"Thought I might find you here."
Phoenix spared the Doctor a glance before returning to her book. After her meltdown in her room, the TARDIS had led her to the library and shown her to a section of books on laws around the universe. Strangely, the fact that the TARDIS had led her there was more calming than anything else she had expected of the ship. It meant that though the TARDIS was admittedly controlling sometimes, she did actually want to get to know Phoenix. The ship had known that she wouldn't want comfort food or a place to get lost - though the library could certainly be that - but rather she'd taken her to a place where she might be able to do something about her predicament. A place of knowledge.
"Don't worry," Phoenix said as the Doctor made his way over to her. "I haven't forgotten your adaptor. The TARDIS is just finishing some last minute calculations to ensure compatibility. It's over there."
She pointed towards the small table it was resting on. As soon as she'd set the machinery down, the table had lit up and started running several scans. It hadn't seemed to need any help from her, so she'd left it be and tried to be productive elsewhere instead.
"Didn't doubt it," The Doctor responded, picking up one of the books she'd discarded. "What are you reading now?"
She quickly snatched the book from his hand and he turned to her with raised brows. Ignoring his expression, she gathered all of her books. They'd been useless anyways. "Nothing. Just something to pass the time. How's Jack getting along?"
"He's rewiring the TARDIS to install the extrapolator, Rose and Mickey went off together to who knows where, and our new guest is sitting under the watchful eye of Nina. Oh, and Triton is scratching up my drapes. Again." He nodded to the adaptor on the table. "You could've assembled that in the console room. Was planning to help you. Why'd you disappear so quickly?"
"Maybe I didn't really enjoy waiting around to slaughter someone." She muttered under her breath, turning away from him and dropping the books into a return bin. Her anger was returning as she mulled the situation over and the lack of solutions she'd found in the books hadn't helped. Honestly, she hadn't meant for him to hear her, but in her frustration she'd forgotten that though he looked human, he was still very different in some ways.
"And you're doing what instead?" He answered, his tone empty of any inflection. She couldn't tell if he was upset or not. "Studying to be a lawyer?"
"So what if I am?" She shot back, turning to face him. Normally, she would probably try to apologize because really she wasn't aiming to start a fight, but she didn't understand how he could be so uncaring about the whole thing. "It's better than sitting around and just accepting that this is what we're going to do. I thought we were supposed to help people, that we were supposed to stop things like this from happening. And now we're knowingly handing someone over to be murdered?"
"Executed." He corrected calmly, his hands tucked into his pockets. "We're taking her to be executed. Not the same thing."
"Either way, the end result is the same." Phoenix countered, crossing her arms and no longer resisting the urge to glare at him. "She's dead because of us!"
"Are you forgetting that she tried to kill your entire planet and everyone on it? That she almost did kill you?" He leveled her with a glare. "Her family was in the business of destroying planets and civilizations and then selling what was left for money. Who knows how many times they succeeded before finding their way to Earth?" His hard expression softened a fraction. "She has to pay for her crimes."
"And that's it? You really believe she deserves this?" Phoenix demanded with disbelief. "I've been reading up on their laws and what they're going to do to her is…it's horrible. It isn't justice. It's torture."
"It doesn't matter what I believe." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Look, I know that this isn't fun and it certainly isn't easy. But she made her choices and now she has to deal with the consequences."
"We can't just stand by and let it happen!" Phoenix suddenly found herself shouting, closing the distance between them in her anger. She could hear her pulse hammering in her veins as her rage from earlier was suddenly back in full force. Her body was nearly shaking with the force of it. "If we do, then we aren't any better than her!"
"Oh, and how many civilizations have you killed?" He shot back.
"Well, there's the Nestene Consciousness, the Gelth, Margaret's entire family, the Erakeesians, probably more. And all of that, in what? The last month?" Phoenix vaguely realized that she'd shoved the Doctor away as she spoke, but was far too angry to care. "All I wanted to do was find the man who murdered my mother. But instead all I've learned is that I'm no better than he is! In fact, I'm probably worse! But what's one more body added to the list?! I'm just completing my collection at this point, right? Since we didn't finish her off the first time around?"
For a moment, all the Doctor could do was stare at her in surprise. He had noticed her mood swings and wasn't entirely caught off guard by her sudden anger, but he hadn't expected her to get physical. As soon as Margaret had mentioned what would happen to her, he'd known that it would probably trigger something for Phoenix. The brunette was always so protective and self-sacrificing, how could it not?
Yes, he was particularly upset at the Raxacoricofallapatorian due to her nearly killing Phoenix and he was certain nothing would change that for him, but he had already figured that with Phoenix it could go either way. She just wanted to help people. It was a large part of who she was and it was part of why he loved her. On the other hand, there wasn't really anything else to be done. He was just abiding by the laws of her planet and in the process he was stopping her from blowing up the planet.
No, what was really surprising was that she saw herself in that way. He knew she felt horrible after what happened on Erakees, but he hadn't realized that she thought what had happened in all of the other instances she'd named had been in any way the same. Honestly, he didn't think she'd done anything worth condemning her for on Erakees either. All of those cases had been in defense of herself or others and there hadn't really been anything else to be done. They hadn't even had time to try to find another solution.
Which was the problem here, he realized with a sigh. It must seem like all they were doing was sitting around and waiting which was in stark contrast to all of those other times.
"Look, like I said, I know this isn't easy. " He said softly, hoping to tame the rage he could see in her eyes. "And don't think I'm making this decision lightly. But it's either we take her to her planet to stand trial or we release her to continue trying to blow up this one. We do that and we might as well be accomplices. It isn't fair, but it is the law. At least for her."
"Oh, and I guess it's all fine so long as it's legal?" Phoenix scoffed, shaking her head. "Just because it's the law doesn't make it right."
She stalked past him, snatching up the adaptor on her way and left him standing by the pool alone. He sighed, closing his eyes and just listening to the hum of his ship. The day had started out so promising. They'd all been joking around and about to get something to eat and then all of this had to happen. Why couldn't he just have one day out? Why did it always have to go topsy-turvy on him? Yeah, they'd had a relaxing week on the TARDIS but that was mostly because they had stayed in the ship for a large amount of the time and then when they had ventured out, he'd managed to deal with any problems before they'd even arisen. Now he had an upset companion, a murderous alien, a lovers spat between Rose and Rickey, a Bloxinia that might be a tad trigger happy, and Jack who was…well, Jack. After taking a deep breath, he hurried to catch up with Phoenix, desperately trying to figure out a way out of this mess. Preferably one that wouldn't leave the brunette upset with him.
"I gather it's not always like this….having to wait." Margaret said as the two entered the console room. Her eyes followed Phoenix as the girl went over to hand Jack the adaptor he needed. "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?" Phoenix's jaw clenched at the woman's words, her hands tearing wires more harshly than necessary. Margaret continued softly, eyes intent on Phoenix. "But not this time. At last you have consequences." Slowly, she turned her eyes on the time lord whose back was to her. "How does it feel?"
"I didn't butcher them," the Doctor replied calmly, inspecting one of the wires Jack had been adjusting.
"Don't answer back," Jack admonished, glancing up from his work. "That's what she wants."
"I didn't." The Doctor insisted, looking over at Jack.
"No." Phoenix chimed in before the Doctor could continue. "We did. To save the planet, we butchered them."
"Like you said, to save the planet. We didn't have a choice," The Doctor told her, brows furrowing with concern. He knew she was upset, but he had hoped that most of it was her body changing. He wasn't sure how deeply she believed what she'd said in the library, but he found himself desperately hoping she wasn't putting that much pressure on herself. "And all things considered, it was a fairly quick death. There wasn't anything else we could do with what we had."
"I know." She sighed, her tone softening as she turned back to her work. "But again…it doesn't change the end result. They're still dead."
"Yeah, and what about her, huh?" The Doctor almost snapped, his own temper rising. He didn't like what she was implying. Did she really think she was so horrible? With how caring she was, how could she think herself a monster? And if she thought that of herself, what must she think of him? "You had an emergency teleport. You didn't zap them to safety, did you?"
"It only carries one," Margaret explained, very matter-of-fact as she leaned against one of the pillars, her eyes wandering the room. "I had to fly without coordinates. I ended up on a skip in the Isle of Dogs." Her head whipped around as the Doctor and Jack burst into laughter. "It wasn't funny."
"Sorry." The Doctor managed, shaking his head and turning to look at the woman. The look of astonishment on Margaret's face just had him laughing harder. "It is a bit funny."
Phoenix bristled as she listened to the two men, but resolutely kept her attention on the wires she was attaching to the extrapolator. It wouldn't do her any good to let her anger out right then. Regardless of how she felt about the situation, it wouldn't be a good idea to let Margaret know that she sympathized with her. She probably shouldn't have said anything earlier, but she had just been so frustrated and she hadn't been able to think it through. But whether the woman deserved to die or not, she had still been plotting to destroy the planet. She was still dangerous and giving her too much knowledge could prove disastrous for everyone.
"Do I get a last request?" Margaret wondered after they had settled down a bit. Phoenix paused in her rewiring, glancing over to see the Doctor's reaction. He had calmed down again and was just focusing.
"Depends what it is." He responded, voice not giving anything away.
"I grew quite fond of my little human life," Margaret told them, settling down on the walkway below. "All those little rituals. The brushing of the teeth and the complicated way they cook things. There was a little restaurant." She murmured, turning back to the Doctor. "Just round the Bay. It became quite a favorite of mine."
The Doctor frowned a little, turning to survey the woman. Of all the things, he'd thought she might ask for, that hadn't even crossed his mind. It was rather simple and he really couldn't see what she might gain from it. Slowly, he made his way over to the railing, leaning on it and examining the alien before him.
"Is that what you want?" He asked, a little skeptical. "A last meal?"
"Don't I have rights?" Margaret demanded, eyes narrowing.
"Oh, like she's not going to try to escape," Jack offered his input, leaning on the console and eyeing the Doctor.
"I'm with Jack on this one," Nina said, appearing from underneath the console where she had been attaching wires back into the ship and sliding the grating back into place. "Why take the risk?"
"I can never escape the Doctor so where's the danger?!" Margaret protested angrily, getting to her feet. She studied the Doctor for a moment, eyes narrowing. "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 could feel Phoenix's eyes on his back and he briefly wondered what she thought about it, but he didn't ask her. If she was staying quiet because she needed the space to calm down, then he wasn't going to engage unless she did. And if she was staying quiet because she was still upset, then he wasn't going to engage in that either. However, he did wish that he knew how she felt about the request. Though, she did want to find some sort of third option to solve the problem, so perhaps that was all he needed to know.
"Strong enough." He finally answered, considering the idea. It wasn't like they had anything else to do. Jack didn't really need him here to finish things and he didn't see many reasons why he should deny her the request. Even humans on death row were granted a last meal.
"I wonder." Margaret murmured, her eyes sharp. "I've seen you fight your enemies, now dine with them."
"You won't change my mind," he told her, feeling his lips quirk up at the challenge. And he really didn't think she would, but perhaps he could help settle Phoenix's worries and concerns this way. He needed to at least try to keep her hormones stable as he didn't want to cause any ill reactions from her changing chemistry.
"Prove it," Margaret shot back, smiling a little herself.
"There are still people out there," Nina reminded him, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning her back against the railing. "She slips away for just a moment and they're in danger."
Phoenix turned away from the scene with a sigh, getting to her feet and moving to untangle a mess of wires. She'd expected the conversation would take that turn, but she'd been hoping for something different. A third option still remained elusive, but the woman at least deserved some respect and a last meal didn't seem like a whole lot to ask for.
"Except…" Jack cut in after a moment of deliberation, glancing up at Phoenix before turning to the Doctor and Margaret. "I've got these." He pulled the two cuffs he kept with him out of his pockets. "You both wear one. If she moves, more than ten feet away…zzzzztt!" He couldn't help the small bit of satisfaction as the woman startled. "She gets zapped by ten thousand volts."
He held the woman's gaze for a moment longer before glancing back to Phoenix who was watching him with surprise. He could tell that the whole thing was really bothering her and he already knew how much she valued life from the short amount of time he'd been traveling with them. This might help her deal with what needed to be done and it wouldn't really cost him anything.
"Margaret, would you like to come out to dinner?" The Doctor wondered, turning around and beaming at her. He'd been planning on accepting anyways, but this definitely felt safer. "My treat."
"Dinner in bondage," Margaret murmured with a smile. "Works for me."
"Great. Just give me a sec, would you?" He turned to Nina who looked quite unhappy with the turn of events. "Nina? Can I get a word?"
Phoenix frowned as the two made their way out into the corridor. What did he want with Nina? Maybe he wanted to talk about the people who Nina had been protecting her from? Though he'd had plenty of time for that while Phoenix was in the library. She supposed with him it could be something as simple as wanting to pick her brain about Bloxan and Bloxinians. It probably wasn't that important and it certainly wasn't her business, she decided, finally finishing with the wires she'd been untangling.
Quietly, she made her way over to Jack, settling down beside him. Her anger had faded again and she found herself feeling rather tired and contrite. She didn't like being angry and certainly not with her friends. It hadn't been her intention to yell at the Doctor and she was a little embarrassed that she had shoved him.
Jack could've stayed quiet and agreed when Nina said it was too dangerous to let Margaret out of the ship, but instead he'd offered up a solution. He'd found a third option. That meant a lot to her and she knew that was why he had done it. So what was going to happen to him in his future that would change him into the man she knew at Torchwood? The man who had convinced her to give up on Lisa before even looking for another option? Then again, he had let Ianto try to get through to her, so maybe it wasn't as bad as she'd been thinking.
"Thanks," she murmured to him, holding some wires out of his way.
"For what?" He asked, grinning. "Just wanted some peace and quiet is all. She brings the energy of the room down."
"Right." Phoenix nodded at him, grinning back. "We can go with that story if you want." His grin just grew wider as he focused on his work. "How come you just happened to have a pair of zapping handcuffs on you?"
"Do you really want to know the answer to that question, princess?" Jack asked her with a smirk as he wagged his eyebrows at her. "I could give you a demonstration later if you want. Or perhaps you'd prefer I leave that to the Doctor."
"Aaannnddd I regret asking," she told him, turning to hide her blush. Despite the fact that she knew he was teasing and that she was fairly certain he didn't mean anything by it, his comments always managed to surprise her and throw her off balance. Really though, flirting seemed to be like breathing to him. Maybe it was a 51st century thing?
"You make it too easy," Jack told her with a chuckle.
"Well, excuse me for not being so casual about…well, you know." She retorted, pulling her hands back as he finished.
"Come on. Pretty girl like you? You must've had guys lining up," Jack insisted, leaning back against the railing and turning to her. "Shouldn't you be past the blushing at intimacy stage? Or is it just because we're talking about the Doctor?"
"Wow. You don't beat around the bush at all, do you?" She asked, eyes wide as she watched him. He just quirked an eyebrow at her, clearly waiting for her to answer the question. "Well, not that it's any of your business, but I've never really been in a relationship before so intimacy, as you put it, isn't really on my radar. If it weren't for being friends with Rose, I probably wouldn't get all of the things you say sometimes." She paused, his last question finally registering in her brain. "Why would you think the Doctor would make a difference?"
"Well, it might not be obvious to the two of you, but the rest of us aren't so blind. It's obvious that you two are crazy about each other, though crazy might not be the right word," Jack answered, his eyes serious for once. "So why not act on it?"
"There isn't anything going…" She trailed off with a sigh when Jack just shot her a very unamused look. "Right. Well, regardless of how I feel, I seriously doubt that he feels or ever could feel the same way. I don't even know if it's possible. I mean, there could be inter-species dating laws that forbid it."
"There isn't. Trust me." He told her with a twinkle in his eye. "I've been with several different species and no one's hunted me down for it yet. Though there was that one Viperox, but they're really hostile at the best of times and it had been one hell of a night so…"
"Okay. Well, what about the statistics then?" She countered, not really wanting to hear the rest of what he was going to say about that particular night. "If there's billions of other species out there and there is no rules against fraternizing with them, then doesn't that make it even less likely? Billions of species, and humans barely knowing they exist, there must be so many better candidates the Doctor could choose besides me."
"That could go the opposite direction though," Jack offered, frowning at her. "I mean, your species' share a near perfect resemblance. There's a lot of humanoid species out there but not that many that look like us. Sometimes, the differences are as simple as different skin shade or they can have horns or spikes or different eyes, like Nina. So, I think the odds are still in your favor."
"Fine, say they are." She allowed, not meeting his eyes and picking at the hem of her jeans. "Why would the Doctor look twice at me while Rose is in the room? She's beautiful and interested and not going to possibly grow tentacles."
Realistically, she knew she probably wouldn't grow tentacles and the future Doctor she had met on San Kloon had pretty much confirmed as much, but there could be other changes she wasn't anticipating and couldn't realistically expect. Maybe she wouldn't even be able to feel this way about someone.
"Those all sound like excuses to me, firebird," Jack tsked at her, shaking his head. "Just trust me on this. It isn't Rose that he looks at when he thinks nobody's watching. And don't you think you should at least talk to the guy before you completely write off the idea of you two? You might cause both of you to miss out on something really special. Doesn't seem fair to make that choice for him."
Phoenix quickly looked away from the sudden sincerity in his eyes, not really wanting to believe him. He was right. No matter how logical and true her reasons might be, in the end, she was looking for excuses and trying to talk herself out of her own feelings. The reasons she'd given Jack were still justified and deserved some thought, but it also wasn't completely up to her.
She still didn't believe that the Doctor could like her in that way or that he ever would, but was Jack right? Was it unfair of her to make that decision for the Doctor without even talking to him about it? Having an open conversation with him about it would admittedly make sense. And yes, she'd technically already had a conversation with him about it, if it could qualify as a conversation. She'd kissed the future version of him on their trip to San Kloon and well, he'd pushed her away.
But he had kissed her back first, she recalled, frowning and trying to think back to that moment. She'd assumed that him pushing her away had meant he didn't feel that way about her, but had he ever actually said he didn't? She hadn't really asked. Rather, she'd just decided that's what it meant and hurried off to get away from the whole situation. But again that had been a future version of him, so maybe this version of him deserved a chance to talk about it. After all the worst thing the Doctor could do was say that he only liked her as a friend, which would leave her where she was now. The place she was trying to convince herself to stay and not having much luck with either.
Which was exactly why she was reluctant to talk to him, she realized with a sigh. She was afraid of hearing that no, of having confirmation that her feelings were unrequited. She didn't want her assumptions from that day on San Kloon to be right and she certainly didn't want to feel that pain of being rejected again. Somehow, with the future him, it had been easy to ignore it, but she didn't think it would be so easy with the present Doctor.
For one, she knew she would still see him every day if she had any say in it and with the other version of him, she knew that she wouldn't be staying there long. She'd known that she would be returning to the Doctor she was with now. Perhaps that was why she'd been so comfortable with him still even though her mortification and hurt should've swallowed her up. Her mind and heart had known that it was temporary.
"It's just something to think about," Jack continued, pulling her from her thoughts as he began working on some more wires. "You don't have to do anything yet, but I would caution you about waiting too long to tell him how you feel."
"Yes." Margaret suddenly chimed in, causing Phoenix to startle a bit. "It's easy to say you'd be fine if they found someone else, but the reality is more painful than you can imagine."
"Sounds like you're speaking from experience," Phoenix murmured, frowning at the woman. Jack just shot her a glare.
"Yes, well, I wasn't always like this." Margaret told her, primly settling down on the captain's chair. "When I was younger, there was this boy and I thought I loved him. I was thinking about running off with him, abandoning the family. But my father wouldn't have any of it. When I realized what would happen should he ever find out, I knew that that was it. I convinced myself that I was fine and even introduced him to the woman that he eventually married." Part of Phoenix warned her that this could be and probably was all a manipulation, but she also didn't think the pain in the woman's eyes was fake. "But no matter how much you tell yourself it won't hurt, no matter how much you say that you'll move on, it's still a very unique type of pain."
"Wouldn't have pegged you for giving decent relationship advice," Jack told her, eyeing her curiously. "Whatever happened to him? They live happily ever after?"
"I don't know actually," Margaret answered with a half-hearted shrug. "After the wedding, we went our separate ways. It was too painful for me to watch and I didn't bother keeping track of him over the years. That seemed too much like self-torture."
"How old are you?"
Phoenix startled and whirled around as the Doctor spoke. He was standing right behind her and she had been so involved with the conversation that she hadn't noticed. How much had he heard? Did he know what she so desperately wanted to tell him and simultaneously never tell him? What would she do if he did? How did she even ask how much he'd heard without sounding suspicious and bringing up the topic before she was ready?
"Don't you know that you should never ask a lady that question?" Margaret asked with a coy smile. "It's considered rude in most cultures. Even mine."
"That would mean you would have to be a lady," Jack cut in, getting to his feet and offering Phoenix a hand up. "Well, Doc, what took you so long? Before I saw you come in, I was starting to get worried and from what you probably heard, I had to resort to asking HER for dating advice just to pass the time."
"Why would YOU need dating advice?" Nina wondered, head tilted to the side as she surveyed them all carefully. "Are you dating someone?"
"Would that be a problem, red?" Jack shot back, smirking at her. "Cause if it is, all you-"
"Right," The Doctor cut in, ignoring the looks he received from the two of them. "If you were bored, why didn't you just talk to Phoenix?"
Phoenix bit her lip nervously as the Doctor's eyes briefly landed on her before returning to Jack. Did that mean he hadn't heard any of what Jack and her had been talking about? Had he only just come into the room? Could she really be that lucky?
"Well, she was being a little moody," Margaret offered, eyes twinkling as she glanced at Jack. "Didn't seem to be in the mood for conversation."
"Right." The Doctor said with a frown, looking between the three of them. "Anyways, you ready? Phoenix, I grabbed you a coat so you don't get cold on the walk to the restaurant."
"What?" Phoenix checked, taking the black hoody he handed her. "I'm going with you? I thought I was going to be stuck in the TARDIS for the night. Aren't there still people trying to kill me?"
"When isn't there someone trying to kill you?" Nina deadpanned, crossing her arms over her chest. "And I talked it over with the Doctor, we both agree that they probably won't try anything in public. I'll stay and help Jack for a little while and then run a sweep to double check on everything later. If you want to go, it should be safe enough. But here." The redhead pulled out two rings and handed them to Phoenix. "If you do get into trouble, take these off and press them together, they'll interlock and I'll know to come help you."
Phoenix studied the rings with awe. They were simple and yet clearly expensive or perhaps valuable might be a better word. They were both a simple thin band of what looked like gold, but the metal shimmered to a silvery color when it hit the light just right. And there were small, deep purple stones along the edges.
"They're beautiful," Phoenix murmured, watching the bands shift colors once more before looking up at Nina. "I'm surprised you would even consider letting me go. Whether it's safe or not, I thought your general approach was to lock me away and wait until you were certain there was no danger."
"You seem like you could use a night out," Nina explained with a shrug. "You're going through a lot and I don't want you to get overwhelmed. This is as safe as I can make it and when the Doctor asked if you could tag along, he promised to keep an eye on you, so…"
The Doctor had asked for her to go along? Phoenix wasn't sure what to make of that and she found herself glancing over at Jack who shot her a knowing grin. Well, whatever it meant, a trip out sounded like a great idea. It would be mostly normal and perhaps she could stop thinking so much about everything. That might even help her figure out a solution to Margaret's problem. Sometimes, the best way to solve something was to take a break.
"Okay," Phoenix replied, putting a ring on either before turning to give her friends a stern look. "However, this doesn't mean I approve of you thinking I need permission to go leave the ship. Either of you. I'm fully capable of making decisions on my own."
"Maybe once we get some training done," Nina commented with a grin, heading over to pull up another tile of grating. "Now, get going."
Phoenix frowned at the redhead's words, but decided to leave it for another time. The Doctor quickly slipped his cuff on before giving the other to Margaret who dutifully followed his example. With that, the three of them set off.
So I finished another chapter! Yay! I have also already started the next one because that seems to help me finish them sooner if I don't have to agonize over starting them first, so hopefully the next one will be done fairly soon as well - but no promises there. I'm going to try really hard though.
Anyways, I was trying to slow things down a little bit in this chapter and focus more on some character interaction so let me know how that worked. Did it feel weird? Was it bad? Does it work? Let me know! And onto the reviews!
ConsultantTimelordSlytherdoor: First, thank you so much! I'm glad that it seems like she could definitely work in canon and that you like it! And don't ever feel like you're pressuring me to update - unless you purposefully word it to be pressuring - but really it's just a helpful reminder for me! I love getting reviews from you guys and they often help me think about the story from a new perspective. And I'm super happy to hear that you think it has evolved well! Hopefully, it continues to do so! I agree that this episode is a slower one and honestly it was never one of my favorites until I started writing it here. I'm enjoying all of the themes to explore and I now appreciate the episode a little more! No need to worry about sounding like a suck or writing a review that's too long! As long as it isn't anything mean on unconstructive, I love to read it! Thanks for the review and I hope you liked this chapter!
bored411: Thanks, I definitely get what you mean about the struggling bit! As for no one going after her right away, I just think they were kind of busy trying to figure out what to do with Margaret and making sure that she's secure. But though I didn't write it in, I don't see the Doctor as not noticing that she left, but rather trusting that the ship will care for her until he can get away to go talk to her. Even though it turned into a fight here. And I think the others definitely cared as well, I just didn't think they would leave what might be a dangerous situation to go find out what was bothering her. I hope that makes sense and I hope you liked this chapter as well!
LuciferRedeemed: Thanks and I hope this lived up to your excitement!
And that's it for reviews guys! I hope you all like the chapter and I am now going to go work on the other one - or maybe do homework, whichever wins out - probably this story. Until next time! :)