By the time the small group with Margret got back to the TARDIS, night had fallen.
Aries walked up to the console and ran her hand over it as she kept an eye on Margret. She felt a warm hum reverberate in her mind, causing her lip to twitch upwards. She had slowly gotten use to the fact, that for whatever reason, she seemed to have a link with the ship.
"This ship is impossible," Margret said in awe as she stepped inside, "It's superb. How do you get the outside around the inside?" she questioned as she approached the console near where Aries was standing.
Rose and Mickey were standing to the side, wondering what they could do. It wasn't long before Mickey made his way over to Jack to see if he could help, leaving Rose standing there alone.
"Like I'd give you the secret, yeah," the Doctor scoffed as he made sure to keep both Margret and Aries in his vision. He was tense at having the Slitheen inside his ship near his Nesdra.
"I almost feel better about being defeated. I never stood a chance. This is the technology of the gods," the Slitheen continued as she made to touch the console, only to pull her hand back when there was an angry hum that resonated through the air and an arch of electricity appeared where she had been about to touch.
Aries smirked, "I don't think you should do that," she told Margret, earning another warm hum in her mind as she ran her hand over the console again.
The Doctor glanced at Aries in surprise when he also felt a warm hum in his mind. He frowned as he looked to Margret, "Don't worship me, I'd make a very bad god. You wouldn't get a day off, for starters," he looked to Jack who was starting to wire up the extrapolator, "Jack, how we doing, big fella?"
"This extrapolator's top of the range," Jack told the Doctor before glancing at Margret, "Where did you get it?"
"Oh, I don't know," Margret replied with a wave of her hand as she made herself comfortable in the jump seat, "Some airlock sale?"
"Must have been a great heist," Jack commented as he helped show Mickey what he needed him to do, "It's stacked with power."
The Doctor rolled his eyes at the man, "But can we use it for fuel?" he asked, probably a little harsher than he had intended. But not only was Margret a threat to his ship, but to his Nesdra as well, and the quicker she was gone, the safer Aries would be.
Aries frowned as she stood by the console. She rubbed her temple as she felt the beginnings of a headache start and wondered when she last had some water. At the thought, a small glass appeared before her and she looked at it. She picked it up and sniffed it, wondering what it was, only to receive an unhappy hum in her mind. She shook her head and drank the water before placing it back down, the glass disappearing as soon as she let it go. "Thanks," she murmured as she touched the console.
"It's not compatible," Jack said, looking up to the Doctor and noticed his troubled look. It didn't take him long to realise that the Time Lord didn't like the idea of the Slitheen with them any longer than necessary, "But it should knock off about twelve hours. We'll be ready to go by morning."
"Then we're stuck here overnight," the Doctor muttered, not at all happy about that fact.
"I'm in no hurry," Margret told the Doctor, only to receive a glare in return that caused her to shrink back in the seat a little.
Rose seemed to grow excited by that bit of information as she excitedly stated, "We've got a prisoner. The police box is really a police box."
"You're not just the police, though," Margret said, "Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners. Each and every one of you."
"Well, you deserve it," Mickey stated.
"You're very quick to say so. You're very quick to soak your hands in my blood, which makes you better than me, how, exactly?" Margret straightened up in the chair, "Long night ahead. Let's see who can look me in the eye."
She looked to Mickey first and the young man dropped his gaze, unable to hold it. Rose was next and she turned away from Margret to look to the Doctor. The next was Jack and he barely glanced up from his work. When Margret turned her gaze to Aries, she found the red head staring right back at her.
Before either could look away, the Doctor blocked Margret's gaze on Aries with his own. The Slitheen was startled by the anger she could see in his eyes and it made her wonder if there was a connection between the red head and the Doctor. She had noticed that he didn't seem to be far from her side.
In the end, it was Margret who looked away first.
No one noticed Aries once again rubbing her temples as her headache seemed to grow.
Aries frowned as she watched Mickey talking with Rose on the scanner. She couldn't help but worry about the young man, but she was also trying to distract herself from the headache that had been growing ever since she had entered the TARDIS earlier.
"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked as he stepped up behind her, his eyes narrowing when he noticed that she was watching Mickey and Rose.
"Yeah," Aries replied with a slight nod, only to wince when the movement caused her headache to flair. Pushing the pain away, she gestured to the scanner, "I'm worried about him."
The Doctor's eyes narrowed further as he stared at Mickey. "Why?" he questioned, trying to keep the jealously from his voice. He had to remind himself that she didn't know about their bond and that there could be many reasons for her to worry about someone. Aries always seemed to care about the people around her and he wouldn't jump to conclusions, so he pushed that jealousy away as much as he could.
"He's a friend and I worry about how Rose treats him," Aries explained, turning to the Doctor, only to frown when she saw him staring at the scanner with a look that brought that unknown feeling back. "Doctor?" she said, reaching out to touch his arm.
The Doctor's gaze snapped to Aries when he felt her touch his arm. He furrowed his brows when he noticed her looking at him in confusion and worry. "Sorry," he said, tugging on his ear, "What did you say?"
Aries continue to frown, but decided against asking what had drawn his attention. She was still trying to figure out what that unknown feeling she got around him was, but her headache wasn't helping at the moment. "I was just saying that I worry about Mickey. He's my friend and I don't like how Rose is treating him. He loves her, but from what I've seen, she doesn't love him. I'm worried she'll hurt him."
The Doctor's shoulders relaxed at her words. Hearing that Mickey loved Rose put his mind at ease, knowing that the young man wasn't going to get between him and Aries. Now if there was a way to get Rose from bothering me, the Doctor thought. Before he could say anything to try and comfort Aries, he was interrupted.
"I gather it's not always like this, having to wait," Margret spoke up, "I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go. You butchered my family and then ran for the stars, am I right? But not this time. At last you have consequences. How does it feel?"
The Doctor turned to Margret, "I didn't butcher them," he told her firmly.
"Don't answer back. That's what she wants," Jack said.
"What about you?" Aries asked, glaring at Margret, knowing how her words would have effected the Doctor. "You had an emergency teleport. You didn't zap them to safety, did you?" Aries took a step forwards, keeping the pain she was feeling from her headache from showing as it grew, "You just left them behind to burn. How does that feel?" she stopped when the Doctor placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It only carries one. I had to fly without co-ordinates. I ended up on a skip in the Isle of Dogs," Margret explained, causing Jack to snort in amusement, "It wasn't funny."
Jack quickly sobered, though he was still grinning, "Sorry. It is a bit funny."
The Doctor led Aries away from Margret, wondering if she was okay when she rubbed her temple with a sigh. "Are you feeling alright?" he asked.
Aries offered him a small smile, "Yeah. Just headache," she told him.
The Doctor frowned, "If it gets any worse, let me know, okay," he told her softly and Aries nodded slightly in agreement.
"Do I get a last request?" Margret asked.
The Doctor glanced at her, "Depends on what it is."
"I grew quite fond of my little human life. All those rituals. The brushing of the teeth, and the complicated way they cook things. There's a little restaurant just around the Bay. It became quite a favourite of mine," Margret explained.
"Is that what you want, a last meal?" the Doctor asked, placing a hand on Aries shoulder again.
"Don't I have rights?" the Slitheen asked.
Aries frowned, but when the Doctor squeezed her shoulder gently, she refrained from saying anything.
"Oh, like she's not going to try and escape," Jack said, unknowingly voicing what Aries was going to say.
"Except I can never escape the Doctor, so where's the danger?" Margret told Jack before looking at the Doctor, "I wonder If you could do it? To sit with a creature you're about to kill and take supper. How strong is your stomach?"
The Doctor stepped in front of Aries, stopping her from doing or saying anything as he faced the Slitheen, "Strong enough."
Aries furrowed her brows at the Doctor but her face creased in pain and she ran her fingers over her temples again, rather glad that the Doctor hadn't seen it. She didn't know why the headache was getting worse, but she didn't want to worry anyone. They had enough to deal with and didn't need her complaining about a simple headache.
Jack frowned when he noticed Aries rubbing her temples. He raised an eyebrow when she noticed him and quickly dropped her hands before looking away.
"I wonder. I've seen you fight your enemies, now dine with them," Margret said.
"You won't change my mind," the Doctor replied firmly.
"Prove it," Margret challenged.
Glancing at Aries, the Doctor continued, "There are people out there. If you slip away just for one second, they'll be in danger."
Jack smirked, "Except I've got these," he pulled out two bangles, "You both wear one. If she moves more than ten feet away, she gets zapped by ten thousand volts."
Margret swallowed as she eyed the bangles.
"Margret, would you like to come out to dinner?" the Doctor asked with a smile, "My treat."
Aries watched on with a frown as another unfamiliar sensation settled in her gut, which only grew when Margret replied, "Dinner in bondage. Works for me."
The Doctor turned to Aries, "I want you to stay here with Jack. You'll be safer here," he told her, even though he wanted her with him. But he knew that she would be safer away from the Slitheen. He was certain that Margret would try something, and he didn't want her getting hurt.
Aries was about to say something against his idea when Jack spoke up, "He's right, Red. And anyways, I need some help with the extrapolator."
With a sigh, Aries reluctantly agreed. "Just be careful," she told the Doctor, "I don't trust her," she added more quietly.
The Doctor grinned, "Aren't I always," his grin softened as he continued, "I'll be fine. If your headache gets any worse, the TARDIS should be able to give you something for it. I'll be back soon, okay," he said softly and kissed her on the temple before leaving with Margret, leaving Aries standing there rather stunned as she watched him go.
Jack smirked at her reaction before clearing his throat, causing Aries to jump and her face heat up as she noticed him staring at her. "Anything I should know?" he asked.
Aries frowned in confusion, "What do you mean?" she asked before moving to help him with the extrapolator, trying to work out what had just happened and why her heart skipped a beat at the Doctor's action.
Jack didn't say anything, but the smirk didn't leave his face as he continued on with his work.
It was after about fifteen minutes of them working silently when Jack decided to bring up the questions he had been wanting to ask Aries since he had seen her earlier. Without the Doctor there, he hoped he would get some answers.
"So, Royal Commander, huh," he said casually, glancing at the red head and noticing her pause in her work, "It's quite a title."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Aries muttered as she continued to attach wires from the console to the extrapolator, trying to ignore the ever growing headache. It had only gotten worse the more time went on and was now a pulsing pain that was starting to make her feel sick.
"Come off it, Red. I know who you are," Jack said, stopping his work to look at Aries, "Even more, I know what you are."
Aries stiffened as her eyes shot to Jack in surprise and alarm.
"Does the Doctor know?" he asked before going back to his work, having gotten the response he was after. Now he just needed to know if she remembered everything, or if not, how much.
Aries frowned as she looked back down to her work, unsure what to say. It's wasn't that she didn't want to keep it from the Doctor, but she was actually scared of how he would take it. After learning about the war and what he had lost from the TARDIS, she wasn't sure what to do. She didn't even know how she was part Time Lord or who her family was. She wondered if it would have been better if she had never learnt what she was. Aries ground her teeth together as the pain in her head continued to grow and fought back another wave of nausea.
Jack glanced up from his work when he noticed Aries hadn't said anything and saw her frowning at the wires in her hands, lost in thought with her jaw set. He sighed, "Look, Red," he said, reaching out and laying a hand on her arm, successfully gaining her attention, "I'm not gonna say anything to the Doc, but I think you should tell him."
Aries glared at Jack as her headache flared, having enough of the pain and also the fear that he knew what she was. "And tell him what, exactly," she snapped, shaking off his hand as she rubbed her temples, "Tell him that I'm half Time Lord but I don't even know how. That I was abandoned at an orphanage when I was one. What good would it do!" she let out a groan as her headache grew, causing her vision to blur as her eyes watered.
"Red?!" Jack exclaimed as her magic flared in her pain, pushing him away from her, "What's wrong?" he asked as he scrambled to his feet.
"This blasted headache!" Aries snapped, closing her eyes as she tried to fight back the pain as another wave of nausea washed over her.
Jack was about to open his mouth but stumbled when the TARDIS shook. His eyes widened as Aries magic lashed out again and he quickly tried to approach her, "Aries, you need to calm down!" he told her, thinking the TARDIS was reacting to her magic.
Instead of calming down, however, Aries screamed as she clutched her head, feeling as though red hot knives were piercing her mind. A wave of uncontrolled magic sent Jack flying backwards as the TARDIS groaned in protest.
Jack managed to get to his feet again as the extrapolator sparked, drawing his attention. He looked between the extrapolator and Aries before it clicked and he rushed over to the device and started ripping out the wires attached to it. "Come on, come on!," he muttered as he ripped out the last of the wires when Aries screamed again, forcing him backwards as another blast of magic hit him.
Some part of Aries mind seemed to realise that the pain she was feeling was because of her link with the TARDIS and that it was in pain because of the extrapolator. She ground her teeth together as her head exploded in pain as she tried to search for the link, having dropped her occlumency shields to do so. Biting back another scream, Aries was quick to find the link she shared with the ship, but the moment she honed in on it, she collapsed unconscious on the console room floor.