Welcome back! Excited to see what everyone thinks of these coming chapters. Hopefully they'll be good.
Enjoy!
Chapter 35
Madison was braiding her hair as she walked into the console room. It was a day after her monthly cycle. The day before she had been resting in the TARDIS lagoon and enjoying time spent with the Doctor, and sometimes Rose would step in to visit. Without drawing suspicion from Mickey, of course. They had still yet to tell him about Madison being a mermaid. Even if it was considered wrong to keep such a secret now that Mickey was travelling with them, she still wasn't comfortable enough with letting others know about her. The Doctor, Rose, Reinette, and Jack (wherever he might be) were enough in her book. Maybe one day if Mickey asked why she would disappear at times, or if she grew to trust him more, she might tell him. Until then . . . She sighed, feeling guilty. It felt wrong to leave him out of the loop. Maybe she should tell him . . . when she gained more courage to do so. She would have to wait for the right opportunity.
"There she is!" the Doctor exclaimed when finally spotting Madison. He was sitting next to Rose on the captain's chair, with his feet kicked up on the console itself. He was all leaned back and relaxed while Rose was kicking her feet with absent delight.
"'Bout time you woke up," Rose added, grinning cheekily at Madison with her tongue between her teeth. "We were just talking about the fire-breathing lady. From Prang. Remember that?"
"Of course, I remember. You nearly had your eyebrows burned off," Madison responded as she finished tying off her hair and flipping it over her shoulder. She had her arms crossed as she leaned against the railing beside them. She could see Mickey standing there by the console with his finger on a button. He seemed to be lost with what stories the Doctor and Rose were sharing but was pleasantly listening nonetheless. "What're you doing that for?" she asked him curiously, wondering why he had his finger stuck on a button.
"'Cause the Doctor told me to," Mickey answered, gesturing towards the Time Lord. The Doctor blinked, appearing bewildered now as he stared at Mickey.
"When was that?" the Doctor asked.
Mickey blinked, confused for a moment before starting to look annoyed. "About half an hour ago."
Now the Doctor just seemed plain embarrassed. "Um . . . You can let go now."
Rose giggled while Mickey let go of the button. "Well, how long it's been since I could've stopped?" asked Mickey.
"Ten minutes. Twenty. Twenty-nine," the Doctor mumbled, still appearing embarrassed.
"You just forgot me!"
Madison walked over and patted Mickey's shoulder. "Don't worry. He did that to me once, too. Left me holding two live wires for almost two hours while he was working under the console. Forgot all about me until I almost got zapped," she said, grinning lightly when seeing this seemed to please Mickey in knowing he wasn't the only one being left forgotten at times.
"And I said 'sorry' about a dozen times since then," whined the Doctor as he tilted his head back and just stared at the ceiling with a pout. Rose kept giggling, snickering at the Doctor's dilemma. He pointed at her without looking in her direction. "And you can stop that."
"We're just teasing you, Doctor. But seriously, learn to pay attention to us lower life forms," Madison said as she walked over and stood next to where the Doctor sat. She bumped her hip lightly against him. "So, what're we doing today?"
"Well, I was thinking—," the Doctor started to say. But he was interrupted when everything broke into chaos.
The entire console seemed to explode in a wave of sparks and smoke while the whole ship quaked. Madison even felt herself lifting from the floor as if the ship were falling. The Doctor and Rose before were flung from the seat, falling to the ground. Mickey waved his hands and fell backwards down the steps behind him. Madison grabbed onto the railing, keeping herself grounded as the lights flashed before dimming and the console erupted again. She could feel the panic the TARDIS was feeling. The sense of great fright. Then she felt the loss of the Time Vortex. Before long, she felt a piercing pain in her heart and body. She cried out as she and the TARDIS shook together. The ship kept spinning while the Doctor kept trying to pull himself up to the console and work with the controls. She barely heard what he was saying over the noise. The screaming from the TARDIS. The ship was screaming.
"Madison, what's wrong?!" she heard Rose distantly saying. Madison felt her throat was raw and she realised then that she was screaming. But the pain. It was too much. It hurt so much. She collapsed to the floor as her body quaked. Though the ship finally settled with a large bang, she still felt everything shaking. It was like something had been ripped away from her. Her entire being was torn out only to be slapped back into her body. She gripped her chest in agony as tears streamed down her face. She tried to curl into herself from the torment she felt, but someone was grabbing her and hauling her up. She felt herself being pulled into someone's lap and holding her close, rocking her.
"Maddie, Maddie, it's okay. Just breathe. Ssh. I'm here," came the soothing voice of the Doctor. She felt his mind brush against hers, trying to soothe her. "Maddie, come on, take a breath. You need to breathe."
Finally, she gasped, inhaling sharply as her eyes flew open. She hadn't even felt when she had stopped breathing or closed her eyes. She coughed and kept trying to catch her breath as she gazed around the room. There she could see that she was in the Doctor's lap, curled up into him as he rubbed her back. His face stared at her, greatly unnerved and worried. Rose and Mickey were kneeling in front, staring at Madison in concern. But what really had Madison's attention was the TARDIS. The room was completely dark, with no lights to be seen. She felt cold as the usual warmth she felt from the ship was absent. Shivering, she gazed around and felt the emptiness of the ship. The presence that was always there . . . was gone. Vanished as if there had never been any TARDIS at all. It was like the time with the Reapers. Only this time it felt so much worse.
"Doctor, the TARDIS . . . What happened to the TARDIS?" she asked, her voice hoarse from screaming. "I can't . . . I can't feel her. Where is she? She was screaming . . ."
"We fell. Out of the Time Vortex. The TARDIS . . ." The Doctor looked at the console then, his face fell as he appeared stricken. "She's dead. The TARDIS is dead."
"No," Madison breathed as she began shaking even more. "No. No, please don't say that. She can't be."
"You can fix it," Rose said, looking at the Doctor expectantly.
The Doctor just stared at the console, his face blank. "There's nothing to fix. She's perished." His grip on Madison tightened. "The last TARDIS in the universe. Extinct."
Madison could feel his mind falling to pieces. His despair was overwhelming. She touched his face, trying to get him to look at her. Her instincts to fix this kicked in and she started to touch his mind to help. But she felt him recoil from her and she swiftly let go. "I'm sorry," she whispered, for both what she had almost done and for the TARDIS. She too was utterly devastated. Tears sprung to her eyes as she looked at the console. She felt numb, almost in denial. The TARDIS was such an infinite being. To be dead and gone just so suddenly . . . She hissed as she gripped her chest as her heart throbbed in pain. It still felt as though someone had grabbed her heart and ripped a piece of it out.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked then, touching Madison's shoulder. "Were you hurt?"
"I don't know. It feels like I'm missing a piece of my heart or something," Madison tried explaining, knowing it was an odd thing to describe.
"You're connected to the TARDIS and the Time Vortex. If they're both gone . . .," the Doctor mumbled as he looked back at her. He carefully moved then, setting her off of his lap and on the floor. He pulled out his sonic, giving her a quick scan. With a heavy frown as he stared at the readings on his screwdriver. His brow furrowed, it was clear he was bothered by something. "Myocardial contusion . . . Your heart was literally bruised by what happened."
"Should I be worried?" she asked, watching him slowly put away his sonic back into his inner suit pocket.
"It's mild. You just need to take things slow for a while." He gently helped her up from the floor.
Madison wobbled on her feet, feeling a wave of nausea and dizziness as she stood up. Her entire chest ached, almost feeling as though she had broken ribs. She walked over to the captain's chair with the Doctor's help, sitting down to rest. It had been ages since she had thought about her connection with the Time Vortex and the TARDIS. In those five years stranded in France, it never became a bother for her. Now it seemed to be rearing its head with a vengeance. She and the Doctor's eyes met. She could see how empty he felt without the TARDIS. Something she was feeling, too. She reached up again to touch his face and brushed her mind against his. She could feel him lean against her touch, though he shied away from her mind. She understood. He wanted to grieve on his own terms. "There has to be something we can do," she said, wishing to spark some sort of hope in him.
"She's right. We can get help, yeah?" Rose offered as she and Mickey were now standing behind the Doctor.
It hurt when the Doctor pulled away from her, making Madison wish she could fix this as the look in the Time Lord's eyes troubled her. She watched as he walked over to the still smoking console, touching the edge of it as he stared at the lightless time rotor. He was heartbroken, she knew this. The TARDIS was the last piece of his homeworld. His last connection with Gallifrey. The ship had kept him company through so much pain and sorrow. Without the old girl there for him . . .
Madison stood up, still feeling shaky but pushing past that as she walked over to him. She touched his back, leaning around to try to get him to look at her. "Doctor, we're here for you. Just tell us what you need," she whispered to him. "Anything at all. If you can think of where we can go to fix this . . . We can't give up hope. Not yet. There has to be a way to bring her back."
"We fell out of the Vortex, through the void, into nothingness," the Doctor answered, his voice growling. "We're in some sort of no place. The Silent Realm. The Lost Dimension." He whipped his eyes over, anger starting to boil forth now. "Don't try to appease me and talk of hope when there is none. She's dead. End of story. She's just like Gallifrey now. Burnt up and left as a husk. So stop trying to help me when there's nothing you can fix." He shrugged her hand off of him, staring hard at the centre column once more.
Now she truly felt like something stabbed at her heart as it thudded from the whipping pain she felt from the Doctor's remark. But she straightened and held a firm eye on him for a moment before she turned and marched off. She stormed over towards the TARDIS doors, just as Mickey was about to open them. "Step aside, Mickey. If anyone is going to get killed, let it be me," she ordered him as she had him stand away safely before grabbing the door handle.
"No, wait, Madison, don't!" yelled the Doctor in a panic as she flung open the door.
The sight on the other side of the door made her blink for a second before frowning in confusion. It was an ordinary patch of grass they seemed to have come to with a tree beside the TARDIS. She could hear cars passing by somewhere behind the ship and saw the Thames just on the other side of a walkway down in front of them. There were different ships and whatnot on the water, with the distant sight of the Westminster Palace and Houses of Parliament seen on the other side of the Thames. Everything looked to be a normal London day, with the sky clear and the Sun shining. But . . . there was an awful lot of gleaming zeppelins flying around above everything. Some were small while others were massive. Some were plain silver with a small gondola, while others had massive ones they were carrying with gleaming gold along the sides of the helium balloon and the gondola itself.
"What the . . .," she muttered under her breath.
"What were you thinking?! You could have been killed!" the Doctor shouted at her as he yanked her back into the ship and closed the door.
"I'm trying to help," she retorted, shrugging off his harsh gripping hand from her shoulder before placing her hands on her hips. "Just because you want to sit and give up hope doesn't mean the rest of us are so willing to do as such. And since when is trying to give comfort a bad thing, huh?"
The Doctor let out a frustrated sound as he rubbed a hand roughly through his hair. "Look, I'm sorry for what I said, okay? I was just angry."
"I know you were. I understand. But I will never give up hope on her," she pointed to the console, "or you." She pointed to the Doctor then. "Even if it takes a thousand years I will fight to bring her back. With everything I have, I will not give up."
Slowly he dropped his hand from his hair, just staring at her. Then, he nodded as his eyes seemed to be searching her face. "We'll do it together, then," he said quietly.
She gave a nod, lessening her stance as she gave him a warm smile. "Together," she promised. She was glad to see his eyes light up optimistically then. A small smile on his face gave her peace of mind that she had helped him see the possibility of fixing the TARDIS. Even if it seemed impossible, she knew they had to try to bring the old girl back. She just couldn't give up yet as she had a gut feeling that things were not so lost. Not yet. "Come on. We need to get back out there and see what's up with the zeppelins," she said as she walked to the door again.
The Doctor blinked, puzzled now. "Zeppelins?"
"What zeppelins?" Mickey asked as well. They all went to the door, with the Doctor grabbing his overcoat from one of the coral pillars he had tossed it to. As soon as they stepped outside, Mickey and Rose walked over towards the walkway, staring around everything curiously. "We're in London. London, England, Earth!" Mickey grinned as he grabbed a newspaper from a nearby bin. "Hold on. It's the 1st of February. This year. That's a relief. You made it sound like we were basically dead." Mickey turned to look over towards the Doctor.
"Yeah, well . . . I thought we were," the Doctor replied absently, appearing embarrassed now as he rubbed at his earlobe briefly. "But look up. Maddie's right about the zeppelins." Mickey and Rose looked up, eyes widening as a few zeppelins flew right over them. The sound of their engines was heard whirling even with them high above in the sky. The Doctor placed his hands in his pockets as he frowned at everything. "This isn't the London we left behind," he mumbled.
"That's beautiful," Rose said, in awe at the sight of the gleaming zeppelin that flew overhead.
"Okay, so it's London with a big International Zeppelin Festival," Mickey tried saying as a way to make this seem normal.
"This is not your world," the Doctor countered, shaking his head as he walked closer to the walkway's short wall that kept people from falling into the Thames below.
"But if that date's the same . . . It's parallel, right?" Mickey appeared excited then as he discarded the newspaper back into the trash bin and followed after the Doctor. "Am I right? Like a parallel Earth only they've got zeppelins? Am I right? I'm right, aren't I?"
"Must be," muttered the Doctor. He turned then, frowning at Madison who still stood in the doorway of the TARDIS as she listened and watched them. "What is it?"
"Nothing . . . I think," she said, frowning as she still hesitated to step foot outside of the ship. It felt strange. The moment she smelled the air, her body sort of tensed and felt off-kilter. It was as though the air were wrong. It had an odd sensation against her skin as the breeze blew through. Her gut twisted uncomfortably, wary of the world she was seeing. Shrugging this off, she stepped a foot onto the grass. Though this was instantly a mistake as her legs gave out and she collapsed.
"Maddie!" she heard them shouting and rushing over to her. She managed to push herself up from the ground with shaking arms from where she had fallen in a heap.
"Sorry. It's like my entire body suddenly lost all strength," she said the moment the Doctor started to help her up. She frowned as he got her to her feet. She had to cling to him to keep herself upright. "The ground and air feel all wrong."
"Another effect of your connection. We're in a different world. Different universe. The Time Vortex from our universe is completely different from the one here," the Doctor explained as he led her over to the rock wall that was surrounding the patch of grass they had landed on. He had her sit down on the edge of the small wall before scanning her again with the sonic screwdriver. His eyes wavered as he stared at the readings before looking at her. There was a flash of worry from him as he pulled out a handkerchief, handing it to her. "Here. Your nose is bleeding."
"Oh. I didn't even feel it." Madison took it from him, dabbing at the trail of blood she felt finally dripping down her lip.
"Is she going to be okay?" Rose asked then, biting her bottom lip nervously as she and Mickey stared at Madison. "She's not going to die like the TARDIS, is she?"
"No," the Doctor responded strictly, angry at Rose for even suggesting it. "No, she's going to be fine. It'll just take some time for our universe's Vortex energy inside of her to adjust to the one from here."
"There's a Time Vortex here?" Mickey asked.
"Of course there is. Every universe has one. But every one of them is unique to that universe," the Doctor explained, sitting beside Madison now and hugging her to his side, rubbing her arm.
"Is that why the TARDIS . . .," Madison questioned quietly.
"Yeah. She can't live without the Vortex from our universe. When we fell from our universe, she was pulled away from us." The Doctor kissed the side of her head then. Keeping his lips pressed to her temple, he whispered, "Falling out of the Vortex . . . it almost killed you, too."
Madison gave a humourless smile. "I knew I was worse off than what you were saying. You're such a bad liar." She leaned against him with the bloody handkerchief in her hand, laying it on her lap and trying to gather her strength back. She had known the moment he had scanned her earlier that he was lying. Though she didn't want to push him about it since he was torn up over the TARDIS.
"So if the Vortex is different, makes you wonder what else is," Mickey said, looking eager now at the possibilities. It was nice seeing him so excited about something for a change. He turned to Rose then. "It's like all those films. Everything's the same but a little bit different. They could have traffic lights that are blue, Tony Blair never got elected . . . That sort of stuff."
"Do you think . . . Do you think people who are dead could be alive here?" Rose wondered aloud. Seeing everyone staring at her then, she began blushing, looking flustered. "It's just a thought."
"Rose, no," the Doctor said, voice stern as he kept an even eye on the girl.
"But—," Rose tried to say.
"Don't even think about it. Even if Pete is alive in this universe, he's not your father. This is not your world," the Doctor argued swiftly, his hand around Madison gripping tighter. She could feel his tension building, making her realise this entire situation had him on edge.
"I know that. But I'd still like to see if he's alive. I can at least just look him up," Rose countered crossly as she folded her arms tightly.
The Doctor moved from Madison then, getting up from the wall where he had been sitting and walked over to Rose. He held her upper arms, making their eyes meet on level ground. "Rose, if you ever trusted me, then listen to me now. Your father's dead. He died when you were six months old. If there is a Pete in this world, he's not your father. That is just a Pete. For all we know the Pete here got his own Jackie. His own Rose. His own daughter who is someone else, but not you. We can't go looking for people dead from our world. The temptation is too great and can corrupt us. I've seen it happen before. Even to the best it can warp a mind. So, please, don't go looking into anything."
Rose didn't look happy about this, but she nodded all the same. When the Doctor let her go, she turned her back to him, arms crossed tightly as she walked away to go sit on a nearby bench. Mickey looked at the Doctor before giving a small nod, showing that he was going to talk to Rose, too. He turned and walked away then, going to his friend. Madison watched as the Doctor rubbed an exasperated hand through his hair, making his locks a mess as he stood there staring at the Thames.
"You've been to other universes before," she said, seeing the truth in her statement as he turned to stare at her then. "I'm guessing things never turned out well?"
"Not really, no," he grumbled as he walked over and sat beside her again. A heavy sigh left him then as his shoulders slumped. "Being in another universe can warp a person's mind if they're not careful. It's like a child in a candy store. Too many sweets and they get a sugar overload."
Nodding slowly, Madison could see his side of it. But . . . "Is it really so bad for her just to search for him on the internet or look him up in a phone book? It's not as though we're messing with time just to look. Just for her peace of mind knowing her dad is alive in some form or another. Maybe seeing her dad alive—"
"No," the Doctor responded strictly, throwing her a stern eye now. "We could be altering time in this universe if we tried. Not only that but what happens if Rose runs into her alternate in this world? I've watched an alternate universe human end up killing their other self just because they were frightened by the encounter. Can you imagine how unnerving it can be for someone to run into their exact opposite?"
"Right. I didn't think of that." Madison looked towards Rose and Mickey, seeing the girl had her head hung while the young man rubbed her shoulder. Madison sighed sadly then. She wished she could give Rose a happy moment in seeing her dad, but if the Doctor was right and it only led to problems . . . She'd hate for Rose to be hurt over something such as this. Leaning her head against the Doctor's shoulder, she gazed up towards the sky to watch a zeppelin fly over them. "Strange choice of travel for this world," she commented lightly.
Humming, the Doctor glanced up as well. "I've seen stranger things than this."
Curious now, she turned to face him better. "You've been to many different universes?"
"Some here and there. I've seen history and time completely altered from ours. Physics that were created by mad men. Complete destruction to absolute peace. I've seen things I can hardly even describe . . . let alone do I want to think about." They were silent for a moment, staring at another zeppelin flying over.
It was a moment that she stared at him, seeing the distant look in his eyes. A haunted look just there that she knew what he was thinking of. At least . . . she had a notion of what he was contemplating. As he had said, the temptation was great. Even for someone like him. And she had to ask. "Do you think there are other Time Lords in this universe?"
His Adam's apple bobbed as he leaned forward, his elbows on his legs as he clasped his hands, threading his fingers together. He gazed out to the waters of the Thames as a swirl of emotions came over him. "I don't know. Though it doesn't matter. They're not my people even if they were alive," he said, speaking so quietly she barely heard him. His voice was thick as he spoke.
She reached over, touching his clasped hands. "Do you sense them?"
". . . No. It's quiet. Even in this universe." Nothing was said for a moment as he kept staring at the Thames. Then, he cleared his throat, sitting up straight as he rubbed a hand over his face briefly. She could see him wiping away the mist from his eyes. "Anyway, even if I could, it's not them. So, like I said, it doesn't matter."
Carefully, she reached over, touching his face with her fingertips and earning his attention. "It does, though. To you and Rose. Even if it's from a different reality, just knowing that the ones you love survive means everything." She could see him swallowing heavily again before he gave a small nod. Caressing his face for a moment, she dropped her hand as she looked back towards the TARDIS. "So, what now?"
"No idea. For now . . . let's get you back to the ship. It's a piece of our universe and it might help you not feel so sick." He stood up onto the grass, carefully helping her up from the wall.
She still had to lean against him, but she was starting to feel better, more stable now. Though she wished the nausea would go away. She got her wish the moment they were back in the ship. He was right. The TARDIS helped her feel better right away. Things on the ship just felt right. It was hard describing why it made such a difference. The best way she could compare was something like swimming through salt water versus fresh water. The TARDIS had a crystal clear sense to her while the universe outside felt rough against her skin. Madison sighed as she sat down on the captain's chair, gazing around sadly at the dark console room. The silence in the TARDIS and the absence of warmth were still unsettling.
"So, where should we get started?" she asked the Doctor as he walked around the console. Already she could see him sulking again.
"Right. Started. You know, you gave a good motivation to the others and all, but realistically—," the Doctor started to mutter.
"Doctor, you're being pessimistic again," she sighed in exasperation.
"No, I'm being realistic. There's a difference," he countered in a grumble. "If I could just get this thing to . . ." He kicked the bottom of the console. Hard.
Madison raised a brow as he stood there now with his face trying so hard not to contort from pain. She started to chuckle. "Feel better?"
"Yes," he grumbled in response.
"That hurt, didn't it?"
Finally, he conceded and made a face. "Yes. Ow." He lifted his foot to grab and rub at his toes inside his trainer. Eventually, he huffed as he walked over and sat down beside her.
"What I said wasn't for the others. It was for you." She grabbed one of his hands, holding it gently. "You have shown me so many impossible things. Why can't you believe in them as well?" Seeing how he still appeared rather ill-tempered at the moment, she decided on suggesting different possibilities for him to get his mind churning on ideas. "You've been to other universes before. How did you manage to return home during those times?"
"There were ways, sure. But those ways are gone," the Doctor grumbled, pulling his hand away from her and crossing his arms as he continued to be sullen. The door of the ship creaked open, making the two of them look over to see Mickey coming over to them. "I told you to keep an eye on Rose," the Doctor scolded almost immediately.
Mickey paused in step, blinking in confusion. "No you didn't. You didn't say anything," he responded.
"Yeah, well, it didn't need to be said," the Doctor countered, still giving Mickey a disproving eye. "She goes wandering off . . . A parallel world, it's like a gingerbread house. All those temptations calling her."
"Oh, so it's just Rose, then? Nothing out there to tempt me?" Mickey scoffed.
The Doctor looked away, waving a hand in dismissal. "Well, I don't know. I can't worry about everything!"
"What he's saying is that Rose has more of a tendency to wander off into danger, while you are a much better listener," Madison said, feeling she had to practically translate what the Doctor truly meant by his rude words. This seemed to appease Mickey's annoyance as he nodded and walked over closer. It was then that Madison noticed an uneasy expression on his face, making her worried. "Is something wrong?"
"No, it's just . . . this thing on Rose's phone . . . Never mind, it's nothing," Mickey mumbled, brushing away her concern. "Anyway, what's the plan now, boss?" He looked to the Doctor in expectancy.
"The plan is no plan. We're stuck," the Doctor muttered.
"You're pouting again," said Madison, teasing him now.
"I am not. Time Lords don't pout," he grumbled in response.
"You do, apparently," she responded with a snicker. She bumped his arm lightly. "Stop giving up before we've even started. What happened to 'together', huh?"
"She's right. I've seen it in comics, people go hopping from one alternative world to another. It's easy!" agreed Mickey.
"Not in the real world," the Doctor said, muttering again. "Used to be easy. When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could pop between realities, home in time for tea. Then they died and took it all with them." He paused for a moment, his eyes growing sad as he stared at the console. "The wall of reality closed. The worlds were sealed. Everything became that bit less kind." His words trailed off towards the end. Gently she reached over to him, taking his hand and giving it a comforting squeeze. She wished there was more she could do to give him solace. For now, she hoped her hand was enough. His hand gave hers a small squeeze then, giving her the message that he appreciated her small gesture to soothe his aching heart. He even brushed his mind against hers as a sign of trust.
"Then how did we get here?" Mickey questioned then, earning the other two's attention.
"I don't know. Accident," replied the Doctor, rubbing his face with a free hand. "Should've been impossible, now we're trapped." The silence between the three of them was heavy as they all remained still. The quiet in the TARDIS still felt eerie to Madison. Unsettling with the absent presence of the old girl. Standing up and letting go of the Doctor's hand, Madison walked over to the console to gaze at it thoughtfully. She walked around it slowly, trying to brainstorm.
"Could we get into the console somehow to look for a way to bring her back to us?" Madison wondered aloud as she reached to touch the console. In the corner of her eye she saw the Doctor's expression go from sullen to swift panic as his eyes widened.
"No, wait, stop!" he shouted as he jumped up from the chair.
It was too late, however, as she placed her hands on the console. She gasped as she felt a sharp pull come from within. Golden light seemed to seep from her, surrounding her body for only a second before shooting outward in all directions. The Doctor and Mickey backed away, covering their eyes from the light. The entire console room lit up for just a split second, then was dark once again. The ship shook and so did Madison as she felt her hands locked in place on the console. Golden light continued to warp around her body, making her see nothing but the beautiful glow within her eyes. A wondrous melody began to fill the room around her, bringing tears to her eyes. Or . . . was that song simply in her mind? She couldn't tell.
Then, just as it started, it all went away as she felt strong hands grab her and yank her away. She fell backwards against a rigid body as the light and melody both vanished. She gasped for air, trying to catch her breath as she noted she had not been breathing during this entire encounter. Her head pounded from piercing pain, wracking her mind in agony. Her body was quivering from head to toe as she felt nausea and dizziness overtake her. A warm trickle was felt trailing down her upper lip, telling her that her nose was bleeding again. This time from both sides.
"What the hell happened?!" Mickey exclaimed, staring at Madison in disbelief.
"The console was trying to absorb the Vortex energy from Madison. It's acting like a sponge right now. Anything from our universe it will try to take in for fuel," the Doctor explained quickly as he hurriedly guided Madison back over to the chair. He pulled out his handkerchief as he crouched in front of her.
"Looks like I just can't catch a break today," Madison joked weakly as she felt completely drained now. She took the handkerchief from the Doctor, holding it to her nose to stop the bleeding. "I'm sorry. I suppose I'm just a walking disaster."
"No, you're fine, Maddie. It's my fault. I should have realised this could happen. I'm too thick to think things through," he said, holding a hand to her head. She winced, feeling it pounding away in pain. Even with him merely touching it hurt. He held fingers to her temple then and the pain lessened. "Better?"
"Yeah," she sighed in relief.
The Doctor leaned forward, kissing her forehead. "No going near the console. Got it? It'll just keep absorbing energy from you, trying to power up again."
She nodded. "Understood." Something caught her eye then, making her shift her gaze from the Doctor to the grated floor. Through the grates she spotted it, making her slowly smile. "It seems to have worked, though. Look." She pointed to the small glow of light that was peeking through the slits on the floor.
The Doctor turned, looking to where she was pointing. His eyes gradually widened. His smile soon followed as he rushed over to the section of floor and yanked it up. "Haha! A light! That's all we need. We've got power!" He got down into the section of the floor, getting to the green glowing light. "We've got power! Yes! You beauty! Ha!" He started yanking out different parts from under the floor, electronic pieces of the console. Mickey crouched down near where the Doctor was, helping the Time Lord get the different parts out. "It's alive!"
"What is it?" Mickey asked him.
"Nothing. It's tiny. It's one of those insignificant little power cells that no one ever bothers about and it's clinging on to life!" the Doctor explained as he started feeding out a long power cord through the open floor. "It's got one little ounce of reality, tucked away inside."
"Enough to get us home?"
"Not yet." The Doctor pulled the small power cell from its place before starting to climb back out of the hole. It held up a small green glowing crystal for them to see. "I need to charge it up."
"Do you need me again?" Madison asked, starting to stand though wobbling a bit as her legs shook.
"No, no, no, no. You don't come anywhere near this. One wrong move and it'll drain your entire lifeforce away," the Doctor responded hurriedly, holding out a hand to halt her.
"We could go outside and lash it up to the national grid," Mickey offered in thought, hoping to help.
"Wrong sort of energy. It's got to come from our universe," the Doctor explained as he stared at the small crystal as if it were a precious child.
Mickey frowned in confusion. "But Maddie can't do it."
"She can't. But I can." He smiled with a gleam in his eye as he brought up the crystal close to his lips. He blew on it with a small stream of golden light coming from him. The same as what had surrounded Madison. The crystal brightened in its glow as he pulled away with a brilliant smile. Beaming at what he had done. "I just gave away ten years of my life. Worth every second."
This made her uncomfortable knowing that the Doctor used some of his own lifeforce. But she knew if she could she would have done the same thing. It really was worth every second. She smiled lightly as the Doctor beamed and bounced out from the hole in the floor, laughing in joy. She was glad to see him hopeful and happy again. It was hard seeing him so forlorn earlier. Now at least this way there was hope for their journey ahead. The Doctor bounced over to her then, grabbing her face and kissing her.
"You are brilliant! Beautiful and brilliant!" he said as he beamed at her.
"What have I done?" she asked in amusement.
"Without you this little cell never would have come back to life. Which makes you absolutely magnificent." He kissed her again with glee.
"You do realise that was completely by accident," she said as he moved away, holding up the crystal to look at it again.
"Yeah, well, you're still brilliant," he responded with a wink. A giggle escaped her as she was simply glad to have brought him his joy. Even if it had been nothing more than sheer luck on her part. Gazing at the crystal it was then that they all saw it slowly dim in its glow.
"It's going out. Is that okay?" Mickey asked then.
"It's on a recharging cycle. It'll loop around, power back up and be ready to take us home in twenty-four hours," the Doctor explained before giving the crystal a kiss, still gleeful for their fortunate luck.
"So that gives us twenty-four hours on a parallel world?" Mickey appeared rather hopeful, a spark of interest seen in his eyes.
"Shore leave. So long as we keep our heads down, easy, no problem." Though the Doctor frowned somewhat as he said this. He stared at the crystal in his hand for a second longer before tossing it a little in the air and catching it again. He then placed it within his suit jacket for safekeeping. "Mickey, you're hiding something. What is it?" He turned to Mickey and the young man began shifting on the spot.
"Rose's mobile connected to this Cybus network thing. She looked up her dad and I looked up my gran. They're both still alive," Mickey finally admitted.
"I told you . . . ," the Doctor started to scold. He then made an aggravated noise as he gathered up his discarded overcoat and rushed to the door. "I have to stop her before she runs off. You, stay here! I don't need to chase you both down."
Madison and Mickey both watched him rushing out the door, slamming it behind him as he went. There was an awkward silence between the two before Madison looked over at Mickey. She could see the yearning in his eyes, eating away at him to go to his gran. She knew about his story, with his gran being the sweetest woman around, raising him when neither of his parents would. Then the unfortunate, untimely death of his grandmother. Rose had told her all of this after about a year of living at Powell Estate. It hurt her heart, knowing the struggles Mickey had to face growing up. That's why knowing that his gran was alive and well in this universe must be agonising for him. Just as it must be for Rose as well. Sighing, Madison pulled out her phone from her trouser pocket, tossing it over to him. He caught it in surprise, blinking in confusion at her.
"What's this for?" he asked.
"For you to call us in case something happens. At any moment you get in trouble, or think you're about to, you call Rose's phone. Got it," she replied, giving him a stern wag of her finger.
Mickey blinked again in shock and disbelief. "You're gonna let me go?"
"Of course I am. It's not like I can really stop you. Besides, unlike the Doctor, I think it won't cause harm to just go and see them. Just as long as you promise not to talk to your gran. She might have another Mickey running around and that could become a mess."
Mickey played around with the phone in his hand, seeming to weigh his options. "You really think the Doctor's just gonna let me and Rose go?"
"It might not seem like it sometimes, but the Doctor's honestly a big softy. Especially when it comes to family. He'll understand in the end, even if he pretends to be all grumpy about it." Madison got up from the chair, walking over to pat Mickey's shoulder. "I bet you right now, Rose is convincing him to come with her to go see Pete. And he'll wanna follow her because of what happened the last time."
"What happened 'the last time'?"
"We ran into Pete in the past, and almost destroyed the whole world. It's a long story." They walked together to the door, stepping out to see the Doctor in the middle of arguing with Rose over to a far-off bench. Rose seemed to be winning as she was backing away down the walkway from the Time Lord. "Go ahead and get going. I'll tell them where you went off to. Just be back here in twenty-four hours, okay?" she said to Mickey then, seeing him already slowly edge toward the opposite direction.
"Thanks, Maddie. I owe you one," he said, giving her a look of gratitude.
"Just be careful, please? I don't want anything happening to you," she replied, already worried about this. If something went wrong . . .
"Yeah . . . at least you care about me," he muttered under his breath as he turned and walked away.
This statement made her frown, concerned about what he had said. Had he been feeling as if no one cared about him? That wasn't right. Rose cared about him greatly. And the Doctor cared . . . in his own way. Madison felt that, when they met up again, she would have to have a talk with everyone. It wasn't good to have one of their travelling companies feeling left out and abandoned. But for now, she knew she needed to focus on sticking with Rose and the Doctor, so she turned and walked towards them. She could see Rose was far down the walkway now while the Doctor kept calling for her to come back.
"Maddie, talk to her. Maybe she'll listen to you," he said the moment she stood beside him.
Madison shook her head. "You know once she has her mind set on something she won't stop."
The Doctor rubbed a frustrated hand through his hair before letting go of his head and snapping his fingers. "Mickey! You can make her—Mickey?" When seeing no Mickey in sight, he turned to Madison again. "Now where's he gone to?"
"To his grandmother. I told him to meet us back here after he's done."
The Doctor grumbled under his breath. "You're supposed to be on my side on this. Not encouraging them."
"I understand you're worried about them, but we can't stop them." She walked away from him, heading down the walkway to catch up with Rose. "We might as well follow along. You know how Rose can be. Best be there for when she needs help." She heard the Doctor sigh in exasperation before she felt him jogging over to walk beside her.
"This isn't going to turn out well," he grumbled.
"Is there a Rose in this world?"
"Well, no, but that shouldn't matter."
"It helps not make things more complicated."
The Doctor stuffed his hands into his pockets, still seeming sour about this turn of events. "It's still not going to go well. I know from experience."
"Then whether it will or not, that's just something we'll have to face when it comes," she said in response. She felt him staring at her then and she glanced his way to see a curious gaze. "What?"
"Are you feeling all right? Are you adjusted to the world yet?" he questioned in concern.
"I still feel weak, but the uneasiness is starting to fade. The world still doesn't feel right to me, though. I would almost describe it as the feeling of swimming through old soup." Pondering for a moment, she looked to the Doctor then. "You said that Time Lords had some Time Vortex energy built into their DNA, correct? Are you feeling affected by this world as well?"
"No, Time Lords have adapted to be able to adjust to different universes. It's only a brief bit of nausea then I'm good to go."
"How fortunate for you," she mumbled, feeling somewhat jealous of him now. She felt him grab her hand and give it a light squeeze.
"I'm worried about the state of your heart and mind. Too much more stress put on them and it might . . . well, you can probably guess."
"I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you giving up ten years of your life. Was that regeneration energy you gave the power cell? It looked like Vortex energy."
"Well, regeneration does come from the Vortex energy living inside my cells, so that's why it looks that way," he explained while rubbing his ear.
"How come only I was affected by the console absorption, then?" she asked, now curious about their differences.
"Your body is teeming with energy at an unstable level. It's constantly moving around inside of you, sometimes leaking out when you least expect it. Whereas mine is much more subtle and easier to control and contain. Part of having a body built through centuries of adaptation around the Vortex." He grinned, clearly boasting about being a Time Lord at this point. But in seeing Madison's worriment, his grin fell. He gave her hand another comforting caress. "Don't worry. It's not harmful . . . unless you lose control of it. Which, now that I'm saying this out loud, we really should start to practise your responses with it."
"Well . . . let's start with steering the TARDIS. Though this time do learn to control yourself," she responded, teasing him lightly and earning herself a foxy grin. They walked in calm silence for a moment with their hands threaded together. Up ahead of them Madison could see Rose had stopped by a corner of the walkway, seeming to know that the two of them were following her, so she was pausing to allow them the chance to catch up with her.
"Why did Mickey want to go see his gran?" the Doctor suddenly asked. Uncomfortable with revealing someone's troubled past, Madison shook her head.
"I'm afraid you'll have to ask Rose that one. She knows the story better than me," she replied quietly.
When they finally caught up with Rose, the girl immediately thanked the Doctor and Madison for coming. The Doctor, in turn, began questioning Rose about Mickey's story with his grandmother. Madison only half-listened as they walked through the city. They were now in amongst the denser part of the city where all the businesses and shops were around. She began people-watching, wondering about the differences between this world compared to the one they came from. So far, she saw that the people around them were all strangely upper-class. All wore expensive clothing, had high-priced bags to carry around, or had their hair styled which must have been costly. There was also the odd placement of military walking around the streets, with large guns held in their hands and wearing tactical gear clearly meant for high-stress battles. There was other law enforcement mingling around as well, though they seemed ordinary compared to the threatening militarised presence. Why was the military walking around? And with high-powered guns no less. Was there some sort of war going on? No, that didn't feel right to her. There was something else going on here. More nefarious reasons from what she gathered.
Then the strangest sight out of everything was the round silver devices that were in everyone's ears. Both ears for each person, in fact. Madison thought the devices might be some sort of Bluetooth headset for a mobile phone. But for everyone to have them? And for each ear for that matter. That just seemed far too odd. Was it some sort of high-class fashion statement? But then she caught a glimpse of the policemen and the military personnel having them as well, which made it seem even odder. Why would they be wearing these devices as well when clearing they were on duty? Was it a mandatory requirement for people to be wearing? Would the three of them draw suspicion if they did not wear these devices? She caught a glance from one of the policemen walking by, seeing his tight frown towards her direction. It seemed this train of thought might be correct.
Just as she was about to air her concerns to the Doctor and Rose, there came a beeping alarm of some sort. It echoed around the city square they found themselves in. The three of them slowly trailed to a stop when seeing how everyone around them had halted in place. All of the people appeared to be frozen in place, in the middle of their steps or what they had been doing as their eyes grew blank and they stared off into nothingness. Some blinked slowly while others didn't blink at all. The collective behaviour felt unnatural. Something that made Madison's skin crawl. She noticed then that the silver devices in people's ears were flashing tiny blue lights.
"What are they all doing?" Rose asked, staring at the people around them warily.
"They've stopped," the Doctor observed, having a more curious gaze towards the citizens.
"It has something to do with their earpieces," Madison noted, pointing towards the closest person's ears. "Have you noticed how everyone's wearing them? Something tells me it's not really a fashion choice."
The Doctor let go of her hand, walking over to a man in a business suit and getting close to observe the blinking earpiece. The man never even blinked, completely unaware of the Doctor's presence. "I'm thinking you're right. Like Bluetooth attachments but everyone's connected together." He turned when Rose's mobile began beeping in a sequenced session.
Rose pulled out her phone from her pocket, sliding it up to stare at the scene. The Doctor and Madison both came over to look over the girl's shoulders. From there they could see different flashing words passing along the small screen. Madison saw the Doctor putting on his glasses to get a better look.
"It's on my phone. It's automatic. Look, it's downloading," Rose commented as they watched the words tell of different information. "Is this what they're all getting?" She glanced around at everyone before looking back at her phone. "News, international news, sport, weather," she listed off as the words flashed on by.
"They get it direct. Downloaded right into their heads," murmured the Doctor as he looked away from the phone and around everyone.
"That's technology beyond our Earth," Madison commented as she too gazed at the frozen people around them. Though she had seen technology like this in the far future while travelling with the Doctor, it always did unnerve her with the idea of implanting computerised equipment into the mind. It just seemed like an easy chance for something to go wrong. Such as someone hacking into their minds and controlling them. Possibly even warping memories and such. Or . . . maybe she was just being paranoid and had just seen too many films with those sorts of themes.
"They must be a few years ahead of your Earth," the Doctor said in response. Meanwhile Rose was still listing off what she was getting on her phone. "Everyone shares the same information." He held Rose's phone with her then, pulling it close for him to see. "Daily download, published by Cybus Industries." The phone ended with the word 'joke'. In sync everyone around them began laughing, making Madison feel uneasy by this. The three of them then watched as everyone began walking once more, going back to their day as if nothing had happened.
"That's disturbing," Madison muttered under her breath as she watched the people of this world go about their business. She noted all seemed pleasantly smiling now.
"You lot, you're obsessed. You'll do anything for the latest upgrade," the Doctor said to Rose then, making the girl throw him a look.
"Oi, they're not my lot. Different world, remember?" Rose retorted.
"It's not so far off your world. This place is only parallel," the Doctor countered easily as he grabbed Rose's phone and began typing on it. "Oh, look at that. Cybus Industries, owners of just about every company in Britain, including Vitex. Mister Pete Tyler's very well connected." When seeing the Doctor's spark of interest in Pete Tyler, Rose gave him a smug smile. He glanced at her before rolling his eyes. "Oh, okay, I give up. Let's go and see him." He tossed back Rose her mobile while the girl seemed to give a victory shimmy on the spot. The Doctor took off his glasses, placing them away again. "We should look up where he lives. See if we can get a cab."
"Wait a moment, have you two noticed the other odd thing yet?" Madison said, making the two stop as they were about to walk off again. She gestured to the people around them. "Look at this place. These are all upper-class people, yet we're in a shopping district where, back in our world, anyone would be welcome. I don't see any lower class in sight, do you? Not only that, but notice the military presence? I don't think they're here on shore leave. I think this is a classist society that uses intimidation tactics to keep the other classes away. They might even have separation barriers and restrictions put into place."
"What makes you figure that?" Rose asked, now staring around at everyone curiously.
"Been around long enough to see this sort of thing before," Madison said as she crossed her arms. "And those earpieces . . ."
"Think it's a staple for high-class looks?" the Doctor wondered aloud, starting to notice people giving them glances now.
"I'm thinking so, yeah," Madison said with a nod. "It might even be considered mandatory fashion wear."
"Which means . . . even with my psychic paper we might run into problems," the Doctor muttered as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"We should probably do more research on this society before we make our move on Pete Tyler," Madison suggested as she followed along the Doctor and Rose, the three of them now walking down the walkway at a steady pace. "Look up the history, figure out the class system here. At least that way we—"
Madison halted in place, leaving the other two to keep walking past her. She was frozen, her body going rigid as her eyes slowly widened. Her heart picked up in beat, stuttering as a vice grip tried to wrap around it. Her mind faltered, growing shaky as she sensed it. The presence she hadn't felt in so long. Half of her mind then wanted to revolt in anguish while the other half wished to rejoice. Meanwhile, her body trembled and her eyes filled with burning tears as they flooded down her face. Vaguely she saw the Doctor and Rose to come to a stop and turn towards her.
"Maddie? Maddie, what's wrong? Madison, talk to me," the Doctor said in a rush as he swiftly came back over to her. He held her arms, trying to get her to gaze into his eyes. But her vision blurred as the tears kept coming.
"Madison? What are you doing here?"
Her heart clenched as she slowly turned from the Doctor, looking to the one who had spoken. There, standing a few feet away, was her father.
His ginger hair was as bright as ever, shining in the midday sun. Hair that was just as messy as she always remembered. Kind grey eyes stared at her in concern as he walked over closer. He was wearing a black business suit. Something that seemed so odd to see on him as he never wore any sort of high-class fashion before. At least, the father she knew hadn't. Because this wasn't her father. Even though he looked just like her father, had the same scar through his right eyebrow, felt the same through their shared link, and even stared at her in the same way whenever he worried about her. This wasn't . . . He wasn't . . .
"Sweetheart, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Is everything okay?" her father asked, speaking in Mer. A language she had started to believe could only ever exist in her own mind after her father and mother's passing. She stiffened as he walked up to her now, holding her arms gently. "I'm here, sweetheart. I'm here. Just tell me what's wrong and we can fix it together."
His gentle smile is what finally broke her. She began sobbing as she flung herself forward and wrapped her arms around him. She felt him hold her close against his long, lanky body, giving her a strong hug as he patted her back in the same motion he always did. More tears escaped her as she kept crying into his shoulder. Their minds connected then as she broke down her barriers, allowing him to see everything that there was in her mind. For there were no secrets between Mer. As she felt him hold her closer, both physically and mentally, she experienced the gentleness of his mind against hers. Slowly her painful memories began to ease, becoming soft clouds instead of crashing waves.
"Oh, Madison, you've been through so much. I'm so sorry," he whispered, still patting her back. When her tears lessened, he pulled her away to give her a look over. "Don't worry, I'm here now. I'll help you the best I can."
"I know you will," Madison replied quietly, giving him a weak smile. That was her father. Always trying to fix things and help people out. It's what he did best. He pulled her to the side, still holding her close as he faced the Doctor and Rose.
"Hello. I'm Andrew Bailey. But you can just call me Andy," her father introduced himself, speaking in plain English now and shaking the Doctor's hand with a bright smile. He shook Rose's hand as well once she had scooted closer. "Please, let's go somewhere more private. There's a cafe not too far from here. I think you'll like it." The Doctor and Rose shared a glance, both wary of this invitation. As well as suspicious of Andy. Though, given the tight expression on the Doctor's face, Madison knew that he realised who Andy was.
Her father didn't wait for a response. Merely he turned both himself and her around and started off. Madison kept close to his side, not wanting to let go of him for even a second. Even though logic told her this was idiotic and he wasn't her father . . . she simply did not wish to listen to logic. Not at the moment. For now, she simply wanted to enjoy seeing her father's face alive and well. She glanced over her shoulder then, seeing the Doctor and Rose following along. While Rose just held a bewildered expression, it was clear that the Doctor did not approve of this. He held a stern gaze when he caught Madison's eyes, shaking his head.
"Madison, he's not your father. No matter how much they look alike, he can never be your dad," the Doctor spoke in her mind then, sounding just as stern as his demeanour.
"I know. But he's Mer and he wants to help. It's a Mer's greatest calling, helping others. You know that better than anyone," she responded, sighing as she knew it was true. This wasn't her father. No matter how much she wished it. But still . . . Andy was Mer and wanted to help. And that was good enough for her.
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I hope everyone stays safe and has a wonderful day!