Thank you all so, so, so much for all the reviews and other support! It's been incredible seeing everyone loving the story so far! It truly does make me so happy.
I hope everyone will enjoy this chapter as well!
Chapter 17
Glancing toward Rose and Jack, she saw the looks of concern they both sent her way. She was not the only one worried about the Doctor's behaviour. As Rose opened her mouth to say something, Madison merely shook her head before she hurried off down the corridor, going after the Doctor. She found him a few lengths into the TARDIS, walking stiffly down the way.
"Doctor," she spoke up, trying to get his attention.
"Not right now," he responded, sounding rather curt.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," she apologised, hoping to correct the mistake she had made.
He halted in place, giving her a glance of bewilderment. "Me? Offended? What makes you think that?"
She blinked, unsure now. "Because you seem upset?"
He placed his hands in his pockets, staring away from her. "I'm not upset."
"Then why are you acting like you are?"
He sighed heavily. "Fine, I'm not upset with you." He looked back at her again, a mess of emotions crossing him then.
She stepped up closer to him, standing in front of him. "Then what is upsetting you, Doctor?"
His jaw tightened as he seemed conflicted to speak. Or rather, unsure of what to say to her. Finally, he said, "I took advantage of you." Then he seemed to rethink his phrasing. "You've been lonely for so long, and now I'm showing you all these amazing things, warping you into thinking you have to do me favours or thinking that you have to—." He halted in his words as she held up a hand to stop him.
"Excuse me?" She scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Do you think of me as a causal dalliance? That because you have simply shown me such wonders through the universe that I would become so easily infatuated with you? No. You should know very well by now that I do not sway so quickly. If I am interested in someone, it is not for such superficial reasons."
Opening and closing his mouth, the Doctor seemed stunned for a moment before he responded. "All right, so it's not because of that. I'll give you that one. But maybe we shouldn't do this because . . . you deserve someone better than me."
Sighing, she shook her head. "Doctor, don't be self-deprecating. Everyone deserves to find happiness in their lives. You're no different." She crossed her arms tightly then, feeling even more rejected now than she had earlier when he denied their dance. Doubt swelled through her, eating away at her. "If you don't want to be with me that's all you have to say. Don't make up excuses to avoid telling me the truth because you think it'll hurt me."
"I'm not . . . I'm not making up excuses." He sighed, crossing his arms then. "I want this to happen. That's the problem. Because it shouldn't happen. It'll only lead to us both being hurt in the end."
"How so?"
He stared at her, clearly lost as he was plagued by dark-dwelling thoughts. "I get people hurt when they . . . get close. It's happened before. And not only that but . . . you won't live as long as I will. I'll have to watch you die one day. I don't think I can handle something like that." His gaze turned sombre as he stared at her. "Not with you."
"Oh." This news shocked her. She had just assumed his lifespan was about as long as a Mer's was. But Time Lords lived longer than three thousand years? She wanted to ask him how long he could live, but she felt it was rude to bring it up. With that, she was reminded of what she had gone through with David and her heart clenched at the idea of the Doctor going through the same thing. "I can understand that. I . . . I had to bury David myself. I would never want to put you through something like that." They remained silent for a moment, simply staring at one another. Madison felt her eyes beginning to burn as she tried to keep a steady demeanour. "So . . . in the end, no matter what we feel, it can never be?" She meant to make this as an ending statement. However, it came out as a question as the hopeful part of her still wished for them to try. Even if it was painful . . . she wanted to try. For their own sanity as she felt as though they were reaching the point that neither one of them could stand as being only friends.
The Doctor stayed silent as he looked away from her, his adam's apple bobbing as he kept his eyes locked on the corridor wall. "I'm sorry. Never. It's best we just stay friends."
". . . I understand." She did. She did understand. Though it still hurt. She felt it, her heart breaking. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten her heart broken. It hurt worse than she recalled. Her eyes burned even more as she felt the tears bubbling forth. She kept them at bay as she plastered on a smile for him. "Thank you for speaking with me about this, Doctor. I hope this does not change things between us." She winced as her voice was thick from the emotions that swirled within her. She tried clearing her throat. She did not want to worry the Doctor or make him even more upset than she already had tonight. "I'll be retiring for the night. See you in the morning, Doctor."
She turned and quickly scurried down the corridor. She knew she was retreating with her tail between her legs but she did not care if she appeared like a crowd. She was too upset to care. She tried breathing in and out steadily, to keep herself stable. It was not working, however. The tears came whether she wanted them to or not. So by the time she made it to her room, they were streaking down her cheeks. She hiccuped as she tried holding in sobs as she closed her door behind her and sat down on her bed. Why? Why did it hurt so much? This shouldn't hurt that badly. It was a mere simple desire to be with the Doctor, wasn't it? If it were simple interests, then this should not feel as though her entire being wished to cease. Why, why was she feeling this heartbreak? Unless . . . oh, dear. She had truly fallen for him, hadn't she? Oh, dear.
"Damn," she muttered as she rubbed at her tears. "Get a hold of yourself. You've been disappointed before. You can handle this." She knew she was lying to herself. She had never received heartbreak like this before. Not in this sort of scenario, at least. She also did not realise just how strongly she felt towards the Doctor until now. When did that happen? When had she fallen completely for the Doctor? She tensed as a knock came on her door.
"Maddie? Can I come in?" came Rose's voice from the other side of the door. Hurriedly, Madison wiped away her tears, trying to make herself look like she hadn't just cried her heart out. Rose poked her head around the door. Immediately the girl had a concerned expression as she walked over and sat on the bed next to Madison. "I take it the talk with the Doctor didn't go well?"
"It went fine," Madison answered, wincing at the hoarse voice of hers. Again, she felt a bit betrayed at it showing her distress.
"Is 'fine' code word for 'terrible'?" Rose asked.
Sighing, Madison shook her head slowly. "No, it did go fine. It just . . . did not end the way I wanted it to. But I'll be okay. I'm a big girl. I can handle it." Her voice wavered at the end. She was starting to feel frustrated with how easily she was giving herself away. She felt as if she used to be better at hiding her emotions than this. She was three hundred years old. She should be better at handling this.
"Do you want to talk about it, or do you wanna go eat ice cream and just forget about everything?"
Madison sighed, shoulders slumping as she simply wanted to take a bath, but ice cream and crying did sound amazing. "The latter option, please."
Rose smiled, taking Madison's hand and leading her out of the room. They went together into the kitchen and raided it for all sorts of snacks. Ice cream included. They ended up in the TARDIS movie theatre with all their goodies, sitting down to watch one of Rose's favourites. While it just started and they settled in comfy armchairs to eat their horde, Jack came strolling in. He had changed out of his military uniform and was now simply wearing a shirt, denim trousers, and a pair of black boots. He grinned when seeing them and plopped himself into another armchair.
"Hello, ladies. Care if I join you?" he asked, already grabbing a bag of crisps from the coffee table in front of them.
"By all means," Madison mumbled, not feeling all too friendly at the moment as she just wanted to eat and mindlessly watch a movie. She didn't want to chat up or even think at the moment. She just wanted to forget everything. But she had a feeling that Jack had arrived for a reason.
"How are you liking the TARDIS?" Rose asked him, smiling as though eager to hear his response.
"Oh, I love her. I've got the perfect room, just had the perfect shower, and am now surrounded by two perfect ladies. Now if I could just find the perfect bar in this place, I'd be set for life," he replied, winking as Rose laughed. Opening his bag of crisps, he munched on them for a moment before turning to them both with a more serious expression. "So, I take it the conversation went poorly?" Madison sighed as she leaned back into her chair. "That bad, huh?"
"He's just being a total prat. If he really thinks about it and realises how stupid he's being, I'm sure he'll come around," Rose said, offering some form of encouragement.
"It's not like that. We came to a mutual agreement that we're better off being friends," Madison countered.
"Why's that?" Jack questioned curiously. "If it was 'mutual' then why are you so upset?"
"I'm not upset. I'm just . . . slightly disappointed with the outcome. But I'll be fine. I'll get over it." Madison mumbled in response as she stirred at her ice cream in its container.
"But why does he just want to be 'friends' now when he's been practically all over you since you've met him?" Rose asked as she began to frown in disapproval. "I say he's been playing around with you."
"He's fine, Rose. I don't think he intended for anything to come of how he acts. I think that's just how he is, honestly," Madison sighed, not liking how Rose was setting herself up to be angry towards the Doctor. "We both agreed that it wouldn't be fair for us to try anything if it only leads to pain. Our lifespans are too different."
Jack blinked in confusion, pausing in mid-bite of a crisp. "'Lifespans'?"
"They're older than they look," Rose explained absently. "He's nine hundred and she's three hundred."
Jack blinked, clearly taken back for a moment before grinning slyly. "Looking good there, Maddie," he said.
"I'll always look this way. No matter how old I get. My kind never ages past twenty-five. At least externally," she responded dully, taking a big spoonful of ice cream and shoving it into her face.
"What species are you?"
Madison shook her head. "I'm sorry, but we're not there yet. I'm not ready to discuss that." She appreciated seeing Jack nod with understanding.
"What about the Doctor, then?"
"He's a . . . he's a Time Lord," Rose answered, hesitating for only a moment when Madison shook her head. The blonde gave a shrug as Madison gave a disapproving gaze. "He's gonna find out eventually."
"Yes, but that's the Doctor's right to tell people. Not us doing it for him," Madison said sternly.
"'Time Lord'? I thought those guys had been wiped out." Jack grinned brightly with excitement, gazing around the TARDIS now with more of a keen eye. "No wonder this ship is amazing. The technology behind it . . ."
"If you wish to know more, you should ask the Doctor. It's his story to tell, after all," Madison told him then, seeing all the questions he had then.
"I'll keep that in mind." Jack then turned in his chair, facing her better. "Back to the real topic, what sort of excuse is 'lifespan differences'? There are plenty of species out there who get together despite all that. Some even have lifespans that only last a couple of months and they still find love with longer-lived species."
"It's what the Doctor wishes and I respect what he wants," Madison replied shortly, wishing they would just drop the subject already.
"Sounds like a weak excuse to me," Rose said as she munched on a biscuit. "I think he's making it up."
"I know for a fact that you don't buy that excuse, either," Jack added, nodding pointedly at Madison.
"It doesn't matter what I think. The Doctor made it plain that he doesn't want to be with me. Ever. End of story. Now can we please just watch the movie?" Madison retorted crossly, slumping down in her seat as she ate aggressively.
"Ah, well, his loss," Jack said, waving a hand as he got more comfortable in his chair. "Just means you can go out there and find yourself a better man. Maybe one with incredibly good teeth." Jack gave her a large grin with a wink.
"Jack, I am not in the mood right now. So keep the flirting to yourself," she grumbled in response.
Jack chuckled but nodded all the same. "I gotcha. No more flirting for tonight." He looked at the large screen now. "What are we watching anyway?"
Madison half-listened to Rose explaining the plot to Jack, feeling herself still contemplating what had occurred earlier. The mentioning of the Doctor's reasoning from Rose and Jack, both of them agreeing it seemed like a weak excuse, made her wonder. Had the Doctor used it as an excuse to push her away? She had felt that it was. Even before Rose and Jack's comments. But Madison wanted to believe the Doctor about how he felt. She didn't want to mistrust him and think that he was lying to push her away. Because what was the point of pushing her away when it would only cause more problems in the end?
Sighing, she shook her head. Well, if the Doctor wanted them to just be friends and for nothing more to be, then she would do as he wished. No more hand-holding, flirting, poking each other in jest, or intimate talks they would share at night as they had been. Something that had started shortly after she revealed her Mer-form. It had sort of become a routine for them for the Doctor to come into her bathroom while she was resting and sit next to her bathtub to chat with her. It had always been something she looked forward to at night. But now . . . things are going to change from that. For if the Doctor did not want to be with her, then fine. She was going to make certain she would not fall for him even more than she already had. She would not fall into the void of constantly pining over someone. She had seen what that does to people in the past. She promised herself she would not fall down that road. Not ever.
XxXxXxXxXx
Madison slept poorly that night. Her mind was troubled with how she was going to handle the next day with the Doctor. She hoped, despite their conversation, that things would not change that much between them. Though she knew they couldn't be as close as they had been, she still considered him a great friend. She promised herself that she would act as normal as possible. Pretend like his rejection did not hurt her at all. Go about the day as though everything was fine. She knew she was lying to herself in thinking things could go back to perfectly normal, but she knew she needed to try. For the Doctor, she would try her best.
She sighed as she sat in the bathtub, letting herself dry off naturally as she sat on the ledge within the empty tub. All the water had been drained after she woke up and she didn't have the energy to rub her tail down. So she sat there staring at the blue scales of her tail, playing with the side fins absently. She shifted a bit as she was sitting on her dorsal fin. It was a bit uncomfortable, but not painful. So she could ignore the discomfort for now. She lifted up her tail somewhat, feeling the heavy weight of it before allowing it to flop back down into the damp tub with a smack. She looked at her hands then, with patches of blue scales here and there on her arms and her webbing between her fingers. A small bit of doubt had been creeping up on her since last night. The bit of her that felt she was disgusting as a Mer and this was the reason the Doctor did not wish to be with her. She knew she was being ridiculous listening to that small voice of doubt, but it was hard to ignore completely. Eventually, she had to let out a puff of breath as she grabbed a towel, wanting to hurry up and get the day going. Like ripping off a bandage, she knew it had to be done. The sooner she got through this pain, the sooner she could move on from it.
After her legs came back, she got herself dressed and her hair braided before going out into the corridors of the TARDIS. She found Rose, Jack, and the Doctor already in the console when she arrived. It looked like Jack was probing the Doctor with all sorts of questions while Rose was snickering from the captain's chair.
"No, I'm not telling you that. Why would I ever tell anyone that?" she heard the Doctor say rather crossly to Jack.
"Well, if you're too embarrassed to talk about it, that's all you gotta say. You don't have to go into detail about why my 'little mind' can't handle it," Jack replied smoothly, leaning against the console with ease. Before the Doctor could retort anything more, Jack beamed in Madison's direction. "Good morning, Mads!"
"Morning, Maddie," Rose greeted.
The Doctor turned around to face her. "About time you woke up. I've been stuck here with these two blabbing away all morning. It's like dealing with a couple of toddlers."
"Oi, you're not better yourself," Rose countered cheekily.
The Doctor ignored her remark as he smiled so brightly at Madison now. "Ready to head off? It's your turn to pick."
"I'm fine with any time or place you wish to go," Madison responded, shrugging as she averted her eyes from the Doctor and stared at the time rotor instead. Her heart hurt seeing his bright smiles. She knew this would probably be a reaction from her for some time until she got over her feelings toward him. She hoped that it would not interfere with how he felt. She did not wish to cause him problems. She caught the small frown from the Doctor as he stared at her, but he appeared to shrug off whatever he felt as he walked around the console.
"Wait, it's my first time on the TARDIS. Shouldn't I get to pick?" Jack spoke up in question.
"Knowing you, you'd just pick a club to go dancing in," Madison teased him as she walked up the steps to be closer to everyone.
"Or some other places for picking up strays," Rose added, sharing a smirk with Madison.
"Though I do enjoy the occasional exotic place here and there, I do have more class than that when it comes to travelling," Jack responded, pretending to be offended. He turned to the Doctor eagerly. "How does the sixties sound? I've been craving some flower power, bell bottoms, disco—."
"Disco was more in the seventies," Madison corrected.
"Eh, close enough," Jack replied with a shrug.
"You just want to go to the sixties 'cause of the miniskirts," Rose teased the man.
Jack smirked deviously. "And the go-go boots. Can't forget those."
"I'm not a taxi service to go around and pick up cheap dates," the Doctor warned sternly, mostly directing this statement toward Jack. Though he did add a side glance towards Rose.
"Come on, we're not saying that. We just wanna go somewhere fun," Rose sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. "Besides, we've only visited the sixties once. Why not again? This time actually getting involved with the local culture instead of just standing on a hill with binoculars." The Doctor threw the girl another heavy frown of disapproval. Seeing the argument that was about to boil forth, Madison quickly stepped up between the two, smiling kindly.
"I wouldn't mind visiting the sixties again. I really did enjoy that decade," she offered, hoping to persuade the Doctor. The idea of going to the 1960s did sound quite enjoyable to her at the moment. She needed a time period to simply unwind after everything that had happened. Anything to get her mind off the Doctor and her feelings towards him.
"Sure?" he asked her, eyeing her up as though wondering if she were merely agreeing without truly meaning it. Seeing her nod with a soft smile, he beamed. "All right. Any old time in the sixties work?" As the rest of them were nodding, the Doctor began bouncing around the console then and quickly sent them off.
XxXxXxXxXx
The four of them were soon making their way out of the TARDIS after they landed. What greeted them next was a city with large buildings, massive radio towers, sidewalks filled with people moving between the buildings, and cars passing them by on the streets. A few buses passed on by and Madison could even hear the ringing bell of a streetcar. Judging by the writing on billboards, the way people were dressed, and how they were driving, she knew they were somewhere in the United States. It made Madison wonder where they were. The buildings were indeed large, but nothing like the skyscrapers one might see in the cities on the east or west coast.
"Where are we?" Rose asked curiously as she stared around.
At the moment, the blonde was wearing a polka-dotted pink dress with white shoes and her hair was styled up into a bun. Madison had changed to match as well, choosing to wear a flower-patterned shirt with bell sleeves and bell-bottom pants. She had been glad when Rose suggested the change of style as Madison had really missed wearing clothing such as this. She even let her hair out of its braid and had placed on a dangling headband that matched her blue shirt. Jack and the Doctor had stuck with the normal clothes they wore from that morning. She was surprised that Jack had not wanted to dress up as she had assumed he would be the type to blend in completely. But she supposed that he was merely too excited to adventure out to take the time to change outfits.
"Not New York," the Doctor grumbled, practically pouting as he looked around the sights. "I swear I made sure we were heading to New York."
"Sure we're not just in New York the state and not New York the city?" Jack wondered aloud.
"Looks like somewhere in the middle of the States to me," Madison commented lightly. She turned her attention towards the river she spotted that was not that far away from them. She pointed it out to others. "Let's head to the river. There's bound to be more going on over there." They walked swiftly down the walkway, passing by street vendors, people mingling about, and businessmen trying to rush to get back to the office. It didn't take long at all before they were coming around a large building and heading towards the road passing parallel to the very wide river. The river was muddy brown and had long boats carrying cargo travelling down the way. She spotted a few massive boats docked a few yards down from them. Ones that she was certain were either dining boats or casinos. But that did not matter as she recognized the river almost right away.
"That's the Mississippi River," she said, nodding towards the muddy water.
"How do you know?" the Doctor asked her curiously.
"I know my water," she explained quietly, earning herself an 'ah' and a nod from him as he understood what she meant.
"What's that?" Rose asked then, pointing towards a gigantic structure, close to the river's bank, that appeared to be currently in the process of being built. Gasping, Madison began to smile at the sight of the silver, steel archway.
"Oh! We're in Saint Louis!" Madison said brightly, grinning away at them. "It's been such a long time since I've been here. It's such a lovely city."
"Some might argue with you on that one," the Doctor commented lightly.
"Fine, I'll rephrase. It's a lovely city to me since it's rather small in the long run," she clarified, rolling her eyes at him. "Fewer crowds that way."
The Doctor nodded. "Ah. Got it."
"I haven't been to old Saint Loui in a long time," Jack said, grinning brightly as he began looking around with more interest. "Too many one-nighters for me. It became messy when I went to any local lounges. Besides, the river took out most of the city by my time."
"What's the big arch then?" Rose asked them all curiously.
"That's the Gateway Arch," the Doctor began explaining, beginning to walk down the sidewalk in its direction. "It's a sort of commemorate piece made as a symbol of the 'gateway to the west'. In the 19th century, Saint Louis was right on the territory between what the American's owned for land and what French owned in the west. After Thomas Jefferson—good old Thomas, I helped draft the Declaration—purchased the land from France, he sent a couple of fellows, Meriweather Lewis and William Clark—got to meet their travelling group, very nice bunch—on an expedition through the west to map the territory and explore it. They started the expedition right here in Saint Louis. So, as a way to remember it, the city one day decides to make this." He waved a hand towards the arch after finally getting close enough to view it properly.
The archway was massive, towering over any building in the city. The silver steel gleamed in the sunlight and groups of people were standing around the sidewalks viewing the sight in awe. Construction was hard going as they could see special cranes were attached on either side of the curved arch, building it piece by piece until it connected into a complete archway. They could see that it was almost finished with just a few more pieces that needed to be set in place to connect it fully. In fact, if Madison didn't know any better . . .
"I think we might have arrived the day before it's complete," she told the others, looking towards them now. "I remember watching the ceremony of it being finished later during a news special." She looked around, spotting the final piece resting in a pit within the fenced area. "There. That's the final piece. I think they're getting it ready for tomorrow. That means we're in October, 1965."
"No wonder it's chilly." Rose rubbed at her arms before her interest suddenly peaked. "Does that mean we can stick around to watch it be finished?" Rose asked, smiling eagerly.
"I don't see why not," the Doctor responded, nodding in thought as he continued to look around the construction site.
"What can we do till then?" Jack questioned.
"Well . . . if I recall correctly there's the Busch Stadium that's been built recently. I always do love a good baseball game. There's plenty of museums . . . The zoo . . . The botanical garden is nice," Madison began listing off.
"That's it?" Rose asked sceptically, raising a brow in a bit of disbelief.
"It's not a very big city compared to others, so not as much to do for tourists. You've got to know where to go for the good places as a local, though I'm afraid I never was a local in this time frame, so I won't be much help for entertainment." Madison turned to look at the Doctor. "Doctor, do you think we should just skip a day ahead or . . ." She blinked as she realised he was no longer there beside them. Instead, she saw that he was far down from where they stood, getting up close to the construction site. "Oh, dear. Looks like he's at it again."
Rose smirked lightly. "Trouble?"
"Most likely," Madison replied with a nod.
"He normally runs off like this?" Jack asked the two as the three of them made their way toward the construction site.
"All the time I'm afraid. You'll learn to keep an eye on him if you want to keep up," Madison explained. They hurried over to the Doctor, carefully crossing the street to avoid being hit by passing vehicles and walking down the slope towards the site.
The Doctor was standing right at the fence, holding onto the chain links as he stared hard towards the final piece of the archway lying on a massive truck bed. There were men seen working around the piece, welding the last bits and pieces within the triangular steel piece of the arch. It was odd. It appeared as though they were adding on strange electronic pieces on the inside. Though this did not make sense to her as the arch was hollow on the inside for people to be able to visit the observation area at the top of the archway. There were metal storage containers laying around the place, locked up tight with the words Siren Construction written on the sides. She frowned briefly at reading this name, finding it a strange name for a construction company. It struck a chord with her as she recalled other times she, the Doctor, and Rose had run into Siren on papers, buildings, or other such things. But she brushed this off as she remained focused on the event at hand. Around these containers appeared to be even more electronic equipment that seemed out of place for the 20th century.
"They have a lot of advanced equipment laying around there," Jack commented as he frowned at the sight of the construction workers handling the electronics. "Definitely not 20th century Earth tech."
"Yeah, and look what they're adding to the last piece of the arch," the Doctor noted, pointing towards what the men were working on.
Jack squinted his eyes for a second before they widened dramatically. "Is that a quantum equaliser?"
"Yep. Looks like someone's turning the arch into a space-time manipulator."
Rose turned to the two in puzzlement. "What's that?"
"It's a transport device. A machine that can have someone travel from one side of space and time to another instantaneously. Quick way of jumping across the universe. Not very many species use it as the technology isn't stable for multiple trips. Loses power after every use," Jack explained quickly as the Doctor appeared to be getting out his physic paper. "But to make an entire archway into a portal is just insane. Doing something like that would only be because—."
"Someone wants to transport a lot of something all at once. In a massive wave all the way to Earth," the Doctor finished for the man. He then grinned lightly at them, waving his psychic paper. "Let's get a closer look, shall we?"
Madison was a bit taken by surprise as the Doctor reached down and took her hand, pulling her along next to him as he walked towards the entrance to the construction site. It shocked her that he was still so willing to hold her hand, even thumb at her skin happily. Why though? Why was he wanting to still hold her hand as though they were a couple? Wasn't this the exact opposite of what he wanted? Didn't he realise this would only make it worse for them if he continued to act this way? Shaking her head, she felt frustration at his behaviour. This was not acceptable. If he wanted to be friends, then he should only hold her hand when it was absolutely necessary. Not just whenever he felt like it. And especially no rubbing at the top of her hand in a caress as he was doing so now. That should only be a romantic gesture. He was pushing boundaries as a 'friend' that should not be overstepped. If he wanted only friendship, then she needed to put her foot down when he acted out of place. So, she did just that, yanking her hand out of his hold. It pained her seeing the way he stopped and stared back at her with a confused, hurt expression. But she kept herself as steady as possible as she threw him a frown and shook her head.
"Sorry, but no more of that. We need to stick to what we agreed on, remember?" she reminded him sternly. Frowning heavily, looking greatly disappointed now, the Doctor did not respond as he turned away and started off again with his hands stuffed into his pockets and marching away in an aggravated manner. She felt a twinge, not liking that she made him upset. Though how else was she going to make certain they both did not get their hearts broken? If he wanted friendship and nothing more, this was how it should be. And in trying to convince herself of this, she hated how she still felt her heart clench and weep for him to hold her hand.
"Hey, what the hell? What are you doing in here?" a man called out to them the moment they walked through the fence entrance. A man, who appeared to be the construction foreman by the way he was dressed, stomped over to them in annoyance. "Get the heck out of here before I call the cops."
"Call all you like, but you're being inspected either way," the Doctor said rather snipply as he flashed his psychic paper at the man. "The city sent us. Along with my partner," he nodded to Jack, "his secretary," he gestured to Rose, "and mine." He merely jerked his thumb towards Madison. She felt another sting as she knew by his gruff tone that she really had made him upset. She ignored this, however, as she smiled kindly at the foreman.
"'Inspection'? Since when?" scoffed the man, crossing his arms as he narrowed his eyes.
"Since today as there is going to be a ceremony tomorrow and the city wants everything to be in order," the Doctor answered as he stuffed his psychic paper into his coat. He nodded his head towards the containers with strange electronics. "Who authorised the use of computerised equipment?"
"I don't know. It came in as a last-minute order to add the stuff down into the museum." The foreman jerked his thumb towards the base of the archway. There they could see a set of stairs leading down under the base of the arch. "And some kinda weird observation thing in the last section." He waved a hand over to the piece his men were working on.
Crossing his arms, the Doctor gave the man a raised brow. "And who ordered it?"
"Look, bud, I don't know all the top dogs who boss me around. I just do what the papers say, and they say 'put the stuff in'."
Nodding, the Doctor, grinned as he began moving towards the museum. "Then you won't mind if I take a look at the museum equipment. I'd like to see it all for myself. For the inspection, of course." He was suddenly halted by the foreman, being pushed back away.
"Then I need you all to come back later. I'm not having people walking around an active construction site without any training or safety equipment," the foreman said gruffly, crossing his arms tightly.
Frowning, the Doctor gave the man a small glare. "No, we're doing the inspection now. We don't have time to wait around."
The foreman gave a shrug. "Too bad. Those are the breaks. If you don't like it you can send your boss down to have a chat with me. Either way, you're not coming in." The foreman walked away before anything more could be said.
"Looks like we'll be coming back at night. Always did want to sneak into a national monument," Jack commented lightly while the Doctor grumbled under his breath.
XxXxXxXxXx
They waited around in a bar lounge in the downtown area of the city. Nothing more they could do until night fell and they could sneak into the construction site. It was not the most exciting time, but Madison enjoyed it nonetheless as it was nice being able to sit and chat with her friends. She had a chance to know more about Jack and shared a few jokes with him and Rose. Madison even started to joke around with his flirtatious behaviour somewhat as she was starting to feel more comfortable around him and his antics. It honestly reminded her of some of the members of David's gang. They would act just the same, too. Never meant anything by it, just flirting around in good spirits and humour. She felt that she and Jack could have that sort of relationship as well. Rose appeared to already be on those terms with Jack as the blonde was almost always joking with him. Though the Doctor stayed oddly quiet for most of the time, keeping his arms crossed and just staring away from them. She wondered if he was still annoyed about the foreman not letting them onto the site. Though she had a feeling that it was something else bothering the Doctor.
When night finally came, the Doctor practically rushed them out the door. Impatient with waiting around as always. Though the city was still very active with people enjoying themselves around different restaurants, pubs, clubs, and other such things, no one really paid attention to the four of them as they made their way onto the construction site. It was also strangely unguarded as well, making Madison somewhat worried about what that might mean for them. Though she shook off her feeling of uneasiness as she followed after the others into the archway area.
"So what are we doing first? Taking out the quantum equaliser? Scavenge and scrap the rest of the equipment? Find out who's really in charge and take them out? What strategy are we using?" Jack began to ask rapidly, appearing quite eager to get started.
Raising a brow at him, the Doctor scoffed lightly. "If you're in a rush for a fight you can go back to TARDIS now and forget about travelling with us."
"I don't want to start a fight," Jack disputed quickly.
"Good. Then shut up and follow along, yeah?" The Doctor marched off towards the base of the arch, leaving the three of them blinking in bewilderment and glancing at one another.
"He's in a great mood today," Rose said, words heavy in sarcasm as she rolled her eyes before following along with Jack and Madison towards the arch. Madison didn't pay any attention to the muttering agreement the other two seemed to share about the Doctor's moodiness. All she cared to focus on was getting to the Doctor in case he needed help as he had already vanished down the steps under the arch.
The museum was not the largest that she had ever seen. But it was decently sized for being underground. There was nothing there yet for a 'museum' per say as the area was still being built. However, the electronics that they had seen earlier that day had already been placed around the facility and were obviously installed for use. It honestly looked like a base of operations to her as she stared around at everything. It was almost like something out of a 1980s science fiction film. She even spotted an area that was set up as a transporter platform of some sort. She was glad she watched so many films. It helped her recognize some of these things.
"This is where they're going to operate their invasion," she heard the Doctor saying from the other side of the room. She glanced over to him, seeing how he was typing away at a computer station of some kind. "They've got it scheduled to happen right at the ceremony, once the last piece of the arch is put in place. But if I destroy the quantum equaliser I can manage to keep most of the troops out in space. Won't stop them completely, but it's a start."
"Make sure to disrupt that transporter, too," Jack added.
"Already on it." The Doctor continued to type away, solely focused on his task at hand. But soon there came a noise from the computer and he froze, with eyes widening, before swiftly typing faster. "Incoming," he warned them all quickly.
"'Incoming'? What do you mean?" Rose asked nervously.
"Means someone knows we're here and is about to arrive," the Doctor answered shortly.
"Well can't you stop it?" Jack questioned, already searching the room for a weapon of some kind.
The Doctor threw the man a sharp gaze, and replied very stiffly, "Don't you think I'm trying?"
"Do you think we can reason with them, or do you know for certain they're not the type to talk?" Madison asked quickly, glancing toward the Doctor and Jack. If anyone knew what sort of race of extraterrestrials they were dealing with, it would be the two of them.
"The technology is basic. Lots of races out there use this stuff," Jack answered as the Doctor was too busy working on the computer systems to pay attention. "Most of them, not the kind you want to sit and have chats with."
"Then we should go and break that device on the last piece of the arch before they show up." Madison walked over swiftly to the Doctor. "Can your sonic screwdriver break it?"
"Yeah, good thinking," the Doctor said, hurriedly pulling out his sonic from his coat before tossing it to her. "Setting four hundred fifty-seven, prop open the panel, take the red and green wire, twist them, place the mauve wire with the zens, then yank out the sheds, reverse the transmitting orb, then place it all back together before using setting eighty-six."
"What?" Madison gaped at him, blinking as her mind sort of froze upon listening to all of that information.
"Here, I got it," said Jack, taking the sonic from her. He rushed out of the museum. She followed after him, wanting to be of some help in case he needed it. They were soon running across the site, going over to where the last piece had been placed. It still was laying on a flat truck bed, with massive connections for the cranes on the arch to lift it into place for tomorrow. Jack crawled onto the truck bed, getting himself inside of the hollow steel piece. The device had been welded in the centre of it, though it looked as though it could be easily removed if need be. Which only made her wonder if it would be easier to simply remove the thing altogether.
"What exactly is this thing going to do to the arch? You mentioned a portal. Is this a Stargate scenario?" she asked Jack curiously as she watched him work.
"Star-what now?" He blinked in confusion, making her realise her mistake in using a movie reference out loud.
"Sorry, never mind," she muttered, shaking her head. "Just tell me what I can do to help. I hate standing around feeling useless."
"Stand guard in case anyone comes for us." Jack began to work, tearing apart the large device as quick as he could. Though he paused to grin lightly at her. "Oh, and make sure I look good saving the day, too." He gave her a wink while she huffed.
"Do you always have to make flirtatious jokes at the worst moments?"
"Only when I think it'll help with the stress. Besides, you're one to talk. You were flirting with the Doctor back there when we had zombies coming at us."
"Yes, but I do it graciously. You have no class," she replied smoothly, snickering at his pretend shock, holding a hand to his chest and everything.
"I'll have you know I've got plenty class. In fact, give me a chance and I can show you some."
"Not in a million years." She snickered while Jack gave her a pout of fake disappointment. Letting him work for a moment, she began wondering if she could speak with him frankly about something that was bothering her. Sighing, she turned to keep a look out into the site with him at her back. "Jack, may I ask you something?"
"What's that?"
"Do you have an idea as to why the Doctor is suddenly in a rather cross mood at the moment?"
"Well, I thought that was obvious. You didn't let him hold your hand, and the fact that you were joking around with me at the bar might have ticked him off. I think you hurt his feelings when you wouldn't flirt back with him, too."
Madison hummed as she thought this over. "He shouldn't be flirting with me anymore, or want to hold my hand. He made it obvious that he doesn't want to be with me. If he expects me to be some sort of easy vixen to mess around with, then he has another thing coming."
"Yeah, I get that. But don't you think he doesn't really mean it when he says 'no' to you two—"
"Of course I know he doesn't mean it. He's just pulling out every excuse in his book to keep us from completely falling for one another. But if that's what he wants then I won't fight him over it. And truthfully? If our lifespans truly are different and he'll live longer, then I don't want to put him through that. I know what it's like living through watching someone you love waste away before your very eyes."
Jack paused in his work, giving her a gaze of sympathy. "I'm sorry." Madison sent him an appreciative nod before looking away again. Jack resumed his work, only to pause again. "But if I were you, it wouldn't matter to me what excuses or reasons he'd throw at me. I'd be willing to fight for him if I was madly in love."
Madison scoffed. "I'm not 'madly' in love."
"But you are in love." Jack grinned at her as he pointed the sonic screwdriver at her. She blushed but did not say anything in response to him. "Tell him how you feel. He might change his mind. You never know."
It was then that they heard a sound coming from the base of the arch. It sounded similar to the revving of a car and a thundering sound of a helicopter. The two of them looked over, seeing a strange sight. It looked similar to what Madison would assume to be a hoverboard, though it was much larger, almost the same size as a car and had rails around the centre where a person would stand. There was a dark figure strapped to the hovering vehicle. One that she could not make out as it was very too dark to see clearly. The hovering vehicle, with a figure seeming solely focused on them, came swiftly towards them at an alarming speed. Madison only had time to gasp before Jack was running around her and yelling at her to get clear. It was then that the figure on the hovering vehicle seemed to swoop down at Jack, leaving the man no time to get away as he was picked up and lifted far up off the ground. Madison yelled for Jack, running after the flying vehicle as Jack seemed to be giving the figure a hard time in capturing him, making the hovering craft fly away from both her and the arch. It kept going up, higher and higher. It was then that Madison realised in horror that the figure controlling the device was merely pretending to let Jack get the upper hand. In fact, from what she could tell, the one in control of the vehicle was purposely flying over the river now.
"Jack!" she yelled, running as fast as she could towards the river as she saw the entire vehicle spin upside, leaving Jack dangling. She could see Jack was trying to hold onto the rails of the craft, but the figure pushed hard at him and made him lose his grip. She watched in horror as Jack fell, from a very dangerous height, down towards the river. There came an audible, loud smack from the darkness over the river and she could only guess as to what happened to Jack. She saw that the figure was correcting themselves and was turning towards her now, but she ignored them. She was just focusing on getting to the bank of the river. She kicked off her boots the moment she was by the water and then threw herself into the cold, murky river.
She dove under the water as the hovering vehicle came swooping down towards her. She could hear it hovering just above where she was, skimming the top of the water in search of her. She only swam deeper into the river to keep away from them. Pain laced her as her tail forced its way through her trousers, ripping them apart as she transformed. She ignored the pain, kicking her tail hard once it completely formed to get herself to Jack. It was dark. Almost completely pitch black. But she remembered where she heard Jack hitting the water, so she went straight there in hopes to find him. She reached around through the dark, murky water. Her heart pounding in fright that she would not find him. But relief soon flooded through her as she felt her hand gripping a shirt and feeling a warm body in front of her. She wrapped her arms around Jack's chest, holding him close as she kicked her tail hard and brought him back up to the surface. The moment she surfaced she held Jack's head above the water, checking him over quickly to assess how he was doing. From what she could tell, he was unconscious and not breathing. She looked over to see if the figure on the hovering craft was still after them. They were far in the centre of the river now and she saw the figure was still looking for her around the bank. Not wanting them to spot her she kept Jack close as she dove back under the water. She kicked her tail hard, speeding them through the river as fast as she could. The current helped in pushing her along, speeding her in the right direction. She pulled Jack with her towards where she knew an embankment by a couple of boat docks would be.
Soon she was surfacing again, holding Jack up above the water the best she could as she kicked her tail hard and paddled her upper body across the top of the water with her free arm. The boats by the docks were massive, meant for carrying supplies down the way towards southern states. They made for a perfect cover from the one coming after them. She went over towards the embankment of concrete by the river, pulling both herself and Jack onto dryland the best she could. Her tail remained mostly in the water as she hovered over Jack worriedly.
"Jack, come on. You've got to breathe," she muttered, holding his nose to give him a quick two breaths. Adjusting herself, she started to pump on his chest. "You can't leave like this. Not like this. Please." She sucked in a deep breath and gave him two more. Water came up out of his mouth and she quickly turned him to his side before slapping his back. He then began to gag as his eyes blinked open as he coughed loudly. After coughing up a large portion of water, he was soon taking in big gulps of air. She sighed in relief as she rubbed his back, helping him slowly come back to his senses. Turning over, Jack looked back at her and blinked slowly before giving her a loopy grin.
"Did someone kiss me?" he asked weakly, voice somewhat hoarse.
"Had to in order to save your life. Please don't make a big deal out of it," she groaned, already knowing all the jokes that were to come of this.
"If you wanted a reason to kiss me, you could have come up with a better one," he joked lightly, laughing at his own dumb joke briefly before coughing hard again.
"You have a funny way of saying 'thanks'," she said, laying back against the concrete as she sighed in relief. "We should get you checked out later. I wouldn't put it past it if you had a concussion."
"Won't be the first time," Jack muttered as he too laid back, still trying to gain back his bearings. He felt at his wet clothes, frowning somewhat as he lifted the collar of his shirt towards his face. He gave a sniff then quickly grimaced and made a face. "Ugh. Could do without the smell though."
"Yeah, that's the Mississippi river for you," Madison laughed, finding his expression funny.
He startled her by suddenly bolting up and gasping. "That was a Thrunguan. The Doctor and Rose are in trouble. We've got to get to them." He got up in a hurry. "Quick, we need to get back there. They probably think we're dead, so we can most likely surprise them and take them out." Jack started to rush up the embankment but halted when he realised she was not moving. "Mads?"
By this point, as he looked back at her, he finally noticed her predicament. As he stared in awe at her tail that was halfway in the shallow water of the river, she felt her heart racing in fright. It pounded away as she felt so exposed to everything. On instinct she sat up and curled into herself, wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her tail in closer, making herself as small as possible. Which was all but impossible given how long her tail was. She kept her eyes lowered, afraid to see his reaction to her. She had not wanted to reveal herself to him, not like this. If she were honest with herself, she had been hoping that only the Doctor would ever know of her true form. A secret that he and her alone would share. The idea of sharing her Mer-form with anyone else (besides David of course) terrified her. She hadn't even been brave enough to tell Jack of her secret about being Mer in the first place. Truthfully, she had been waiting to see if she could trust him as their relationship was still so fresh. But now there was no choice for her to tell or not to tell. She was out in the open, exposed in the worst way possible.
"So . . . definitely not human, then," she heard him say in light humour. She felt him crouching down beside her, but she still refused to meet his eye. "You're a Mermaid?"
"Just 'Mer' actually," she mumbled. "But it's fine if you call me 'mermaid'." She closed her eyes tightly as her heart continued to race. "The, ah . . .," she coughed to clear her throat as it had tightened on her, "it'll be a moment before I can form legs again. And . . . I'll need new trousers." She gestured to the tattered remains of her pants that were ripped apart around her tail. She unbuttoned the waist of the bellbottoms from her, removing the remains of her clothing altogether as she tossed it aside.
"Just wait here, then. I'll get to the Doctor and Rose and help them stop the Thrungu. Most likely they've got a militia halfway across the universe ready to come through that portal. If they activate it now . . ." He stood up, making her look at him finally. He gave her a bright smile. "Don't worry. We'll stop them and get back to you soon."
"Just the Doctor, please," she spoke in a rush, feeling her heart race at the idea of Rose seeing her like this. "Rose knows I'm Mer, but not about this. I don't want her to know about this. Please."
"All right, no problem." Jack crouched down again next to her, giving her a reassuring smile. "Just the Doctor. I'll be subtle when I tell him where you're at. You can count on me." She nodded slightly, still feeling timid in Jack seeing her like this. But he did not seem revolted upon the sight of her, so . . . perhaps it would be okay. And if it wasn't, the Doctor would always be there to help her through this . . . At least she hoped he would be. Though she couldn't be a hundred percent certain.
"Hey, don't be nervous. This is a secret, right? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me." Jack gave her a kind, warm smile, making her feel more at ease now. She tentatively returned his smile, starting to realise that maybe he would be someone to trust. He wasn't staring at her as though she were a freak, after all. Then again, he was from the far future. She was certain he had seen many alien species far more strange than even her.
"Jack, one more thing," she said as he had gotten up to leave. She reached for his hand, holding it firm. "I know it seems easier sometimes to simply fight, but that's not how we do things. We try our best to give them a choice of peace first. We have to give them that choice."
Jack scoffed. "And leave it open for them to destroy the Earth? They're choosing to invade. They've already made their choice."
"But they might be making the wrong one. Maybe they think they have no other option and don't have another choice. Give them that option and maybe it doesn't have to resort to final acts of destruction." She saw the scepticism from him and she let go of his hand with a sigh. "Just . . . keep that in mind."
"Try not to kill them. Got it." Jack gave her a wave as he took off, rushing back towards the construction site of the arch.
She remained still as she could on the embankment. It was lucky for her that the river seemed unoccupied tonight. At least in the area that she was in. But she remained vigilant to keep an eye out for anything that might suggest something coming for her. She did not know where that figure on the hovering vehicle had gone. She did not think to check. She hoped they were gone so that Jack had an easier time getting to the Doctor and Rose. She wanted to hurry up and pull herself further onto dry land to get herself back to human form. However, having lost a clothing item, it did not seem ideal to be walking around in such a state. Especially with those wishing her harm. Glancing around, she did not think she would find anything suitable enough to cover herself but then she spotted a tarp hanging over the side of a dock. As quick as she could, she scooted herself back into the water and swam over to it, yanking the tarp down into the water with her. She then swam back over to the embankment, pulling herself as far as she could go to dry land. Her tail slapped the ground somewhat as she rubbed the water off her scales with her hands and the tarp the best she could.
She did not know how long she had been waiting. Long enough that, even without a proper way to dry off, her legs came back to her. She stood up on wobbling legs, trying her best to make her way up the embankment. She saw the concrete steps leading the way to the top. The same stairs she had seen Jack go up. She had just started up them when she heard the sound of the TARDIS at the top of the embankment.
"Madison!" she heard the Doctor call and saw him suddenly appear at the top of the stairs. She caught the worried expression of his before it shifted to that of a mixture of relief and annoyance. "Fine time to go swimming," he sassed her as she walked up to greet him. "Could have used your help back there you know."
"Sorry. I had to save Jack. He almost drowned," she explained, mumbling somewhat as her face glowed red with embarrassment, pulling the tarp tighter around her as she feared what he and the others would see. She must have been shivering because suddenly she felt the Doctor's coat placed around her. She glanced over, seeing his look of concern.
"You all right?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah. Just . . . in somewhat of a state of shock. I, um . . ." She glanced towards the TARDIS, nervous again about facing Jack. There was also a bit of anxiety in having to deal with questions Rose might have for her. ". . . I, ah . . ." She glanced back at the Doctor, her face growing even redder. "Jack knows now . . . Couldn't hide it."
The Doctor held her free hand, the one that wasn't currently holding the tarp to her body. "It'll be okay. I won't let him hurt you."
"He won't hurt me. I know that for certain. I just . . . don't know if I trust him completely yet. And . . . if I'm perfectly honest . . . I wanted the only ones to ever know be you . . . and David. Too many hands in the cookie jar if I gave away all my secrets if you know what I mean." The Doctor hummed and nodded, appearing to agree with her. She glanced towards the arch and back to the TARDIS. "Is everything okay now?"
"Yep. All clear. Though no thanks to Captain dumbo." The Doctor pulled her along, taking her into the TARDIS. Immediately she was greeted by the sight of Jack, who resembled a child having just been scolded by his expression and how he sat at the captain's chair, and by Rose who rushed over to her and hugged her tight.
"Maddie, are you okay?" Rose asked after pulling away, giving Madison a quick up and down to make certain she was fine. "Jack said you had to swim in that freezing river to save him."
"Yeah, he almost drowned," Madison explained, trying her best to put on a smile to reassure the girl that everything was fine. She did not want to worry Rose any more than she already was. Madison was just grateful that Jack had kept his word and only told the Doctor of the truth. Perhaps she really could trust him in the end? "Where's the, ah, sorry, I forgot what their names are already."
"Thrungu generals are willing to negotiate a sign of peace. As long as we can find them a suitable homeworld to live in, they'll leave Earth alone," the Doctor explained, grinning at first before throwing Jack a harsh glare. "Just as long as someone doesn't threaten to destroy them all using the space-time manipulator in reverse."
"Oh, come on, I said I was sorry. Doesn't that count for something?" Jack responded in exasperation, crossing his arms as he leaned back in the chair.
"'Sorry' isn't gonna cut it. Not when you come storming in with a trigger for a bomb and making threats while I'm in the middle of peace talks." The Doctor walked over to the console, flipping some levers to get them moving. He threw a sharp glare at Jack as he steered the TARDIS. "From now on, you don't do anything without my say. I'm in charge. Got it?"
"You know, if your 'talks' didn't work, you'd be thanking me right now."
"It's a simple 'yes' or 'no'. Or are you too thick for that?" the Doctor swiftly sassed him.
Jack let out a sigh before sitting up straight and giving the Doctor a small salute. "Yes, sir."
The Doctor rolled his eyes but didn't remark on the man's gesture. Instead, he focused on whatever it was that he was working on with the console.
"Maddie, what happened to your clothes?" Rose suddenly asked, startling Madison out of her observation of the Doctor and Jack. She began blushing heavily as she gripped the tarp tighter around her lower half.
"I . . . don't really want to talk about it," she mumbled, heading towards the TARDIS corridor. "I'm going to get dressed. I'll be back shortly." She hurried off down the hall, glad that the TARDIS had made her room appear around the first corner. She gave a sigh of relief as she saw it. "Thank you," she whispered to the ship, smiling as she felt a soft reply in her mind. She then entered her room and got herself ready.
XxXxXxXxXx
The Thrungu were not exactly what she had been expecting. Mostly their behaviour more than anything. Their appearance was fine, something that she had grown used to travelling with the Doctor. Their small mouths, squinting eyes, and enormous noses made the aliens appear to be calculating, but looks can be deceiving of course. Though with how they acted it was not too far fetched. Their ears were long and wide. Their skin was very thick and rough, leather-like, with colours mostly blue, white, light silver, and light pink. They had four arms and four legs. Their fingers were long and thin, and their feet appeared very much hand-like. Almost like that of a monkey's, making her realise that they must have evolved to work with both their hands and feet. They wore metallic jumpsuits that were very much for space travel. The technology they had was very much the same as what they had seen back at the arch.
A few of the Thrungu, those who the Doctor explained were the generals in charge of leading the invasion of Earth, had joined them in the TARDIS to speak with the Doctor. Mostly to set up last-minute discussions of what would happen to the Thrungu and what sort of world the Doctor would be taking them to. The Thrungu would only really talk to the Doctor. They kept their noses turned, ignoring anything that Rose, Jack, or Madison would try to say to them. One general had made it quite unmistakable that humans were considered 'detestable' in almost all aspects. Which gave Madison the clear sense that they were only speaking with the Doctor because of him being a Time Lord and their beliefs of him being 'superior'. She was not entirely offended by this mindset, though she did wish the Thrungu would be more considerate to a newly advancing race. Though prejudice was something very alive in any culture she supposed. She was merely glad that they had found a way to reason with the Thrungu so that the invasion could be stopped entirely.
"I swear, that guy was calling humans 'animals' on purpose around us," Rose said the moment the Thrungu generals were gone. The blonde stood by the console, arms crossed tightly in a huff. The Doctor had closed the TARDIS door behind them, bouncing up to the console as he went.
"Thrunguans are known for their prejudice towards the other races," Jack noted, still sitting in the chair by the console with his feet propped up onto the edge of the controls. "Especially to those with 'lesser limbs'." The Doctor shooed Jack's feet off the console as he continued to work.
"Wouldn't you be cross if some dimwit threatened to obliterate your entire army? You're lucky you didn't make things worse," said the Doctor as he threw Jack another sharp look.
"They were threatening to invade Earth! I think I had the right to make strategic battle actions against them," Jack retorted.
"Well, they weren't exactly threatening to kill everyone. Just invade and turn humans into . . . 'pets'. If that was the worst of it, it wouldn't have been that bad, if we're comparing what other species might have done," Madison remarked, remembering what one of the generals had mentioned. She sensed that she had upset Rose and Jack, so she quickly backtracked. "But, yes, invading in any slightest way is awful, I agree. They could have thought to look for an unoccupied planet to begin with."
"They were getting desperate, in a hurry, and Earth was there. Distractic times make distractic decisions," the Doctor offered in thought.
"Why were they invading anyway?" Madison asked curiously.
"They lost their world in a war," Rose explained briefly. The girl gave a glance at the Doctor and Madison nodded as she understood. The Time War. Truly something that affected so many. She hoped that one day they would be able to help all those displaced somehow. She was certain the Doctor already was trying to as such behind the scenes. Most likely even tracking down a few he might remember from the war.
"And now that I've sent them the coordinates," the Doctor said as he turned and beamed away, "they'll pick up all their supplies from the monument and be on their way. I'll even put in a word with the Shadow Proclamation to keep an eye on that lot, make sure they don't try to invade another Level Five planet." He leaned against the console then, smiling with ease. "All in all, I think we had a fantastic day. No deaths. No destruction. Smooth solutions. I think I need more days like this. Feels like I'm on vacation."
"I'm there with ya. I wouldn't mind it if we had fewer days of mess. I was getting tired of having to take a bath every hour. All that slime!" Rose exclaimed.
"Never gonna let go of that Staz'ans incident are you?" the Doctor remarked.
"Never," Rose and Madison said at the same time, grinning cheekily at him. The Doctor rolled his eyes while the two of them shared a look and laughed.
"I'd love to hear that one," Jack laughed, grinning with eagerness for a good story.
"I'll tell you after you explain how the hell you almost drowned tonight," said Rose, turning towards him for answers. "How did you manage that one?"
"Well, see, the Thrunguan came out of nowhere . . ." Jack continued to tell a dramatic story of how he and the Thrunguan tangled in mid-air. Most of which Madison did not recall (and didn't think actually happen) but she let Jack tell the story as he was having fun making an epic tale of what he and she had gone through. She was somewhat tense about how he would explain her saving him. However, she felt relief when he merely spun it as though she were merely an excellent swimmer.
Towards the end of his story, Madison glanced towards the Doctor as she noticed him departing towards the corridor of the TARDIS. Though not before catching her eye and motioning for her to follow him. Giving him a nod, she silently walked out of the console room, following after him as she left the other two to continue sharing stories of what had happened to them tonight. Eventually, after coming around different turns within the TARDIS, the Doctor stopped outside of her bedroom door. He nodded towards it as he stood to the side. Seeing that he wanted to be invited in, she opened the door for them both and entered first.
"You wanted to talk about something?" she asked him, curious as to why he felt the need to get them to somewhere secluded. She watched him carefully as he slowly closed the door behind him. Her heart picked up in beat as he gradually stepped towards her. She could see the conflict in his eyes as he stared intently at her.
"I . . . wanted to clear some things up between us," he began, speaking cautiously. For the first time since she had met him, he actually appeared . . . nervous. There was a shift in his stature as he stood before her. His hands were in his pockets and she could tell that he was anxiously twitching his fingers inside them. "You were acting strange today. Why?"
"'Why'? What do you mean 'strange'?" she responded carefully, raising a brow. She knew what he was referring to, but she wanted him to say it out loud. She wanted him to admit that things were different between them now. If he could admit that they must change now with their relationship after his request to keep separate from such feelings, then maybe they could move on from him throwing a childish tantrum.
"Well, for starters, you kept dismissing me every time I tried talking to you. You wouldn't even hold my hand. What, hand holding is beneath you now? You're giving me the cold shoulder or something?" Instead of being nervous, he just gave her a hard stare.
Madison raised a brow, crossing her arms as she gazed at him. "I talked to you, I just did not 'flirt' with you. Hand holding with you is most certainly out of discussion now as it is not simple hand-holding. You wanted to just be friends, remember? I'm just doing as you wanted. Now you're saying that's not good enough? You want to have me around just for kicks or something?"
The Doctor blinked, eyes widening in shock. "What? No! What gave you that impression? And since when is hand-holding strictly a non-friend thing?"
"Do you even realise what you do whenever you hold my hand?" She reached for his arm, pulling his right hand out of his pocket. She held it firmly, scooting closer to let it hang between them like it normally would whenever they would hold hands and walk. She gave it a moment before lifting their hands to show him. "See?" She gestured to his hand as he was gently caressing the top of her hand with his thumb. "You do that every time. That's not exactly a 'friend' thing now is it?"
The Doctor appeared genuinely surprised as he stared at his hand. He carefully pulled his hand out of hers, blinking as he stared at it. "I didn't realise . . ."
"Well, now you do. So you can stop it. And stop trying to pretend we can go back to how we've been. You've made it quite clear it's never going to happen, so I'd appreciate it if you tried to keep things on friendly terms with me. I'll be your friend if you let me, but I will not tolerate you constantly pushing that boundary between friend and . . . and . . ." She couldn't bring herself to say it. It was never going to happen, so why bother saying the term out loud? She felt her eyes begin to burn, so she turned away to hide her face. She did not wish for him to see her cry. Not for him. Not when he didn't want that. "I will not . . . I won't stay if you and I can't handle that. I'm not going to put ourselves through that. Pining over someone constantly yet never allowing ourselves to be happy. It'll only torture us in the end. I won't have that."
There was silence for a long moment in her room. She dare not turn around to face him. She feared his reaction. She was terrified she might have angered him completely. Would he ask her to leave? Could she handle leaving him and all his wonders behind? She felt like weeping just contemplating it.
"Rose and I had a chat back in that museum after you left. Gave me an ear full. She told me . . . I broke your heart," he finally spoke. She turned to him then to see his eyes had saddened as he gazed at her. ". . . Is that true?"
"I . . ." She took a deep breath, steadying herself. Standing to face him fully, she held herself firm. "I won't lie . . . You did. But I can handle it. It's not like I haven't gone through worse."
He stayed silent for another moment. Staring at her softly. "But I still broke your heart. I never wanted to do that. I don't want to hurt you." He took a step towards her, hesitating to reach out for her. Soon he was wrapping her into a strong hug.
She leaned against him, trying to hold herself back from returning the hug before she eventually caved in. She held her arms tightly around him as she sighed in defeat. "I don't want to hurt you, either. That's why . . . it might be best if I do leave. That way no one gets hurt."
His grip on her tightened. "No, please don't go. I don't want that."
"Then what do you want, Doctor? What do you suggest?"
He did not answer for a minute. Slowly he pulled away from their hug, though he kept a gentle hold on her upper arms. He looked so lost as he searched her eyes. Finally, he spoke softly, "The reason I tried pushing you away last night was because . . . I was scared. I'd promised myself that I wouldn't . . . I wouldn't be together with anyone again. But then you came along." He gave her a slight grin. "You sorta ruined my plan on that one."
"I'm sorry? It wasn't my intention to ruin any 'plan'."
"Don't be sorry. Because . . . it's been fantastic having you around. I love every moment I have you as a friend. And . . . I want to be able to move forward onto something else." He was nervous again, staring at her in uncertainty. "Rose told me I needed to stop thinking and just do what feels right . . . This," he leaned down, giving her a quick chaste kiss, "feels right to me."
Madison closed her eyes as she felt her heart speeding up, soaring at the feeling of his lips against hers. Opening them again, she saw the bated breath that the Doctor was holding. She gave him a soft smile. "It feels right to me as well. Truthfully, I had a similar chat with Jack. He told me I should fight for you and tell you how I feel."
"Which is?"
"I think you know that already." She couldn't bring herself to say it. Not yet. She wasn't ready yet. She might be, in the future. But for now, she pushed that thought away. "However, you brought up a valid point on the lifespan difference. I know what that feels like and I don't think I could live with myself if I did that to you as well."
The Doctor let out a sigh. "We'll have to cross that bridge when we reach it. But for now," he grabbed her hand, threading their fingers together as he smiled softly, "I just want us to focus on the present. And, presently, I want us to focus on this." He gave her hand a light squeeze. "But I want to take things slow. Don't wanna rush into anything. If you feel like it isn't working, just let me know and it'll stop."
She nodded. "Same goes for you as well. I don't want either of us to feel like we must be together."
"Right." The Doctor was grinning now. "First step we should take is to have one of our usual nights of relaxing and watching a movie. Your choice tonight. I'll even give that Alien film a chance." He made a face then. "Even if the whole thing is offensive and thickheaded."
Madison laughed, patting his chest lightly. "It's not what you think it is. Trust me, I think you'll enjoy the thrill of survival the characters go through."
He gave a sceptical expression but shrugged all the same. "I've been proven wrong before. Though if it is offensive, you'll owe me a date."
"I'll buy the drinks," she promised, matching his bright smile as he let go of her hand and started for the door.
"Get yourself comfortable. I'll be back with snacks."
He left the room, leaving her to quickly go to her bathroom and get the bath started. She set up the tv on its rolling stand in its usual placement before grabbing a chair from her bedroom and bringing it into place. Once she was certain the Doctor would be comfortable, she undressed and got into the water. She was smiling eagerly, her tail swishing under the water, as she leaned against the side of the bathtub with her folded arms. The Doctor arrived shortly after this, holding out a plate of vegetables and a basket of fruits. Her favourite kind of snacks. He then settled in his chair, with her setting the snacks on the counter at the end of the bathtub, and pressed the remote to get them ready for a night of fun. And as the opening title began to show, the Doctor and Madison reached for each other's hand at the same time.
Sorry I haven't been updating as frequently as I have been before. I'm several chapters ahead of this one and I'm a little stuck on it. But I decided to go ahead and post this chapter. Though it might be a week before the next chapter is posted. Hope that's okay.
If you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review! I'm always so happy to see what everyone thinks. Thanks again!