious that the greatest minds of our country were able to do this before our empire meets its greatest challenge.” Commander Walters gestured to a small group of strange, pale men who stood beside him, indicating these were the nations “greatest minds”. Each of them was scruffily dressed and poorly kept, and they carried an assortment of tools and notebooks with them, as if they had just been pulled from their laboratory. The commander paused as he gestured to them, and the group of boffins looked at each other, wondering if one of them should say something. Eventually, one slightly more professional one, wearing a white doctors coat, stood forward and opened his mouth. Before he could say a word, the commander continued his speech, and the boffin sheepishly returned to the group. “It is in this time, I am reminded of the many great victories of our empire…” the commander droned on, reciting a long list of military battles ranging from the Boer war to before the battle of Normandy. Helen shifted her attention to the metal men. She noticed how underneath the armour she could see a sort of… clockwork, with these strange, glistening tubes snaking through the gears. The gears made a loud, tick-tocking sound as they turned. She couldn’t see any inch of flesh on these creatures. The exception being the one at the front, who was clearly a man, although even he appeared to have these gears and tubes underneath his armour. This mans face was rugged and craggy, covered in scars and a big, round lens that covered his right eye and glowed a faint blue. This man listened to the commander’s speech with a strong focus.
“what… are they?” Helen asked out loud.
“I’ve seen this sort of thing before” the Doctor replied, as if it was a passing thought.
“really?” Helen replied, shocked.
“they are automations, machine soldiers, inventions of the tinkerers”
“who?” Helen asked, the Doctor ignored her question.
“they are like the cuckoos?”
“the… cuckoos?”
“yes, cuckoos, the birds you showed me” the Doctor confirmed “the tinkerers gift them to local populations, says they help them win wars, and then the automations turn on who they have been gifted to and wipe them out as well. That one” the Doctor pointed at the man with a lens over his eye “used to be human like you, they usually convert one or two of the locals to get a better understanding of who they are working with.”
The Doctor’s explanation just raised more questions for Helen. As she wondered what to ask next she noticed one of the soldiers flanking the commander shift uncomfortably in his feet. The soldier glanced in Helen’s direction, and for a second Helen thought he made eye contact with her, but reassured herself she was wearing the brooch. Then the solider glanced back at her, and he did make eye contact. Now he was staring at Helen intently, the soldier raised his gun and shouted at Helen to put her hands up, drawing everyone’s attention, more soldiers raised their gun in Helen’s direction.
“Blast” the Doctor cursed. “it looks like the brooch damaged in Margate finally gave out”. The Doctor pulled her own brooch off herself, stepped in front of Helen and raised her hands, still holding her walking stick in her right hand. “DON’T FIRE! COMMANDER WALTERS, I DEMAND YOU TELL YOUR MEN TO STAND DOWN!”
“I DON’T THINK YOU ARE IN ANY POSITION TO MAKE DEMANDS!” Walters shouted back, as he watched towards the Doctor and Helen. “Who are you girls? What are you doing here?”
The Doctor ignored Walters questions “what you are doing is dangerous, these metal soldiers cannot be trusted.”
“if there is a danger it is the huns marching over the channel tunnel! These marvels have stood sentinel over these isles since before Willaim the Conqueror fought at Hastings! Although they were lost to us, they are now recovered! Ready to protect King George the fift-“
“I think not” the man with the lens suddenly spoke to everyone’s surprise. “I hold no allegiance to your king.”
Commander Walters regain his composure and stared down at the man with the lens, it was apparent Walters was not used to people talk back to him. “According to myth and the writings found with you your mission is to protect King and count-“
“my duty is to the Britions” the man with the lens cut in. “my first task was to liberate the Britons from the Romans, and I failed. From what you and your… men have told me, the current rulers of this land are not Britons, but instead a rotation of Gaul’s, Germani, Vikings and others who have invaded this land. My mission and my soldier’s mission are the same as it was always. Liberate this island from its invaders.” Walters started at the man, speechless, diplomacy was never his strength. The man with the lens raised a hand into the sky and let out a guttural cry. The automatons began to move, raising swords and bows and arrows. Suddenly, a loud, albeit familiar high-pitched hum rang out, leaving both the man and the automations stumbling where they stood. Helen turned to see the Doctor holding her singing sword, unsheathed from its cane disguise, above her head.
“We don’t have much time” the Doctor uttered to Helen. Helen and the Doctor gathered up the hem of their dresses and ran.
The Doctor led Helen into the entrance of the tunnels. Helen could hear the automatons regaining their composure behind them. “Doctor what are we going to do” she pleaded.
“What I need you to do is remain safe” the Doctor replied, with concern in her voice. She placed her brooch on Helen’s dress “this one should still work, wear it, hide in the tunnels, wait for me to come back.”
“But Doctor-“ Helen briefly protested.
“Helen!” the Doctor commanded Helen with her raised voice, before making eye contact with Helen and softening her tone and allowing a slight, reassuring smile to spread across her face. “Just be safe”.
The Doctor grabbed her sword in her left hand and ran back into the growing battle. Helen looked after her, before hearing a crowd of British soldiers running up the tunnel behind her. Helen flattened her back against the wall, allowing the soldiers pass, not even noticing her. After they passed. Helen considered her options and ultimately walked into the tunnels.
Helen wasn’t sure how long she had been wandering these tunnels. Her pace had been slow, occasionally pausing to listen to the sounds of battle overhead. She had wandered down to where the cannons were installed and was about to head deeper into the tunnels when she found herself unable to take another step. The idea of going deeper underground after what happened in Margate felt intolerable. She couldn’t help but wonder what if there was something lurking down there, but was comforted by how the brooch made her invisible. Then, another disquieting thought entered her mind. If the brooch made her invisible, or at least, unnoticeable to those around her, how can she be certain that there aren’t others around her, similarly unnoticeable. Helen had asked the Doctor how they had been able to notice each other while wearing the brooches and the Doctor had mumbled something about radio frequencies, but isn’t it possible that these other things might be on different frequencies? Helen couldn’t shake the thought. She also couldn’t shake the thought that the Doctor might be in danger. She couldn’t shake the thought that the Doctor might need her. Helen turned and began walking back to the entrance of the tunnels.
As Helen approached the stairwell, she heard something metallic ring as it dropped to the floor. Helen paused, holding her breath despite her veil of unnoticeably. Then she heard a whimper, and a sort of scrabbling sound. Helen stepped forward and her eyes adjusted to the light. She could see a soldier sitting on the ground, back leant against the wall desperately trying to reload his rifle. There was a long gash on his arm and Helen could see he was quite young, possibly the same age as her brother, Benjamin. She watched this boy desperately repeat the pattern of attempting and failing to load his rifle, with tears streaming down his cheeks and panic in his eyes. Helen pitied him. She knelt down next to him and, forgetting the brooch she was wearing, placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. The boy screamed and dropped his rifle. Helen jumped back in shock and then remembered the brooch. She put her hand on it, wondered for a moment if what she was doing was a good idea, and then removed the brooch from her dress, making her very much noticeable once again. The boy screamed again.
“Please, I mean you know harm” Helen spoke, softly.
“You’re one of them! One of the ghosts who have been haunting us! Moving objects and knocking hats off our heads!”
Helen felt a pang of guilt at this comment. It was true she and the Doctor had been doing these things while wandering the castle. It just seemed like silly games to them, she hadn’t thought about how the soldiers would have experienced it.
“yes, that was me, and it was cruel. But I’m not a ghost, and I’m sorry” Helen apologised.
“Now there are demons up there! Metal men fighting a war with Boudica”
This statement confused Helen. Boudica? It’s possible he meant the Doctor, who was handy with a sword, but she was hardly comparable to the famous warrior queen. Helen decided to change the topic. “That cut on your arm, it looks serious, we need to get it seen to.”
“I’m not going back out there!” the boy whimpered.
“well, there’s no medical supplies down here and that would will get infected” Helen explained, using her best teacher voice. She showed the boy her golden brooch “see this, this is magic, it’s how we were able to pretend to be ghosts beforehand” Helen explained “If you walk up there with me we can both use it and it will keep you hidden from any ghosts or demons we pass”. The boy looked at Helen cautiously before nodding, affirming that he would follow her. They both stood up and walked out of the tunnels together, holding their hands clasped together with the golden brooch between them.
When they reached the mouth of the tunnels Helen was confronted by an awesome sight. The castle had become a battlefield, with soldiers firing at the metal men who approached relentlessly with swords and more ancient weapons of warfare. In the middle of the battlefield stood the Doctor, but not as she had ever seen her before. In her left hand she held her singing blade, and in her right hand she held a sword that she had appeared to have procured from one of the metal men. She spun around in a circle, fighting four of the metal men at the same time. Her hair flew wild, and the skirt of her dress was torn to pieces. Her face was smeared with this blue fluid which leaked from some of the ruined metal men, mixed in with some blood and the remnants of the makeup Helen had applied. Helen could see now, how the boy confused her for Boudica. She was terrifying.
“DOCTOR!” Helen cried out and instantly regretted it. The Doctor shifted her gaze to look at Helen and, in that moment, lost the flow of her combat. One of the metal men kicked the back of her right leg and she cried out, falling to the ground. The four metal men that she was fighting closed around her. Two grabbed an arm each, while a third raised its sword to the Doctor’s neck.
“ENOUGH” Helen heard someone cry out. She turned to look; it was the man with the lens over one eye. The battle began to halt. The soldiers were low on ammo and surrounded by the metal men, and close to losing. The man with the lens walked towards to the Doctor as he spoke “we have fought your kind once before, you stopped us then and left this nation unprotected, it won’t happen again”.
The Doctor looked up at him and smiled mockingly. “Oh really? I don’t think we’ve met. I would remember such fetching eyewear”.
“I am Metti, of the Cantiaci” the men with the lens stated with pride. “I imagine, the last of the Cantiaci now.”
“But that’s not true!” Helen cried out before she could stop herself. Metti turned to look at her, shocked at the interruption by someone he had not event thought to consider before.
Metti narrowed his good eye, “explain”.
“The Cantiaci survived the Roman occupation. They settled west of here, founding the city of Canterbury, which still stands!”
“Canterbury…” Metti muttered. “I saw such a name on the maps in the tunnels, but I didn’t think….”
“It’s true!” Helen replied, a slight quiver to her voice as she suddenly was very aware that she was talking to a very dangerous man. “Canterbury stands strong in England. In fact some of the men here may very well be descendants of the Cantiaci, of your people!”
Metti looked around the soldiers. They were hurt and frightened. Metti raised a hand and cried out in a strange tongue what appeared to be instructions. The metal men suddenly began moving to helping the men, ending the battle and applying first aid in the form of secreting the strange blue substance on the wounds of the soldiers, which appeared to work as an all-healing balm. The four metal men around the Doctor held strong. Metti spoke again. “The battle has been won, and while I cannot be certain if these men are my kin or not, I will practice mercy.” Metti pointed at the Doctor “this one, however, is decidedly not my kin, and is the enemy and must be dealt with”.
“Metti, I challenge you to combat” the Doctor suddenly uttered.
“What?” Metti replied.
“I challenge you to combat. The leaders of two armies can engage in single combat to decide a battle. That’s common amongst Britons, right?”
This latest statement confused Helen. How could the Doctor know that?
“I accept” said Metti, grabbing a sword from one of his metal men. “I will give you a moment to prepare yourself then we fight”.
The metal men backed off from the Doctor. Helen rushed over to her “Doctor please don’t!”
The Doctor stood to her feet shakily. Helen reached out a hand and the Doctor grabbed her hand to steady herself. Now that she was close Helen could see the blood was the Doctors own. The Doctor smiled sweetly “you were amazing just then Helen. Bringing a battle to halt with just your words? I knew that study would come in handy.”
“Doctor-“ Helen began to plead, but the Doctor grabbed both her hands and shushed her.
“This is how it has to be Helen, Metti won’t understand any other way.” The Doctor embraced Helen in a hug. And walked over to meet Metti, picking up her singing blade. Both the Doctor and Metti raised their blades and attacked. The metal of their swords clanging as they struck against each other. Both the Doctor and Metti seemed evenly matched in skill and ferocity, however as Helen watched she realised that she wasn’t paying attention to the Doctor anymore and was more focused on Metti’s part in the battle. Try as she might the more, she tried to focus on the Doctor, she found herself drawn back to Metti. Helen paused with realisation and looked at her empty hands. She had been holding the golden brooch. The Doctor had taken it from her when she hugged her. While the heat of the battle made it hard for the Doctor to be truly unnoticeable, the brooch was giving her an edge. Helen noticed that Metti made some sloppy strikes during the battle, at times appearing to become slightly confused. It was during one of these spells of confusion that the Doctor swung her sword up slashing Metti’s chest and knocking the sword out of his hand. With terrifying speed, the Doctor grabbed the sword before it hit the ground and thrusted it through Metti’s chest. Metti cried out in pain and fell to his knees. The Doctor rounded behind Metti and placed her fingers around the edge of the Metti’s lens. “Metti, I command your men to STAND DOWN” she shouted, ripping the lens from Metti’s face. The Metal men went limb at this action, as if they were puppets who had their strings cut. The battle was over, the Doctor had run.
Helen was horrified. She walked onto the battlefield “Doctor how could you?”
The Doctor stared back at Helen with confusion “Helen, Metti and his men would have ravaged your country, this was the only way.”
Helen began to protest, but Metti interrupted “I’m afraid she speaks the truth, young girl. My mission was to protect my countrymen, and until you spoke, I could only see invaders here.” Metti sighed a painful rasp. “Perhaps I have been blinded by rage.” He looked at Helen “do you think you might be Cantiaci?”
Helen stuttered “I… I don’t know, my family has always been around here… I might be?”
Metti nodded “I’d like to think that you are.” Metti sighed again and coughed. “It’s been so, so many years. I think I would like to see the sea one last time…”
“We can take you there” Helen replied without a moment’s thought.
Metti smiled “thank you, kindly.”
Helen went to help Metti to his feet. The Doctor assisted from the other side, both of them carrying Metti by one shoulder as walked him up to the top of the fortress wall, to a point that looked over the channel towards Calais.
Helen sat with Metti and talked to him as the rays of dawn began to spread across the land. Behind them, Helen was vaguely aware of some business, as the soldiers and the Doctor cleaned things up from the battle, but Helen didn’t care for them. She spoke to Metti, who told her about her homeland from long ago, tales of people whose names had not been uttered in many generations. Eventually, Metti’s breaths became shorter, the stories delivered more slowly. Eventually, Metti died.
Helen couldn’t stop herself from crying.
Eventually, the Doctor walked up to her. In the harsh light of day, without her weapon, she no longer looked ferocious. In fact, the Doctor looked quite silly in her tattered dress. She stood there awkwardly for a moment.
“We… we’ve cleaned up most of the damage” the Doctor explained. Helen didn’t respond.
“This high-ranking fellow turned up and has been helping out, he said he is a Field Marshall” the Doctor explained unnecessarily. Helen didn’t respond.
Doctor waited, eventually the tension became apparently unbearable for her. “I suppose we should move on from Dover at last, there will be other parts of Kent to see before we make our way to London. I suppose we could go to-“
“oh Doctor just shut up” Helen cried out, suddenly rising to her feet and grabbing the Doctor in a strong hug, tears streaming down her face, desperate to receive some comfort.
The Doctor stood with uncomfortable rigidity. Eventually the Doctor raised her arms and embraced Helen back in a hug.