Kitty Pryde, Pete Wisdom, Excalibur and the X-Men and all characters therein are trademarks of Marvel Comics. Doctor Who is a registered trademark of BBC Productions. This story is an unauthorised work done purely for my personal enjoyment, and is not intended to infringe on any of their rights in or their profits from these characters. But this story is copy write to me.

Comments, especially (constructive) criticism, always welcomed. Please e-mail me at mshakespeare@callnetuk.com

Notes

< > indicates thoughts

* * indicates telepathy

Plastic Masks - A Pryde and Wisdom / Doctor Who crossover - Part 19

"Here y'are, Miss - a cup o' hot tea, sweetened, just like y'asked fer." The soldier handed her the huge mug of steaming tea, and Liz gratefully took a large gulp, ignoring the hot liquid pouring down her throat. Right now, she would have drunk turpentine if it would have made the trembling of her aching limbs subside just a little. <I'm really not cut out for this. I never was one for physical exercise, and I'm not as young as I used to be. If it hadn't been for Lockheed> - she threw a grateful glance at the little dragon, sitting on the table eating a plate of chocolate biscuits all by himself - <I wouldn't have survived the fun this afternoon. God, I ache all over! I must be getting old. I certainly feel it. Oh, here comes that rather dishy Major .... maybe I'm not that old, after all, if I can still find a man attractive.....> She noticed that he was giving the little purple dragon a funny look, as if trying to decide how to react to him. Not that Liz was surprised - all of the soldiers had been giving the little alien a wide berth, as if they weren't too happy him being around. <I suppose they don't have much experience with aliens, since they're not part of WHO. Oh well, he's here now, and not leaving any time soon.> His expression changed, and it seemed as though he'd decided not to make an issue of Lockheed's presence.

"Miss Shaw? Thank you for sparing me some of your time. I'm Major Devon, from Military Intelligence, and I'd really like to hear what happened, in your own words if you please. I know you've been through this once before already, but it's important - we have a man missing, Professor Stuart, and we need to find him as soon as possible." He placed a pad of paper down on the table between them, clicked his pen to ready it, and waited expectantly, throwing only a single glance at Lockheed, who ignored him and carried on eating (far more important....).

Liz sighed, and took another swig of her tea. Normally she would have turned her nose up at the strong military brew, but right now it was ambrosia from the Gods themselves. She put the half-empty mug down with a thump. "Okay Major, I'll go through it again, though I don't know whether what I can tell you will help to locate Stuart. But, if you want... "

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Alistair groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. <I am far too old for this sort of thing! Dammit, I retired a few years ago, after that business with the Two Doctors, I am no longer fit for active service! Having big explosions go off under my feet is too much for my aching bones, and my knees just can't take the punishment anymore! I wonder what it was? It was big, a ton or so of high explosive I would have said, buried under - > "The Doctor! He was below when the bomb went off! And Kitty was with him!"

A cough came from off to one side, and he looked round to see Pete trying to sit up. Blood trickled down his face from a cut on the top of his head, and there was a large bruise discolouring his left cheek. There were no other injuries on him, that the older man could see. <But that doesn't mean there might not be broken bones, or maybe concussion. I'd better make sure he's okay before I go looking for the Doctor and Kitty.> The ex-soldier went over to the former spy, who tried to focus on his face as he approached. "Mister Wisdom, to use a cliché, where does it hurt?"

"Between me ears, 'cause me bloody 'ead won't stop ringin'!" Pete coughed some more, trying to get the dust from his lungs, and wiped his hand across his face. A smear of blood came away on his fingers, and he looked at it for a moment. "It's only a flesh wound, I've 'ad worse," he muttered under his breath.

Alistair put his hand in front of Pete's eyes. "How many fingers am I holding up?" he inquired.

"Three, now shift yer bloody 'and out o' me eyes. Christ, them wankers must o' set off some kind o' - wait a friggin' minute, where's Kitty?!" It had taken a few seconds for her absence to penetrate Pete's befuddlement, but now his voice became tinged with concern. That explosion had come from below, and Kitty and the Doctor had been exploring - "Below", he muttered. "Fuck!" He staggered over to the hole in the floor where the blast had collapsed the structure below, stepping over fallen Autons. Strangely, none of those closest to the hole had been hit by fire from Pete or Alistair - instead, they seemed to have simply collapsed, as if their life-force had been removed. "Kitty!" Pete yelled at the top of his lungs. "Kitty! Are yer okay?!"

"Please don't shout so loudly, Mister Wisdom. Those of us closest to the detonation have something of a headache." The Doctor's lugubrious tones floated up to them from below, though neither of the two men above could see the source through the smoke and dust. "And Kitty is alive, though unconscious - probably due to my not-inconsiderable weight landing on top of her when she pushed me to safety. But I've checked her over, and there are no obvious injuries, though it would be best to get her to hospital for a checkup, to be safe." There was a pause, then the Doctor went on, "It would be most helpful if you two gentlemen could see your way to coming down - my leg is trapped under a piece of concrete, and I need some help to move it."

"Er, sorry Doc. On our way." Pete looked around for a ladder of some sort, and spotted the remains of one of the sections of metal walkway which the warehouse had used, and pulled it over to the gaping hole - the bars of the walkway would make good rungs for a ladder. "Stewart, give me a hand 'ere, I can't do this all by me bleedin' lonesome."

"I was going to, Mister Wisdom," the old soldier replied in a frosty tone of voice. He was actually having some difficulty moving, as the impact of the explosion had jarred his knees - < I don't have the spring in my step that I used to >, he thought a little sadly - and was moving as fast as he comfortably could. Pete eyed him a little suspiciously.

<'E's taking 'is friggin' time! An' 'e ain't walkin' right, neither. I think Kit ain't the only one wot needs a checkup..... > When Alistair finally reached him, the two men manhandled the metal piece to the edge of the hole, then carefully lowered it down. Pete climbed down, to find the Doctor sitting with his leg under a lump of concrete, and Kitty sprawled on the floor next to him, her face dirty and with several bruises starting to come through, but, to his relief, there was no sign of blood, and she did seem to be breathing easily - <so she ain't got broken ribs, anyway, that's somethin', I suppose.> Alistair came down considerably more slowly, and, when he finally reached the ground, Pete used his hotknives to cut the block into manageable pieces which the two men removed from the Doctor's leg. The tall TimeLord stood carefully, rubbing his trapped leg and grinning ruefully.

"Oh well, we didn't get to see what the Nestenes were up to after all. They must have decided to cut their losses and get rid of us by blowing the base up. A pity, as it means we've lost a potentially important source of information, but that can't be helped. And the base is destroyed, which was the second part of the plan, so that's something. Are you two all right?"

Alistair nodded. "Just cuts and bruises, Doctor, nothing life-threatening. And now we'd better get the young lady to the hospital - "

"And yer can get yer leg checked out, an' all," Pete cut in. He threw a sardonic glance around the shattered underground rooms. "Guess they didn't get their gas leak sorted after all."

Alistair blinked as he noted that the younger man had referred to his injured leg, though he himself had said nothing. <Hmm, he might be more observant than his exterior would suggest....>

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The warehouse was dark and cold, what little light penetrated the gloom coming from windows high up in the walls, the overheard lights switched off. It was deserted apart from the score or more wooden crates scattered around the floor, all broken open, and the dozen or so figures standing in the centre of the floor, silent, motionless. Ten men, two women, dressed in a variety of styles, some as if ready to go out for the evening, some casually dressed, as if intending to stay at home. All still, all quiet.

Until one of them moved. A tall, thin man, with a receding hairline, an aquiline nose and dark hair, dressed in slacks and a pale grey shirt, open at the neck. He straightened up, blinked, and looked around him. "I say, where the devil am I?! The last I recall was - now let me think - I was at home, about to watch television I think, then the doorbell rang, and - wait a minute! I remember now! I opened the door, and found myself facing - myself! Then it all went black." He gazed around him, noting with surprise the presence of the other men and women. "Who are these people?" Some of them looked familiar, though in the bad light it was hard to be sure - but wasn't that one a politician of some sort? A minister, though he couldn't remember which one - apart from one or two of the most senior, they'd always struck him as being interchangeable.....

Alistaire Stuart couldn't for the life of him think what was going on. Why should anyone want to kidnap him, and how on earth had they managed to find someone who was such a perfect resemblance to him so quickly? What was going on?? And, of course, where was he?

He heard footsteps somewhere in the darkness, heavy, implacable, and decided that whoever was making them sounded like they were a very big person, and therefore not someone that Alistaire particularly wanted to meet. Stumbling somewhat in the dark, he ran and hid himself behind one of the empty crates.

Peering into the gloom, he saw a man enter the warehouse from a dark corridor, and stand looking around. The man, menacingly huge in a shabby blue boiler-suit, must have stood close to seven feet tall, and, to Alistair's horror, the newcomer seemed to be looking straight at him.

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Kitty groaned, and Pete sat down next to her, a look of concern on his face. "You all right, love?"

Her deep brown eyes opened to look back at him, and a wry smile appeared on her lips. "Well, I guess the Doctor didn't get that elephant off my head after all, the way I feel right now. And you're holding up two cigarettes, I can stand if I have to though I'd rather not, and you'd better speak up, 'cause right now my hearing isn't too good - standing that close to an explosion is bad for your ears, ya know."

He laughed, put the spare cigarette back in the battered packet, and put his arm around her to help her to sit up. "Didn't think yer were concussed - I checked yer eyes while yer were sleepin', an' they looked okay ter me. An' wot the 'ell was that about an elephant??" He looked round the shattered warehouse, then back at her. "I see no elephant, Hardy."

She threw him a baffled look, then remembered what he was talking about and threw a playful swipe at his head, which he easily ducked. "Before we got blown up, an Auton landed on top of me, and it felt like an elephant was tap-dancing on the inside of my skull. Now I feel even worse...." She groaned again, and rubbed the back of her neck. "Still, we'd better be gone by the time the reinforcements arrive in fifteen minutes time."

Pete gave her a hard stare. "An' how the 'ell do you know they've got reinforcements due in fifteen minutes?!"

She glared back at him. "I know because - " Then her face changed, and a look of bemusement appeared. "Uh, how do I know they've got reinforcements due in fifteen minutes?"

The others all stared at her.

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"Well, thank you, ma'am. I don't know if it'll be that much help, but I needed to hear it straight from the horse's mouth, as it were." The burly officer got up, putting away his notebook, which he had half-filled with scribbled notes taken from what Liz had been telling him. She smiled ruefully at him.

"To be honest, Major, the person you really want to speak to is the Doctor. He knows what's going on better than any of us. Unfortunately you'll have to wait until he gets back with the others. Do you want to leave a phone number where he can reach you?"

The Major smiled, and shook his head. "No need, ma'am. WHO report to the Home Secretary, and I suspect there'll be a cabinet meeting to discuss all this - alien invasions do tend to have a high priority, I believe. Anyway, thank you for your time, ma'am."

"No problem, Major. I'm just sorry that Lockheed ate all the biscuits." She threw a mock-glare at the little purple dragon, who looked sheepish at her comment. The Major laughed, and got up to walk away. Liz called after him, "you can have my telephone number instead, if you like..." He grinned and shook his head as he walked away. Liz sighed, leant back, and stretched, feeling muscles pop as she did so. "Oh well, worth a try. God, I could really do with a long, relaxing soak in a hot bath, you know, Lockheed. My muscles are telling me I'm old, badly out of condition, and in no fit state to go running round hunting alien killers. It certainly seems to have given you a good appetite..... "

"Coooo!"

She shook her head and laughed. "I think you must have a bottomless pit for a stomach, to hold everything you eat. Or maybe you simply have some secret way of eating that allows you to eat all the chocolate and sugary biscuits you can, whilst not putting on weight. If you have, I don't suppose you'd feel like telling me what it is, do you? Only I could make a fortune which would make Bill Gates go green with envy..... "

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"What?? Look, I don't know how I know, I just do!"

"Look love, yer've had a shock, gettin' blown up like that, an' it's understandable that yer - "

"Don't even think of patronising me, Pete! Not unless you want me to hit you, very hard!" She glared at him, eyes blazing. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew, as surely as if - "Hey, wait a minute! I know it as if I'm listening in to their conversation - like I'm telepathic!"

"But yer ain't! That's friggin' Emma, Betts, an' a few other wankers!"

"I know I'm not! But it's as if they're talking telepathically, and I've got a listening device planted on them. I don't know how, but - "

"Perhaps when you phased through the Auton?" The Doctor broke in on their burgeoning quarrel, and they both turned to face him, Pete's face showing annoyance, Kitty showing grim determination and stubbornness. The Doctor ignored their expressions, and went on, "you phased through one of them earlier, and it did something which caused you to scream, remember? Did it have anything to do with your head, by any chance?"

Pete's face took on a look of concern. "Were yer 'urt, love? Yer ain't said nothin' - d'yer want ter lie down or somethin', or can we get yer somethin'?"

Kitty waved Pete's comment away. "I'm fine - I ache, but then I've had an Auton land on me, and been blown up, so I damn well should ache!" Then she turned to stare at the Doctor in amazement. "You mean - I've been linked to them ever since I scrambled that one which got the drop on us? Only I haven't noticed it up till now??"

The tall TimeLord beamed at her. "Not quite, my dear! Rather, that you were briefly linked to them, and that you've remembered what the Nestenes were communicating whilst you were part of their mental network. And a most useful asset it should prove, too!"

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