here's the next chapter! it might not be the ending you were all hoping for, but it is definitely and intense chapter, so please let me know what you think! :)
I woke up feeling more than a little tired, though one look at where I was had me bolting up only to not move very far thanks to the restraints on my wrists and ankles. I let out a groan and leaned my head back against the headrest of the examining table-like object I was strapped to, before looking to my left and seeing Amy strapped up as well. She hadn't yet woke, but I could see her fingers twitching at her side and knew that it wouldn't be long before she did wake.
"Amy. Amy, wake up." I said quietly, looking around for any sign of Malohkeh as she stirred. "Come on, Amy. I need to know you're alright or Rory's going to kill me."
She grunted a bit before opening her eyes, not seeing me yet as she yanked against the restraints in a panic.
"Don't struggle." A voice said, coming from just a bit past her and I leaned forward a bit to catch sight of Mo. "Close your eyes. Don't struggle."
"Amy. Amy, look at me."
Amy turned to face me and went to speak, but I silenced her.
"Do as he says, Amy."
She ignored me. "What? Where are we? Why can't I move my body?"
"I already told you where we are, Amy." I grumbled and she frowned at me before turning to Mo as he spoke.
"Decontamination, they call it." He explained. "They did it to me while I was conscious."
"Okay, you're freaking me out now. The both of you. Did what? Who did?"
"Amy, please." I begged, hearing footsteps heading our way. "You need to listen to me and close your eyes."
"Not until I get some answers."
"And I'll be happy to give them to you after we get out of this." I argued, but she turned back to Mo.
"Did what?"
"Dissected me." He answered, looking down at his stomach where a red scar lay bare.
I sighed as I could already see Amy freaking out.
"No." She breathed out.
Mo turned to face the front. "He's coming. I'm sorry. I wish I could help you."
I grit my teeth, hating what I was about to do. "Amy, listen to me. I'll keep you safe, alright? I promise, I will keep you safe. An Alexander Holmes promise."
"B-But how?" She questioned, giving me a fearful and teary-eyed look.
I smiled softly back as Malohkeh headed our way, though my hearts beat away in my chest erratically and sweat began to roll down the back of my neck. "Trust me. I won't let anything happen to you."
Malohkeh moved towards Amy with a scalpel as she struggled and got angry.
"Don't you come near me with that."
Malohkeh pulled down his mask and turned on a recording device nearby. "From the clothing, the human female appears to be more resistant to the cold than the male."
"I dressed for Rio!" Amy complained, though I could hear the fear creeping into her voice as she struggled more.
Malohkeh used a circular device to tighten her restraints and I spoke up then.
"Oi! Malohkeh! That's your name, right?"
Malohkeh turned to me with a frown. "And how would you know that? I never told you."
I smirked, glad I had his attention off Amy and hoping that I could postpone anything from happening long enough for Malohkeh to get called away.
"I know all sorts of things. See, I'm what humans call a psychic. I can see the future."
He moved away from Amy and closer towards me. "Interesting. The second female is claiming to have strong mental abilities."
"I told you with the gas too, remember? I'm only part human. Much more interesting than her." I said, nodding towards Amy, whose eyes widened as she started to see what I was doing.
"Alex. Alex, what are you doing?"
I ignored her and went on, my voice cracking slightly as Malohkeh moved towards me more. "I mean, I'm something completely new. My whole biology is changing right at this moment. I have two hearts even! What more could you wish for? I'm the only one of my kind anywhere in the universe too, I'll bet. You could be the first person to dissect a Human-Gallifreyan hybrid!"
Malohkeh spoke once more to his recording device. "First human female dissection will be postponed. Commencing dissection of second human female."
Doctor, where the heck are you?! I mentally questioned as Malohkeh approached me with the scalpel and Amy and Mo shouted behind him.
"Leave her alone! You've got me!"
"No! Don't you touch her! T-The Doctor! He'll stop you! He'll kill you if you hurt her!"
"A-Amy." I breathed out, feeling the scalpel cut through my shirt and into skin. "Amy, look away. Please."
I grit my teeth against the pain that Malohkeh was causing me as the scalpel sank deeper, my hands clenched into fists as a whimper escaped my throat and I felt my muscles go tight to fight against the restraints. But the whole process, I stayed as quiet as I could, knowing that I had stopped this from happening to Amy. That she was safe and that the Doctor was coming. That I would be safe once this was all over. Then, I remembered Rory and what happened to him and my hearts sank as sadness mixed with the pain and a tear finally fell down my face as I apologized in quiet whispers as I clutched to the thin piece of fabric tucked away in my hand.
"I-I'm sorry, A-A-Amy. I'm s-so sorry."
"I-It's okay, Alex." I heard her say back, making me wearily open my eyes and turn my head to look at her beside me; glad to see her eyes closed though tears slipped down her face in a never-ending stream. "T-The Doctor will find us. He will. He has to."
I nodded slowly, grimacing as Malohkeh did something to my second heart. After that though, everything passed in sort of a blur. My mind was too fogged with pain and exhaustion to make sense of anything and my head lolled to my chest before an announcement cut through the fog.
"Area seventeen incursion. Species diagnostic requested. Area seventeen incursion. Species diagnostic requested."
My hearts skipped a beat and adrenaline pumped through my system as I quickly picked Malohkeh's pocket before he rushed out.
"Yeah. And stay out." Amy called out after him, before turning to me in worry. "Alex?"
I gave her a forced smile, knowing that it came out more as a grimace of pain than the comforting smile I wanted. "I-I'm okay. Hold on."
I fiddled with the circular key I'd snatched from Malohkeh, somehow unlocking my restraints, but collapsing to my knees the moment they were gone.
"Alex!"
I brought a hand over my abdomen, glad that Malohkeh had closed me up before he left, and forced myself to stand and move towards her and unlocking her restraints as well. Once she was out though, I had to lean against the bed she'd been strapped on as I panted and shoved the device into her hands.
"Take it. Get Mo out."
"But Alex—"
"Amy. There's no time."
She hesitated, but nodded, getting Mo out, who was pleasantly surprised.
"How'd you get that?"
"You never picked a lizard man's pocket?" She asked, making him let out a relieved chuckle, before she headed back towards where I was. "Come on. Before he gets back."
Between the two of them, they helped me walk down the hall as I battled with the pain left over from the dissection and Mo began to ask questions.
"That creature. Do you think it was an alien? Any more of them, you think? Do you think the Earth's been invaded?"
"Don't know." Amy said, giving me a worried look. "Alex? Can you tell us anything?"
"They're... Silurians." I breathed out. "Technically they were here before humans. Lived with the dinosaurs... There's a whole civilization here... The drilling... they thought it was an attack."
"Alright, alright. That's good, Alex." She said, worriedly. "We need to get back to the surface then."
I shook my head, hand tightening once more on the Doctor's bow-tie in my grip. "He's here. The Doctor..."
"Of course he is." She grumbled, before we came up to a door. "I wonder where this leads."
"Maybe it's a way out of here." Mo said encouragingly.
Amy put her hand on the screen and the door lit up as Mo approached the small viewing window; leaving me leaning against a wall.
"Oh my God, no." He breathed out, trying to open the door.
"What is it?"
"It's my son. It's Elliot. What've they done to him? He's in there. We have to get him out. Elliot? Elliot, it's dad!"
"Mo." I said as loudly as I could, but I had to repeat myself even louder. "Mo! Argh!"
I doubled over in the pain my shouting had caused, but had got his attention.
"It's fine. They haven't d-done anything to him."
"And how would you know?!" He argued, not thinking rationally with his son in danger.
Thankfully, Amy spoke for me as she helped me up. "Like she told that lizard man. She's sort of psychic. Trust me. She knows what she's talking about."
"The monitor." I breathed out between wheezes.
She nodded and hurried over to said object, pointing out to Mo what I wanted her to see.
"These screens, they're monitoring something. I think they're vital signs. Heartbeats, pulses. Why else would he be wired up? He's still alive."
"Alright. We find weapons. Get that creature from the lab and force it to release Elliot, yeah?"
I sighed, already knowing it wasn't going to work, but having run out of energy to argue with them.
"Yeah. Trust me. We'll get him out."
The Doctor shouted in pain as he was being scanned, Malohkeh eyeing him in slight worry as he remembered the other female human who had screamed in a similar manner upon being decontaminated, claiming to be non-human. And, from what he saw during her dissection, she wasn't human, as she said. This made him wonder if this man was also similar to her and if he should skip the decontamination process as he'd done for the hybrid species.
"How can they have escaped?" Restac demanded to know from him, since he had to inform her of the three escapees. "This proves all prisoners should remain under military guard."
"I'm sure you'd prefer to be in charge of everything and everyone, Restac, but we rank the same... Is there any word from Alaya?"
"No."
"It's fine to show concern, you know. She's part of your gene-chain." He said, moving over towards the machine console. "I'm decontaminating now."
"Decontaminating? No, no, no." The Doctor begged, and Malohkeh stopped, giving the man a curious look.
"You... Could you be like the other human who was here? The hybrid?"
"Hybrid?" The Doctor questioned and Malohkeh nodded, though Restac was getting impatient.
"Stop talking to him and start the process."
Malohkeh held a hand up, silencing her. "No, if he is like the last one, then the decontamination process could possibly kill him."
"What?" The Doctor breathed out, Malohkeh's words sending a wave of worry through him. "Last one? Who was the last one? Um... describe them!"
"A female hybrid. The examination showed she had two hearts and she claimed that the decontamination gas could possibly kill her, so I stopped." Malohkeh looked at the scans he had of the Doctor. "You as well. You have two hearts."
"Alex..." The Doctor breathed out, unconcerned about himself for now as he strained against the restraints binding him. "What did you do to her?! What happened to Alex?!"
Malohkeh frowned in curiosity, moving away from the controls and going to scan Nasreen as she awoke.
"Oh, a green man." She breathed out in surprise, as Malohkeh explained.
"Escaped, with the other two specimens."
"Malohkeh." Restac hissed out, scolding him for giving away information and the Doctor let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, thank goodness. I'm the Doctor, by the way. That's Nasreen. Hello. Who are you?"
"Restac." The Silurian before him responded. "Military commander."
"Oh dear. Really? There's always a military, isn't there?"
"Your weapon was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city." Malohkeh said.
"Oxygen pockets, lovely. Ooh, but not so good with an impending drill. Now it makes sense."
"Where is the rest of your invasion force?" Restac demanded to know.
"Invasion force. Me and lovely Nasreen? No. We came for the humans you took. And... to offer the safe return of Alaya. Oh wait. You and she. What was it? Same genetic source? Of course you're worried, but don't be. She's safe."
"You claim to come in peace, but you hold one of us hostage."
"Wait, wait. We all want the same thing here." The Doctor said as Restac gave a signal for her soldiers to move in.
"I don't negotiate with apes." Restac turned to Malohkeh. "I'm going to send a clear message to those on the surface."
"What's that?"
"Your execution." She told him, making him sigh as the soldiers hoisted him and Nasreen down.
"Yes."
Once down, they were led by the military group through the tunnels as the Doctor spoke quietly to Nasreen beside him.
"These must be the only ones awake. The others must still be in hibernation."
"So, why did they go into hibernation in the first place?"
"Their astronomers predicted the planet heading to Earth on a crash course. They a built life underground and put themselves to sleep for millennia in order to avert what they thought was the apocalypse, when in reality it was the moon coming into alignment with the Earth."
Restac stopped and turned towards him in surprise as Malohkeh spoke.
"How can you know that? Are you like the hybrid? Do you have mental powers as well?"
"Oh no. She's special... But a long time ago, I met another tribe of Homo-Reptilia. Similar, but not identical." The Doctor explained.
"Others of our species have survived?" Restac questioned, shocked and hopeful.
The Doctor hesitated though, expression falling. "The humans attacked them. They died. I'm sorry."
"A vermin race." Restac hissed, before they were moving again.
"You're not authorized to do this." Malohkeh argued with Restac as they entered a large meeting hall of some kind.
"I'm authorized to protect the safety of our species while they sleep." She hissed back.
"Ooh, lovely place." The Doctor complimented. "Very gleaming."
"This is our court and our place of execution." Restac said threateningly, before there were footsteps and someone came out from another entryway.
"Let them go." Amy said, wielding one of the Silurian weapons and making Restac hiss at her.
"Amy Pond." The Doctor said with a slight smile. "There's a girl to rely on."
A second person entered, helping a third along to the wall, before moving away and aiming his stolen weapon as Amy smirked.
"You're covered both ways, so don't try anything clever, buster."
"Mo." Nasreen said with a smile, glad to see the man, though the Doctor's eyes shifted to the third figure as his grin grew even wider.
"And Alex! Oh, the gang's all here! Well, nearly, anyway."
Amy spoke up again, ignoring him. "Now let them go, or I shoot."
Restac moved a little closer, but the Doctor's eyes were still on Alex, his smile shifting to a frown as he saw the way she was holding herself and how her breathing was off. Something's wrong.
"I'm warning you." Amy said, bringing his attention back to her as Restac quickly and easily disarmed her and threw her to the ground.
"Don't you touch her!" The Doctor shouted as Restac aimed her gun towards Mo.
"And you."
Seeing no other choice, Mo allowed his weapon to be taken away as Malohkeh held up his hands.
"Alright, Restac. You've made your point." He said sternly as the soldiers moved Alex and Mo towards the Doctor and Nasreen.
Restac lowered the weapon and approached him, getting in his face. "This is now a military tribunal. Go back to your laboratory, Malohkeh."
A soldier prodded him in the back and he turned to Restac and hissed at her as she did the same back.
"This isn't the way." He said, allowing the soldiers to lead him towards the door, but not before the Doctor grabbed his arm and snarled at him.
"What did you do to Alex?"
"Doctor... it's fine." Alex protested as the soldiers aimed their weapons at him, but he went on, grabbing the man by his shirt violently as he snapped viciously at him.
"You tell me what you did right now!"
The Silurians in the room stiffened when they got a look at his expression, some of the soldiers even lowering their weapons, because this man was more than just furious and the room seemed to drop twenty degrees as Malohkeh spoke shakily.
"I-In order to find what had changed with humans, it was mandatory that I perform a dissection to—"
The Doctor cut him off before he could get any further in trying to justify his actions. "You dissected her?"
"Yes." Malohkeh muttered, voice soft as he bowed his head slightly in guilt.
"You dissected someone I love because of scientific reasons?!" He shouted, making Malohkeh flinch back as he raged on. "You tortured her! Nearly killed her!"
"Doctor." Alex breathed out from behind him, but he couldn't hear her over the fury pounding through his head.
The Doctor's hands were white with how tightly they gripped Malohkeh's collar, choking off his air supply as the Doctor continued to shout at the man.
"You have no idea what kind of torture she's been through and you went and put her through more?! You went and cut her open because you had some stupid theory you needed tested?! What has she ever done to you?! She's willing to risk everything she has to make sure people like you are still allowed to live despite everything you do, but not today. Oh no." He snarled. "Today I'm going to make sure you get taken care of personally."
Before he could so much as attempt to attack Malohkeh, he was yanked away from the man and punched solidly in the jaw; knocking him back onto the ground in surprise as Alex huffed above him with a glare just as intimating as his own.
"A-Alex?"
"Y-You... You giant, idiotic, childish moron!" She shouted, making him wince as the Silurians stared on in shock that someone as hurt and scrawny as Alex would attack someone who was ready to kill on her behalf. "What do you think you're trying to do, huh?! You're the Doctor! Did you forget what that means?! You were about to attack someone! For what?! Because I got a little hurt?! I—" Her voice cracked suddenly and the Doctor felt his entire body flood with guilt. "What am I supposed to think, knowing that you'd give up everything you stand for... that you'd kill someone because of me?"
"Alex, I-I would never—" He cut himself off this time, knowing that he nearly had done just that right now.
He had nearly ripped Malohkeh limb from limb without even thinking of how that would effect Alex. How she would blame herself, how she would look at him afterwards. He wasn't even thinking. Upon seeing Alex hurt like that, he'd lost all sense of everything. He could only feel hatred and rage towards the person who'd caused her pain. And now... he'd hurt her himself.
"I-I'm sorry, Alex. I'm so, so sorry." He apologize, bowing his head and Alex sighed quietly.
"I'm not the one you nearly strangled."
The Doctor turned to Malohkeh guiltily. "Sorry."
"No, it's... it's alright. I, um, I would've done the same, I think." The Silurian muttered, eyeing the two in fascination at their relationship.
"Doctor."
The Doctor turned back toward Alex, worried about facing her and seeing her expression, but a familiar piece of fabric dangled in front of him instead, making his eyes snap up to Alex as she smiled a bit.
"Get up and put your ridiculous bow-tie on."
He smiled a little as well and took the fabric from her, noticing how wrinkled it was and feeling his hearts beat wildly in his chest as anger tried to rear it's ugly head back up at the thought of her clinging to the bow-tie through her torture. Alex, seeing this, groaned quietly.
"Doctor, I swear, if you don't get up right now I will collapse."
His eyes quickly snapped up to hers, seeing now just how much pain she was in after scolding him, and he pushed himself up off the ground and wrapped an arm around her waist in support as she sank into his side tiredly.
"I'm sorry." He murmured, feeling as though it was his fault she was in this much pain.
She frowned though, giving him an annoyed look. "Shut up. We're about to be executed, you know."
"Right..." He grumbled, remembering only now, the situation they were all in.
Snapping herself back to the present, Restac nodded to the soldiers to finish taking Malohkeh out and gave the remaining ones their orders.
"Prepare them for execution."
Amy was chained to one pole as the Doctor and Alex were chained to another; the Silurians allowing Alex to sit on the floor now that she could hardly hold herself up anymore.
"Okay. Sorry. As far as rescues go, didn't live up to its potential." Amy commented and Alex snorted with a wince.
"I'm glad you're both okay." The Doctor commented, glancing down at Alex with a grimace. "Mostly, anyway."
"Me too." Amy said as Mo was pushed past and chained to Amy's pole. "Lizard men, though?"
"Homo-Reptilia." The Doctor corrected. "They occupied the planet before humans. Now they want it back."
"After they've wiped out the human race." Nasreen commented, being chained to the Doctor's pole.
"Told you." Alex grumbled.
"Right. Preferred it when I didn't know, to be honest." Amy said, giving Alex a worried look as the woman panted quietly. "Are you sure you're doing alright, Alex?"
"F-Fine. I'll be better when this is over, thanks."
The Doctor though, became even more worried because even in his standing position, he could see the thin sheet of sweat on Alex's forehead and how her hair stuck to her face. Not only that, but her breathing pattern was a bit off and he could see a bit of fresh blood staining the remnants of her shirt; making him think she tore some of her wound open when she argued with him earlier.
"Why are they waiting?" Nasreen asked. "What do you think they're going to do with us?"
"You really don't want to know." Alex muttered, worrying the group before she forced a smile on her face. "If we're lucky though, we've got someone on our side. Might stop this before it gets going."
Her expression fell then and she winced as—the Doctor assumed—she remembered something.
"Please tell me you told Rory about Ambrose." She muttered to him and he nodded.
"I did."
Alex relaxed a little, though the Doctor could tell that she wasn't entirely relieved. "Then let's hope nothing happened."
"Who is the ape leader?" Restac asked, speaking to a holographic image of Rory, Mack, and Ambrose. "Who speaks for the apes?"
Rory stepped forward "I speak for the... humans. Some of us, anyway."
"Do you understand who we are?" Restac asked.
"Sort of. A bit. Not really."
Restac hardly seemed to care. "We have ape hostages."
Rory caught sight of the group chained to the poles. "Doctor! Alex! Amy!"
Mack and Ambrose moved closer as well.
"Mo! Mo, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, love." Mo replied. "I found Elliot. I'm bringing him home."
Ambrose let out a soft cry as Rory spoke. "Amy, I thought I'd lost you."
"What? Because I was sucked into the ground? You're so clingy." Amy said, making Alex scoff.
"Says the one who cried out for him as she was sinking."
"Oi! Shut it." Amy scolded her, face turning a light pink before Nasreen called out as well.
"Tony Mack!"
"Having fun down there?"
"Ah, not to interrupt..." The Doctor said, cutting the others off. "...but just a quick reminder to stay calm."
"Show me Alaya." Restac demanded and the Doctor looked down at his feet as Alex forced herself to sit up a bit.
Rory and the others hesitated and when Alex's expression slipped into a more somber one, the Doctor knew something had gone wrong.
"Show me, and release her immediately unharmed, or we will kill your friends one by one." Restac said, getting angry at this point.
"No." Ambrose said sternly and Rory frowned.
"Ambrose."
"Steady now, everyone." The Doctor said, hoping to keep the tension from rising any more.
"Ambrose, stop it." Mack said, pulling her away, but she struggled and pulled herself from his grip.
"Get off me, dad." She turned back to the screen. "We didn't start this."
"Let Rory deal with this, Ambrose. Eh?" The Doctor said, unease worming it's way into his stomach.
"We are not doing what you say anymore. Now, give me back my family." Ambrose demanded and Alex glared up at the screen.
"No." Restac said after a pause. "Execute the girl."
Rory panicked as Amy was taken off the post. "No! No, wait! She's not speaking for us!"
"Rory!"
"There's no need for this!" The Doctor argued.
"Listen, listen! Whatever you want, we'll do it." Rory begged, but Restac wasn't listening.
"Aim."
"Amy!"
"Rory!"
"Don't do this!" The Doctor shouted.
"No!"
The screen cut off then just as Restac shouted 'fire' only for someone to walk through the entrance and stop them.
"Stop!"
All eyes went to the Silurian standing there, a more regal man in robes walking over towards Restac with Malohkeh as he scolded Restac.
"You want to start a war while the rest of us sleep, Restac?"
"The apes are attacking us." She snipped.
"You're our protector, not our commander, Restac. Unchain them." The Silurian ordered, but Restac was resilient.
"I do not recognize your authority at this time, Eldane."
"Well then, you must shoot me." He said, shrugging, and Restac hissed in annoyance before stomping to Malohkeh angrily.
"You woke him to undermine me."
"We're not monsters." Malohkeh said calmly. "And neither are they."
"What is it about apes you love so much, hm?"
"While you slept, they've evolved. I've seen it for myself."
"We used to hunt apes for sport." She argued. "When we came underground, they bred and polluted the planet."
"Shush now, Restac. Go and play soldiers. I'll let you know if I need you." Eldane said as Malohkeh walked past her.
"You'll need me. Then we'll see." She snipped at the man before leaving; Malohkeh heading for the Doctor and Alex as the group were unchained from the posts.
"Are you alright?" He asked the two of them, sheepishly. "And... I am sorry for what I have done."
Alex half-heartedly waved her hand, forcing a pained smile on her face. "It's fine. I-I saw it coming, so I suppose I should've talked you out of it a bit better. Ngh."
She grimaced, bringing a hand across her abdomen as the Doctor was finally released and hurried to kneel in front of her in worry. Once there, he cautiously pulled aside the edge of her shirt; being careful not to reveal more than he should as he took in the fresh pink wound trailing down from her sternum to her navel that was bleeding slightly. He gently brushed his fingers over her skin beside the wound, but even then, Alex let out a hiss of pain and smacked him on the shoulder weakly.
"D-Don't touch it, you moron! It hurts!"
"Sorry." He muttered, beginning to shrug off his coat to cover her a bit better. "I'm so sorry, Alexander."
Alex rolled her eyes, giving Malohkeh a look. "Can you believe him? Thinks everything's his fault all the time."
Malohkeh couldn't help but smile a little. Not only was he glad that Alex held no hard feelings towards him like the Doctor did, but through watching this interaction between her and the Doctor, he was getting a better understanding of how these people weren't much different from the Silurians in the room. Their relationship with one another was very interesting to watch, especially how they both seemed to interact with the other using playful arguments and subtle movements of kindness. As curious as he was to see them interact more, however, the Doctor was quick to end it by helping Alex up off the ground and onto the bench nearby to rest before he got into contact with the surface.
"Rory! Hello!" The Doctor said with a grin as the connection finally went through.
"Where's Amy?" He demanded and the Doctor pointed.
"She's fine. Look. There she is."
"Oh, thank God." He breathed out in relief.
"Keeping you on your toes." Amy chimed, though she had been rather scared herself.
"And Alex?" Rory asked, before he spotted her in the background, not looking too good. "Is she okay?"
"J-Just a bit of dissection." Alex breathed out, forcing another grin on her face, before she grimaced. "N-N-Nothing to worry about."
"A bit of what?!"
Rory, despite all the trouble he'd gone through with the Doctor and her, actually rather cared for Alex. She always seemed to back him up even when Amy was being rude or the Doctor was causing trouble. Sure, she often teased him and called him a Roman—for some odd reason—but the two of them got along pretty well and had become close friends in the time they'd gotten to know each other. So seeing her in the shape she was in now had him really worried; especially after what she'd said. The Doctor though, quickly diverted the subject, hoping to get Alex back to the Tardis to get checked out as soon as he could.
"No time to chat. Listen, you need to get down here. Go to the drill storeroom. There's a large patch of earth in the middle of the floor. The Silurians are going to send up transport discs to bring you back down using geothermal energy and gravity bubble technology. It's how they travel and frankly, it's pretty cool. Bring Alaya. We hand her over, we can land this after all. All going to work, promise. Got to dash. Hurry up."
He cut off the connection and turned to Alex in worry, heading back to her side and brushing some of the hair stuck to her forehead in sweat.
"How are you holding up, Alex?"
"B-Been better. An aspirin would be nice, but—Ngh." She cringed, curling up on herself a bit. "A-Are dissections supposed to h-hurt this much?"
"It's possible that he may have disrupted your biological cycle." The Doctor said quietly, kissing her forehead. "So it will hurt until your body figures out what it needs to do and should go about trying to fix it. Think of it as an infant catching a cold."
"O-Oh, so I'm a baby now?" She snipped, making the Doctor smile a bit; because as long as she was joking and arguing, he knew that she was alright.
"You know that's not what I meant. But because your biology was in the middle of changing things, having someone poking around in there may have introduced some new bacteria that you're body is going to have to go through to figure out which is good and which should be gotten rid of. That being said, it's going to hurt."
She let out a soft sigh, wincing again slightly before she looked at him with a sorrowful look. One that the Doctor didn't like. It's never good when she looks at me like that.
"What is it?" He asked, cautiously.
She glanced down briefly. "Things aren't going to go well. Not at all and... I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."
He could see how broken up Alex was about whatever she knew would happen and the way she wasn't meeting his gaze let him know that she hadn't had the best of trips with him lately.
"Alex?"
She looked towards him hesitantly and he smiled comfortingly.
"It's fine. Because it all turns out alright in the end, right?" He saw her hesitate and worry settled in his stomach as he realized that the end of this adventure wouldn't exactly be a pleasant one. "Even if the end of this one isn't good... it will all work out later, won't it?"
She nodded slightly and he felt his small smile return before he leaned in and kissed her briefly.
"Then let's focus on that. Focus on that and what's happening now. And rest, Alexander."
His fingers brushed her temples and she let out a soft sigh as she fell asleep and he laid her down on the bench carefully. He knew that she was probably going to be a bit upset that he did that later, but for now he needed her to relax and she wasn't going to be doing that so long as she was awake worrying about upcoming events. Back to business.
I woke up with a start, sitting up and gasping for air, only for someone to attempt to push me back.
"Alex. Alex, calm down. It's alright. You're fine." The Doctor said, myself grabbing my stomach as pain raced up my spine. "Did you have a nightmare or something?" He asked, confused as to why I shot up upon awaking.
"M-Malohkeh. Where' s Malohkeh?" I asked and the Doctor gave me a strange look.
"He said he'd catch up." He smiled then, hoping to lift her spirits. "But guess what? Plans are going good and the transport system just arrived."
"No." I breathed out, trying to pull myself up into a standing position; though the Doctor tried to stop me. "N-No, you don't understand." I quickly rounded on him, angry. "Why did you knock me out?!"
He stood up as well, looking confused as I pulled a hand through my hair. "Because, you needed your rest. You were dissected, Alex!"
The pain in my stomach was making my head spin, and I knew that I wasn't thinking rationally, but that didn't stop me from snapping.
"I could have saved him!" I shouted, rounding on the Doctor who took a slight step back in shock, before rushing to catch me as I doubled over in pain.
"Alex? Alex, save who?" He asked as I tried to calm down and get my head in order. "Everyone's here. Everyone's safe."
"M-Malohkeh." I breathed out. "Restac, she—"
"Mum!"
I was cut off as Elliot shouted and ran to his mother as Amy called out to Rory as well. The Doctor turned to them as he helped me stand, and quickly caught sight of the bundle that Mack was carrying.
"Oh no..." He breathed out as I clung to his side.
"I'm sorry." I whispered as Amy stepped forward.
"Doctor, what's he carrying?"
"No. Don't do this. Tell me you didn't do this." He said as Mack laid the body on the floor and the two of us approached; the Doctor revealing the body to be Alaya's. "What did you do?"
"It was me." Ambrose said and I lifted my head to glare at the woman who seemed to be almost proud of what she'd done. "I did it."
"Mum..." Elliot murmured and she grabbed his shoulders.
"I just wanted you back."
Elliot pushed away from her and joined his father over with the rest of us; the whole room seeming to be against what Ambrose had done. The Doctor—upon making sure I could stand by myself—went over to Eldane.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know. You have to believe me, they're better than this."
"This is our planet!" Ambrose said loudly and I quickly snapped at her.
"Shut up!"
She flinched, but went silent as I clutched my abdomen a little tighter at the strain.
The Doctor turned to her as well. "We had a chance here." He stormed up to her and got in her face; her body practically stiff in fear at his gaze. "In the future, when you talk about his, you tell people there was a chance but you were so much less than the best of humanity." He snarled, before Restac and her soldiers entered the room; surrounding us.
"My sister." Restac demanded, before taking notice of the bundle on the ground.
She knelt down to it and lifted the blanket to reveal her sister's body and let out a wail that made my hearts ache.
"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." I apologized, hearts breaking at the sight of her mourning and seeing the hurt and anger in her eyes as she turned her gaze to me.
The Doctor knew what I really meant though, and frowned as he stepped over, grabbing my wrist firmly.
"Alex, this isn't your fault."
I shook my head, pulling away from him slightly as I pressed a hand to my forehead; the drums beginning to sound up again with the pain and torrent of emotions battling in my head.
"It is. I wasn't there. I didn't physically do this to her, but it must be. It has to be my fault. I knew it would happen. I knew. I-I didn't try hard enough. I couldn't save her. I couldn't save her or Malohkeh." I cried, feeling tears slip down my face as I covered my mouth with my hand. "I'm so sorry. Y-You lost your sister. I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean... I didn't want this to happen. Not to anyone else."
The Doctor came over and hugged me against his chest, brushing a hand through my hair as he attempted to comfort me in the tense situation. I felt pain welling up then and grew even more upset that I was about to pop off, because now the Doctor would have to bear this burden alone. He would have to watch Rory get pulled into the crack and watch Amy forget about him, and the Doctor would be the only one having to hold onto that. I let out a gasp of pain—the ache combining with my stomach—and felt my legs give out; the Doctor calling out to me worriedly as he helped lower me to the floor.
"Alex? Hold on, Alex. It's going to hurt. Probably more than usual, given the situation."
I shook my head, unable to hold back the whimper that escaped my throat before I spoke. "Rory..."
"What?" He questioned, sounding surprised.
"He'll be fine. I-I promise... Not right away, but... he'll be okay."
The Doctor shook his head, entirely confused. "That's great. I'm glad Rory will be fine, but it's you I'm worried about."
"What?" Rory said, having heard us. "How did I get dragged into this conversation?"
"Oh, shut it." Amy said, hitting him as I managed a slight chuckle, turning to the Doctor once more with a small smile.
"See you later... or earlier."
He chuckled as well. "Still able to manage a joke, I see." He kissed my forehead gently. "I'll see you."
I gave one last look at Restac then, catching her surprised look as I mouthed an apology once more and disappeared in a flash of gold light.
Sneak Peak:
Once Alex had been safely treated for any diseases she may have picked up and her wound was cleaned, the Twelfth Doctor moved her into the Zero Room where she could sleep and have the rest of her wound heal without him having to worry about her moving around too early. The Tardis will allow her to wake as soon as her wound is healed. The Doctor mused as he sighed, his eyes focused on the silver wedding band on his finger. She'll be fine. So stop worrying. He scolded himself, before going back to what he had been thinking about before the Tardis had brought Alex to his attention.
"Question. Why do we talk out loud when we know..." He blew out the candle he'd picked up. "...we're alone?"