Before You Die

“Why the hell would you have two Deknera Assassins after you?” I asked incredulously as we walked to a nearby bench and sat down. “And how did you know I was the person to ask? AND how did you find me? I mean, you’re pretty far from home. Unless you suddenly decided to move to America.”

“I’m running,” Ben replied.

“Yeah I figured,” I responded in annoyance. “But WHY? I mean you would have had to do something pretty serious to manage to piss off a Deknera Assassin. They’re like brick walls; anything you say or throw doesn’t even damage them at all. They even speak like them too.”

“Well, I sort of went out with one.”

I found myself laughing, “Look,” I chuckled, “I know you’re hot Ben, but a Deknera wouldn’t go out with you if you were the last human on earth.”

“Why?”

“They hate cross-breeding,” I said. “There’s a reason why you never see little lumpy humans walking around.”

“Well… I guess she decided to take a break from tradition,” he shrugged. “And she didn’t look lumpy, she was really pretty. She looked like the most human human I’ve ever seen.”

“Hmm…that’s not good.”

“And she wasn’t an assassin,” he pointed out.

“For all you know she could’ve been,” I responded. “So I suppose daddy got all over-protective and now he’s out to kick your sorry ass.”

“Pretty much.”

“Well,” I said standing up. “You should’ve thought of that BEFORE you got mixed up with the aliens. I guess it’s your problem now.”

“Please Erica,” Ben said in a pleading tone. “They’re going to kill me.”

Oh how much I hated pleading. So just to shut him up I replied, “Fine, tag along. Maybe the Doctor won’t mind your accompaniment – but I doubt it.”

“Wait. The Doctor? THE Doctor?”

“I do believe that is what most people know him as.”

“WOW!” Benjamin’s cry of glee made him look at least four years younger than his actual eighteen years. “You’re the luckiest person alive Erica!”

I shrugged, “Try telling me that after you’ve met him.”

“You just don’t see what you’ve got,” he continued as we walked the way the Doctor had gone. “I mean he’s THE Doctor.”

“Yes,” I nodded slowly. “I thought we’d already established that.”

“You’re a crazy child,” he responded, looking at me strangely. “You do know that?”

“I know that way better than you do Benjamin. Way…way more.”

“So, are you like, his companion?”

“I guess…hang on, how do you even know about the Doctor. I mean aliens, yeah I get that, but the Doctor doesn’t fall into the category of Deknera.”

“Um…well, you know UNIT right. I kind of worked for them for a while.”

“How the hell did you manage to get a job there?” I asked incredulously. “And you would’ve been there at the same time as me – how come I never saw you?”

“I um…worked in the lower levels.”

“You were a secretary?” I hazarded a guess.

“Um…a bit lower.”

“You can’t get much lower than that,” I replied. “Not unless you were the janitor…”

His downcast expression gave it all away and I turned the laugh that had risen in my throat into a hasty cough so I didn’t hurt his feelings. Mind you, it was extremely hard to contain. This kid who had been border Mr. Popular in high school (the nice kind) ended up working as a janitor.

“Why?” I found myself asking.

“Well, I figured if I hung around people who had guns, I was less likely to get killed by aliens with guns.”

I had to admit, it was sound logic. But how did he even manage to get into UNIT?

“Well…to cut a long story short, I guess I was running away from the Deknera daddy and somehow found myself in a testing area for new military weapons.”

“How on earth did you manage to get yourself in the outback?” That was confusing. I mean, you drive to the centre of Australia, and all you get is dirt. What was he intending to do….cover himself in it?

“I, er, stole my mum’s car…well, borrowed without seeking permission. But I had meant to give it back.”

“So your mother no longer has a car? Jeez Ben, I thought you loved your mum more than that.”

“Actually, UNIT replaced it with a Mercedes, so I think she’s better off don’t you?”

I almost felt my jealousy emanating across to him. Damned UNIT had never given me a bleeding car. They wouldn’t even give me a pair of roller skates let alone something useful.

“Is that him?” Ben asked as we stood about ten metres away from a blue tent where the Doctor stood impatiently.

“Finished?” he called to us in an obviously annoyed tone whilst Ben fidgeted like a nervous kid.

“You would never guess how old you were,” I murmured to myself as I dragged him by his sleeve towards the tent entrance.

“Took your time didn’t you?” the Doctor asked.

“Sorry,” I replied pulling Ben who was slowly moving backwards back next to me. “This stray wants to know if he can hang with us for a while.”

“You know him?” the Doctor asked, looking at him doubtfully.

“Unfortunately,” I replied.

“Probably more unfortunate for him,” the Doctor replied as he pushed the tent curtain aside so we could go in.

Both the Doctor’s and Ben’s smiling faces followed me. I swear, if those two got along I would personally land the Tardis on the Doctor’s head.