Cold Blood
Mac slowly wandered around the outside of the church, double checking the mirrors and other small alarm systems. The Doctor had found an entire city of Silurians, which meant there was a very large chance that one of their numbers might try to have a rescue mission dispatched for Alaya. She had to make sure that they kept Alaya while also keeping the reptile safe. She was picking up a few odds and ends as she went. If there was an attack it was best to be prepared and to have some way to defend themselves. She'd set Rory to searching the rooms of the church for anything that might be able to be used as a bandage or some sort of medical help if anyone got hurt. She made a mental note that she had to check on Tony, she was quite sure there was something going on with him that he wasn't letting on and he was avoiding Rory so she was sure it was something medical he was hiding.
She slowed though, when she spotted Ambrose kneeling on the ground, holding headphones in her hand, Elliot's headphones, and slowly headed over, setting her items on a large rock on the way, "Ambrose?"
Ambrose sniffled and straightened but didn't look back at her, "You lied. You told us you were the police."
"No, you assumed I was police, I believe I introduced myself as an agent of UNIT," Mac corrected.
"Are you even that?" Ambrose shook her head, turning to look at Mac over her shoulder, "Who are you? You and the Doctor? Why is this happening to us? What did we ever do?"
Mac took a deep breath, "The Doctor and I are Time Lords," she explained, knowing that Ambrose wouldn't appreciate lies, "We're an ancient race of, well, aliens I suppose, and we try to help you, humans especially, but really anyone who's in danger or being threatened. This is happening because that drill was getting too close to a settlement that the Silurians were sleeping in and they thought you were attacking them," she moved and knelt beside Ambrose, putting a hand on her shoulder, "It wasn't anything specific that you did, just…events."
"And now my son and husband have been taken," Ambrose murmured.
"I trust the Doctor, I believe he'll get Elliot back," she squeezed Ambrose's shoulder, "Ambrose…I lost my son," she offered, making Ambrose's head snap over to look at her, "He died, in my arms. I swear to you, I will not see another mother experience that loss if I can help it," she looked at her meaningfully, "And the Doctor…he lost his children too, in a war. We both love children and we would both die to protect them. The Doctor WILL get Elliot back, I know he will. Until then…we need to stick together and be strong. We keep Alaya safe, we keep Elliot safe, just remember that."
"Will the Doctor stop them?" Ambrose asked, "These…Silurians? Will he stop them attacking us again?"
"He won't kill them if that's what you're asking," Mac shook her head, "He'll do more than just negotiate the return of Elliot," she added, "I think…he may want to negotiate the Silurians coming to the surface permanently."
"What!?" Ambrose gaped at her, "He'd…he'd let those monsters invade our world!?"
Mac sighed, "They're not monsters, they're the ones who had this planet first. For all intents and purposes, they're a people who want their home back and wake to find someone else has taken it. Like…Goldilocks," she offered, "The bears step out a moment and this little human comes into their house and eats their food and breaks their chairs and sleeps in their beds. And…yes, the Doctor will help them come back to their home, and SHARE it with you."
"Why would he do that?" Ambrose shook her head, "They attacked us!"
"The Time Lords come from a planet called Gallifrey," Mac answered after a moment, "And that war…Gallifrey was destroyed, for the sake of saving your life and every single life in the universe," she grew serious, solemn and quiet, "We don't have a planet to call our home anymore Ambrose, we can understand the Silurians wanting to return to their home. But," she added, seeing Ambrose about to argue that again, "We also care about you humans SO much. We don't want you to LOSE your home just because the Silurians might wake up. We want you both to have a home. And if he can, I think the Doctor will try to see that happen. He wants a happy ending for both sides."
Ambrose sighed, "So that's it then?" she murmured, "We just…sit and wait?"
"For the moment," she nodded, "We wait, we keep Alaya safe, and then…we get your son back."
Ambrose slowly stood and moved to head back into the church.
Mac watched her go before she took a deep breath and let it out, getting up and gathering her various items again. She stepped into the church and over to the small tables that the Doctor had had the equipment on, all cleared away though one was cracked open for wires to use and another computer was set up on the side still intact incase power came back on to use. She moved over and placed the pile of items on it, Rory looking up from where he was working on creating bandages across from her.
He stepped over, around the tables, and picked up a rock that was sitting in the middle of strips of cloth, 2 compact makeup mirrors, a box of matches, and a small bag of black powder, "Um..." he just gave her a look for it.
Mac shrugged, "Resources," she glanced at him, "Did you find the items I asked about?"
He nodded, "Found two," he reached over and held up cloth water bottles, "They were hidden at the bottom of a first aid kit I found."
She smiled, "Brilliant," and pulled out a few items she'd nicked from the van.
"Vegetable oil, baking soda, vinegar, pepper..."
"Cayenne pepper," Mac corrected.
"Ok, right," Rory nodded, "Why?"
"Precautions," Mac shrugged, "How are your supplies going?" she looked up at him.
"Bandages, band aids, some small tweezers, and needle and thread," he listed, "I've got another kit to go through though..."
"Good," she nodded, "I'm going to go check on Alaya, I was just talking to Ambrose and well," she shrugged, giving him a pointed look.
Rory nodded and waved her off, understanding, Ambrose and Tony were the ones most likely to attack Alaya, it was their family in danger. He turned back to his supplies, glancing at the rather odd pile of items across from him as she stepped out. What Mac was going to do with all that he had no idea and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
~8~
Mac slowly made her way down the stairs and towards the basement where they were keeping Alaya…only to slow when she heard Tony inside, sounding like he was nearly crying in pain, "…burning in my blood. Please. If you help me, I can help you. If you could cure me, I could help you escape."
Mac closed her eyes at that, she should have come down earlier.
"You see?" Alaya hissed, "You beg, and offer betrayal, so early! Why would I want to escape when I can watch you die? The first ape death of the coming war."
"The first ape to NEARLY die before negotiations take place," Mac called as she strode into the room, grabbing Tony's arm as he tried to quickly button up his shirt again, stopping him so she could see that his entire chest appeared to be throbbing green veins. Her lips pursed as she looked at him, "You should have told us about this," she warned him, "This is something we needed to know."
"I'm sorry I…" Tony shook his head, though he winced, his other hand flying to his chest in pain.
"He shall die," Alaya sneered, "And the flames of war shall spread."
"Oh he's not going to die," Mac scoffed at her, "It's venom," she moved over to the woman, "All it requires is an anti-venom," and crouched before her, pulling out a small vial from her pocket, the scientist in her from UNIT still very much present, "So if you would be so kind as to provide a sample?"
"I will never help the apes!" she snapped.
Mac blinked at her before crossing her arms on her knee, "You listen to me, Alaya, I'm a Time Lord. My planet is gone. Earth just so happens to be a place that I consider to be almost a second home and on it are humans I will fight to defend. So…you either give me a sample of your venom…"
"And if I don't?" Alaya glared.
"I have no problems with cutting out your tongue to get it," Mac held up her pocket knife, the knife out, "You would live and you would be unable to try and whisper poison in the ears of Tony or Ambrose and manipulate them into making you a martyr," she stared Alaya in the eye, "So what shall it be? Venom…or will you find yourself incapable of communicating your 'harsh treatment' by the apes to your people."
Alaya nearly growled at her, her lip curling, before she leaned forward. Mac held up the vial and Alaya put her mouth on it, wincing slightly as she forced venom out of her tongue, the green substance dripping down into the vial as Mac smiled.
"Now that wasn't so hard was it?" she stood, turning to take Tony's arm and lead him out of there, "Thank god she didn't call my bluff," she muttered to him as she pulled him up the stairs.
"Bluff?" he frowned at her.
She looked at him, "I don't favor the idea of cutting out tongues," she told him.
Tony blinked and let out a breathy laugh at how she'd fooled the Silurian, "Will you…will you really be able to do something with that," he nodded at the venom.
Mac sighed, "I can try," she told him, "Anti-venom will be hard to make in conditions like this, no lab, no microscope, nothing…but…there might be a way to at least nullify the affects, slow it down, till we can get you more help."
"Thank you," he whispered.
She nodded, "But we're having Rory check you out first," she added, pulling him back into the room she and Rory had been in…only to see Ambrose was there as well.
"Dad!" the woman gasped, rushing to help Mac, "Are you alright? Dad!"
"Ambrose, I'm fine!" Tony tried to wave her off, "Leave me alone," but he stumbled to the side, falling to lean heavily on a stack of old crates.
"You are not fine," Rory walked over, "Let me have a look…"
"Don't…" Tony tried to stop him, not wanting Ambrose to see the state of his chest.
"I'm a nurse," Rory reminded him, tugging the shirt open to see the veins.
"Oh, my God, Dad!" Ambrose gasped.
Rory let out a breath, "You should've told me."
"I don't know what's happening to me," Tony swallowed hard.
"You're mutating," Mac told him, "The venom of a Silurian is meant to kill. You must be one of the lucky few with a genetic abnormality that just mutates the venom instead."
"What do we do?" Ambrose looked at Mac.
"I'm going to work on trying to create something to slow the venom down, hopefully even nullify it," she told the woman, "Until then, we need to treat his symptoms. Rory?"
Rory nodded, "Ok, first things first, we need to bring his temperature down," Rory pulled his hand away from Tony's head, "Come on, I saw a cot in another room, we need to get you lying down, Ambrose?" Ambrose rushed to his side, the two of them heaving Tony up and leading him out.
Mac watched them go for a moment, before she looked at the venom. She knew enough of Silurians that she might be able to find a way to neutralize it, maybe, if she was lucky, with the items they had there…but she'd have to be careful with the venom, the vial was likely all she'd be able to get out of Alaya and if she wasted it all in her testing then it would be pointless to keep going.
She set the vial down and moved over to the first aid kits, looking through it to see what sort of chemicals there might be…
~8~
Mac looked up from where she was hunched over the venom, dripping a concoction that she'd had in a paper cup from an eyedropper over it, frowning as the single drop of venom sizzled but didn't do anything else, "How's it going?" Rory asked as he entered.
"Slower than if I had the TARDIS or my lab," she murmured, "How's Tony?"
"Doing better, you were right," he added, "The cold foods from the truck are helping slow down the process."
She'd shouted it out to him after her first attempt at slowing the venom. With Silurians being cold blooded and slowing down when they were exposed to the cold, she'd thought perhaps it might work with the venom as well. Rory an Ambrose had gathered a few frozen items to try and place on Tony's chest to slow it down.
"He's sleeping now."
Mac nodded, "And Ambrose?"
Rory frowned at that, "She didn't come through here?"
"Why would she?"
"She said she needed air."
Mac blinked for only a moment before it hit her, "She's gone after Alaya!" she gasped, rushing out of the room, Rory following her as they flew down the stairs, hearing a pained screaming coming from the basement room. They ran in to see Ambrose hunched over the Silurian, on the ground, and pressing a taser into Alaya's chest.
"Ambrose stop!" Rory shouted, grabbing the woman and pulling her off of Alaya.
Mac ran over and grabbed the taser from her, "What is WRONG with you!?"
"She kept taunting me about Mo and Elliot and dad and…" Ambrose began.
"Rory?" Mac looked over at him, but he shook his head, Alaya was fading fast, "Damn it Ambrose!" she snapped, before rushing out of the room, hoping she'd have enough time to get what she needed.
Ambrose sobbed, sliding against the wall, "She wouldn't tell me anything. I thought sooner or later, she'd give in. I would've done. I just...I just want my family back!"
"How do we help you?" Rory asked Alaya, "Tell us what to do."
But Alaya just smirked, "I knew this would come. And soon the war."
"You're not dying," Rory shook his head, "I'm not going to let you, not today..."
Alaya moaned and her head fell to the side, Rory quickly checking her vitals before he closed his eyes.
"What is it?" Ambrose sniffled.
"She's gone…" he swallowed hard, "And so's our only chance to negotiate…"
"Not quite," Mac ran back in, dumping an armful of items on the ground.
"What are you…" Ambrose began, seeing two old candlesticks from one of the cupboards she'd seen before, a plastic floormat from the van, and…wires from the equipment before her, "What are you doing?"
"Fixing your mistake," Mac muttered, "And hopefully keeping your son alive since you don't seem to care enough to do it yourself."
"How dare…"
"You nearly cost him his life!" Mac snapped at her, "Now sit down and shut up and let me try to save her! Rory!" Mac turned to him, not meaning to shout at him but very angry at the moment.
"What do you need me to do?" he nodded, not at all disturbed by her shouts.
"Get her armor off the top of her chest," she tossed him her pocket knife.
But he tossed it back, "Got it," he held up one of his own, making her smirk despite the situation.
She took the knife back and began to pull apart the taser, grabbing one of the wires and attaching it to the device. She connected the wire to two others, separating them and wrapping them around the candlesticks.
"Now what?" Rory called when he finished.
"Cut the mats up into small squares," she ordered and he did that, "Give them to me," she took them and wrapped them around the middle of the candle sticks, creating a protective covering for her hand that wouldn't conduct the electricity of the taser, "Take this," she tossed him the taser, moving to put the candle sticks on the top of Alaya's heart and on the side, just under her armpit, "On three…" she looked at him, Rory's eyes widening as he realized she'd made a makeshift defibrillator, "One…two…three!"
Rory hit the button and Alaya's body jerked off the ground, before falling down again as Rory let go of the button. Mac leaned forward and listened for Alaya's breathing and her heart.
"One more time," she called, setting up again, "One…two…three!"
Rory hit the button again and Alaya jerked…but fell back down with a gasp as the taser sparked, shorting out just as Mac pulled the holders away, the reptile breathing again.
"That was…" Rory breathed, staring at Mac.
"FAR too close," she agreed, far too lucky that the taser had made it to that last jolt. She's ripped out the safety mechanisms to allow the full capability of the device.
"No," Rory shook his head, "Amazing…you…and candlestick holders and…a taser?!"
Mac looked up at him and started to laugh, "Good thing it worked, I was only half sure it would," she let out a very long breath and sat back on her legs, Alaya breathing but unconscious.
~8~
Mac half shoved Ambrose into the main room of the church, "You sit there," she pointed at a crate, "And you don't move or so help me I will tape your hands together and your mouth shut. Have you any idea what you cost us?!"
"She's fine though," Ambrose argue quietly as she slowly sat on the crate, "The…the Silurian, she's alive."
"Thankfully," Mac nodded, "But you don't understand. You attacked her! You attacked a hostage. That gives them right to attack theirs. Do YOU want Elliot to be attacked, to be tased to DEATH?!"
"Don't…don't say that," Ambrose winced.
"Why not?" Mac shook her head, "That girl down there? Alaya? She's someone's daughter! You just attacked and KILLED someone's daughter. YOU should be one of the best ones to empathize to how to treat a hostage because you ARE a mother! My god Ambrose!" Mac took a breath, "This changes nothing. You attacked our hostage, you killed her, just because I brought her back won't change anything! We bring her back, she'll tell them what happened, how she was treated and that will do NOTHING towards getting your son returned to you."
Ambrose sniffled and looked to the side, ashamed…only to gasp when she saw one of the monitors flicker on on the equipment, static there before it changed to an image of a Silurian with red markings along her scales, "Oh, my God."
"Who is the ape leader?" the Silurian demanded as they looked over at it.
"It's them," she breathed, "How are they doing that? How do they know that we're in here?!"
"Who speaks for the apes?!"
Mac looked at Rory, "You're the only one I trust right now."
Rory turned to her, startled, "ME?!"
"I'm not human, Rory," she whispered to him.
"But you look it," he countered.
Mac sighed and pulled out the psychic paper, 'Bit of a bind, had to say I was a Time Lord, now about to be executed. But it's fine! It's all fine! I have a plan…well, a thing…a very good thing!'
"If I start talking, they'll realize I'm not human either," she added, "You know what a typical human would about them…I'll end up talking like I'm still in UNIT and they won't trust that. You've got an honest face Rory. You can do it. I'll be right here."
Rory took a breath and turned to the monitor, "I speak for the...humans. Some of us, anyway."
"Do you understand who we are?" the Silurian demanded.
"Sort of," he nodded, "A bit," before shaking his head, "Not really."
"We have ape hostages."
Mac let out a sigh as the image zoomed out to reveal it wasn't just the Doctor who was apparently about to be executed as she could see Amy and Nasreen tied to pillars with another man she could only assume was Mo, he looked a bit like Elliot.
"Oh Doctor," Mac sighed, but he just winked at her, grinning.
"Amy!" Rory nearly ran to the monitor.
"Mo!" Ambrose gasped, "Mo, are you ok?"
"I'm fine, love!" Mo nodded, "I've found Elliot. I'm bringing him home!"
"Amy," Rory smiled at her, "I thought I'd lost you!"
"What, cos I was sucked into the ground?" Amy teased, "You're so clingy," but the wink she gave him after told him she was rather fond of his clinging.
Mac had to smile at that though, she'd noticed a lot of things Amy had originally seemed irritated by she was finding cuter on Rory than before. His clinging nature seemed to make her feel wanted and desired that he always wanted to be around her.
"Not to interrupt," the Doctor cut in, "But just a quick reminder to stay calm."
"Show me Alaya," the Silurian demanded, "Show me and release her, immediately, unharmed, or we kill your friends…one by one."
"No!" Ambrose tried to push her way forward.
But Mac pulled her back and pointed at her, "Ambrose…stop it."
"We didn't start this!" Ambrose argued.
"But you sure as hell nearly finished it," Mac gave her a pointed look, "DON'T make the same mistake now and let Rory deal with this."
"I just want my family back!" Ambrose started to cry, "Give me back my family!" she shouted at the screen even as Mac started to pull Ambrose away from the screen, trying to get her out of the room as she struggled.
"I will not be ordered about by apes!" the Silurian snarled, "Execute the girl!"
"No!" Rory cried as Amy was shoved away from a pillar, a line of Silurians appearing at the bottom of the screen with guns aimed at her, "No, wait!"
"Rory!" Amy screamed.
"Ambrose is not the ape ambassador," Mac rushed back over, "She is not their representative!"
"There's no need for this..." the Doctor tried.
"Listen!" Rory called, "Listen! Whatever you want...we'll do it!"
"Aim," the Silurian ordered as everyone started screaming for Amy, begging the Silurians not to do this…when the screen flickered to static.
"NO!" Rory hit the monitor, needing the feed to pick up again, trying everything he could think of to get it back, "Nothing!" he turned to Mac, "We've got to get down there!"
"Rory wait!" Mac pulled him back, "Look…"
Rory turned around to see the picture had come back, "Rory!" the Doctor was there smiling away, "Hello!"
"Where's Amy?" Rory asked instantly.
"She's fine, look, here, she is," he turned to the side to reveal Amy standing behind him.
"Oh, thank God," he closed his eyes, heaving a sigh of relief.
"Keeping you on your toes!" Amy waved.
"No time to chat," the Doctor cut in, "Listen, Kenzie, I need you to get everyone down here."
"Ok," Mac nodded, "I'm assuming transport discs and geothermal energy? Gravity bubble-tech? Like they're known for?"
"Correctamundo," he pointed at her, cheering, "They'll send it up to the drill storeroom, there's a large patch of earth in the middle of the floor. Bring Alaya. We hand her over, we can land this after all. All going to work, promise."
"Doctor!" Mac called.
"Got to dash!" he kept speaking, "Hurry up!"
Mac closed her eyes a moment as the signal cut.
"The moment Alaya tells them…it'll fall apart, won't it?" Ambrose asked from the doorway, her voice quiet.
"No matter what happens, we need to bring her back," Rory sighed, "She needs medical attention and we can't give her that."
Mac nodded, "Ambrose get Tony up, Rory Alaya."
"What about you?" Ambrose frowned as Rory instantly went to do as he was told.
Mac looked at her pile of objects, "I'm going to prepare for the worst," she told her, giving her a pointed look as Ambrose bowed her head and went to get her father.
Mac rubbed her head a moment, before she headed over to her pile, looking down at the psychic paper a moment before sending out a message.
'We have a problem.'
~8~
The small group of four made it to the drill site, looking down at the five discs that were waiting for them in the middle of the earth, Alaya in Rory's arms as neither he nor Mac trusted Ambrose or Tony enough to allow them near the Silurian again.
"So we get on those, and they take us down through the Earth?" Tony asked, shifting a little, he had a few pop-able ice packs on his chest from the first aid kits, wrapped around him with an ace bandage.
"Yeah," Mac nodded.
"They sent five," Ambrose looked at Alaya, still unconscious, "She was our only bargaining chip…" the 'and now she's damaged' was left unsaid.
"We have to hand her back," Rory said, "She's still alive, there's still a chance."
"Not as good a one as there would have been," Mac muttered, "Come on, Rory, I'll help you get Alaya secured with you…" she helped move Rory onto the disc, calling out, "Where are you going?" to Ambrose and Tony as the woman tried to pull him out of the room.
"I just…want to make sure that the drill won't power on again," Ambrose told them.
Tony sighed, "It's set on dig schedules. I shut it off before, but it's set to start digging again in an hour, I have to override the commands and…"
"Just go," Mac waved him off, "Hurry back."
"Think they're telling the truth?" Rory asked her quietly.
"I have to hope for the best in humanity," she murmured, praying that her faith that Ambrose had learned her lesson was founded but fearing it may not me, "And I need just a few more minutes to prepare incase that's wrong," she added, before turning to kneel on the ground, opening a small bag she'd grabbed to sling over her shoulder, across her chest, with the finished products of her piles of odds and ends inside.
~8~
The small group followed Mac as she headed through the citadel that they'd landed in, following the directions the Doctor had sent her on the psychic paper towards the courtroom, the doors opening to reveal the Doctor, Nasreen, Amy, Mo, Elliot, and a Silurian elder gathered within.
"Here they are," the Doctor said as he saw Mac and Tony enter first, rushing over to give her a tight hug, spinning her around before he hugged her again tighter than before. He took a deep breath, inhaling her scent, trying to savor her in his arms as long as possible. He'd gotten her message, she'd told him about Alaya, and he couldn't be more proud of her for getting the Silurian back and keeping Ambrose from truly destroying every bit of chance they had. He knew there was still a very BIG risk that Restac, the Silurian commander who had tried to execute them, would declare war for what happened to Alaya, the two being sisters, but he was hoping Eldane, the Elder behind him, might be able to help.
"Mum!" Elliot cried as he ran for his mother as she followed Tony, "Granddad!"
"Rory?" Amy breathed as Rory entered, carrying Alaya, the Silurian still unconscious in his arms.
The Doctor watched as Rory set Alaya down gently and moved to check her, with the sonic, "Why would you do this Ambrose?" he asked her.
Ambrose swallowed hard, aware that everyone was staring at her now, Elliot backing away from her, "I just wanted my family back," Ambrose told him pitifully.
"I apologize," Mac turned to the Silurian elder, "She slipped past me and I did all I could to revive Alaya. She has breath in her body, but she may need more attention to fully heal."
"I didn't know," the Doctor added, "I didn't know till I was walking back with Mo and Elliot, you have to believe me, they're better than this."
"I hope you are happy Ambrose," Mac shook her head at her, "We had a chance for true peace without the risk of war."
"I know," Ambrose looked down.
"In future," the Doctor looked at her, "When you talk about this, you tell people there was a chance but you were so much less than the best of humanity."
Mac stiffened, seeing the Silurian commander entering, armed soldiers on either side of her, "My sister!" she gasped, rushing to kneel beside Alaya, "And you want us to trust these apes, Doctor?"
"She's alive," Rory tried to tell her, "She just needs to be looked after…"
"One woman," the Doctor added, knowing Restac could work out how her sister had ended up like this, "She was scared for her family. She's not typical."
"I think she is," Restac hissed.
"One person let us down," the Doctor turned to Eldane, "But there's a whole race of dazzling, peaceful human beings up here. You were building something, here, come on...an alliance could work!"
And then Ambrose said the five words that made the entire situation fall apart, "It's too late for that."
"Why?"
"Ambrose…" Mac looked at her, "What did you do!?"
"Our drill is set to start burrowing again," Ambrose told them, sticking up her chin, "In…" she checked her watch, "15 minutes."
"What?!" Nasreen cried and looked at Tony in alarm.
"What choice did I have?" Tony shook his head, "They had Elliot."
"And what, you thought that threatening them would be the way to make peace?!" Mac gaped.
"You said they may attack because of that one," Ambrose gestured at Alaya, two soldiers carrying the woman out of the room to be tended to, "I had to be sure Elliot would be safe!"
"Don't do this," the Doctor turned to Eldane, "Don't call their bluff."
"I actually thought you had a chance to learn from your mistakes Ambrose," Mac told her, disappointed.
"They just need to let us go back and promise to never come to the surface ever again and we'll walk away and leave them alone," Ambrose told them.
Mac closed her eyes and slowly moved back, subtly reaching into her bag for her supplies, knowing a battle might be about to start.
"Execute her!" Restac ordered, pointing at Ambrose.
"No!" the Doctor shouted, only for something to go flying past his shoulder and strike one of the Silurians who had lifted their weapon at Ambrose in the head, sending it falling to the ground, scrambling to get up. He spun around, yelling, "No weapons!"
To see Mac standing there, a rock in hand as she put it in a small sling, like a scarf or handkerchief she was holding on both ends, the rock resting in the curve of it, "It's a rock and scarf Doctor," Mac called back, swinging the sling around and throwing the rock at another Silurian that was about to attack, "Fall back!" she commanded the others, grabbing one of the cloth water bottles from her bag, the bag appearing already full, and stabbed it with her pocket knife, sliding it down the floor with a flick of her wrist.
The Doctor frowned, seeing the Silurians cry out in pain and grip their eyes, "What was that?"
"Homemade tear gas!" she shouted, baking soda, vinegar, and cayenne pepper, "Now run!" she pushed him on, the two of them running after the humans.
"Execute all the apes!" they could hear Restac order.
The Doctor spun around, seeing Mac pulling a bottle out of her bag, "This is a deadly weapon!" he shouted at the Silurians, trying to buy her time, "Stay back."
One of the soldiers stepped forward, trying to lash out at them, when Mac threw the contents of the bottle at the ground as the soldier stepped forward, making the soldier slip and fall, "Vegetable oil," Mac grabbed his hand and pulled him into a run, "Now go!"
"Take everyone to the lab!" the Doctor shouted ahead, spotting the humans running with Eldane in the lead. He ducked down as a blast went past him.
"I've got it covered," Mac told him, pulling out a handful of small white pouches from her bag and a box of matches. She quickly lit on and stuck it into the pouch before throwing it behind her, doing the same to the other three pouches as they went.
"What is that?" the Doctor asked her as he saw the first one in the distance explode, expelling a sort of tan powder into the air, blocking the Silurians sight of them.
"Gun powder and foundation," she smiled, "Makes an excellent smoke screen."
He laughed, taking her hand, "You are BRILLIANT!" he cheered as they reached the lab and ran in, shutting the doors behind them and using the sonic to lock them.
"I know," she smiled.
He turned and grabbed her head, kissing her forehead in delight before he spun around, "Right, I can focus now."
"Elliot," Mac turned to the small boy, "Can you and your dad watch for any soldiers on that screen sweetie?" Elliot nodded and ran to the screen with Mo, watching the monitor of the halls.
"Amy," the Doctor tossed her Ambrose's watch, "Keep reminding us how much time we haven't got."
"Ok," Amy looked at the watch, "12 minutes till drill impact."
"Now, Tony, a lovely little birdie told me that you were trying to hide something," he walked over to Tony, giving him a pointed look as he pulled out the sonic and Tony tugged his shirt away, pulling the ice packs to the side to reveal his chest.
"Tony!" Nasreen gasped, gingerly touching a vein, "What happened?!"
The Doctor sighed and looked at Mac, "You were right, Alaya's sting is mutating."
"I didn't have enough time or resources to do both an anti-venom and preparing all this," she tugged on her bag.
"Right then," he started tossing the sonic between his hands, "How can we stop it?" he frowned before cheering, "Decontamination program! Yes! Might work, don't know. Eldane," he spun around to the Silurian, "Can you run the program on Tony?"
"Er…um…you," Mo pointed at Mac.
"That's Agent Mackenzie dad," Elliot whispered to him loudly as Eldane moved to help Tony to the Decontamination bed.
"Right um, sorry," Mo looked at her and pointed at the screen, "Shedload of those creatures coming our way! We're surrounded in here!"
"So, question is," the Doctor spun around to lean on a control, looking at Mac, "How we do stop the drill, given we can't get there in time? Plus also, how do we get out, given that we're surrounded?"
Mac bit her bottom lip, trying to think, before she pulled out a pen from her pocket and held it up.
The Doctor blinked at it, going slightly cross-eyed to look, "Bit more?" he requested.
She unscrewed the end and pulled the center out, holding up the hollowed container with the cap on it, "Channel an energy pulse up through the tunnels," she ran her finger up along it, "To the drill room," before she blew on the one end, forcing the cap to come flying off, "Ought to stop it."
"Hold on!" Nasreen cried, "Are you talking about blowing up my life's work?!"
"Yes," the Doctor winced, "Sorry. No nice way of putting that."
"Right, well," Nasreen took a breath, thinking about it a moment, "You're going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in..."
"11 minutes, 40 seconds," Amy called.
"Yes!" the Doctor cheered, "Squeaky bum time!"
Mac rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm at how much worse it was getting and how much more he loved it, "The explosion would collapse the tunnels after it hits," she reminded him, putting her pen away, "The caving in will cause debris from the ceilings of the tunnels, we need to be in the TARDIS and on the surface before that happens or we'll be buried alive."
"Yes, there IS that," the Doctor agreed.
"Can we even get past Restac's troops?" Rory asked.
Mac bit her lip again, opening her bag, "I've only got a handful of smoke bombs and one more tear gas. That won't be enough for us to escape all her soldiers."
"I may be able to help with that," Eldane spoke up, "Toxic Fumigation, an emergency failsafe meant to protect my species from infection. A warning signal to occupy cryo-chambers. After that, citywide fumigation, by toxic gas. Then the city shuts down."
"You could end up killing your own people," Amy frowned.
"Only those foolish enough to follow Restac."
"Eldane," the Doctor looked at him seriously, "Are you sure about this?"
"My priority is my race's survival. The Earth isn't ready for us to return yet."
"No."
"10 minutes, Doctor," Amy called.
"Maybe it just needs more time?" Mac suggested, "So many events happen because of ignorance. Like this. All of it happened because of the suddenness of it and because the humans didn't know about the settlement and the Silurians didn't know the drill wasn't a weapon of attack…" she looked at the Doctor, "Maybe…this ONE time…we shouldn't come up with a clever lie to cover it up. The humans KNOW that aliens exist now, maybe it's time they know the Silurians are still here."
The Doctor nodded, "Ok," he smiled at her, "So," he clapped, "Here's the deal. Everybody listening? Eldane, you activate shutdown... I'll amend the system, set your alarm for 1,000 years' time. 1,000 years, to sort the planet out," he added to Elliot and Ambrose, their family, "To be ready. Pass it on. As legend, or prophesy, or religion, but somehow, make it known. This planet is to be shared."
"Yeah," Elliot nodded, "I get you."
"You are a brilliant boy Elliot," Mac smiled at him, making him beam. She could tell that he would be the one that would lead the revolution.
"Nine minutes, seven seconds," Amy added.
The Doctor moved over to the controls, eyeing them, "Yes, fluid controls, my favorite! Kenzie?" he nodded her over and she quickly began to help him set the system.
"I've timed the energy pulse," she reported, "It's all set."
"Before we go, energy barricade, need to cancel it out," he muttered, flashing the sonic at the controls, "Quickly…"
"Fumigation pre-launching," Eldane added.
"There's not much time for us to get from here to the surface," Rory frowned.
"Ah-ha, super-squeaky bum time!" the Doctor cheered, "Get ready to run for your lives. Now..."
"But the decontamination program on your friend hasn't started yet," Eldane reminded them, making them all look over at Tony, strapped to the table in the decontamination chamber.
"Well, go," he urged them, "All of you! Go!"
Mac watched as Ambrose and Elliot ran over to Tony, not wanting to leave him and turned to the Doctor, trying to give the small family privacy to say their goodbyes. Tony wouldn't be able to leave before the process was finished, but they couldn't stay any longer or risk being poisoned by the fumes.
"Eight minutes, 10 seconds," Amy whispered to the Time Lords.
"Give them a mo," the Doctor murmured back, turning to lead the two other humans off, "Listen, we have to get back to the TARDIS first and quickly. That'll be our ride to the surface."
"Where is it?" Mac asked him.
"Er…" he scratched the side of his face.
Mac closed her eyes, "You don't know where you parked the TARDIS, do you?"
"Not exactly," he stepped over to the computers, looking at the video screens, flicking through them to try and find the TARDIS and get his bearings, "But it's not my fault!"
"How is it not your fault?" Mac shook her head at that, "You should know where something as important as the TARDIS is!"
"Well I'm sorry if knowing where something twice as important as the TARDIS is overshadowed that."
"What could possibly be more important to you than the TARDIS?"
The Doctor just looked at her.
Mac waited a moment longer, "Doctor?" she shook her head, not understanding why he wasn't answering.
The Doctor opened his mouth to tell her just what was more important to him then the TARDIS, when the speakers went off, "Toxic fumigation initiated. Return to cryo-chambers. Toxic fumigation initiated. Return to cryo-chambers. Toxic fumigation initiated…"
Amy turned to the screens, seeing the soldiers departing, "They're going! We're clear!"
The Doctor swallowed and sighed, turning around, "Ok, everyone!" he called, "Follow this tunnel down and turn left, look for a blue box. Get ready to run," he waited a moment longer before flashing the sonic at the door, sliding it open, before he looked at Eldane, "I'm sorry."
Eldane nodded, "I thought for a moment, our race, and the humans..."
"Yeah. Me too."
"Doctor!" Amy cut in, "We've got less than six minutes."
"Then we need to go," she turned and pushed Amy and Rory out, urging Elliot and his parents on, "Come on, go!" she ran after them, calling directions on where to go…when she realized the Doctor hadn't followed, "Oh…Doctor!" she nearly groaned before turning to go grab him again. She could barely hear Nasreen thanking the Doctor as she reached the lab again and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the room.
"Come and look for us!" Nasreen called to them as the doors closed.
They caught up to the humans in a large cavernous room, the speakers still calling the warning about the fumigation…so Mac was ready to pull her hair out when she saw the humans just standing there, gaping at the room, "Go!" she shoved them.
"Come on!" the Doctor agreed, taking the lead and bringing them to the tunnel the TARDIS was parked in, Mac rushing to the doors to unlock it with her key, it being more readily available, "No questions, just get in!"
"And whatever you do, don't say 'it's bigger on the inside!'" Mac added.
"Ambrose, sickbay up the stairs, left, then left again," the Doctor told the small family, "Get yourself fixed up. Come on!"
"Five minutes and counting," Amy started to say before cutting off suddenly, making the Time Lords look back to see her staring in horror at the other end of the cavern…where a large crack, larger than the one on the Byzantium, was set in the wall.
"It's getting bigger," Mac breathed, frowning as she realized that.
"Oh, no, no, no, not here," the Doctor shook his head, "Now now!"
"The crack on my bedroom wall," Amy whispered, Rory moving to her side, putting his arm around her.
"Some sort of space-time cataclysm," the Doctor murmured, slowly stepping closer.
Mac looked over to see that Rory looked a little confused, "An explosion," she simplified, "Something, somewhere in the universe that's ripping cracks in it."
"But what?" the Doctor breathed, getting closer and closer, staring at it, fascinated.
Amy shook her head, focusing back on the watch once more, "Four minutes 50..."
"Ok," Mac shook herself out of her thoughts too, "Ok, we have to go!" she moved to take the Doctor's arm.
He turned to her, "The Angels laughed, Kenzie," he turned his hand up to grip her arm in return, "They laughed, when we didn't know. Prisoner Zero knew, everybody knows, except us!"
"And what do you expect to accomplish?" she shook her head, "You've already scanned it with the sonic, multiple times."
"Well, where there's an explosion," he whipped out a red handkerchief, "There's shrapnel," he winked.
"Doctor, you can't put your hand in there!" Rory shouted, seeing what he was about to do.
"Why not?" he grinned, crouching down and sticking his arm in there, rooting around, grunting in pain as he tried to grab something.
"Doctor?" Mac frowned.
"I've got something!" he cried, pulling himself backwards till he fell to the ground, twisting to land on his stomach, the object wrapped in the handkerchief and held out before him, sizzling and smoking with the time energy.
"What is it?" Amy eyed it.
"I don't know."
Mac rushed over to him, taking the object and putting it in her pocket before grabbing his hand and turning it this way and that, checking to make sure he was ok. She let out a breath, "You daft old man," she slapped his shoulder, helping him up.
He smiled at that, he loved it when she hit his shoulder, she only did that when she was worrying about him.
"Doctor!" Rory suddenly shouted, pointing at the pathway they'd come from, where Restac was on the ground, crawling towards them.
"She was there," Amy realized, "When the gas started...she must've been poisoned."
"You!" Restac snarled.
The Doctor looked at Mac who turned, trying to get Amy and Rory back, "Get in the TARDIS," she urged them on, "Go, quickly!"
"You did this!" Restac screamed.
Rory turned, seeing Restac raising one of her guns at the Doctor and pushed past Mac, "Doctor!" he shouted, shoving the man away as Restac fired, falling to the ground in pain as Restac died.
"Rory!" Amy screamed, rushing to his side.
"Rory," Mac moved on his other side, "Rory look at us, look at us."
"Can you hear me?" the Doctor soniced him.
"I don't understand," Rory breathed.
"Shh shh," Amy soothed, stroking his hair, "Don't talk," she looked up at the Time Lords, "Is he ok? We have to get him into the TARDIS!"
"We were on the hill. I can't die here."
"Don't say that," Amy sniffled.
Rory rolled his head to the side and looked at her, "You're so beautiful..." he breathed, his eyes starting to flutter, "I'm sorry…" before they fell closed.
"Doctor," Amy gasped, turning to him, tears falling from her eyes as she begged him, "Help him."
"Doctor," Mac reached out and touched his arm, "Move away…now."
The Doctor looked up, following her gaze, to see that the crack had begun to seep out time energy, already touching Rory's feet and crawling higher and higher up his legs.
"Amy," he quickly stood, grabbing her arms to try and pull her back, "Move away from the light, if it touches you you'll be wiped from history. Amy, move away now."
"No!" Amy wrenched herself from his grasp, "I am not leaving him! We have to help him!"
"Amy I'm sorry but the energy's already got him," Mac grabbed her arm, tugging her back, "We have to go!"
"I am not leaving him!" Amy struggled more, but Mac managed to keep her grip.
"Doctor!" she called, and he rushed to grab Amy's other arm.
"I'm sorry, we have to!" the Doctor told her as the two dragged Amy back, away from the energy, towards the TARDIS.
"No!" Amy screamed, twisting and turning to escape them and their apologies as they forced her on, "Get off me!" they didn't let go till they were inside the TARDIS, shoving Amy further in to lock the doors behind her but she ran for them any way, tugging and pushing on them but the Doctor had sonic locked them to keep her inside, "Let me out, please let me out...I need to get Rory."
The Time Lord ran for the console, making quick work of dematerialization. Amy turned and stumbled after them, seeing Rory on the monitor, seeing the light nearly to his chest, "That light, if his body's absorbed I'll forget him. He'll never have existed. You can't let that happen!" she spun to the Doctor but he pulled a lever, ignoring her, "What are you doing? Doctor! No!" she tried to stop him, tried to push him away, but Mac stepped into his place and finished, the TARDIS starting to shake as it disappeared, "No! No! We can't just leave him there!"
"Keep him in your mind," the Doctor told her, "Don't forget him. If you forget him, you'll lose him forever."
"On the Byzantium," Amy gasped, feeling like she couldn't breathe, "I still remembered the Clerics because I am a time traveler now you said."
"Amy they were men from another time and planet and history," Mac told her, "Not your own past."
"Tell me it's going to be ok," she begged them, "You have to make it ok!"
The Doctor swallowed and Mac helped lead Amy back to the jump seat, "It's going to be hard," he warned, "But you can do it, Amy," he knelt before her Mac crouched at her side, her arm around Amy's shoulders as he took her hands, "Tell us about Rory. Fantastic Rory, funny Rory, gorgeous Rory. Amy, listen to me. Do exactly as I say. Amy, please. Keep concentrating. You can do this."
"I can't," Amy sobbed.
"You can," Mac squeezed her shoulders "You CAN do this," she urged, "This has to be you Amy, you know Rory better than us."
"Come on," the Doctor whispered, "We can still save his memory. Come on, Amy. Please…come on, Amy, come on. Amy, please."
"Just keep focused," Mac told her calmly.
"Don't let anything distract you. Remember Rory. Keep remembering, Rory is only alive in your memory. You must keep hold of him. Don't let anything distract you. Rory still lives in your mind…"
Unfortunately, in the chaos and heartsbreak of helping Amy…neither Time Lord thought to keep an eye on the controls…and the TARDIS thumped terribly as she landed herself, knocking them all to the ground. Mac let out a breath as the engagement ring box fell right by her nose, the ring still in it, protected by the TARDIS.
"What were you saying?" Amy asked brightly as she pushed herself to her feet, smiling down at them, not even noticing the dried tears on her face as the Time Lords stared at her.
"I have seen some things today," Mo called as he and his family headed down the steps, "But this is beyond mad!"
"Five seconds till it all goes up!" Amy gasped, glancing at Ambrose's watch, before she turned and ran for the doors, the Northovers following her out and onto the hill. The Time Lords stepped out, far more sedately, just in time to see the drill go up in flames.
~8~
Mac had just finished collecting all her bells and whistles and mirrors from the church, having passed Amy, Elliot, and Mo wandering about and talking, trying to clear some of the debris. She stepped over to the entrance to the church, seeing the Doctor and Ambrose talking quietly.
"You could've let those things shoot me," Ambrose remarked as she glanced at them, the Doctor smiling as Mac stepped up, draping his arm around her shoulders, "You saved me."
"An eye for an eye?" the Doctor smiled sadly, "It's never the way."
"You wanted to protect your son, Ambrose, and that's very noble," Mac added, "But you need to be aware that HOW you do it will impact him. You could have set a terrible example for your son, showing him that genocide and murder are alright."
"Luckily," the Doctor continued when Ambrose looked down, "He's seen the wrongness in it. And HE can be the best of humanity...in the way you couldn't be."
"Come on," Mac stepped away from the Doctor's arm, though she reached up to take his raised hand in her own, leading him up towards the TARDIS, "We still have one more thing to clean up…"
They'd just reached the old box when Amy came jogging up to them, seeing them (what she assumed to be) leaving, "We heading out now?" she asked, before glancing back at the drill site, smiling when she saw something, "Oh! Hey! Look! There I am again! Hello, me!" she waved at her future self, standing there all alone, before slowly stopping, lowering her arm and frowning into the distance.
"Something the matter Amy?" Mac glanced at her.
"I thought I saw someone else there for a second. I need a holiday. Didn't we talk about Rio?" she turned to them.
"You go in," the Doctor waved her off, "Just fix this lock," he turned to fiddle with the door and his own key, "Keeps jamming," unlocking it and opening the doors for her.
"You Time Lords and your TARDIS locks," she rolled her eyes, stepping in and leaving them alone.
The Doctor glanced at Mac who pulled the red-wrapped item out of her pocket, unfolding it and holding it up to the Doctor. He frowned, taking the small white chip-like object, seeing squiggles of words that were far too familiar…before he held it up to the TARDIS information panel to see it was the exact corner piece of the sign.
"Well," Mac swallowed at that, "Should have been obvious, that."
The Doctor nodded slowly, reaching out to take her hand as they stared at the sigh piece, what else was there that was powerful enough that it could rip cracks into the universe if it exploded?
The question was…why?
A/N: Not much wooing in this chapter, I know :( Poor Doctor losing his 'wingman' like that :( I tried to fit some wooing in there, but other moments I had to take out as it felt a little too forced with all the running around and '10 minutes before fumigation' sort of things :/ But I hope you liked all of Mac's little creations here ;) Little shout outs to her namesake MacGyver there ;) I really wanted her to save Alaya, but I felt like Restac would take the initial attack on her sister to heart and focus on that instead of the fact Alaya was alive and returned to her :(
And I want to apologize for the lateness of this chapter, this time it wasn't the internet or site but me :( I was at a race track most of the day on Saturday and seems I've caught a chill and it turned into a cold. I think I slept nearly the entire day yesterday, barely got up even to eat :( I hate colds, being sick stinks :( So I wasn't able to edit the chapter in time, but I worked on it this morning and got it up :) I hope you enjoyed it ;)
Some notes on reviews...
It's TL7, not a mistake nope. I've mentioned in a few notes and on my tumblr that I am numbering my future TLs based on series introduced. TL7 is the Time Lady that focuses on Series 7, TL5 in Series 5 and so on :) The only TL that's a bit off in that is TL8 (since Series 8 isn't out yet) and that TL is for the 10-specials. I base the number sequence on series introduced, not on order introduced or when I created them. It's more ironic that Mac is TL4 and ended up both being introduced in Series 4 and being the 4th Time Lady series :) I don't think Mac would be annoyed very much :) It's essentially the TARDIS, I think Idris would be more annoyed with Mac for how she treated the Doctor at first ;) I considered introducing the wife in the Wife episode but I felt like it would be a bit cliché :/
Lol, if I ever threw my dad's car in a river he'd disown me and kick me out of the house and then probably call the cops about me 'trespassing' when I tried to get back in to at least get a change of clothes :( And I'm actually being entirely serious, he probably would do that. He can be really weird at times. Like...right before I was supposed to go to college, we were at IHOP for dinner, and he was saying that we had to get me an ironing board and an iron...and I told him that we really didn't, because I don't iron my clothes. I like folding them and hanging them up right when they finish in the dryer so that they're not wrinkled in the first place. I don't ever really iron and I said that it would just end up being a waste to buy something I won't ever use. And this is coming from the fact that they just surprised me with my car as a gift for years and years of straight As, extracurriculars, and getting a scholarship. My dad then got very angry that I didn't want an ironing board, said I was being 'an ungrateful bitch,' and that if I didn't appreciate everything they'd done for me for college then I could forget about ever having his help/support in anything I wanted to do for the rest of my life...then gave me the silent treatment for a week while I had a small breakdown over it all. All that over an ironing board -sigh- I'm fairly certain, by how my parents raised me, that they've given me a complex of having to do as they say or feeling like a failure (and given me a complex about not wanting to disappoint them in the process) :(
The Big Bang will actually be on Friday, Thursday will be The Pandorica Opens, but definitely expect a birthday shout out on Thursdsay no matter which chapter is up ;)
Nope, they won't adopt, mostly because there aren't any Time Lord children to adopt and I can't see them taking on a human or other alien only for it to grow up, grow old, and die before them :( Parents should never have to bury their children :'( But I'm glad you're liking it so far :) I love Victoria and Proffy too :)