Hello again! Finally feel out of my writer's block. Sorry for the delay.
So here's the new chapter. I hope it's a good one!
Chapter 18
Madison did not know how to feel about the change in her and the Doctor's relationship the next day. There was an air of uncertainty between the two of them. Something she recalled experiencing similarly with David when they had first decided to take the next step together. Though with the Doctor it felt much different than with David. This was more of her and the Doctor sharing the uncomfortable thought of finally moving on from their past sorrows involving romance and finding someone new to share that experience with again. Just as the Doctor had admitted yesterday, she knew there was fear in where they would be going and how they should handle it. But she was glad that he had decided for them to take things slow. That was what they needed, after all. It was a slow process to gain the ability to move on and love. Now she merely hoped that things could work out for them both. The Doctor's life was full of adventure and wonders, but it was also terrifying at times and wrapped up in devastation that would slam into them. The unsteadiness involved made her worry about how they could even handle being romantically together, but her heart was willing to try.
She was glad that the next day the Doctor treated her like normal, not making it a big show of things they had agreed on. He even decided on announcing an 'off day' for everyone as he said he wanted to take a break and work on some things on the TARDIS. This turned into a blessing as it happened to be that time of the month for her. She did not notice at first, sitting in the console room and enjoying the company of everyone (the Doctor working on fixing up the console with Rose, she, and Jack lounging around). There was plenty of time to talk, listen to each other's stories (mostly stories from Jack about his adventures of being a Time Agent) and share jokes. Madison could tell that Rose and Jack knew there was a change between her and the Doctor, though they did not make any acknowledgement of said change. Madison suspected the two of them were respecting her and the Doctor's privacy, which she truly appreciated. However, there was a part of her that wondered whether or not the two of them were afraid to bring it up in case it caused an even greater problem for the Doctor wanting to move on to the next step with her. She was unsure, either way. Some part of her was also afraid of putting too much attention on the change. What if the Doctor suddenly changed his mind and realised her and him truly never could be? It honestly terrified her to think of him swiftly putting an end to their developing relationship. But she tried her best not to think of such turmoiled thoughts.
It was right about after the story she and Rose shared with Jack on one of their own adventures with the Doctor that the spasm of pain began in her abdomen. She let out a groan and hissed as she gripped her stomach, curling into herself from where she sat on the floor of the console room. She had placed herself beside the opening of the flooring that the Doctor had created so he could get underneath the console and fix some of the wiring there.
"Is it that monthly cycle thing again?" Rose asked, walking over to Madison in concern and touching her shoulder in sympathy.
"Yes, unfortunately," Madison sighed, realising again that she had been foolish not to keep track. The signs had been there and everything this morning. The itchy skin, restless feelings, and burning sensation. She would have to try to be more careful while travelling on the TARDIS. It might come back to haunt her one of these days if she were not careful.
"Need some hot packs for the pain?" Jack questioned with a look of understanding.
"No, it's not that kind of 'monthly' thing for me. It's something specifically Mer," she explained, giving him a pointed look so that he would understand not to ask too many questions. Not when Rose was around. There was still that fear of him accidentally letting it slip what Madison actually was to the other. Madison was not certain how well Jack kept secrets. Hence the uncertainty of trust still.
"Ah, got it," Jack replied with a knowing nod. "You know, there's a lot of other species out there that go through something similar. Had a run-in with a Cekvoid once during their 'cycle'. Let's just say, I won't be repeating that one."
"I can assure you, it's nothing unpleasant for anyone but me," she promised, standing up now from the floor. "I'll be in my room for some time now. I'll see you all tomorrow."
"Wait," the Doctor said, getting up quickly from under the console, "I've been working on something for you since the last time. Follow me, I'll show you." He grabbed her hand leading her out of the console room. Though not before coming to a halt when seeing Rose and Jack starting to follow them. "No, not you two. This is for Madison only. Stay." He pointed at them sternly, giving them both a firm look before leading her away again. Madison glanced back over her shoulder apologetically as she saw Rose crossing her arms with a pout. Though Jack seemed to understand as he smiled and waved.
The Doctor led her down many twists and turns within the TARDIS. Past many doorways which she did not recognize. Eventually, they came up to two large sets of wooden doors with old round door handles. The Doctor gave her an eager grin before he pushed one of the doors open and led her inside. The moment she stepped foot into the room she was blown away. It was a pool, though not like one she had ever seen before. It was massive with a beach, a proper beach with sand and everything, leading through shallow water that gradually grew deeper as the pool went. It honestly appeared more like a lagoon than a pool to her, though there were sides along the edges of the pool barrier that were sleek blue tile. There were lounge chairs along the edges of the pool, with tropical trees and shrubs placed in random locations throughout the place. There were even lounge chairs in the shallow water of the sloping beach, perfect for her to pull herself onto while still being in the water if she so wished. Then there was the ceiling of the room that gave off the appearance of a beautiful afternoon blue sky, complete with fluffy white clouds and sunshine. If she did not know better, she would have thought it was a real sky. Added into the area was a rocky waterfall in the far back corner where the deeper section of the pool was, a lounge bar of some kind off to the side of the room, and a large, wide tv hanging on the wall of the room between two tropical trees, it's placement in perfect view from the pool.
"So, what do you think? I've structured the room myself. Thought it'd be nice for you to actually have some room to stretch your fins and not be so cooped up in that bathtub of yours," the Doctor said brightly, grinning eagerly for her reaction.
"It's beautiful," she breathed, smiling happily at him. "You made this all for me?"
"Yep!" He then had a thoughtful frown as he looked over everything. "I still have some things to work on, though. Could be a bit nicer."
"It's perfect," she assured him, not wanting him to do too much. She would hate to make him think he had to work hard to impress her. Or give her anything, honestly. It made her feel guilty as she had nothing to give him in return. So she did the only thing she could and gave him a hug. He wrapped her into a strong embrace and she felt him even give a kiss on top of her head. Her heart picked up in beat as she blushed. She did not remember ever feeling so flustered before in her life. She wondered why she felt so nervous with the Doctor. Perhaps it was because she was both anxious about falling in love again and of ruining the relationship somehow. She did not want to be a failure, a burden, or any sort of trouble to the Doctor. She wanted to be the best she could be for him.
"Do you want to test it out?" he asked her suddenly, pulling away from their hug as he beamed eagerly.
"Oh, um, yes," she responded, still feeling a bit flustered. She turned towards the water, starting to unbraid her hair as she began feeling eager to give it a try. She had not been able to be in a body of water larger than a bathtub in decades. And to be able to freely swim without a care of being caught, that had not been something for her since . . . well, she could not recall, honestly. Maybe not since she was a child.
She started to grab at her shirt to pull it over her head but paused when she realised the Doctor was still standing there watching her. He had such a bright grin on his face, carefree and not appearing at all bothered. She cleared her throat, face growing red as she was uncertain how to take him watching her undress. Was that not a bit soon for him to see her in a vulnerable state? Sure, he had already seen her naked top half while being Mer-form, but that felt . . . different. She felt somewhat silly though as normally did not care if people saw her nude. Though with the Doctor . . . it made her feel very much embarrassed to show off her body.
"What?" he asked, grin falling as he stared at her in confusion, obviously noticing her blushing now.
"I'm getting undressed," she pointed out, standing there awkwardly.
"Yeah?" he responded, still appearing baffled.
She cleared her throat again, giving him a pointed look. Seeing as he still was not getting it, she sighed. "Can you please turn around? I don't think I'm quite ready to give you a 'show' yet."
"Ah. Right." He turned his back to her, giving her privacy.
She hurried out of her clothing, putting the items onto a lounge chair by the bar area. She then dove into the water in a rush to keep him from turning around to see her. It took only moments before her tail was forming and she was swimming freely. The moment she was able to swim so openly, she felt all tension in her body ease. A giggle of delight formed in her throat as she spun around under the water. She had forgotten how freeing it was to be able to swim around and stretch her tail out to its fullest. She pushed her tail hard, doing laps around the lagoon pool. Spinning, twirling, and doing flips, she laughed even more, bubbles leaving her mouth as she did. She glanced up and spotted the Doctor watching her from above the water. Smirking, she decided to show off and do something she had not done since she was very little. She kicked her tail, going straight to the deepest part of the pool. Turning fast, she shot through the water and straight towards the surface. She then leapt out of the water, sailing through the air in an arch and laughing while she soared. She then dove back into the water, gleefully beaming as she swam over to the edge where the Doctor stood.
"You like?" he asked as he crouched down near the edge of the pool, making it so they were more eye level.
"I love it! Thank you," she replied, leaning up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.
He chuckled, grinning brightly for a moment before giving a more serious thoughtful expression. "How long has it been since you've been able to swim around like this?"
"Do you mean swimming without worrying about someone catching me, or just swimming in something other than a bathtub?"
"Either one."
She folded her arms on the tiled ledge as she leaned against the side of the pool. "The last time I've swam in something like this was in a secluded spring in the midwest of the United States. But even then it was with fear of being caught at any moment. I only did it quickly to feel what it was like to swim in a natural spring. Swim around, truly free without worry, I haven't done that since . . . since I was very little, I think." She glanced up at the Doctor when hearing him sigh heavily.
"I'm sorry."
"What for?" The solemn expression on his face concerned her. Had she upset him somehow?
"That's no life to live. You, and your people, should have never been forced to hide who you are." He reached down, taking her hand and squeezing it softly. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Because now, I do get to live freely." She pulled herself onto the edge to sit with her tail still hanging in the water, smiling gently as she brought up a hand to caress the side of his face. "You gave me that freedom, Doctor. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart."
Giving her a warm smile, he reached over to softly cup her face, thumbing her cheek as he stared into her eyes. "Not as free as you could be, but it's a start."
Before she could reply, assuring him that this was more than enough, he leant down to kiss her. Her eyes fell closed as she leaned into the gentle kiss. It was light. Nothing intense or heated as they merely pressed their lips against one another. But it was oh so wonderful as the warm sensation spread through her and made her feel as though she were floating. Eventually, they pulled apart, grinning like fools at each other. She let go of the side of his face, though he still cupped hers as he continued to thumb it.
"Best of all, this entire room is just for you. No one will be able to come find you, so you can swim to your heart's content," he said proudly.
"Hey, Doc! I think we need you back in the console room!"
Madison and the Doctor shared a blink and a look of surprise as they turned and saw Jack walking into the room. The man glanced around, taking in the sight with a smile and nod.
"Nice pool," he noted as he walked over towards them.
"Out," the Doctor ordered strictly, standing up and glaring at the man.
Jack held up his hands, blinking in shock. "I was just coming to find you. There's something up with the TARDIS."
"Don't care. Get out." The Doctor marched over to him, pushing the man towards the door. "You're not supposed to be in here. This is Madison's place. Not yours."
Madison sighed, shaking her head, "Doctor, leave him alone. It's fine. Really. He can be in here if he wants." She sank back down into the water as the Doctor and Jack looked at her. "It's not like he doesn't already know about this."
"But this was supposed to be your room," the Doctor argued.
"Well, now it can be the room where people know my secret, too," she countered. She gave him a smile, trying to show him she did not care. "It's fine. I'd get lonely all by myself anyway."
The Doctor still seemed annoyed but conceded either way. He pointed a stern finger a Jack. "Fine. But no funny business. I'm still working on building this room. Don't want it ruined by some idiot." He walked out of the room before anything else could be said.
"Don't mind him. I think he was embarrassed because he was just telling me no one could find this room when you showed up," she told Jack, giving him a kind smile as he crouched down next to the edge. "I think you ruined his plan on that one." This was mostly true. Though she had a feeling the Doctor was also acting rather protective of her as she had flinched and shrunk against the Doctor briefly when Jack first arrived. Mostly as a quick response to her instinct to hide, and partly because she was still nervous about Jack knowing her secret.
"Sorry to 'ruin' his plan. But I think he'll get over it," said Jack, snickering lightly. "As far as rooms go, this one is very nice. Love the tropical look." She could tell he wanted to talk about more than just the room, so she waited patiently for him to get seated beside the edge of the pool. "So . . . you and Big Ears?"
Nodding, she folded up her arms along the edge of the pool, leaning forward as her tail lazily swayed in the water behind her. "Yeah, I suppose we're 'together' if that's what you mean. Though we agreed to take it slow, not wanting to rush into anything." She smiled lightly, feeling a small blush forming on her face. "It honestly still feels as though I dreamt the entire thing last night."
"I'm glad it's working out for you two."
She saw how he was trying to be subtle about it, but it was obvious that he was glancing at her tail. She gave him a kind smile. "But what you really want to know is about my tail, correct?"
"I have so many questions," he confessed.
He was similar to the Doctor, asking things about her species and how they were, where they came from, etc. She explained all she could, going into the same stories as she had told the Doctor. Jack was keen on all the details, mostly wanting to know personal details about her own life. He politely listened through it all.
"You're really the last of your kind?" he finally asked, giving her a look of sympathy.
"Yes," she breathed, sinking down somewhat into the water. He grabbed her hand, giving it a small squeeze of comfort. He did not say anything more, but he did not need to. His gesture said so much more. She gave him a small smile, returning the squeeze gently before he let go.
"I never did really thank you for saving me the other day," Jack said, trying to be more light-hearted now. "Thank you. Really. I wouldn't be here without you."
"Consider it repayment for saving me from that barrage balloon."
"No need to repay me. I'll always be ready to save you from danger." He then smirked as though something dawned on him. "Though, if you keep being my own little mermaid, rescuing me from certain death, then I'll have to start thinking of other ways to impress you."
She rolled her eyes, shaking her head at him. "Just being yourself is impressive enough. Mostly because it's amazing you've gotten this far."
"Why thank you." He grinned brightly a moment before it suddenly fell as he frowned. "Wait a second. Was that supposed to be an insult?"
Madison grinned cheekily as she dove into the water with a splash, laughing away as she did. She popped back up at the surface as she reached the centre of the pool, seeing how Jack stood up with his hands on his hips.
"Don't think I won't swim out there to get you!" he called over to her.
"I'd like to see you try. No one can outswim a Mer!" she taunted playfully, kicking her fluke above the water in a splash towards him. Jack looked half tempted to jump in after her to try when the door to the pool opened and the Doctor's head popped around it. He scowled in Jack's direction.
"Oi! If you're done flirting in here, I have a problem that you asked me to solve that requires two people in here," the Doctor chimed in loudly, throwing Jack a quick narrowed-eyed stare.
"You've got Rose," Jack countered, pouting somewhat now.
"I need someone who actually knows what they're doing. So far, you're the only plank I've got who knows quantum calibrators and mechanics. Even that is debatable. Now hurry up!" The Doctor ducked back behind the door and closed it.
Jack sighed, giving Madison a quick glance. "Duty calls I guess. Wish me luck. I think I've put him in a sour mood."
"You'll be fine. I think he's probably frustrated with whatever's going on right now," Madison assured him, swimming over to the edge of the pool again. She gave a brief, concerned expression. "I hope it's nothing serious. Be careful, okay?"
Jack waved away her concern before walking out of the room altogether. She sunk into the water to her chin, staring at the door for a moment longer before she sunk down to the bottom to rest.
XxXxXxXxXx
She found out later what sort of shenanigans the others got into when the Doctor returned to give her some food and company. The problem with the TARDIS was hardly anything in the long run. Though getting a part to fix a tiny wire deep within the console was another problem in itself. She could not help but laugh as the Doctor explained all the worlds they had jumped to trying to find the part. At one point the three burly men, with deep grey skin and extreme muscles from the Living City of Utumno, had shown up and started chasing them. Turns out, it was Jack they were after. He was the one that owed them money over some kind of bet, though Jack did not recall such a thing. It took much outwitting for them to get away from the debt collectors, but they had managed. However, the Doctor dragged Jack back to the same day they had left the Living City of Utumno to settle the debt someway before the burly men tried something else in the future.
Later, when she woke up in the morning, she couldn't help but stretch where she lay under the water, enjoying the cosy soft sand that made up the bottom of the pool and feeling more relaxed than she had in two centuries. She made a mental note to sleep in the pool more often. It was simply too perfect to waste. So, she kept that in mind as she got out onto the sandy beach of the pool (which the sand did not stick to her as the Doctor explained it was 'special sand') and let herself dry off. Once her legs returned, she hopped over to a basket with clean towels and wrapped herself into one. Her clothes had been mysteriously removed from the room, so she had to hurry back to her room to get dressed.
She decided to wear something a bit different today. She had noticed that her style had been something that always hid her body from others, and had rather a lacklustre taste to it. Something that she recognised as a sign of her being withdrawn from the world as she did not want to draw attention to herself, or even bother to do anything to make herself happy in any shape or form. So she chose a plaid, button-up shirt that was white and plum coloured with sleeves that stopped just at her elbows. She still wore her normal trousers and brown boots. But it was something different all the same. So she smiled as she left her hair unbraided and went into the console room to join the others.
"What are we doing today?" she asked curiously as she saw that it was just the Doctor and Jack so far this morning. Both were working on more things around the console. There were wires everywhere throughout the room, thrown in random places over coral pillars, wrapped around railings, or just laying dangerously along walkways. The Doctor was on the walkway up above the console, a flashing red light with a strap was wrapped around his head and he could be seen pulling wires coming from the bronze walls with circular lights. Jack was sitting by the console, digging around the opening of the grated floor and seeming to be welding something together. Both seemed in a rather pleasant mood. So far, at least. She had hoped that the two of them had bonded together in fixing up the TARDIS the other day and adventuring about, and it seemed like that was still the case as both appeared to be working together.
"Nothing. We're parked," the Doctor said, yanking part two wires and frowning at them as he held them in each hand. "The TARDIS ran out of fuel last night. Parked her in Cardiff for refuelling. Shouldn't take more than a day . . ." The wires sparked, making him blink. ". . . two days, tops."
"Nah, it'll be a day when we're finished," Jack said confidently, giving her a grin of greeting. "Mornin', sunshine. How's our little mermaid doing?"
"Don't call her that," the Doctor spoke up sternly, though not bothering to look towards them as he was solely focused on the wires he was twisting together. "Anyone could hear you, and it's insulting."
"No one's around," Jack countered.
"And I don't consider it insulting," Madison added, walking over to sit on the console chair. "He can call me that if he likes. Just as long as it's only between us." Jack gave her a thumbs up before continuing his work. The Doctor frowned somewhat but didn't say anything more. Not until he happened to glance over and notice her outfit. He smiled as he gave her a once-over.
"That's a nice colour on you," he noted, making her blush.
"Thank you. I like your jumper," she replied smoothly, grinning cheekily at him and snickering as he grinned proudly. "So why are we parked in Cardiff? I very much doubt the TARDIS refuels by petrol."
"Right you are," said the Doctor, going back to his work with a grin. "Remember the Rrift from 1869?"
"Yes, but didn't you say it was closed off by Gwyneth?"
"It was. But closing it like that left behind a scar."
"And that scar will generate energy, harmless to humans," Jack added in the explanation.
"But perfect for the TARDIS," the Doctor spoke along with. "So just park it for a couple of days, right on top of the scar—."
"Open up the engines, soak up the radiation," Jack continued.
"Then the TARDIS gets the energy she needs to move onto her next destination," the Doctor finished, both him and Jack sharing a grin.
"Through time and space!" came the sudden exclaim from Rose. Madison looked over to see the blonde had now joined them, bouncing over to where she sat. Rose appeared rather giddy, beaming as she held her phone in hand. "They told me all about it this morning," she explained as she sat down beside Madison. "How come you never told me about fighting off zombies made from gas?"
"I never thought to bring it up," Madison responded with a shrug.
"Well, you can tell me about it later," Rose said firmly before grinning, her tongue between her teeth as she waved her mobile phone. "I've called Mickey, so he should be here soon. Then we can all hang out like we used to. Remember when we went to the pub for Shareen's birthday? God, I'm so glad I paid a tip to that kissogram. Those dance moves of his." Rose threw back her head and laughed.
Madison shook her head as she chuckled, a bit bewildered as she honestly could not believe Rose would have pictured her in an outing such as that. "Rose, I never went to the pub with you. I hardly left my flat, remember?" she reminded the girl.
Rose quickly frowned in disappointment, now looking disheartened. "No, you didn't. You went with us loads of times." Seeing Madison shake her head again, Rose's shoulders slumped. "Really? I could have sworn I invited you along."
"You did once, but I'm not very good with crowds or 'partying', so I never went. Then you never really invited me again, which isn't a bad thing, mind you. I was, am, rather reclusive."
Again, there was disappointment from Rose with this news. But then she had a devious look on her face. "Then we've got to change that." She wrapped an arm around Madison's, smiling brightly. "You, me, and Mickey. Night on the town. We'll take you to all the best places. What'cha say?"
"Oi! Aren't you forgetting someone?" exclaimed the Doctor, giving a pout in their direction.
"Yeah, what about us?" Jack asked in pretend hurt.
"Oh, you two can tag along I suppose," Roes responded with a dramatic sigh, grinning cheekily at them both. There came a knock on the TARDIS door.
"I got it," Jack said, untangling himself from the wires on the floor and going over to the door. Opening it, he leaned against the frame as he stared at a bewildered Mickey on the other side. "Who the hell are you?"
"What do you mean, who the hell am I? Who the hell are you?" Mickey retorted in annoyance.
"Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever you're selling, we're not buying," Jack replied sarcastically.
"Jack, stop harassing Mickey and let him in," Madison said, rolling her eyes at the man's antics. Jack stepped aside and let Mickey in, smirking somewhat at being able to mess with the newcomer already. There was a brief glance given to the place by Mickey, frowning in confusion for a moment before seeming to shrug off whatever was happening in the console room.
"Here comes trouble. How you doing, Ricky boy?" the Doctor greeted, not bothering to look in Mickey's direction.
"It's Mickey," Mickey corrected him.
The Doctor blinked and gave a puzzled expression. "That's what I said, isn't it?"
"All that knowledge floating around in that big head of yours and a few names are the one thing that gives you trouble?" Madison teased the Doctor, earning a pout from him.
"You try remembering the universal periodic table in a hundred different languages off the top of your head and tell me a few names don't slip your mind once and a while," he sassed her, going back to twisting together a variety of wires. Madison snickered, glancing over to see Rose and Mickey catching up. She wondered if Rose had explained to Jack who Mickey was and what sort of relationship she and he had in the past. It might explain why Jack had been giving Mickey a hard time a moment ago. She then listened to Rose, Jack, and the Doctor all happily explaining about the Rift and the TARDIS refuelling to Mickey after he questioned them about being in Cardiff. Which made her laugh at the expression on Mickey's face after they had finished laughing and giving each other high fives.
"What're gonna do until this thing refuels?" Mickey asked then.
"I figured me, you, and Maddie," Rose began saying, walking over to get Madison to stand up from the chair, holding her by the arm while grinning, "can have a night on the town and catch up. Then Jack is from the 51st century, so I'm sure he'll want to see some 21st-century sights."
"Definitely want to see everything. Especially if the sights are just right," Jack replied smoothly, grinning with his arms crossed and leaning against the console.
"Behave," Madison warned him, giving him a pointed look.
"What? I'm not even doing anything yet," Jack said, whining somewhat.
"And that's the keyword. Yet," Madison countered, snickering as he pouted. She glanced over as she heard the Doctor chortling, seeing his light grin.
They were soon exiting the ship, with the Doctor closing and locking the door behind them before coming over and grabbing Madison's hand while they walked. He explained that it would take a full twenty-four hours to fuel up the TARDIS completely, so they really would have to entertain themselves elsewhere. Madison was not certain what Rose had in mind for them to do today. Honestly, Madison would have been happy just sitting back in the TARDIS and watching movies all day. But she knew she needed to be more active in finding other hobbies to do besides watching television. Having to stay hidden from society did not help matters in finding new things to try in the past. Most things she tried involved staying indoors, generally. She tried painting, sewing, music, and other such things. Plants were about as much as she had found she enjoyed, but even that was limited. She also had not bothered in group outings since being in David's family. What was the point of going out for fun without friends? Could she even be any sort of fun to be around? She felt she was rather dull in most things, so . . . she would hate to ruin their night out by being an obstruction to any sort of 'fun'.
She felt the Doctor's hand around hers give a firm squeeze after he finished explaining to Mickey and the other two why the ship looked like a police public call box and why no one ever noticed the TARDIS. While the others continued to chat amongst themselves, she glanced over to him, seeing him giving her a soft smile. She wondered briefly if perhaps her expression gave her away and she appeared uncomfortable. But then she had the strange notion of him knowing how she was feeling through other means. Had he read her thoughts? He suddenly looked away, trying his best to keep his eyes locked straight ahead.
Her eyes widened as she realised he had. Of course. They were holding hands. Skin contact made it easier to accidentally glance into the mind for a telepath. She wanted to ask him if he was and to let him know it was okay as accidents did happen. Though not out loud. She wanted to speak with him telepathically. It would be the first time they would if she did. However, she felt that perhaps they should wait for a better time. The first time communicating through the mind was something special and for some could be considered an intimate moment. Not that their brief moments shared between their minds had not been special. It was simply considered much more personal to communicate through the mind instead of externally. At least, it was seen as such to a Mer. Was it the same for a Time Lord? Would the Doctor be against such interchangeable interactions so early in their relationship?
"Anyone want breakfast?" the Doctor asked suddenly, looking at all of them expectantly.
"I'm starving," Rose admitted.
"I could go for something," said Jack.
"Same here," agreed Mickey.
The five of them ventured along, going over different suggestions of where to eat. Eventually, it was decided upon a restaurant down a boardwalk, hanging over the waters of the bay. Soon they were seated and chatting away, eventually smiling and laughing away as Jack began sharing hilarious stories from his past when Mickey questioned him on who he was. Under the table the Doctor was holding Madison's hand, gentling caressing it and drawing circles on the back of her hand. She felt her cheeks were slightly red but in a pleasant sort of way. She smiled as she stared around the table, watching Jack adamantly telling his story, Rose laughing and adding her own commentary to it, Mickey shaking his head while grinning, and the Doctor chortling and making comments of disbelief to the outlandish stories. It hit her then just how much she had missed moments like this in her life. She hadn't been able to have friends to sit around and share stories to laugh at in so long that she had almost forgotten how wonderful it was. But then, it hit her. This was it, wasn't it? This was her new family. She had finally found a new family to be a part of.
She felt her eyes growing warm as she knew she was getting emotional just thinking about it. But she held it together, not wanting the others to worry about her by suddenly crying with happiness. For she was, truly, happy. After all this time, she was finding a reason for living again. She felt the Doctor squeezing her hand lightly, making her realise that he was listening to her thoughts once more. Though she wondered if he felt it, too. The new sense of purpose with this small family of theirs. She hoped he was just as happy as she felt. She wanted to give him that happiness. Even if he did not yet feel that way towards their time travelling group, she would help him with whatever it was he needed to feel whole again. Anything he wanted, she would help him and give it to him. No matter the cost. He meant that much to her.
The Doctor suddenly let go of her hand and left the table, surprising her. She quickly worried that her thoughts bothered him and they had been too much. She did not want to overwhelm him with such things if he was not ready to think that way yet. But then she saw how he was going over to a man at a table across from theirs, taking a newspaper out of the man's hand and scanning over it swiftly. The man frowned at him but did not make much argument with the Doctor walking away with his paper.
"Doctor?" Madison asked, seeing how he came back over to their table with the paper still opened up and reading it. She knew what he was like with reading. He could read at lightning speed, practically inhaling anything he glanced over. There was a heavy frown set on his face as he looked it over. Jack, who had still been in the middle of telling his funny story, stopped short when Madison made note of the Doctor's behaviour. They were all looking at him now, looks of puzzlement and confusion.
"And I was having such a nice day," the Doctor said in a tone of disappointment, folding the paper and holding up the front page for them to see. A picture was plastered all over the page, showing them an image of a woman with short blonde hair and a round face holding up her hand to block the view of whoever had taken the photograph. Madison felt her whole body tense when recognizing that woman's face. The very same one who had hunted both her, Rose, and Harriet down not so long ago. She'd forgotten what the woman's human name was. She never did hear if it had been mentioned or not.
"Oh, my god," Rose gasped in astonishment, blinking wide-eyed at the picture. "That's the woman who chased us around 10 Downing Street! What was her name?"
"Margaret Blaine. Though that's not her true name," the Doctor said, laying the paper out on the table for them to see her face. "She's Mayor now."
"She's a Slitheen? How the hell did she survive? We blew up that whole place," Mickey wondered aloud, appearing rather outraged that any Slitheen had made it out.
"Suppose we should ask her when we find her," Madison mumbled, glancing towards the Doctor then. "Because we are going to find her, correct?"
"Right. Can't let her stick around to cause more problems," the Doctor muttered as he nodded.
"Who is she exactly? Anyone care to explain?" questioned Jack, glanced around at them all for answers.
"We'll explain on the way. Come on," the Doctor ordered, walking swiftly towards the restaurant's exit. The others hurried up from the table and followed after him.
XxXxXxXxXx
They caught Jack up to speed with what happened on 10 Downing Street. Something that had occurred only a month ago for Rose, the Doctor, and Madison. Though it had been a few months for Mickey, Jackie, and the rest of Earth. Something that Madison felt guilty about as this left a large gap for Rose to be with her mother and friends. Though so far, Rose did not seem to mind, and Mickey or Jackie (that Madison knew of) had not mentioned anything. Even with it being months since the last event, that shouldn't have been enough time to become Mayor and start a gigantic nuclear project. It made Madison wonder just how Margaret had jumped back into politics so quickly. It must come easy for her to wiggle her way back into political stances to gain power. Maybe a family trait. Though that did not matter in the long run. What mattered now was stopping her from whatever it was she had planned now. The Doctor pointed out the story from the article about a nuclear power station being built. Something that jumped to him as being highly suspicious. Madison did not doubt his suspicions. Knowing the plans the Slitheen had before involving nuclear powers, she suspected Margaret had a similar outcome for Earth in mind.
"According to Intelligence, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family. A criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius masquerading as a human being, zipped inside a skin suit," Jack told them after they entered city hall. Earlier he had been typing away on his futuristic devices, obviously doing as much research as he could on Margaret. It seemed Jack liked to know what they were up against before jumping into things.
"Okay, plan of attack. We assume a basic fifty-seven fifty-six strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor," Jack began to instruct them. "Doctor, you go face to face that'll designate exit one. I'll cover exit two. Rose, you exit three, Mickey Smith, you take exit four, and Madison you take exit five. Have you got that?"
"Exit five won't work. It's too far away," Madison stated quickly, already planning around the entire layout of the place. "It'll be best if I go outside and wait around under the windows in case she tries that way."
"Good thinking. If we can–," Jack tried to continue instructing.
"Excuse me, who's in charge?" the Doctor replied, giving Jack a rather strict stare and sort of a side glance towards Madison.
"Sorry." Jack stared away from the Time Lord, somewhat disquieted now. "Awaiting orders, sir."
Raising a brow at the Time Lord, Madison replied, "By all means. Tell us your plan, then."
"Right, here's the plan," the Doctor started, staring ahead of them as though thinking carefully. He suddenly looked back at them, giving a light grin. "Like he said. Nice plan. Anything else?" Madison snorted, shaking her head at him.
This earned a smile of appreciation from Jack before he was back to business. "Present arms."
They all synced their mobile phones together, getting things set on speed dial. Soon everyone went their separate ways, going towards the exits that Jack had explained earlier (he had gotten the blueprints to the building) and went over where the Mayor's office would be. Madison had to admit, she sort of wished she had someone like Jack back during her wild west days. He would have been a great asset during some of their getaways and heists. But that wasn't important now. She remained focused on getting to the window outside of the office of Margaret. It was the most obvious place where the woman would try to escape, given that the Doctor was going to try and confront her from her office doorway. So, going around the building as fast as she could, Madison went around the parking lot and towards the back where there was a stone balcony around all of the windows of the second story. It looked as though she made it just in time as she could see Margaret climbing out of her window and running towards a worker's ladder that was leaning against the railing of the balcony. Madison had to wonder (again) just how she was supposed to stop this Slitheen from escaping. She had mentioned to the group earlier (more like reminded them) that the Slitheen were very powerful and Margaret could easily hurt them if they tried to confront her head-on. But her concerns had been rather dismissed by the Doctor and the others. They had been rather confident that Margaret would not try anything where humans could see her.
"Here we go," Madison muttered as she walked over to the end of the ladder, ready to meet Margaret there. She waited patiently as Margaret, who apparently had not seen her yet, was hurriedly climbing down the ladder. Margaret stepped off the ladder, fumbling with a green suit pin of some kind that was on her business jacket. She kept glancing towards the balcony where the Doctor was struggling with a man who apparently was trying to stop him from getting after Margaret.
"Hello, again," Madison greeted the woman the moment she turned around. Margaret's eyes went wide briefly before they narrowed and she was hissing at Madison. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Your choice." She was surprised when Margaret did not run the opposite way. Instead, the woman rushed her, running right into her and throwing her back roughly. Madison caught herself from falling completely, but it gave Margaret enough time to run around her and take off across the parking lot. Madison let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Hard way it is," she grumbled before running after the woman. She could hear others running around the area, trying to catch up to Margaret as well. Margaret was still ahead of them all, running down an entryway for the parking lot that was in between city hall and another building. Madison could see the woman was hurriedly taking off her earrings, putting them together with the pin from her jacket.
"Who's on exit four!" she heard Jack shouting from behind her.
"That was Mickey!" came Rose's response. Then came the sound of Mickey rushing out of a door from the side of the building. Madison did not pay them much attention as she was solely focused on catching up with Margaret. She was almost on top of the woman, reaching out to grab at the woman's jacket. But it was then that there was a wavering flash of light and Margaret disappeared entirely. Madison stumbled to a halt, blinking for a moment before letting out a loud sound of annoyance and throwing her hands up into the air as she turned back around and marched over to where the others were.
"Did I ever mention how I hate teleportation?" she said to the others, huffing as she crossed her arms and stood next to Jack now.
"That's just plain cheating," Jack responded, agreeing with her. "Now we're never gonna get her."
"Oh, the Doctor's very good at teleports," Rose reassured them, grinning lightly as the Doctor smirked and pulled out his sonic screwdriver.
"Still doesn't mean teleportation isn't annoying," Madison grumbled as she watched Margaret suddenly reappear down the road in front of them. She was in mid-run and a grinning smile of triumph before swiftly coming to a halt and her grin fading. She turned immediately and teleported away once more. Only to be brought right back by the Doctor, even closer this time. This continued two more times, much to the amusement of the group, before Margaret finally stumbled in front of them. The woman stood before them, panting and out of breath.
"I could do this all day," said the Doctor, placing down his sonic as he grinned cheekily at the woman.
Margaret glared at him. "This is persecution. Why can't you leave me alone? What did I ever do to you?"
"You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet," the Doctor replied easily.
"Apart from that."
"You're probably trying to do the same thing again," Madison noted, keeping her eyes strictly on the woman.
Margaret shot her a glare, though there was a twinge in her expression. "Of course I'm not! Do you have any proof of this?"
"Not yet, but let's find out," said the Doctor, making a step towards city hall. Though paused and looked back at Margaret. "But first, hand it over." He held out his hand for the green jewellery of hers.
Letting out a huff, Margaret reluctantly handed over her teleportation device. With the Doctor leading the way, Madison stayed in the back of the line to keep an eye on Margaret as they went back into the building. Jack had a similar idea as he stayed near her, also keeping a sharp eye on the woman in the middle. The group received a lot of looks from people within the building. Some which tried to voice concerns about what they were doing with the Mayor, but the Doctor easily brushed away anyone trying to stop them in some way. Eventually, they reached a conference hall of some kind. One where the Doctor must have known held the plans for this nuclear station in the works. The table showing the miniature structure, as some sort of building blueprint for the future site, was placed in the middle of the room.
"So, you're a Sliteen, you're on Earth, you're trapped. Your family gets killed, but you teleport out, just in the nick of time," the Doctor began listing off, walking over to the table with the miniature nuclear power station. "You have no means of escape, what do you do? You build a nuclear power station. But what for?"
"A philanthropic gesture. I've learnt the error of my ways," Margaret answered after a moment's pause. Madison raised a brow, knowing this was nothing but lies. It was more than obvious.
"And it just so happens to be right on top of the Rift," the Doctor said, giving a similarly sceptical expression towards Margaret.
"What rift would that be?" Margaret replied, clearly feigning ignorance.
"A rift in space and time," Jack responded, beginning to become annoyed now as he shot Margaret a quick glare. He pointed at the miniature city and nuclear station. "If this power station went into meltdown, the entire planet would go . . ." He made a dramatic noise of destruction.
"This station is designed to explode the minute it reaches capacity," the Doctor noted as he inspected the miniature carefully.
"Didn't anyone notice?" Rose questioned curiously, also looking carefully at the miniature. "Isn't there someone in London checking this sort of stuff?"
"We're in Cardiff. London doesn't care. The South Wales coast could fall into the sea and they wouldn't notice," Margaret answered swiftly, scoffing somewhat as she spoke. She then paused and blinked in surprise at her own response. "Oh! I sound like a Welshman. God help me, I've gone native."
"Stick around long enough and you might find you actually like it here," Madison offered, wondering if she could reach Margaret in some way or another in extending an invitation to find a new home. But the harsh glare she received from Margaret told her that there was nothing Earth had to offer that the Slitheen wanted.
"But why would she do that?" Mickey suddenly questioned. "A great big explosion, she'd only end up killing herself."
"She's got a name, you know," Margaret retorted in annoyance, sending Mickey a similar glare as she had Madison.
"She's not even a she, she's a thing," Mickey countered just as smartly.
"Mickey, we've talked about this. That is highly disrespectful and you should reframe from using such language. Even for someone we don't agree with," Madison spoke up strictly, now feeling her own ire at the way Mickey wished to keep treating Margaret. Or any other race they had come across. For dealing with so much recently, she would have thought he'd grow up somewhat in how he talked to other species. Apparently, he still had a lot to learn.
"Sorry," Mickey muttered, looking away from Madison in embarrassment to be scolded out loud.
"Oh, but she's clever," spoke the Doctor, earning everyone's attention once more. He suddenly reached over to the miniature map in front of him, knocking aside the power station structure and pulling up a flat, grey metal board of some kind that had been implanted into the white surface. He flipped it around in his hands, showing them a circuit board of some sort. "Fantastic!"
Jack's face lit up, beaming as he pointed at it. "Is that a triophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator?" he asked quickly.
"Couldn't have put it better myself," the Doctor answered him, also grinning somewhat.
"Genius!" Jack took the metal skateboard-like device from the Doctor, beaming as he went around the table with it. "You didn't build this."
"I have my hobbies, a little tinkering," Margaret answered lightly.
"No, no, I mean, you really didn't build this. Way beyond you," Jack countered.
"I bet she stole it," said Mickey.
"It fell into my hands," Margaret replied dismissively.
"Which means that's a 'yes'," Madison said, eyeing Margaret closely still.
"Is it a weapon?" Rose asked curiously.
"It's transport," Jack explained. He set the metal board onto the ground, circuit side down, and pointed at the map of the nuclear power station. "You see, if the reactor blows, the rift opens. Phenomenal cosmic disaster." He then pointed back to the metal board. "But this thing shrouds you in a force-field. You have this energy bubble," he made a motion as a demonstration, "so you're safe. Then you feed it coordinates, stand on top and ride the concussion all the way out of the solar system."
"It's a surfboard," said Mickey in realisation.
Jack nodded and pointed at him. "A pan-dimensional surfboard, yeah."
"So, you've moved from blowing up the planet for profit, to blowing up a planet just so you can get off-world," Madison spoke up, raising a brow at Margaret in disbelief. "Don't you think that's going a bit too far? Can't you just hitch a ride from someone instead? I know for a fact that there's plenty of off-worlders coming to visit Earth on the daily."
"Not many that are very . . . forgiving to those from Raxacoricofallapatorius," Margaret stated carefully, side-eyeing Madison.
"Especially since you're a criminal, correct?" Seeing Margaret's grimace, Madison knew her answer. "I can understand finding it hard to get off-world. But blowing up an entire planet? This is more than just about getting out to space, isn't it?"
Margaret let out an aggravated sigh. "Fine. You want to hear me say it, I'll say it. I was also wanting a bit of revenge for my family. Are you satisfied now?" She was glowering at them all. "It would've worked. I'd have surfed away from this dead-end dump and back to civilisation."
"How'd you think of the name?" came a question from the Doctor then.
All paused in their conversation, suddenly realising that the Doctor had not been a part of their discussions. Instead, the Doctor had been staring intently at the banner that was hanging across the wall over the top of a fireplace at the end of the room. Madison just now noticed the banner herself, seeing that it had the bold words of The Seiren Project, Prosiect Y Seiren printed across it.
"Seiren?" Madison wondered aloud, knowing what the word meant.
"What? It's Welsh," Margaret responded, frowning at the Doctor and Madison.
"I know, but how did you think of it?" asked the Doctor, still staring hard at the banner.
"Chose it at random, that's all. I don't know. Just sounded good," Margaret explained, now seeming confused about why she was being asked such a question. "Does it matter?"
The Doctor turned around, staring at them all. "Seiren."
"'Siren'," Madison muttered, brow furrowed as she thought this over. Again, that name sparked something within her. Especially a strange sense of foreboding in hearing the Doctor say it out loud. "That word . . . it's been popping up quite a bit lately."
"Yeah, I've heard that word before. Lots of times," Rose agreed, nodding as she glanced between Madison and the Doctor.
"Everywhere we go, one word, following us," spoke the Doctor as he stared distantly off above their heads. Madison could see that he was deep in thought. His eyes glazed over as he seemed to search for answers to this strange occurrence. "Siren."
Rose gave him a sceptical look. "How can it be following us?"
The Doctor did not answer for a long moment. He slowly brought his gaze back to them all, staring at each of them as though trying to see something just there. Something invisible. Something slowly surrounding them. Madison felt a sense of foreboding as he and she met eye contact. Then he was all smiles and relaxed again.
"Nah, just a coincidence. Like hearing a word on the radio then hearing it all day. Never mind," he said, brushing away any unease that the others felt. "Things to do. Margaret, we're gonna take you home."
Madison frowned, not liking how the Doctor just seemed to let the subject drop. But she understood, by the shifting glance he gave her as he clapped his hands and walked away from the banner, that it was not truly over for him. He merely just wanted to focus on the more pressing issue for now. Plus, he most likely did not want to worry the others. Though none of them seemed worried. Rather they gave sighs, eye rolls, or frowns that meant annoyance at the Doctor's strange behaviour earlier.
"Hold on, isn't that the easy option? Like letting her go?" Jack questioned then.
"I don't believe it. We actually get to go to Raxa . . .," Rose spoke up rather excitedly, as she was always eager to get to see an alien planet. But she stumbled trying to say the planet's name, earning an eye roll from the Doctor. "Wait a minute, Raxacor . . ."
"Raxacoricofallapatorius," the Doctor said, trying to help the girl along with the word. Rose and he kept going back and forth with the blonde trying her best to get it right. Looking away from the two, Madison gazed over to Margaret, seeing the sullen expression on the woman's face. For someone who wanted to blow up an entire planet just to leave, it was odd to her that suddenly Margaret appeared to want nothing more than to run away from an opportunity to get back to her home planet. Then she remembered what Jack had gone over earlier in the TARDIS after doing his research on the Slitheen. They were criminals from their home planet and from multiple others out there.
"Going back home isn't a good option for you, is it?" Madison asked Margaret quietly, ignoring the laughing coming from Rose and the Doctor when the blonde girl had gotten the name right.
"Not really, no. They have the death penalty," Margaret answered rather blatantly, voice raised to earn everyone else's attention. The smiles faded as Margaret sent them all a grim look. "The family Slitheen was tried in its absence many years ago and found guilty. With no chance of appeal. According to the statutes of government, the moment I return, I'm to be executed." There was an uncomfortable silence then as they all stared at her. "What do you make of that, Doctor? Take me home and you take me to my death."
"Not my problem," the Doctor answered rather hard, unwaveringly.
Blinking, Madison was somewhat surprised by his response, though not entirely. She felt similar, though . . . there was still a major part of her that was against the death penalty. She never liked that sort of punishment herself, however, she never argued against it entirely as she knew it had its place. There had been times she had escorted a person to the gallows. Never out of a want, but of a necessity, or simply because she had to. She believed that everyone must face punishment for their misdeeds one day. Whether that be as some act of fate or from the justice system of some kind, all must face the coincidences of what they had done wrong. She knew this all too well. And as she listened to the Doctor instructing them to pack things up and get Margaret back to their ship, all Madison could contemplate on what had been her own punishment for everything she had done wrong in her life. Or . . . perhaps her punishment was still yet to come.
Again, I hope it was worth the wait. Let me know in a review of what you think. I can't wait to hear from everyone.
Please, love yourselves and take care!