zg_shadows | Now in the right place...

The miles tick away under the bonnet, as London fades away in the rear-view mirror. There was this strange sense of relief about getting clear of the City, Matt realised. Like a tension rising from his shoulders, the constant sense of dread faded the more distance he put between himself and the chaos that was London.

It felt good to be getting clear for a while - back to somewhere more familiar. He liked London, had fallen a little in love with the place, and it's energy. There was a buzz about the capital, that Matt hadn't felt in any other city, and some days it felt great. But, on others, it felt like a disaster waiting to happen. And it had nearly happened to them, just a few days ago.

His eyes flicked over to the girl in the passenger seat beside him, and he felt a horrible twinge of guilt. He'd nearly gotten them both killed, and it was only because of Doctor Why's death that Matt and Bryony had lived. He shook his head, and hoped that she hadn't picked up on how distracted he'd been since it had happened.

He thought back, running the turn of events over in his brain, for what felt like the hundredth time since it had all happened. That Sunday, he’d felt someone messing with the Node network of London. When Daniel had arrived, with more Tass than most people had seen in one place, everyone thought that had been it, until Matt’s PDA chirped. Whatever was happening had still been going on, even after Daniel had walked in. So, Matt had grabbed his bag, a couple of people to help, and headed over to Kew to find out what was going on.

And in a gazebo near Kew Bridge, it had all stared to go horribly wrong. Something was ripping the energy out of them, then forcing more of it back in. And like a balloon, the was only so much they could all take before they went ‘pop’. In the centre of it all, Matt had managed to make out one of the Hermetics – the one everyone knew to be explosive, chanting over some kind of cooking pot, and knew that he had to at least try to stop this.

Seconds later, the three of them had collapsed. Through the haze of pain, he’d known that there was nothing he could do to save any of them. Even with all his power, he couldn’t protect them, or get them out, and the next pulse would have killed them all. Somehow, Doctor Why had dragged himself to his feet, cut a hole in the fabric of reality itself, and pulled the everyone through. Only the good Doctor hadn’t made it himself.

The rest of the day had been a blur. He remembered shouting at someone, punching someone, and just holding onto Bryony, before making a couple of calls and getting them both out of there.

Where did they go from here? Back to Bath was a start – some time to clear his head would be good, and there were a couple of people down there he wanted to talk to. Some people who could maybe help. But then, he’d have to go back. Go back, and make these people see what they were doing wrong. Go back, and make sure the people who mattered were going to be alright.

London was far back over the horizon now, but it was still there, waiting. Someone had just sacrificed their life to save Matt’s and it was time to make that count for something.

“Nearly there.” He said, with a smile he knew she couldn’t see. “We won’t be too much longer…”

I started writing this to try to work out how Matt's feeling after everything that happened at the last game. Not only am I not happy with the story, but I still can't work him out!