House of Hades

((Closed to Sonya, Nat, and I))

Across the surface of Pluto scuttled a small, blue crab-like creature. It navigated by echolocation, clicking it's multitude of pincers and pausing for the sound to come back to it before moving. Because of this, it's progress was slow, but it was steady.

It clicked in pleasure when a scrap of food finally showed up on it's radar, the food in this case being another blue crab, just this one dead. It scuttled quickly to the site, stopping by the body. On Pluto, there were very few creatures, and that meant a shortage of food. The crab-like thing took whatever it could get, even if it meant cannibalising it's own species.

It closed the other creature within one of it's pincers, attempting to break the shell to get the meat inside. The shell broke. To the crab's confusion, a black substance began to pour out of the crack it made and onto the rocky Plutonian surface.

The echo of a screech and a lone shell was all that was left of the crab.

-----

"This is for you're own good, you know"

Theta Sigma crossed his arms and huffed, choosing to not believe a word the tabby cat-doctor person told him. A thermometer was in his mouth, showing a reading that was just over average for a human being; dangerously hot for a Timelord. Across the sterile white room, the tabby-furred doctor was writing down some things on a small clipboard, occasionally glancing up to see if the Timelord's grumpy expression had changed.

"I don't need to be here; my ship has it's own medical bay, and I could get better there..." Theta shifted his position on the hospital bed he sat on the edge on, huffing again. This situation wasn't just annoying; it was down right embarrassing. Theta had come to this hospital to visit a sick friend, but the doctors here had taken notice of his occasional cough or sneeze. Before he'd been able to get back to the TARDIS, the crazy felines had deemed him sick and made him be confined to a room till 'you get better or your parents or guardians come to pick you up'. Of course, Theta had no parents or guardians; not in this universe, anyways. He was 80 for Rassilon's sake! But his appearance would have fooled even the Timelords; for most species, he looked to be a fifteen year old boy.

The doctor gave no indication that he cared, turning to Theta once he was done writing on his clipboard "You're ID number will be Patient 572; remember that, otherwise they won't let you into any patient-only rooms. If you need a bathroom, there's one down the hall; take the first right, second door down. The last door in that hallway is the cafeteria, where you will get breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Please don't skip any meals; it's unhealthy to do so, and we'll know immediately through our patient records" he smiled, as if he could ease Theta's frustration with the simple gesture (which he couldn't) "Have a good day, and I hope that you get better soon"

He exited the room through a sliding door, which was as white as anything else in the room. Theta sighed and fell back onto the bed, closing his eyes.

"This sucks"

He opened his eyes and glanced over at the change of clothes the hospital had provided, which sat on his pillow, folded neatly. 'Sterile, as well as a pretty white colour!' they had said 'a nice change from that dirty tweed you're wearing'. He frowned. No way was he changing into that. He'd rather be naked.

Well...not really. But you get the point.

Robin sighed, covering her face with her hands. Really, was she that stupid? God, this was embarrassing, enough to make her want to pretend that didn't just happened. But she couldn't. Because her wing was broken. Because she was being an idiot and not paying attention. Honestly there was almost no way she could have been more lucky. Never had she seen London so quiet - even if it was one of the more empty places in the city. That, and the fact that Sonya had happened to show up, saving her from doing a whole lot of explaining to the Doctor. Looking up from her hands, she watched the Time Lord for a few seconds before continuing to sulk. Ugh, this was so stupid. She wanted to ignore it so badly, but that's kind of hard when you have pain practically radiating from a body part you shouldn't even have. 'Are we there yet?' She murmured into her palms, feeling her face redden. That would mark the end of flight practice, then.

"Hm? Well, we should be here in a few minutes." Sonya replied distractedly, brushing the hair from her face and turning to study the young girl with an amused expression from how she sat on the jumper seat. "Your lucky I borrowed Lady from my Doctor for a few hours while he went off to that bazaar." She added, turning her head to look at the screen next to her and study the information for a moment then looked back over at Robin. She say's borrowed, but everyone knows what that means when she says it anyway, he didn't even know she took off, in fact, he wouldn't even know she vanished with the TARDIS if everything worked right.

It was complete accident she happened upon Robin laying on the ground in London actually, she didn't expect to see her at all. Not for a few days anyway, she planned on visiting later, but it worked out for the best seeing she broke one of her wings. "So... Care to explain exactly how it was you broke that thing, anyway? I mean... It's a bit hard to explain to the hospitals in Earth around that time period, so i think a proper explanation should be in order considering I'm taking you to a hospital that won't ask questions like that."

Robin sighed, pulling her hands away from her face. She could not have made this a more awkward situation. 'Well you know how I travel with the Doctor, right? Every few days or so, he drops me off so I can do whatever, but he's never back when he says he will be. So this one time, I just decided to... yeah... And then a firetruck decides to drive by and scare me, so I fell.' Maybe that wasn't the entire story, but she didn't want to go in depth on this. It was already bad enough that it happened, she didn't want to talk about it, too. She wanted to lie down or something, just not sit in this position anymore, but that wasn't even possible at the moment. Ugh. After a moment of trying to look up at Sonya and just look at her eyes, she covered her face again in defeat.

Letting out a low sigh, Sonya nodded in silence as she turned around and set the TARDIS to land just outside the hospital she had in mind. "Come on then, might as well get you checked in." She announced finally, breaking the silence the pervaded the control room, striding over next to Robin and holding a hand out to the young girl to help her to her feet. She wasn't sure exactly how badly the wing was hurt, or how to react to a situation like this. She was sure the girl could walk, but wasn't sure how much pain she was in.

Theta's ears perked at a familiar sound. Could it be? But no, why would the TARDIS be on Pluto? All that was here was a few hospitals, hotels, gas stations, and convenience stores; a pit stop for anyone entering or leaving the Solar System. The Doctor would have no business here, unless he was introducing a new companion to the wondrous barren wasteland that was Pluto. Figuring it wouldn't hurt to check (not like he had anything better to do), Theta slipped out of bed and tiptoed to the door. Why did he tiptoe? No clue. Force of habit?

The door to his room (room 72 of ward 5) slid open of it's own accord. The hallway was fairly crowded, with doctors and patients walking by and chatting with each other. Theta was relieved to see he wasn't the only one not wearing those gross white clothes; he'd seem less out of place, then. It didn't occur to him that, unlike usual, he actually belonged here and was not just sneaking around.

He stepped into the hallways, looking left then right. Eenny, Meeny, Miney, Mo... left it was.

Luckily, he chose the right direction, for after a few turns he was in the main room. A Agreelian nurse sat behind the reception desk, filing her claws. Rather than the screechy sound the file made, the large room was eerily silent. It was huge contrast to the crowded hallways in the main part of the hospital. What didn't contrast, though, was the fact that everything was white. Rassilon, Theta was starting to hate that colour.

Robin bit her lip, taking the Time Lord's hand and standing up. She needed to calm down. It wasn't like she was revealing her secret to anyone - Sonya already knew, and what were the chances of someone she knew happening to be in this hospital right now? Letting go of Sonya's hand, she made her way to the door on her own, pushing it open with the arm opposite her broken wing. The first thing she noticed besides the obnoxious amount of white? Theta. Bloody... Shaking her head, she slammed the door shut and spun around, rushing to the other side of the console as if putting it between him and her would erase what just happened. As long as he didn't see her wings, she was fine, right? That didn't change the fact that he saw her, though, and he still had the capacity to walk right in. 'Hey, how about we just fix this in the med bay, yeah? We don't need to come all the way to a hospital, right?' She chuckled nervously, pretty sure that Sonya wouldn't know how to fix a wing anyhow. Brilliant...

"You honestly think I can fix that? I can heal wounds, I can fix a broken leg or arm. Hell, I can bring someone back from the brink of death. But I cannot, or will not fix a broken wing. I have nothing like that for me to compare to on my own body in order to fix it." Sonya frowned slightly at Robin, watching as she hid behind the controls after shutting the TARDIS door shut abruptly. She didn't even go outside, she opened the door, looked out then shut it quickly and ran to hide behind the console.

Walking over next to her, she crouched down and eyed her expression closely. "I'm sure they won't laugh, whoever it was you saw. But you need that fixed and you know it. I'm sure they've had more experience than I've had in fixing wings, even ones like yours in your odd condition. So get up." With that being said, Sonya reached over and gripped the younger girl under the arm and gently pulled her to her feet.

"Uhhh...was that Robin?"

Theta stepped towards the TARDIS, confused. Ok, Robin traveling with the Doctor he could get. But that sudden burst of panic he couldn't. Maybe she was afraid of hospitals or something? He'd heard of that phobia, though it was a surprise to him if Robin had it. Or maybe a fear of lizards? Theta spared a glance to the Agreelian receptionist behind him, who had not moved an inch since he'd last taken a look at her. Many girls were scared of reptiles and insects and stuff, after all. Well, that's what he'd heard, anyways.

Deciding to get to the bottom of this, the Timelord rapped on the door a few times, then stood back, waiting for someone to answer.

Robin yelped as a couple of knocks sounded on the door. No... Nope. Not going out there. Sonya could go figure out who that was. And why she was frantically looking around at the floor trying to find some magic trapdoor that would hide her from this mess. Then she took a deep breath, glanced up at the door, and sighed. Now or never, she supposed. Her feet dragged her towards the entrance, much faster than her mind was prepared for. Once she found herself pushing it open just enough to see his face, she had no idea what to say except... 'Hi...'
((*flips table at shortness.. and inability to reply*))

Standing just behind the door, out of sight of whoever it was Robin spoke to on the other side. Obviously they knew what the TARDIS was or they wouldn't have pounded on the door so matter-of-factually. Folding her arms over her chest, she leaned against the frame and watched what she could of the conversation with interest. Whoever it was, she didn't expect to see her obviously, but it couldn't be that bad unless they didn't know she had wings, then that would be a bit hard to explain. If she hadn't seen and heard of them herself, she wouldn't have believed it honestly. Leaning her head back against the wall behind her, Sonya closed her eyes and waited for whatever was taking place to end so she could get Robin to some much-needed care.

Theta smiled cheerfully at seeing Robin. It wasn't that long since he'd last seen her, but it was nice to see a friend nonetheless.

"Hi!" remembering her earlier retreat back into the TARDIS, he frowned "Is something the matter? It feels like something is the matt-" he paused in his speech, unable to get the words out "The ma-" he tried once again, utterly mystified by why he couldn't speak properly "Ma-AH-AHCHOO!"

He brought his sleeve up instinctively as the tremor ran through him. He blushed immediately afterwords, feeling very self conscious.

Looks like Robin wasn't the only one hiding something.

'Well that explains why you're in the hospital...' Robin offered a weak smile, then glanced back at Sonya. Right now would be a great time for her to step in before Theta figured out what was going on, but he'd end up knowing eventually. That didnt mean she wasn't going to postpone it, though. Reaching over, she tugged on Sonya's hand to get her help, eyes locked onto Thet's as she searched for something she could say to keep him distracted. She had nothing.

((I can't even blame my iPod for this one... Sorry :/))

Rolling her eyes upward, Sonya stepped out from behind the door and leaned over Robin to study the man standing there. Well, she says man, but he looked much younger. The only thing that kept her from suspecting a teenage youth was the odd prickle she felt whenever around another Time Lord. "Hello there. Robin and I were just out and about, decided to stop in and get a quick check up. The Med Bay is acting all screwy, now if you don't mind..." She tilted her head to the side, indicating he should move out of the way as she snuck her jacket around Robin's shoulders, carefully covering her broken wing with it as gently as she could.

"Uhhhh..." Theta's eyebrows shot up in surprise "Sonya?" He now had an inkling why the Doctor hadn't popped out of his box by now. After all, the Timelady had 'borrowed' his TARDIS more times than he could count; he could relate.

Probably to the irritation of Sonya and Robin (not that Theta thought of that) the Timelord followed them.

"So, what are you two doing here? Er... you do know this is just a hospital, right?"

Robin winced as the jacket was draped over her wings, instinctively drawing them closer to her body. Alright, a good enough cover for now, but what about when she actually had to get it fixed? Stepping outside of the TARDIS, she lowered her head, avoiding Theta's gaze. He did have a valid point there, Sonya's 'check up' excuse not really making sense in a hospital setting... Then again, it wasn't like they had much to hide if he was going to be following them like that. She'd feel rude asking him to leave, not seeming to have a reason. Plus, he'd ask what was wrong, and she didn't exactly have a plausible cover for that... Maybe Sonya did? Well best not to trust that, since her excuses were already showing. She kept her mouth shut as she moved to the side, letting Sonya out while trying to figure out where they were supposed to be going, anyway, let alone how they were going to ditch the Time Lord...

Raising an eyebrow at Theta, Sonya lead Robin out of the TARDIS slowly, leaving an arm draped around her shoulders in order to keep the coat in place as they walked along. "I could give her a check-up, I suppose. But I really don't want to fiddle with the equipment the Doctor has in the Med Bay, then on top of that, do you really think I could park Lady inside a Doctor's office?" She added, pulling the door shut behind her then glanced over at Theta in question before nodding to herself.

"Exactly. Now, if you don't mind, we have to go to the counter over there and see if anyone can fit us in. Those sniffles you have ought to be looked at as well." Nodding at him with a small grin on her face. He must be young if he was getting sick so easily, it would take at least two hundred years before his immune system would be strong enough to fight off pretty much anything like her's does. "Come on, Robin." Turning away, she lead the young girl towards the check-in.

Theta blushed embarrassedly, averting his gave and coughing lightly into his fist.

"Well, erm, you see, they've already, and yeah..." He smiled a little and averted his attention to the receptionist, hoping for his two friends to never figure out what actually happened to make him stuck in the hospital and not just in his TARDIS med-bay.

The receptionist looked up from her claw file, feeling the gazes on her. She blinked in surprise; It was obvious from the look on her face that people rarely came along through the lobby. Must have been a pretty boring job. When she spoke, her voice had a strange, exotic lisp to it, much like a snake hissing.

"May I help you wiss anyssing?"

Robin bit back a hiss of pain as Sonya laid her arm over her back. Reluctantly following the Time Lord's lead to the reception desk, she looked up to the alien - whatever species, she'd have to find out later - finding her obviously casual question very alarming. Alright, so either she lied and didn't get her wing fixed, or she told the truth and... Glancing back at Theta, she tried to come up with something logical that would be close to his reaction... Doing no such thing. The man - or, boy, at this point - was even more random than the Doctor was sometimes, so how was she supposed to know how he was going to take it? That certainly did nothing for her nerves. She looked down at the ground and let Sonya cover this one, face already reddening at the thought of what might be about to happen.

Turning away from the receptionist, Sonya eyed Thet for a moment then forced a small flush to her cheeks before coughing slightly. "This is um... A rather delicate matter if you get what I mean." She said pointedly, casting a side-look over at Robin beside her before looking at Thet again, an eyebrow raising up as if questioning why he was still standing there. "It's... A girl thing." She added for emphasis, her head tilting down slightly as she spoke, trying to get the point across that they needed to be alone for this part rather than have him standing there and risk embarrassing the young girl even more than she already was.

Theta's eyes widened, and a bright red blush crept up his face, stretching all the way from his neck to his ears.

"I-uh, ok, sorry, uh, I'll just...go now..." He started to back away, pointing lamely to the doorway that led back into the main hospital "see you two later!"

Even before he had finished the sentence, Theta was dashing out of there like his life depended on it. Only when he was back in the hallway that had his room in it did he stop to catch his breath. His hearts were pounding frantically; oh Rassilon was he embarrassed now.

-----

Back at the desk, the Agreelian receptionist raised an eyebrow, unsurprised by the Timelord's reaction. No matter what species, males seemed to have a fear of 'girl things'. She turned back to Sonya and Robin.

"So, what is it ssat you need help wiss? I'm certain ssat our doctors can handle anyssing, including 'girl ssings'"

Robin's head jerked up at Sonya's explanation, definitely not okay with this. Not at all. The poor Time Lord had already left the room by the time she turned around, not allowing her the chance to just tell him that it was NOT a girl problem. Could've just said that it was personal, now that she thought of it, but did it have to go that far?! Sighing heavily, she turned around to face the receptionist, pulling off Sonya's jacket and handing it to her. If Theta came back, great, then he could see her wings and get it over with, because this was much less embarrassing than what Sonya had just started. 'It's... It's not a girl problem. I just broke my wing...' Glaring up at the Time Lady, she crossed her arms and hmphed. She was honestly, considering calling Theta back into the room, but she doubted he wanted to be anywhere near either of them right now thanks to Sonya's explanation of the situation.

Leaning down towards Robin, Sonya forced back a grin that had begun to grow on her face and whispered out of the corner of her mouth so the receptionist wouldn't hear. "It was the only thing that I knew would work on getting him out of here. Besides it was the only thing that I could think of working to get him out of here." She explained quickly before straightening up and moving out of the way so the receptionist could see what was wrong with her wing. Folding her hands behind her back, she rocked on her heels idly while glancing around the room with curiosity. It was rather sterile, this place, too much clean for her taste really.

The receptionist frowned, eyes trailing over the broken limb. That looked like it had to hurt. After a moment of thinking which doctor would be best suited to fix it, she pressed a button on a small, square communicator attached to her hospital uniform.

"Hello, Asandri" echoed a male voice out of the device, a small sigh accompanying his words "This better not be about you being bored again; I'm busy"

The receptionist, apparently named Asandri, shook her head, forgetting that the doctor wasn't able to see the motion.

"No, it's not. There's a patient in sse lobby wiss a broken wing"

"I'm on my way" there was a small click as the communication link was shut off. A second later, a man had appeared in the entry way. He, for the most part, looked like a normal human being. His hair was black, cut in a classic 21st century style. He wore one of those stereotypical doctor's coats; those sickeningly white ones to match the sickeningly white walls. A random stethoscope hung around his neck. But the most peculiar thing about him was his back, where two large, black, feathery wings sprouted out. He smiled at Sonya and Robin.

"Hello; I'm Doctor Antonio. If you'll follow me?"

Robin glanced up at the doctor, feeling a bit intimidated. Honestly, she never really did feel too confident in front of people who were rather important, other than the police. After a while you get used to them. No, this was different. It was sort of awkward for her, in a sense. Nodding, she ducked her head down a bit and waited for him to lead the way down the hall, following behind him. She didn't check to see if the Time Lord was coming, she was pretty sure she was, but she still felt kind of embarrassed about the whole incident. Still, it was better than 'girl problems'.

After a minute or so of walking, she tilted her head back up to inspect the place, trying to see what she could expect once they got where they were heading. So far? Nothing seemed too similar in the rooms. Different diagrams for different species, different body parts, different equipment in the rooms, it was all varied. Once they reached an area with a few posters with wing diagrams, she guessed this must be where they were headed.