Hello, hello! I hope everyone has been doing good since the last chapter. I'm getting so excited to see everyone's reactions to these next few chapters.
Enjoy!
Chapter 21
The Doctor and Jack worked diligently to get coordinates to Rose's location. They even managed to encourage others in the room, the monitors and programmers of the games, to help along with their endeavour. The Controller herself even helped along, defying her Masters and giving the Doctor the coordinates he needed before she was zapped away from them. They all sort of froze, staring at the place she had once been. Madison felt the pang of sadness go through her as she knew, wherever the Controller may be now, that the woman was dead. However, there was some solace in knowing that the Controller lived her last moments in defiance towards those who had tortured her for so long. Finally, in death, she was free. With this thought, Madison found strange comfort.
"We still need the last few numbers," the Doctor said, breaking the silence.
"Use that," said the one male programmer who had been helping the Doctor the most. He handed over a journal of sorts that had all sorts of numbers written down as a log. "It might contain the final numbers. I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmissions."
Jack, who was currently sitting at the main terminal and working on the computer systems, turned in his seat to look at the programmer. A sly smile formed on his face. "Nice, thanks." He then held out his hand. "Captain Jack Harkness, by the way."
"I'm Davitch Pavale," replied the programmer, smiling and shaking hands with Jack.
"Nice to meet you, Davitch Pavale," Jack responded smoothly.
"Down boy," muttered Madison as she sent Jack a stern look.
"There's a time and a place," said the Doctor in agreement. Jack grinned lightly, winking at them both which made Madison and the Doctor share a look. She was beginning to think they really couldn't take Jack anywhere without a mess to clean up.
"Are you saying this whole setup's been a disguise all along?" asked a woman, one that appeared to be a close friend of Davitch's as the two always seemed to stick near each other from what Madison had observed.
"Going way back. Installing the Jagrafess hundred years ago. Someone's been playing a long game. Controlling the human race from behind the scenes for generations," the Doctor explained. He had gone over what the Jagrafess had been earlier to them all. Though Madison hardly understood most of what had been explained, she did understand the main parts as she recalled what Rose had told her the day it had happened to her and the Doctor.
After a moment, Jack handed over a silver remote of some kind to the Doctor. There the Doctor pointed and clicked the remote, bringing up a screen above them to see nothing but an image of dark space. Apparently, from what Jack was explaining to them, it was there the coordinates brought them to. Something on the edge of the solar system. Madison could see the Doctor growing somewhat tense as he explained to everyone the reason it looked empty. The game station was sending another signal to hide the true entity behind all the horrors Earth was so willing to partake in. Seeing how the Time Lord was growing wary, she knew that it would be nothing good to come for them. What sort of entity could make the Doctor nervous?
She received her answer when the Doctor cancelled the signal. There on the screen was a massive spaceship, circular in shape and taking up most of the screen. The appearance was very much like one might imagine a flying alien spaceship would look like. Like that of a flying disk. Then the image zoomed down and there were countless other ships (much smaller than the first one though) that were in the surrounding area. Upon seeing these ships, Madison saw the Doctor grow rigid, slowly sinking down into a nearby chair. She turned to him, seeing his wide, wavering eyes as he stared at the screen. She could feel the sudden upheaval coming from his mind, as though he were instinctually reaching out to sound the alarm to others. But it was gone just as quickly as it came and the Doctor went stoically quiet. Even through the small awareness Madison always felt from others mentally. It made her wonder if this was an impulse reaction for him as a Time Lord, to warn others of danger from the vast connection his species had all once shared. But the only danger she could think of to cause such a visceral reaction from him would be . . . Her stomach dropped and before she could reach out to his mind in hopes for answers (or to comfort him), Jack spoke.
"That's impossible. I know those ships," he said, turning towards the Doctor as if hoping he was wrong. "They were destroyed."
There was a brief moment the Doctor just stared at the screen. Then, his lips slowly parted. "Obviously they survived," he spoke almost vacantly. Though there was a hint of shakiness in his voice that Madison could barely pick up on.
"Who did? Who are they?" Lynda questioned quickly, looking for answers from someone.
"Two hundred ships. More than two thousand on board each one," said the Doctor, still looking in a state of disbelief and horror. "That's just about half a million of them."
"Half a million what?" Davitch asked. Madison was able to finally catch the Doctor's eye. He looked at her, seeing how she already knew the answer. He nodded slowly as she let out a shaky breath.
"Daleks," the Doctor said bluntly. After he said this, the screen in front of them changed. It showed them inside of a spaceship, with technology Madison did not recognize. But that didn't matter for she felt her heart almost stop in fright of the sight she saw. There was Rose, standing there with three Daleks. One on her right had its weapon pointed straight at her while the other two faced the video squarely to stare at them. Madison felt the Doctor slowly roll his shoulders as he straightened, as if preparing for a fight. One that she knew was coming for them now. It was a relief to see Rose still alive, though Madison had no idea how they were going to get the girl out of the clutches of the Daleks and back to safety.
"I will talk to the Doctor," demanded one of the Daleks in its mechanical high-pitched and grainy voice. The voice and the looks of the Daleks were exactly the same as the one from Utah. It made her wonder why they were all built the same. Maybe it was to make them all uniformed so none were considered greater than the other. How terrible to have no individuality.
"Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello," the Doctor replied back sarcastically, forming a forced smile on his face. He even did a little wave.
"The Dalek Stratagem nears completion. The Fleet is almost ready," the Dalek told him. The Doctor's sarcastic smile slowly faded as it continued to speak. "You will not intervene."
"Oh, really? Why's that, then?" he retorted bitterly.
"We have your associate. You will obey or she will be exterminated."
Madison watched as the Doctor grew a cold look in his eye. His jaw tightened as he saw Rose glance at them with fear in her eyes. "No."
It was surprising to hear him say this, to say the least. It especially made Madison worried seeing the storm in his blue irises. Everyone else also gave similarly uneasy looks towards the Time Lord as they all appeared equally concerned by his dismissal. The Daleks even paused in saying anything as they looked at one another. However, Madison knew the Doctor too well. She knew that, though there was that storm brewing inside of him, he would not abandon Rose.
"Explain yourself," demanded the same Dalek as before.
"I said, no," the Doctor responded in turn, voice still hard as he glared fiercely at the Daleks.
"What is the meaning of this negative?"
"It means no."
"But she will be destroyed!"
The Doctor launched himself up from his chair, teeth gnashed as he glared with a force towards the screen. "No, 'cause this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna rescue her. I'm gonna save Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek Fleet. And then I'm gonna save the Earth. And then, just to finish off, I'm gonna wipe every last stinking Dalek out of the sky!"
"But you have no weapons! No defences! No plan!"
The Doctor gave a wide manic grin now. "Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death?" There was silence from the Daleks, leading the Doctor to stare at Rose now. "Rose."
"Yes, Doctor?" Rose finally spoke.
"I'm coming to get you." With this said, the Doctor held up the silver remote and turned off the screen.
Turning away from everyone, the Doctor rushed off towards the room where the TARDIS was parked. Madison did not wait to hear what the others had to say as she ran after the Doctor. Once inside the TARDIS, she saw that he was working fast around the console, hitting random dials and levers in a furious haste.
"I know what you're going to say, so I'm not going to listen," the Doctor started saying almost right away, not bothering to even glance her way as he stayed busy working.
"What am I going to say?" Madison questioned as she walked over to the console, standing there watching him work. "Was I going to say that I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now, but I'm here for you, for whatever it is you need. That I'm here to help you," she took his hand, holding it gently, "so just tell me what you need." This clearly surprised him as he blinked for a moment before a delighted grin reached his face. She wondered if he thought she was going to argue against his actions to save Rose. How silly of him. She matched his grin. "Now, let's go save our friend."
XxXxXxXxXx
She was not certain what exactly Jack and the Doctor were working on through their rushing around the TARDIS and putting together different electronics on the console. But she understood the basics of them putting together a defence system to withstand the firepower the Daleks would showcase against them upon approaching the Fleet. Jack and the Doctor both tried to convince her to stay behind, in case something went wrong and all. But her expression must have told them their arguments were useless when she gave them each a sharp gaze. And so, they were off, with the Doctor piloting the TARDIS towards the Fleet and Jack keeping the extrapolator online and connected to the console. It was a bumpy ride as there were a few times the Daleks had hit their ship. Luckily, the changes to the ship seemed to have worked as there was nothing more than a few shakes given by the TARDIS as she continued on through space towards the Fleet.
"Get ready," the Doctor warned them as he yanked down a lever. They all looked over as they saw the image of Rose beginning to appear by the door. Though she was not alone. There was a Dalek appearing on the ship as well. Madison looked over as Jack grabbed his large gun that was laying on the floor and got it pointed at the ready.
"Rose, duck!" Madison shouted just in time as the Dalek gave its battle cry and shot its laser into the air. Fortunately, Rose had acted fast and dropped to the ground to avoid the shot, and Jack had fired back just as quickly, destroying the Dalek into a fiery blast, breaking the armour apart completely. Madison hesitated for only a second before she was running over to Rose and helped the girl from the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," Rose responded shakily, still seeming somewhat dazed by all the chaos that has happened to her. Then, she was smiling and hugging Madison tightly. "Feels like I haven't seen you in years."
"I'm just glad you're okay. I was so worried," Madison sighed as she returned the hug in a strong grip. When they pulled away, both had relieved smiles on their faces. Madison took a step back as the Doctor came over, giving the girl a hug as well.
"We all were," he said. Soon he was grinning as he looked her up and down. "But look at you. Tough as ever, even when stuck around with some Daleks."
"Oh, I've been through worse." Then all smiles were gone as Rose glanced nervously back towards the door. "But there's hundreds of them out there. I'm surprised I'm even alive in the first place."
Nodding grimly, the Doctor looked at the broken pieces of the Dalek in the console room. "They must have figured out I was in the game station and wanted you as a bargaining chip." He went over to inspect the broken Dalek more closely, crouching down in front of it.
Madison came over beside him, wondering aloud, "Is it dead completely or is the armour just broken?"
"It's dead. Nothing could have lived through that blast," the Doctor explained. Madison glanced towards Jack and Rose, who were both sharing a hug and talking amongst themselves. She smiled lightly, glad to see them happy. Her smile dropped and she looked back towards the Doctor as he was scanning the Dalek with his sonic screwdriver. As the smoke finally cleared, she was able to finally have a better view of the Dalek. It was the same as the one she remembered from Utah. Same grey skin with limp tentacles and covered in mucous. Though this time the Dalek had been torn to pieces by Jack's weapon. Funnily enough, the only thing she could think that was different was the fact that this Dalek seemed to have two eyes instead of the one. Odd. She wondered why the small difference was allowed if the Daleks were supposed to be uniformed.
"You said they were extinct. How come they're still alive?" she heard Rose asking as both the blonde and Jack were coming over to examine the Dalek as well.
"Do . . . do you think they slipped through the cracks during the war?" Madison questioned the Doctor quietly. She saw his jaw tightening as his lips pressed together in a thin line.
"One minute they're the greatest threat in the universe, the next minute they vanished out of time and space," said Jack as he stared at the Dalek thoughtfully.
"They went off to fight a bigger war," explained the Doctor in a quiet tone. He placed away his sonic screwdriver. "The Time War."
Jack stared at the Doctor in awe. "I thought that was just a legend."
"I was there. The war between the Daleks and the Time Lords, with the whole of creation at stake. My people were destroyed but they took the Daleks with them." A haunted look crossed over the Doctor then as he stood up straight, his blue eyes turning icy as he kept gazing at the broken Dalek. "I almost thought it was worth it. And now it turns out they died for nothing."
Carefully Madison reached down and took his limp hand into hers, giving it a small squeeze. She wished there was more she could do for him. She could sense the pain coming from him in waves. But . . . she had promised not to interfere with what he was feeling. Even if it was not taking away his emotions but rather helping them feel less of a burden.
"There's thousands of them now. We could hardly stop one," said Rose, obviously recalling the time in Utah. She turned to the Doctor then, searching for answers. "What are we gonna do?"
"No good stood around here chinwagging. Human race, you'd gossip all day," the Doctor responded quickly, suddenly smiling in a joking manner. He pulled his hand from Madison's, walking towards the TARDIS door. "The Daleks have got the answers. Let's go and meet the neighbours." He clapped his hands together as he reached for the door.
"You can't go out there!" Rose tried giving in a warning, but the Doctor didn't listen as he opened the door in a rush.
"Exterminate!" came the cry of several Daleks. Madison gasped and rushed towards the Doctor to pull him back, but as the sound of the Daleks' weapons firing, she saw that the beams were not reaching the Doctor. Oh, that was right. There was a force-field around the TARDIS. She let out a small, relieved sigh as she had forgotten and panicked for a moment there.
"Is that it? Useless. Nul points," the Doctor said as he stepped out of the TARDIS and held out his arms. He turned back around as Madison, Rose, and Jack came up to the door. "It's all right, come on out. That force-field can hold back anything."
"Almost anything," Jack corrected him.
Folding his arms, the Doctor grimaced. "Yes, but I wasn't going to tell them that. Thanks."
While Jack muttered an apology, Madison stepped out of the TARDIS to join the Doctor first. The moment she stepped foot outside of the ship, a wave hit her. She felt her eyes burning as unushered tears sprang forth from the overwhelming sense of broken minds. All of these Daleks, every single one of them, had a mind that needed healing. She never sensed so many minds in such a dire need of peace. Then, there was the other sense. The instinct to take flight and run away as her gut screamed from the terrifying threat that the Daleks presented. She had never experienced such a strong urge to run before. Not even during her time of being on the run in the 1940s. What should she do? The two conflicting sides in her were shouting all sorts of directions and actions for her to take, but . . .
"Maddie, you okay?" she heard Jack saying in her ear. She blinked, feeling wetness running down her face then. Seems the tears could not be held back.
"Yeah," she breathed, rubbing her cheeks to brush away the tears quickly to hide any weakness. She did not want to give the Daleks a chance to think they could subdue her so easily. She saw Rose, Jack, and the Doctor all staring at her in concern.
"Sure?" the Doctor asked her, gazing at her intently as she wondered if he was either guessing why she was crying or knew already. She did not wish to speak of it out loud with the Daleks so she merely nodded. Making a small noise at the back of his throat, the Doctor turned to face the Daleks again. His expression turned deadly as the storm came full force from him. "Do you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek homeworld? The Oncoming Storm," he said to them, walking steadily forward to stand in front of them.
Madison frowned somewhat. Oncoming Storm? Was that a name people gave him during the war, or . . . No, this felt different. Almost like something given far before the war. Just how much history did the Doctor have with the Daleks, she wondered. It was a very accurate name, to say the least. It was the mighty storm that seemed to shadow over him when his anger sprang forth. Only moments like this did she realise she was seeing the darkness the Doctor tried so hard to keep at bay.
"You might have removed all your emotions, but I reckon right down deep in your DNA," the Doctor continued, "there's one little spark left. And that's fear." The Daleks' eyestalks wavered as they gazed at him. A small smirk slowly grew on the Doctor's face. "Doesn't it just burn when you face me?" He stepped back slightly, gazing around again. "So tell me, how did you survive the Time War?"
"They survived through me," came a booming, mechanical voice.
Madison caught Rose flinching slightly from the direction the voice had echoed from. Madison went over and took the girl's hand, ready to guide the blonde away if necessary. Together the group walked slowly away from the other Daleks, going closer to the edge of the alcove they were in. There was a vast room outside of the small space they occupied. There, in the centre of the space of the massive ship, was a gigantic Dalek. This one took up the entire middle section of the mother ship, with its armour opened for them to see the Dalek itself in a glass container filled with transparent liquid. It seemed the actual body of the Dalek was slightly bigger than those she had witnessed before. Though not by much. Only its armour eclipsed the others completely. It also appeared as though this Dalek were wired up into the ship. As if the ship itself was its body. There were other Daleks hovering around the large one, acting as guards.
"Madison. Rose. Captain. This is the Emperor of the Daleks," the Doctor said slowly.
"You destroyed us, Doctor," the Emperor said in its booming voice. "The Dalek race died in your inferno. But my ship survived, falling through time, crippled but alive."
"I get it—," muttered the Doctor.
"Do not interrupt!" shouted Daleks from around them.
The Doctor had a tight-lipped smile. "I think you're forgetting something. I'm the Doctor and if there's one thing I can do, it's talk. I've got five billion languages and you haven't got one way of stopping me. So if anybody's gonna shut up . . ." He turned suddenly, partially snarling at them. "It's you!"
Madison flinched slightly but tried her best to not show how his anger was affecting her. Of course, it was troubling to see him in such a state, but it was more than that. She could feel his mental state wavering, becoming something warped and torn. She wondered . . . if this was a mere glimpse of how he was during the war. It appeared that it might be because she noticed the Daleks flinching as well, backing up from the Doctor.
"Okie-doke. So, where were we?" said the Doctor, looking back towards the Emperor and looking as though he had not just shouted furiously.
"We waited here in the dark space," continued the Emperor in his tale, "damaged but rebuilding. Centuries passed and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth, harvesting the waste of humanity. The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed, they all came to us. The bodies were filleted, pulped, sifted. The seed of the human race is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured."
Listening to the Emperor's story, Madison felt her stomach twist. The Daleks, they were . . . they were once humans? Oh . . . god. All those people from the games, they were brought here, to be turned into things twisted to become these horrors. Deformed beyond humanity entirely.
"So you created an army of the Daleks of the dead," concluded the Doctor, grim in his words.
"The two eyes . . . The Dalek Jack killed had two eyes," Madison whispered, eyes meeting the Doctor's. "It was human . . ."
"Yeah. I had a feeling, but I didn't want to believe it," the Doctor told them quietly, lips pressed tightly together as his eyes swirled in anger.
"That makes them half human," Rose said, looking just as pale as Madison felt.
"Those words are blasphemy!" bellowed the Emperor.
"Do not blaspheme!" cried different Daleks around them. The Doctor stared around in surprise, appearing puzzled.
"Everything human has been purged. I cultivated pure and blessed Dalek," boasted the Emperor, seeming proud of what he had done.
The Doctor still stared around the different Daleks, clearly at a loss by something that was said. He then gazed at the Emperor again. "Since when did the Daleks have a concept of blasphemy?"
"I reached into the dirt and made new life. I am the God of all Daleks!"
The Daleks around them began to chant for them to worship the Emperor, making the Doctor stare at them all in horrified realisation. "They're insane. Hiding in silence for hundreds of years, that's enough to drive anyone mad. But it's worse than that. Driven mad by your own flesh. The stink of humanity. You hate your own existence." He shook his head, almost giving them a look of pity. "And that makes them more deadly than ever." He looked back to the Emperor then. "We're going."
The Emperor tried commanding for them to stay. Other Daleks began yelling as well for them to halt. Jack was already opening the TARDIS door for them even before Madison and Rose turned around. They hurriedly got inside the ship with the Doctor being the last one to enter. He stood there in front of the door after closing it, hand still on the handle and forehead pressed into the wood as he remained unmoving. The sound of countless cries of 'exterminate' could be heard outside of the ship, as well as the sound of weapons being fired. Madison bit the inside of her cheek as she worriedly gazed at the Doctor. The way he had his head bowed in defeat, and what she was feeling coming from his mind . . . She walked over to him, reaching out both physically and mentally to him. Her hand gently touched his shoulder while she tried caressing his mind with hers in a hug as she had done so before. She winced as she felt him jerk away from her mentally, though he allowed the physical touch at least. She stayed quiet as she just stood there, slowly rubbing circles into his back. She knew that sometimes, when it came to situations like this, it was best to just let the person sit in silence for some time. Allow themselves to come back to reality as they see fit.
Eventually, the Doctor turned toward her. The weary storm in his eyes spoke everything in a single glance. She couldn't help herself. As her heart wept for him, she reached forward and pulled him into a hug. A small gust of a sigh brushed against her ear as his chin nestled into the crook of her neck. His rough hands rubbed up and down her back as he pulled her in close. His mind, finally allowed to be connected to hers. It was different from the time in Utah. Instead of pushing against hers in a force, it rolled in like a dense fog. There was still a staggering amount of pain and sorrow, but nothing she could not handle. It still hurt her mind as a part of her telepathy already started to try and mend what was there. Though she halted it as soon as she noticed it as she did not want to go against the Doctor's wishes.
"Go ahead," he spoke in her mind then. "I need it right now."
Nodding, she gently began the process, taking all of his pain and relieving the weight upon his shoulders. Soon, she had to pull back because the strain of it all was too much for her. She continued to hug him physically, not wanting to let go until he told her to. "Anything you need from me, Doctor, I'm here for you. I promise," she whispered into his mind. She felt him nod against her before pulling away.
He then smiled quietly. A subdued smile, but a smile all the same. "Let's go. We've got our work cut out for us yet."
XxXxXxXxXx
Things went fast the moment they got back to the game station. The Doctor gave different orders to the humans on the station. Davitch helped through most of it, trying to contact Earth (this led nowhere as the humans on Earth didn't believe a single word of it), and boosting up the transmission so the Daleks could not transmat onto the station itself. They discovered that Lynda, and a few others, had remained on board during the evacuation. The girl was determined to stay, even smiling and introducing herself to Rose once the two had met. This worried Madison. Though she was glad the young woman was so set on helping them, she wished that Lynda would have gone as it might have been safer. But it seemed being with the Doctor, even for a short while, had really moved Lynda into wanting to help others. There was also the trouble of some of the evacuees were still on board. About a hundred of them. This worried Madison even more. How were they going to protect a hundred people? Or even everyone down on the Earth below them? The entire solar system was in danger and Madison could not think of how they were going to save everyone.
The Doctor rambled on hurriedly when the Fleet began to move through the solar system towards Earth. Madison could hardly keep up with what he was saying. Though it seemed Jack understood quite clearly.
"You've got to be kidding," muttered Jack, staring at the Doctor in disbelief.
"Give the man a medal!" exclaimed the Doctor in a flourish as he rushed around and was pulling large wires and parts from the station around them.
Jack could only stare at the Doctor in shock. "A Delta Wave?"
"A Delta Wave!" Grinning widely, somewhat mad in a way, the Doctor kept on with his fast work.
Madison listened to Jack explaining. What she grasped from the information he gave, a Delta Wave was basically the organic version of an electromagnetic pulse. Instead of harming and destroying electronics, it would, essentially, fry living minds. It made sense as she knew all living organics' nervous systems were basically run on small currents of electricity. What a horrible way to go though. Would it just kill them, or turn them into vegetables? She shivered at the thought. She didn't like the idea of them creating such a thing, but . . . she knew it was necessary. It was the only way to stop them, after all. Daleks, from what she had experienced herself, would never listen to reason. No matter how much she wanted to try with reason first, she did not wish to chance it with all those innocent lives at stake. So, she helped where she could, gathering things the Doctor needed as he sat on the floor amongst the pile of electronics he had gathered. All the while she listened to Jack's plan of defence against the Daleks impending invasion of the satellite. She heard of the plan with the fight Jack was going to run against the Daleks with whatever other humans might help. She thought about helping in the fight, but the very idea of lifting a gun with the intent to kill sickened her to no end.
"Madison, Rose, I need you to stay here with me. I need help stripping all these wires bare," the Doctor said after Jack finished his explanation. Already close to where he had been, Madison only had to take a few steps over to where he pointed her to. Rose soon joined her, sitting down on the floor beside her and getting to work.
"I just wanna say . . . thanks, I suppose. And I'll do my best," she heard Lynda speak up. Glancing over, Madison saw Lynda speaking with the Doctor.
"Me, too," responded the Doctor, giving the young woman a heartfelt smile. The two shook hands with smiles before Lynda went over to the lift to leave. Jack walked over to them next. His smile was more subdued than that of Lynda's.
"It's been fun," he said to them. "But I guess this is—."
Madison stood up quickly, dropping the wires she had been working on. "Don't say it," she said sternly, walking over to hug the man tightly. Already she could feel her eyes being pricked by tears. "Do not ever say 'goodbye'. Because . . . it's never the end, okay?"
"She's right. Don't talk like that," agreed Rose, standing up as well. "The Doctor's gonna do it, you just watch him." Feeling a gentle pat on her back, Madison stepped away from the hug as she stared at the sad smile of Jack's. Her heart twisted, knowing what was to come by that smile. What always came with a smile like that. She knew she was in denial. She just . . . hated goodbyes more than anything. Goodbyes were final. And final . . . means the end of the line. No more new memories to create. Just the empty road to travel alone.
"Madison . . . thank you for trusting me," Jack said to her, cupping her face in his hands and giving her a kiss. A quick one that said 'goodbye'. She felt tears prick at her eyes as he pulled away and smiled. "Don't give up on finding yourself a new family, okay?" He moved over to Rose then, cupping her face as well. "Rose. You are worth fighting for." He kissed her, then moved over to the Doctor, grinning lightly. "Wish I never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward." He then grabbed the Doctor's face and gave him a kiss. Moving away, Jack walked towards the lift. "See you in hell."
Madison let out a breath, shoulders lowered as she knew Jack was walking to his death. Those bullets would not stop the Daleks, they all knew this. How many times had she watched people she cared for walk away to their deaths? Far too many. She felt someone touching her shoulder. Looking over, she saw Rose standing beside her and smiling kindly.
"He's gonna be all right," she said confidently. Madison gave the girl a sad stare, patting the hand on her shoulder gently. Rose's smile dropped as she glanced between the Doctor and Madison. "Isn't he?"
Seeing the Doctor's grim stare, Madison felt the lump in her throat. She refused to cry, however, as she turned and sat back down on the ground, beginning to work faster on the wires, stripping the rubber covering off of them. Her mind wandered, contemplating the idea of what would happen to the three of them working. If the Doctor didn't get the Delta Wave done in time . . . But it wasn't even that. This Delta Wave . . . it would not be able to tell between friend or foe, Dalek or human. It was going to be like any other EMP . . . wasn't it?
"Doctor," she decided to speak up, "the Delta Wave . . . it's going to kill us all anyway, isn't it?" She glanced towards the Doctor, seeing him pause in his work. He kept twisting wires together then, keeping his gaze fixed on what was in his hands. "I'm right, aren't I?" Still, no response from him. She gazed down at the wires in her hands, slowly halting in her work. "Doctor . . . is there any way we can save Rose? If anyone can be saved today . . . it should be her." She saw the Doctor glance at her, looking conflicted. "She doesn't deserve this fate. She deserves to live. I want her to live. I want to protect her." Madison flattered towards the end, realising she was rambling, speaking in a rush as she felt emotional.
"You deserve to live, too," the Doctor spoke to her, looking sad now.
Madison smiled and shook her head sadly. "Forget about me. I'd rather not leave you." She could tell what she said troubled the Doctor as he gazed back down at the electronics in his hands, brows furrowed and a frown on his face. She wished she could say more to ease him, but she did not know what to say. There were a million words she wanted to speak, though none felt right.
"Suppose . . .," Rose began saying after a while of silence between them all. The girl fiddled absently with the wires in her hands.
"What?" the Doctor asked her.
"Nothing," she muttered, continuing to twist wires around. Then she sighed and placed them down.
"You said 'suppose'." The Doctor moved around some, gathering more cables and electronic plates, and pulling out his sonic screwdriver to work on another task.
"No, I was just thinking." Rose glanced at Madison and the Doctor, a small frown forming on her face. "I mean, obviously you can't, but you've got a time machine. Why can't you just go back to last week and warn them?"
"That would just be a paradox though, wouldn't it?" countered Madison.
The Doctor gave a nod and said, "Right. That, and as soon as the TARDIS lands, in that second, I become part of events. Stuck in the timeline."
"Is that a Time Lord instinctual defence? To avoid paradoxes?" Madison questioned him curiously. The Doctor gave another nod. Honestly, it surprised her to hear this. To think something like that would be an evolved trait. Though she was certain it came in handy for many a multitude of reasons.
"Yeah, I thought it'd be something like that," Rose sighed, smiling sadly as she shook her head.
Silent for a moment, the Doctor soon spoke up, "There's another thing the TARDIS could do." He glanced at them both. "It could take us away. We could leave. Let history take its course. We go to Marbella in 1989."
"Why would we do that?" Madison asked, frowning at the thought though knowing the Doctor was simply talking theoretically. "We could never leave people behind in the midst of life or death."
"Yeah, that'd just be rude," Rose joked.
"No," the Doctor agreed, smiling softly now at the two, "but either one of you could have asked. Though that never even occurred to either of you, did it?"
"Well, we're just too good," Rose replied, tongue between her teeth as she grinned. Madison could not help but smile at the girl, touched by just how brave she was. There was a sound from the main computer system, making them all turn to look towards it. The Doctor went over to the computers quickly with Madison and Rose not far behind him.
"The Delta Wave's started building," he told them as they came to stand by him. "How long does it need?" he wondered aloud. He typed at the keyboard, staring hard at the screen. His expression slowly dropped as he lowered his head, leaning over the keyboard in defeat.
"Is that bad?" Rose asked, staring nervously at him. Seeing how he didn't answer, she bit her bottom lip. "Okay, it's bad. How bad is it?"
He bolted straight in his chair suddenly, startling Madison as she had just started to reach for him. He grinned widely with a bright spark in his eye. "Rose Tyler," he exclaimed as he stood up, "you're a genius! We can do it! If I use the TARDIS to cross my old timeline . . . Yes!" He ran to the TARDIS then, quickly opening up the ship. "Both of you, with me! I need you!" Rose followed after the Doctor quickly, running into the ship as the Doctor entered.
Madison, however, lingered behind, slowly walking up to the ship but remaining outside of it. Something felt . . . off. It was the way he smiled and the lie she saw in his eyes. He was forcing himself to smile. Why? Unless . . . She sighed, knowing he was most likely figuring out a way to send Rose back to Earth for her safety. Of course. Madison smiled sadly, glad that he had figured out a way to save the girl. Rose living through this . . . that was all that matters now. When he came back out of the TARDIS, there was still that forceful beaming smile on his face.
"Come on! I need you to help Rose," he tried urging her, somewhat trying to guide her to step into the ship. Still with a sad smile on her face, she shook her head as she remained in place, refusing to move.
"Thank you for saving her," she whispered. She placed a hand on his chest, stepping closer to him. "But I'm not leaving you." She gasped as he abruptly grabbed her, yanking her to him in a crushing hug with his lips slamming to hers. Her eyes fell closed. Her hands grasped the label of his jacket as she leaned into the kiss. It was different from the ones they had shared before. It was much more passionate, taking her breath away. But being lost in the kiss . . . she never felt him moving her towards the ship until it was too late.
"Ah!" she yelled as he pushed her harshly into the TARDIS. The doors slammed close the moment she fell to the floor on her backside. It took her only a moment to realise what had happened and pull herself out of her daze from the kiss before she was standing up again. "No, you can't!" she shouted as she began banging on the door.
"Maddie? What is it?" Rose asked just before the centre column of the ship began moving up and down. Rose gaped at it. "What?"
"Doctor, no, you can't do this! Please, let me out! Please, don't let me leave you! Please!" cried Madison, her eyes burning as the tears sprang forth. She sobbed as she knew it was useless. That stupid, magnificent man. He had thought of everything and she had been too idiotic to see it coming.
"Maddie, what's he doing? What's he done?" Rose demanded, rushing over to join Madison by the door.
"He's saving us. That idiot is saving us and leaving himself to die." Madison kept banging on the door, hoping, praying, that she could make it through to him. But she knew it was ridiculous for her to keep trying. The Doctor was set on saving them both and the TARDIS was already in full flight through the Time Vortex.
"This is Emergency Programme One," came a voice suddenly. Madison and Rose both turned around swiftly, startled when hearing the Doctor's voice in the room with them. But they were shocked to see it was a hologram of the Doctor, a hazy, blue image of him being projected into the room by the console. The image of the Doctor had a rather blank face, just staring ahead as he spoke, its voice grainy. "Madison, Rose, now listen, this is important. If this message is activated then it can only mean one thing. We must be in danger. And I mean fatal. I'm dead or about to die any second with no chance of escape."
"No!" Rose exclaimed as she and Madison quickly went to stand near the Doctor's image.
"And that's okay. Hope it's a good death," continued the hologram, still staring ahead as they stood on either side of it. "But I promised I'd look after you both and that's what I'm doing. The TARDIS is taking you home."
"You can't!" Madison cried.
"I won't let you!" Rose said angrily.
"And I bet you're both fussing and moaning now. Typical," said the hologram, sarcastic briefly before going back to speaking firmly. "But hold on and just listen a bit more. The TARDIS can never return for me. Emergency Programme One means I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine. So this is what you both should do. Let the TARDIS die. Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open it, no one will even notice it. Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years the world will move on and the box will be buried. And if you want to remember me, then you both can do one thing. That's all. One thing."
Rose gasped as he looked at her first. The image of the Doctor smiled at her. "Have a good life," it spoke. Then, it turned to gaze at Madison. She tensed, feeling her eyes burning as she and the hologram gazed at one another. There was such a sombre gaze the hologram gave her. "Do that for me, Madison. Have a fantastic life." She watched as the image of him slowly faded away, leaving her heartbroken and at a loss.
"No . . . No, no, no, no," she began muttering, hurriedly running around the console and trying her best to get it to work again. Flipping levers, turning knobs, spinning dials, and even banging on the bell. She did all she could think to get the TARDIS to go back to the Doctor. But she halted as she felt the TARDIS shuddering as they landed. Looking over, she saw Rose rushing over to the door and opening it, gazing around briefly outside before coming back in.
"Maddie . . . what are we going to do?" Rose asked, voice thick as tears could be seen rolling down the girl's face.
Madison could only stare at her for a moment, her mind reeling on what to do. She couldn't let Rose go back there. The Doctor sacrificed himself to save their dear friend. But at the same time, she couldn't let him die alone. She had resolved herself to die with him one day. She . . . she couldn't do it again. She couldn't go on living alone. She couldn't . . . She couldn't . . . She . . . A sob left her. A hiccup as she held a hand over her mouth and the tears began to roll. Then she was gnashing her teeth, working through her pain to try and work the console again. She ran all around the controls, trying everything to get the ship to turn back on. She screamed as she pleaded to the TARDIS, both verbally and mentally, to bring the Doctor back. But all she received as a response was a soothing sigh and a sad beep from the console. She let out one last angry scream before slamming her hands down onto the console as she leaned over and wept. She felt a soft hand on her back, rubbing circles to calm her down. She didn't even care to feel embarrassed by her emotional outburst. All she cared about was getting this excruciating pain out of her heart and soul. She wanted to rip her own heart out so she did not feel it anymore. She wanted it to all end. She wanted . . . She wanted the Doctor back, to hold her close and tell her it was going to be okay. Even if he thought her spineless for feeling all of this, she just wanted to see him again and know that things were going to be all right.
Eventually, Madison pushed herself away from the console and slumped into the captain's chair. She sat there, staring dully around. She gazed towards Rose, seeing the look of concern and the nervous lip bite.
"I'm sorry," Madison mumbled, almost numb from everything she was feeling. An overwhelming experience to say the least. "I don't know what else to do."
"We have to go back. We can't just let him die on his own," Rose said sternly, face set on a determined resolve.
"And I can't have you go back there, either. We both promised we'd keep you safe. I swore to your mother—"
"Forget my mum, this is important! This is something that matters, not me!"
Madison didn't have the energy to argue with her friend so she merely nodded and stared at the console once more. Her thoughts wandered to what she should do next. Obviously, she could not allow Rose to go back there. That is . . . if she could ever figure out how to work the TARDIS. Madison assumed the Doctor put something into place to keep the TARDIS almost completely impossible to fly again. But she knew that there was no such thing as impossible. It was a damn time machine. It didn't matter if she figured it out today or tomorrow. Even if it took her thousands of years, she was going to get this ship flying again. No matter what, she would get back to the Doctor. Or maybe . . . maybe she didn't even need the TARDIS. After all, the Doctor said the Daleks couldn't get their hands on this ship. She needed to respect those wishes from the Doctor, so maybe there was another way. Maybe she just needed a Vortex manipulator from a time agent. If she could find one . . .
"Stop trying to think of a way to do this without me," Rose scolded her suddenly.
Madison blinked, taken back. "What?"
"It's all over your face. You're trying to think of a way to leave me behind." Rose sat next to her, bumping Madison lightly with her shoulder. "You're not alone anymore, so you don't have to do this all on your own."
Staring at her friend for a moment, she soon leaned her head against Rose's shoulder with a sigh. "Thank you."
"So . . . what are we going to do?" Both of them gazed around the console, thinking quietly to themselves. Each one of them at a loss of a plan. Then, there came a knock on the door. Rose got up and went over to answer, surprised to see Mickey standing there.
"I knew it. I was all the way down Clifton Parade and I heard . . .," Mickey began to say but stopped short when he saw the expressions on either of their faces. "What is it?" He glanced around the console room from over Rose's shoulder. "Where's Jumping Jack Flash and Big Ears?"
Madison watched as Rose suddenly hugged Mickey tightly and heard her crying. It made her realise just how much Rose had been holding it all in. She was so strong, trying to keep it together for them both. Seeing Mickey must have made it all real for the young woman and she just couldn't keep it all in anymore. Madison got up and went over to them, rubbing Rose's back in comfort. The girl let go of Mickey, turning to pull Madison in for a hug next as she sniffled.
"Sorry," Rose mumbled into Madison's shoulder.
"Don't be. You have every right to be upset. Don't keep it bottled up." Madison looked to Mickey while still holding Rose close. "We . . . have a lot to discuss."
XxXxXxXxXx
After explaining almost everything they could think of to Mickey, all three of them stood around the console in thought. Each one of them was unsure of what their next step should be.
"All the TARDIS needs to do is make a return trip. Just reverse," Rose said as she stood by the console, hands on its surface and staring at the rotor in the middle.
"Yeah, but we still can't do it," Mickey pointed out. "There's no way we'll figure out how to work this thing. It's a mess." He kicked the console lightly with his foot. "If the Doctor hadn't been so high and mighty about how it worked we might have figured it out."
"The Doctor always said the TARDIS was telepathic. Maybe we can communicate to it what we want from it somehow?" Rose offered in thought.
"It's more than that. She's alive and very self-aware," Madison explained to them. She leaned her hands on the console, gazing up towards the ceiling. "She's upset right now, just as much as we are." She gazed at the other two. "Can't you sense it?" Each one of them gave her a blank stare.
Mickey raised his brow, replying, "No. You can?"
"Yes. It's part of my species. We're very sensitive to others' mental capacities and how they're feeling in that sense." She ran her hands gently across the console, feeling the hurt the TARDIS was experiencing. The poor old girl was just as broken up as they were. She never even realised it until now but . . . the TARDIS had a very similar mind to the Doctor's. She wondered if it was because of their shared link, or being both from Gallifrey.
"Wait . . . You ain't human? Since when?" Mickey asked rather bluntly. Madison winced as she realised her mistake, but at the moment she really did not care that someone else knew. All she wanted was to figure out their problem.
"Since always. Sorry I never told you, but it's supposed to be a secret. So, please, don't tell anyone," she replied, still focusing on the rotor in the middle, concentrating on what the TARDIS's presence in her mind. It was much more present than it ever had been. Before the presence had always just been in the back of her mind, never overwhelming or even that much in focus. Like soft background noise. Now it was upfront and louder. "She's nervous about something. Worried. She keeps wavering like she's cutting in and out . . ." She looked towards her friends. "It's hard to describe, but I know one thing for certain. She knows something we don't and she's afraid of us finding out."
"Could it be a way to get her moving again?" asked Rose.
"Possibly," replied Madison with a shrug.
"We need to get inside it," Rose said determinedly, staring hard at the centre column.
"What, like open it up? Like last time? It turned that Slitheen into an egg!" Mickey argued immediately.
"We're not breaking apart the TARDIS," Madison told them both firmly.
"But if it's the only way to get her to fly—," Rose tried arguing.
"No. I'm not hurting her just to get back to the Doctor," said Madison, remaining firm in her stance.
"It's a machine. What's there to hurt?" Mickey retorted.
Madison sighed, not having the motivation to argue at the moment. She crossed her arms as she stared at the centre column. She felt the presence in her mind change, showing gratitude. Apparently, the TARDIS appreciated her sticking up for the ship's interior. She half-listened to Mickey and Rose continuing to discuss different options. Nothing that really sounded pleasant to Madison. When they asked if she wanted to come with them, to go get reinforcements with Jackie, Madison merely shook her head and remained firm in staying. It would be pointless for all of them to go, anyway, since they were coming right back. So, she waited in silence after the two were gone, still trying to think of what to do. She absently ran one hand along the console while the other flipped a small lever up and down. Letting out a long sigh, she pushed herself away from the console and, for the first time that day, walked out of the TARDIS.
She was half afraid that the TARDIS would lock herself up the moment everyone was out of the ship. But she knew the TARDIS would never do something like that to them. She cared too much. So, Madison walked down the sidewalk away from the ship and towards Powell Estate. Not so much in a hurry to get anywhere as she simply wanted to clear her mind for a moment. Maybe if she walked around she might think of something . . . She paused in step as she saw white graffiti in the corner of her eye. Turning, she stared at the spray-painted word with wide eyes.
Siren. There it was. Painted largely across a brick wall. Getting closer to it, she felt at the paint, realising it was old. How long had it been sitting there and she had never noticed before? Had . . . Had this word been around far longer than she realised? Shaking her head, she backed away from it, looking around as she saw other places the word popped up. On a mailbox . . . more graffiti painted around . . . on a nearby poster pasted up on the side of a lamppost . . . A gust of wind blew through. A piece of newspaper fluttered with the wind right up to her feet. She crouched down, picking it up to see the word Siren all over the page. Her mind reeled. All this time, she had thought it was a warning. Then the Doctor believed it was a word trying to mess with him, with his timeline and his friends, somehow bringing them into their demise. But what if . . . the word was something else entirely? She recalled the skinny man from her future. He had said the word wasn't what it seemed. That she would think it one thing and then be wrong. But that only led to the question of what did it mean? It was following her for a reason, but what? Who exactly was sending it? Though did it really matter? For she knew one thing for certain, it was telling her that there was still a chance. She could still save the Doctor. She ran back to the TARDIS, rushing inside of the ship.
"Do you know about this word? This 'Siren'?" she asked the TARDIS, going over to the console and slapping the newspaper down. She stared around, feeling the presence in her mind suddenly go tense and anxious. "You do, don't you. You know. What does it mean? Are you sending out this word, trying to tell me something? Can you even do that?" The TARDIS was feeling uncertain now, shifting around again to different emotions. She couldn't tell what exactly the TARDIS was trying to tell her, but it was something. There came a disgruntled hum from the ship as she started to pace around the console.
"You know . . . And if you know, then it must mean I can reach him somehow," she said, stopping and leaning on the console with her hands. "But I can't do it without you. So please, please help me. Help me save him. I . . . I can't live without him. I know it's mad to say it. I've only known him for a few months. But I just . . . I can't." She rubbed her hand in gentle stroke across the console. "I know you can't, too. You and him, you're both connected. You're his TARDIS, and he's your Time Lord. So . . . please, just tell me what to do. Let me save him for us."
There came a change in the TARDIS then. Almost like a sigh of resignation. Then a sound came, like grinding metal and a click. She felt the panel of the console she was leaning on move upwards. She backed away, staring at it in shock as a portion of the console opened. Just like several days ago. Out poured a brilliant golden light. The melody, louder than before, came as well. Both light and melody surrounded her, filling up her heart and soul as her eyes slowly widened.
Thank you all again for those leaving support for the story. Leave a review for this chapter if you enjoyed it. I hope you did!
Please be safe out there!