locker_monster | Doctor Who fic: Memento Mori (1/1)

Title: Memento Mori (1/1)
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1,170
Characters: Kate Stewart, Rigsy
Timeline: Set post-"Face the Raven"; spoilers
Summary: Kate receives some unexpected news after meeting a graffiti artist.
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to the BBC
A/N: Entry for

who_contest's "Missed" challenge.

It occurred to Kate, as she entered a narrow side street off the main thoroughfare, that they were always moving the TARDIS without the Doctor’s permission. She knew he hated it, but it was the only surefire way they could get him to come to UNIT HQ. When she phoned him, he rarely picked up.

Heated shouting from up ahead pulled her from her thoughts and she quickly lengthened her stride. She soon saw two of her men arguing with a young black man with closely cropped hair. The young man seemed very intent on leaving the scene, but the two UNIT soldiers blocked his escape routes. Kate couldn’t see what the fuss was all about but then she noticed the TARDIS, which was parked behind the young man.

“Stand down,” she ordered. The soldiers obediently stepped aside, but they still positioned themselves so the young man wouldn’t be able to make an easy getaway.

For his part, the young man just glared at her. Kate would have thought that the sight of armed soldiers would unnerve him, but his resolve didn’t waver. He gripped a canvas bag in his right hand and the outside of it was covered with old paint stains. Her gaze drifted to the TARDIS and then back to the young man.

“I don’t think the owner will appreciate you defacing his property.” Though, defacing seemed like the wrong word to Kate. Vandalism, in her mind, usually involved crude graffiti, but this was anything but crude.

The TARDIS boasted an amazing work of art. There was no other way to describe it. Colourful flowers bloomed across the front of the blue box and they looked so lifelike that she expected to breathe in their heady scent. Small painted butterflies hovered around the blossoms and the fine details on their wings almost shimmered in the afternoon light.

“Are you arresting me?” Once again, there was no panic in the young man’s expression. He appeared almost bored, like he had done this song and dance many times before.

Kate took one step forward. His boldness was certainly impressive, and it might have made a PCSO hesitate, but she had stared down Zygons, Cybermen, a deranged Time Lord, and an unscrupulous divorce lawyer, so she was hardly cowed. In fact, she saw past the bravado. The young man was putting forth a brave face, but deep down, there was a well of fear and sadness. Kate could tell, because she felt the same, too, whenever she confronted unexpected danger.

“No, we aren’t arresting you. We’re just here to transport this box.”

Before now, the young man had stood hunched, like he was ready to shoulder his way past Kate, but upon hearing that she wanted to take the TARDIS, he suddenly straightened and he closed the remaining distance between them. “What do you want with the TARDIS?”

She stared into his eyes, which were full of hostility, and while she wasn’t pleased by the intrusion into her personal space, her mind had latched onto something else. He knew about the TARDIS. Only those who had an encounter with the Doctor would know what the blue box was called. Kate wanted to ask him if he knew where the Time Lord was when she spotted something on the mural. The young man had been standing in front of this particular detail and only now was it visible to her.

It was a portrait, done in black and white unlike the rest of the vibrant artwork. The likeness of the subject was just as impressive as the flowers and the effect was only enhanced because Kate knew the person in the painting.

Clara Oswald regarded her with a slight smile on her lips. It was the smile of a woman who had no problems keeping up with a time travelling alien.

Everything came into sharp focus and Kate drew in a ragged breath. Not a mural. A memorial.

“What have you done?” Her tone was harsh and the two soldiers instantly reacted to the shift in her mood. They brought up their guns, but she didn’t hear the safeties click off.

The young man’s gaze darted to the soldiers but his attention quickly went back to Kate. His glare softened. “You knew her.”

The palms of Kate’s hands prickled with cold sweat. He was using the past tense. A part of her had wanted to be wrong about her assumption, but now it was confirmed. Death was a large part of her line of work, but each loss never got easier. “Yes.” Kate swallowed, pushing back a bitter taste in her mouth. “What happened?”

The young man scratched at the back of his neck. “I was going to die, but Clara took up the sentence herself, thinking it would buy us time.” He didn’t elaborate and it wasn’t hard for Kate to draw a conclusion.

“What about the Doctor?”

“I don’t know. He was teleported away. I tried to find out where, but their mayor wouldn’t talk to me. No one would. They ran me out of there before I could…” The young man glanced back at Clara’s portrait, his grief on full display now.

Kate wouldn’t have minded a moment to acknowledge her own wave of emotions, but there was too much to do right now. “I didn’t ask your name.”

The young man blinked. “It’s Rigsy.”

“Rigsy, I need you to come with us for a debriefing. I’m a friend of the Doctor’s, we work with him,” Kate added when the young man tensed. “If Clara’s body needs to be recovered from a hostile location, we can help.”

She wasn’t sure what convinced him to trust her, but Rigsy offered no complaints. Perhaps he realized he wouldn’t have to go through this alone anymore. Kate nodded to the one of the soldiers and he gestured for Rigsy to exit the side street with him. As he passed by Kate, Rigsy managed a small but grateful smile.

Kate waited until the young man was out of earshot before addressing the remaining soldier. “The TARDIS will remain here for now. Radio the rest of the team and let them know they should prepare for a possible infiltration into hostile territory.” The soldier barked off a polite “yes ma’am” before walking away.

She lingered in front of the TARDIS, gazing at Rigsy’s memorial to Clara. The artwork spread out onto the pavement in front of the time machine, as if the surface of the blue box wasn’t large enough for Rigsy to properly express his sorrow. Kate knew they would have to move the TARDIS to UNIT HQ for safe keeping if the Doctor wasn’t coming back any time soon, but she hated the thought of destroying Rigsy’s hard work.

But that was an issue for another time. There were other pressing matters to deal with. If the Doctor couldn’t be here to honour Clara’s sacrifice, then it was up to Kate. It was the least she could do for a friend.