Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or any associated characters, I just love them to death.
Summary: This is set just after VOD, but ASTRID HASNT DIED! Just after Mr Copper runs off. Eventual Doctor/Astrid. What would have happened if Astrid had joined?
A/N: SO SORRY I've taken so long to update, I just had a bit of a writer's block, and then I really haven't found the time… anyway. Thank you once more EVERYONE for your lovely reviews, they really helped when trying to get over my writer's block!! Especially thank you tiamat100, your continuous, lovely reviews make my day
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'What? Give me that!' She quickly snatched the small machine from his hands and stared at it in frustration. 'I can't understand it. What does it say? What's wrong?' She asked him, her blue eyes piercing through him and he dropped her gaze. 'Doctor. Please, just tell me.' She said more softly, and the Doctor looked up to meet her eyes, his expression grave.
'Poison,' He murmured quietly and Astrid's eyes grew wide with fear.
'Wh-what?' She mumbled and the Doctor looked away again.
'I'm sorry, Astrid, I'm so sorry…' He said but Astrid just shook her head in disbelief, not wanting to hear him, hear what he was saying. 'Astrid. Listen to me. I can do this, I can save you. Look at me.' Astrid had dropped her head throughout the time the Doctor had been speaking, but now her gaze snapped back to his, crystal blue eyes swimming with tears and blinking furiously at her. 'I promise,' He said in that way that was oh-so-Doctorish, his voice quiet and low, his dark eyes full of wisdom.
Astrid was still now, completely silent, a single tear rolling down her china-doll skin, so fragile. The Doctor swallowed, before pulling her into a hug, not saying anything anymore, hoping his actions could comfort her more than his words.
'Doctor, are you sure this is going to work?'
Astrid's voice was as worried as her crystal eyes showed, her soft, lilting accent wobbling now as she sat very, very still on the medical bay bed, the Doctor once again dashing around, trying to find odd-looking implements that she had to admit scared her more than just a little bit.
'Of course it will,' He told her, his words muffled greatly by the piece of strange equipment he was holding in his mouth as he masterfully fiddled with some small machine in his hands, before removing the odd tube from his mouth to grin a dazzling grin at her, a grin that, at any other time, would make her smile from ear to ear back. But right now, she couldn't bring herself to smile back.
The Doctor's smile faded and he paused for a moment in his tinkering, placing the objects to hand on one end of the long, white bed and moved closer to her.
'Astrid, are you OK?' He asked cautiously after a few moments of sharp silence, before simply nodding to himself, turning away meekly. 'Right. Yeah. OK.'
On hearing this, Astrid suddenly jerked her head round slightly to face him. 'What? What is that supposed to mean?' She asked, her voice squeaking ever so slightly as her fear and anguish got the better of her.
'No, no no, Astrid,' The Doctor immediately turned back to her, grabbing her small hands in his and holding them tight. 'Look… I know you're scared. I understand. It's fine, you have every right to be scared, just…' The Doctor paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. 'You will be OK, alright?' His dark eyes met hers again, and she nodded, taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly. She remained still, though, as the Doctor resumed his tinkering around her, until finally he stopped in his motions and moved to stand in front of her. There was a careful look in his eyes, and when he spoke his voice was filled with concern.
'Astrid. Everything's ready.' He said, slowly, yet not too slowly for her to feel patronised- that was not what she needed at the moment, he could practically sense her distress in the sterile air around them.
'OK then.' She said. 'What-what are you doing, anyway?' Her small voice was wracked with nerves.
'This,' He said, holding up a large, syringe-like object. 'It's just a treatment. Sorry it took so long to put together, I mean, I don't know what poison that is- and, yes that is saying something- but it's a hard one to find any sort of cure for.' His smile of self-amusement quickly disappeared, however, when he saw that Astrid wasn't exactly finding his comments helpful. 'OK. Sorry. I'll shut up now.' He said, voice low, and Astrid finally smiled slightly.
'Thanks,' She said weakly, and the Doctor smirked too as he turned away to grab something from behind him, yet another implement Astrid could not name, but the soft thud of a body hitting something hard made him immediately spin around, eyes wide with surprise, to see that Astrid had collapsed back onto the bed, unconscious.
Bugger, he thought to himself.