Morgan Flores was walking upstairs to her room. It was a normal day, only a couple of days after the Caretaker. To be more specific, it was a Saturday. That really should have been the first clue. Saturdays. Big temporal tipping points where anything is possible. Morgan was sitting at the kitchen table sipping on some tea and scrolling through her phone as her father stumbled down the stairs.
"Hey, dad!" Morgan called, waving at her father with a smile, "Where are you going? It's Saturday." Morgan said. Maybe he had forgotten? That happened sometimes when she was really stressed, thinking it was a school day when it was really the weekend.
"Sorry Morgan, gotta run some errands for work, we have a big thing coming up." he gave her a sad smile. Glancing down at his watch his eyes widened and he sprung towards the door, "I'm going to be late! Sorry Morgan I have to go!" he called, slamming the door in his wake as he ran off to the car. Morgan blinked, her smile faltering.
"Yeah. Sure, that's fine," Morgan murmured quietly to herself. "Go on, and continue letting your supervisors push you around and get you to work unreasonable hours when it's probably not very legal," she sighed resting her chin on her hand. Morgan jumped up at that moment, deciding instead to go up to her room and do, well something. She'd figure out something to do right?
Morgan wobbled slightly as she stood, making sure to keep her tea steady so that it didn't spill. The calming ginger wafted through the air and Morgan took a deep breath in to calm herself. Morgan stepped carefully up the wooden stairs, again making sure not to spill any of the tea on her two-piece Back to the Future pyjamas. Ok, so, she had some short English questions due Monday, so she should probably finish them today so that she would have time to do other stuff tomorrow. Then, she could practice some piano and play a few songs- maybe even some songs from Doctor Who. And yes, she had learnt them from the random Youtube tutorial videos.
Morgan focused her eyes on her tea as she used her elbow to push open the door. The liquid wobbled slightly and Morgan glared down at it, willing the tea to stay put. Keeping her eyes trained on the cup she slowly backed up kicking the door closed with her foot. Morgan let out a sigh of relief as she lay the mug of tea down carefully on her desk. Leaning back to rest her head on the door Morgan looked up to see-
"Why are you writing random elements in a notebook?" the Doctor called from across the room by her bookshelf. He leafed through a few more pages of her notebook, placing it down on the table. Morgan's eyes widened, and if she had still been holding her tea, she would've dropped it. Thank god she wasn't.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Morgan shouted in surprise whirling around to see the TARDIS parked neatly beside her bed. Ok, maybe that was a bit harsh, but it was a valid question.
"You wanted to go to the beach!" the Doctor exclaimed, "You said, oh, yes, a space-beach would be nice tomorrow," the Doctor continued. Yeah, keyword there TOMORROW. It was not tomorrow. It. Was. Saturday.
"It's Saturday." Morgan deadpanned, then leaned over to snatch her notebook out of the Doctor's hands, "Give me that!" he lifted his arm holding it out of her reach. Morgan crossed her arms and gave a frustrated huff. Why was he even snooping through her personal stuff in the first place! And then he had the audacity to-
"Oh, Saturday, well, I like Saturdays, they aren't boring, like Sundays," the Doctor turned back to her after pacing around her room in circles a bit, "By the way, you still haven't answered my question"
Morgan frowned, "What question?" the Doctor sighed shaking his head as if to say, stupid humans.
"Why have you got a bunch of elements written in your notebook!" the Doctor asked again and Morgan paused. Oh! She had been trying to learn the Periodic Table Song yesterday, hadn't she? At this thought, her internal voice rose up to belt out: THERE'S HYDROGEN AND- No stop! Morgan dug her fingers into her desk, grounding herself. She needed to focus!
"Oh, that's the periodic table song," Morgan explained but then paused, her eyes flitting back to the TARDIS, "How did you even get here in the first place?" Morgan asked. How did he know where she lived? She didn't recall ever telling him or mentioning it at all.
"By time-space machine, haven't I already explained this to you?" The Doctor complained, and Morgan opened her mouth to correct him but he continued, "I thought you were slightly less stupid than the other pudding brains," Morgan shot him a glare.
"I meant how did you find out where I lived." Morgan deadpanned yet again, taking another swipe at the hand that was holding the notebook. The Doctor, unfortunately, got it away in time. Stupid idio-
"Oh that. Well, I tracked your phone program with my sonic screwdriver," the Doctor explained, displaying his sonic screwdriver in front of Morgan. HE grinned as if this was a perfectly normal thing to do. Which she supposed it was. For him.
"Sonic screwdriver?" Morgan asked, pretending to be confused, "Ok, but like you could've just knocked or gone through the front door…" Morgan suggested and the Doctor marched across the room, ignoring her, to where her jacket lay strewn lazily across her chair. He picked it up inspecting it. Running his hands along the soft surface he scanned it again, then turned to Morgan
"You said this looked like your jacket, correct?" the Doctor started, the gears in his mind starting to turn, yeah she had said that… Morgan paused, then made a beeline for her closet, rummaging through her clothes until she found the jacket she was talking about.
"Yeah, I did," Morgan agreed, handing him her jacket, "See look, they're practically identical," Morgan continued. And they were, Morgan frowned and tried to find a slight proper difference between them both. Her vision tunnelled as she stared intently at both coats.
"No," the Doctor disagreed, "They are exactly identical. He took both jackets in his hands and then carefully touched them together. A spark shot out, making Morgan jump back. "Not even identical, "the Doctor mused, "They are in fact," he gave a dramatic pause, "The same jacket," Morgan furrowed her eyebrows. So they were the same jacket at different points in the timestream? Huh.
"Then which one came first?" Morgan decided to ask. It seemed like the most logical question to ask next. "It's not some sort of bootstrap paradox is it?" The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows, turning to give her her original jacket back.
"Maybe, but I'll have to look into it a bit more…." he trailed off. Morgan scrunched her nose in thought. What did that mean?
"What does that mean?" Morgan echoed her thoughts as the Doctor opened the doors to the TARDIS.
"I don't know," the Doctor frowned. "But I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," he dismissed. There was a long pause before he said anything else as he continued to stare intently at both jackets.
He jumped up clapping his hands together "So!" Morgan stood up taller, "You wanted to go to an alien beach didn't you?" Morgan nodded. "Well, turns out, lucky you, I had one in mind I was planning on visiting anyway. Better get packing," The Doctor gestured to her closet and Morgan grinned. She ran over to her closet, rummaging about. Pulling out a bunch of random pieces of clothing that seemed comfortable enough for the beach, Morgan paused. She turned and ran beside her bed, grabbing her backpack and starting to carefully place the folded clothes inside. Right before she was about to zip it up, Morgan took her laptop and charger from her desk. She might need it ok? And last but most definitely not least, she took her treasured back to the Future DVD.
She squealed internally again in giddiness, her heart soaring at the thought. She was going to go to an alien planet. With the Doctor. In the TARDIS! What could be any more perfect than that? She spun around and finally zipped up her backpack. Taking one last look at her room Morgan paused holding the door of the TARDIS for a few moments before smiling. Anywhere and Everywhere. And it all started now.
Morgan laid back and smiled letting the warmth sink into her skin. The sun was hot and smouldering, but the fresh waves brought a crispy saltiness to the air. She wiggled her toes in the sand letting the rough grains fall through the cracks of her toes. All of those factors were decidedly very earth-like. The sky, however, was not. It was a deep mauve colour which stretched out as far as the eye could see. Not even like a sunset, it was such a different shade that Morgan couldn't even properly describe it.
Morgan laid back smiling widely up at the sky. Some clouds dotted the sky, but only a few. Morgan traced the edges with her fingers. It almost resembles the shape of a piano, and of course, she had to play abt of imaginary cloud piano with her fingers. She paused and sat up as Clara neared their towel. Squinting she could make out the faint outline of the TARDIS in the distance. Why they had to park so freaking far from the beach was a mystery to her.
"So, brought all the stuff we packed!" Clara said her voice strained and out of breath as she laid down two heavy bags. One was medium-sized but strangely heavy (from what Morgan could tell) it was gray and unassuming but there was somehow strange about it that Morgan just couldn't place. The other was decidedly Clara's, it was small but full, with a very briefcase like feel. Morgan raised an eyebrow. Why did she need that much for a beach? What was she planning on doing, changing every five minutes?
"C-Ms Oswald, what'd you need all that stuff for?" Morgan asked in amusement. Clara just gave Morgan a scolding look.
"Why wouldn't I need all of this! It's always good to be prepared," Clara explained and Morgan gave her a skeptical look, "Also Morgan, we're not in school now it's ok if you just call me Clara," Morgan nodded, that would be less confusing because she still referred to Clara as, well, Clara in her head. She turned to face where the Doctor was standing a few paces away from Clara.
"Also Doctor," Morgan turned on the Doctor and he stumbled turning to Morgan with an alarmed expression, "Care to explain why you parked the TARDIS all the way out there," she gestured towards the faint figure of the TARDIS in the distance, "when the beach was here?"
"Ah oh yes, I was going to mention that," the Doctor said, although, from his tone, Morgan took he had been planning on avoiding that subject.
"And when exactly were you 'planning on mentioning that'?" Morgan deadpanned and the Doctor scowled.
He pulled out a strange device from his jacket "Right now of course!" A pause, "This," he started, "Is a repellent device. It creates a force field so that nothing can get in or out." he continued, spinning around their little towel, "Unfortunately there's a slight downside,"
"We're all ears," Morgan remarked sarcastically, the Doctor gave her a playful glare ( and yes, that was a thing. Deal with it).
"It creates a slight timelock, ish," he scratched his head, "If I had parked any closer, it would prevent the TARDIS from taking off or landing anywhere near it."
"One question Doctor," Morgan stood up and walked over to face him, "Why exactly is any of this relevant?"
"Ah, he grinned, "I was getting to that part," Mrgan raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Oh you were, were you?" Morgan retorted.
Clara turned to the Doctor crossing her arms, "Doctor, care to explain what's going on? I thought we were going to the beach. To SWIM,"
"Well, they have some interesting tides here," a pause, "And I had been planning on watching them from the cave to see inside the water," he said, although it had a strange practiced cadence to it, "But of course, you both decided: oh yes, we don't need a surprise Doctor!" he continued, "We just want everything to be all boring and-"
"Doctor!" Clara warned, trying to nod subtly at Morgan without Morgan noticing. It didn't work, Morgan wasn't an idiot. Unlike some pe- "Why don't we… Go do some swimming! Lighten up the mood a bit yeah?" Clara tried. "Yeah guys, come on?" Her voice faltered a bit, "Let's go swimming!" Clara paused. Ok, this was getting a bit awkward, she should probably break the tension.
"Yeah!" Morgan started awkwardly and suddenly all eyes turned to her, the Doctor giving her his 'go on, let's see how bad you do' face. "I'm also going swimming…." she trailed off and Clara gave her a pitying smile. Morgan just sighed, stuck up her chin and started changing out of her dress and into her bathing suit (which she had worn under her dress) It was flowery, flowy and easy to move around in, which was the main reason why she had chosen it. Taking off her glasses, Morgan carefully placed them in their case. She smoothed out her two-piece black tankini with shorts as she prepared to face the water.
Morgan marched up to the water and stared the dark purple expanse down as she slowly dipped her toe into it. It was warm and not freezing, which was a good sign. She took another tentative step forward. The Doctor stood beside her in his normal clothes and leaned down to inspect the sand. Morgan paused and turned to face the coastline again. The water seemed lower than usual as there was a distinct line in the sand of where it was supposed to be. Well, the Doctor did say that one of the reasons they had gone there was to watch the tide, so Morgan brushed it off.
"Doctor, aren't you going to swim with us?" Clara asked and Morgan turned back to face the pair. The Doctor turned from where he was inspecting the sand and let it run through his fingers as he stood to face them.
"Of course I will!" he dismissed, frowning. He turned away from the sand and started to walk towards where both girls were wading in the water.
"Yeah, but Doctor, where's your bathing suit?" Clara asked again and Morgan nodded.
"You planning on flying on top of the water or something Doctor?" Morgan said, "Just saying, probably not the best idea, also doesn't exactly count as swimming."
"I'm already in my bathing suit!" the Doctor cried offended. He was decidedly still wearing his normal clothes.
"That's your bathing suit?" Clara asked skeptically. The Doctor nodded, "But those are your normal clothes Doctor!"
"Yes and now I've updated them to be waterproof!" he displayed his clothes proudly while Morgan just blinked back unimpressed. "It's called being inventive and reusing!" he tried again but Clara just shook her head while Morgan followed suit quickly after giving a long sigh. Morgan paused for a moment. So, his clothes couldn't get wet… Hmmm… She turned to where the Doctor was slowly wading in beside her as Clara got farther and farther away.
"So you said those clothes couldn't get wet… Doctor…" Morgan started, a small smirk growing on her lips.
"Yeah, I did say that very keen observation skills!" the Doctor said sarcastically, not properly catching on to her plan. Morgan smirked again and he looked over to her with a confused stare. Morgan leaned down and tested the water with her fingers for a few moments. And then immediately proceeded to spin around using her momentum to splash the Doctor. He spluttered and stumbled back a bit. He just stood there frozen to the spot in shock before scowling. Morgan gave him an innocent smile. What, Morgan hadn't done anything! It had just been the wind…
Then his scowl slowly morphed into a grin. Smirking devilishly, he splashed her right back. Except that he probably had a better grasp of physics and knew exactly how to make the biggest wave. Morgan stumbled back as the cold frigid water hit her. It had been warm when it was only her toes but now it was a total shock to her system when it hit her shoulders and face not to mention her hair which was all now hanging limply soaking wet.
"Fine," Morgan decided, "I guess this is how we'll do it then." then proceeded to splash him again. And again. Back and forth and before she knew it she was cackling madly, and the Doctor was too. Warm laughter filled the air as around a half-hour went by. Meanwhile, Clara actually went swimming properly.
"Ha!" Morcan declared, pointing her finger at the Doctor in triumph, "That was my point! You were disoriented for more than 5 seconds!"
"Actually" the Doctor corrected, "that was my point, It was 4.99 seconds" Morgan scowled.
"No it wasn't!" she paused as she collected her thoughts and what to say next, "That was clearly my point fair and square!" She shouted.
"Well maybe it would've been," the Doctor mused, "if I hadn't done this!" he suddenly lunged forward and picked her up in one fell swoop. Morgan struggled for a second in his grip as she was pulled upwards then suddenly plunged straight into the water. Everything became quiet after hitting the water and plunging in, cushioning all of the sounds from the surface. Morgan struggled for a few seconds to regain her footing, wobbly and disoriented. By the time she burst out of the water gasping the Doctor had a smug grin plastered on his face.
"And that's two points for me," he said grinning maniacally," Basically, I win," Morgan scowled, slapping the water at him one more time for good measure.
"I hate you." Morgan declared, crossing her arms with a huff. Both she and the Doctor jumped at the sudden re-apparition of Clara.
"Woah, Woah Woah! What happened!" Clara cried seeing them both soaked and Morgan angry. "I swear I leave you two and then suddenly this happens!" she exclaimed gesturing to their current predicament, "Whatever this even is."
"What this is, is the Doctor is an annoying, idiotic jerk-" Morgan started but was abruptly cut off by the Doctor.
"Well at least I'm an annoying idiotic jerk that won," he paraded smugly and Morgan shot him an eye-roll but then gave a small smile which she quickly hid with a scowl. It was mostly for fun but still, wasn't that technically cheating?
Morgan sighed, "You cheated, that doesn't count," she crossed her arms again and gave him a long defiant stare.
"Technically, I didn't cheat, I used my special move," the Doctor countered and Morgan gave a small annoyed huff before letting her arms fall back to her sides. Clara just stood there with a look of complete and utter disbelief and 'I am so done with this'.
"You two are impossible!" she declared, shaking her head in slight amusement. "I'm going to get dried off, you two can join me when you're done acting like children" Morgan nodded begrudgingly albeit a bit miffed at the 'behaving like children' comment. She would make it even with the Doctor later. Now, the shivers had started to settle in and she was the need for a nice dry towel. Morgan shuffled closer to where they had settled by the beach, grabbing the nice big towel that Clara handed her.
Morgan wrapped herself with the large white fluffy towel and snuggled into it. The fluffy towel immediately blocked off the crisp sea breeze, shielding her from the cold and stopping her shivers. The Doctor and Clara had already settled into their places taking up the majority of the space. Morgan slipped her dress back over her head over her bathing suit, shuffled in, trying to lie down on the blanket, but there was no room to put her head.
"Doctor, move I'm trying to lie down," Morgan demanded trying to shove him further. The Doctor unfortunately didn't budge.
"I'm not moving, Morgan, go find your own space." the Doctor grumbled, grounding himself even more. Morgan grumbled incoherently and furrowed her eyebrows. Fine then, if he wasn't going to move, she wasn't budging either, but she would get to lie down. Morgan lay her head down carefully, laying right on top of the Doctor. He flinched a bit, but then stopped moving. He had decided he wasn't going to move either. It seemed that neither of them was going to back down.
"I'm not moving Morgan." the Doctor said although he wasn't as resolute as before. Morgan just shrugged.
"I'm not moving either." Morgan decided, turning to try to find a comfortable position on the Doctor's leg. The Doctor sighed and just decided to annoy her more by laying the book he was reading on her head. "Hey!" Morgan exclaimed trying to swat the book away, "My head is not a bookrest,"
The Doctor smirked, "And my leg is not a headrest," he observed, continuing to use Morgan's head as a bookrest. Morgan sighed and just decided to ignore it, relaxing her muscles and looking out into the calming sea. The sound of the soft waves repeatedly hitting the shore filled Morgan's head. Her eyelids drooped as she slowly drifted off into a light sleep.
Morgan's eyes fluttered open and she stretched her legs and arms a bit as she continued to lay down. The sun was now higher in the sky, and the Doctor was still reading the book. Morgan sat up slightly and leaned over the Doctor's shoulder. He sighed as she pushed his hands that were holding the book too far in one direction, shoving her away to get the book to a comfortable position.
"What's ya reading?" Morgan asked and the Doctor craned his neck awkwardly to glance at Morgan before going back to his book.
"You wouldn't understand," he dismissed, taking his hand to push Morgan's prying eyes away from his book. She was sitting up now so she could no longer really properly make it out anymore. Morgan gave a huff of annoyance.
"Fine then, space-man, what planets and time periods have you travelled to then?" Morgan asked, and although she knew a lot of them, there was definitely a lot she didn't know.
"Well," the Doctor started, putting his book back in the bag and turning to face Morgan, "A couple of weeks ago, we went to Barcelona!" he exclaimed. Wait, Barcelona? Where the dogs had no noses! Morgan jumped up, ears perked up, eager to hear more.
"But this was the space-Barcelona,'' Clara interjected from the Doctor's other side, the Doctor nodded and Morgan grinned.
"Yeah and you know in Barcelona they have dogs with no noses!" the Doctor explained and Morgan grinned, "And well Clara over here-" he was cut off by a young child walking over to them. They had a nervous expression on their face and a small bit of black tuft of hair. They stared up at Morgan with wide blue eyes, similar in colour to Morgan's own. They blushed purple, which lit up their blue cheeks.
Morgan kneeled down, "Hello there, what's your name?" she asked, putting on a soft smile. The child shuffled forward a bit.
"Alex," Alex said and Morgan smiled at that, "And uh I wondering if you've seen my toy!" they continued. Morgan looked to the Doctor and shook her head.
"No, sorry, I haven't seen your toy," she said and Alex's face fell, "I can help you look for it though?" Morgan offered and Alex's face lit up.
"Yeah!" they exclaimed, grasping Morgan's wrist with their small fingers. Morgan stood up slowly from the towel turning to follow Alex. "I think it went that way!" Alex pointed towards some obscure place to their left. Decidedly way too far away for their toy to be. "But, if you want to talk a bit or hear a story or-"
"I don't think it went that way…." Morgan trailed off. Alex's face fell and Morgan leaned down to try to cheer them up. "But uh well, uh-" Alex jumped up suddenly, their face graced with a large grin all of a sudden.
"I learnded a cool thing at school yesterday!" they piped up, "My teacher was telling us about all of the different people in the universe!" they continued, excitement bubbling up in their features, "There are Zygons and humans and meanie Sontarans and I also heard of- Ooh and theres this cool ones called timelords but they aren't much!" the kid exclaimed. Morgan smiled, a bi confused at the kid's strange grammar but that was to be expected. Kids never did properly really understand grammar until well later. She shot a glance at the Doctor who was shooting the kid an amused expression.
"Hmm, interesting, tell me more!" Morgan asked a bit overdramatically.
"I don't really know much," Alex shuffled their feet, "But there's this other story! About someone who saved us all! A hero or like a superhero,"
"Do you like superheroes?" Morgan kneeled down to face the kid better. They nodded adamantly, doing a strange kid rendition of a superhero flying. "So who's this cool hero you seem so adamant to talk about?" Morgan asked again and Alex smiled.
"They saveded us all Momma says! I think their name's the Doctor!" Alex exclaimed again and Morgan froze for a second. The Doctor? As in- Morgan turned to see the Doctor with his mouth open but no words coming out. She shot the Doctor an amused smirk as he spluttered a bit at the mention of his name. He quickly shook off his surprise and had his normal face on again.
The Doctor got up "I'm just going to go put up the devices for us to watch the tides," he glanced back at Alex, then smirked at Morgan "Have fun babysitting," he grinned and Morgan shot him a glare.
"Have fun crouching in a cave for like, half an hour!" Morgan sang back and the Doctor just rolled his eyes. He took the bag of devices and started off towards the cave. Morgan watched his retreating figure before turning her attention back to Alex.
"Which superhero is your favourite?" Morgan asked, and Alex shuffled pondering on it for a bit, "I don't know, they're all pretty cool. But I like the Doctor one the best I think," they started, and Morgan nodded along.
"Yeah, you already mentioned him, must be pretty cool, eh?" Morgan asked. Thank god the Doctor wasn't there to hear her say that, he would've been so smug about it.
"He saved us from the monsters, momma says!" the kid said wide-eyed up at Morgan, a solemn expression uncharacteristic of a kid. I'm the Doctor. And I'm the one who stops the monsters. The line from Flatline filled her mind and Morgan couldn't help but smile.
"Must be a really cool Doctor then," Morgan mused then turned to look at where Alex was suddenly pointing. She turned her head towards the sea, which had receded significantly since she had last looked at it. There, floating in the water, was a small bucket-Alex's toy presumably.
"That's my toy!" Alex exclaimed. Morgan furrowed her eyebrows and started pulling off her running shoes, planning to go and get the toy. Clara interrupted Morgan's attempted toy rescue suddenly.
"Hey Morgan, you want anything to eat?" Clara asked and Morgan shook her head but frowned slightly at the small bag Clara was holding.
"No thanks, I'm not hungry, you can eat it if you want, Morgan told Clara. Cara didn't take the hint and continued. Morgan wasn't hungry, Clara had asked and Morgan had said no, what was so hard to understand?
"It's fine if you want Morgan, the Doctor says there's enough food in here for at least a year," Morgan frowned at that. What? Why on earth did they need all of that food? How did that even work?
"Why did we bring so much food? Also, how does that even work?" Morgan asked and Clara shrugged.
"I don't know, the Doctor didn't explain, also apparently it was to 'be prepared'" Clara finished with quotation marks while Morgan just frowned. That didn't make any sense. Even if the Doctor did want to be prepared, why would he bring that much? "Apparently there's also a few beds in here and a chess set, and way too many other random things," Clara added and Morgan laughed. Of course, the Doctor had brought a chess set. What had she expected?
"Of course he did," Morgan deadpanned, "But no, still not hungry, Alex here has lost their toy," Morgan explained and Clara frowned but then put on a wide smile for Alex. She went into teacher mode and started complimenting Alex. Morgan left them both to talk as she went towards Alex's toy. She waded slowly into the water getting closer and closer to the toy. By the time she had reached it, the water was up to her calves. But something wasn't right. The water had receded much more than Morgan had seen it like two seconds ago. Morgan kneeled down to inspect it then paused noticing something large from the corner of her eye. She squinted towards the horizon.
There on the horizon was a mountain, bigger than any mountain that Morgan had ever seen before. Ever. That mountain, she could've sworn it hadn't been there before. It was large and tall and imposing and Morgan's eyes widened as she stared at it for a few more seconds. It was getting bigger. Interstellar. The word flew through her mind as she turned to sprint back with the toy. The water splashed up and onto her dress but Morgan continued nonetheless. But by the time she had reached the shore again, the Doctor was finally back.
"Doctor!" came her panicked cry, "Doctor look!" she pointed with a shaky finger towards the growing mass. The Doctor spun around, eyes narrowing at the sight. He frowned at the impending wall before turning to Clara suddenly.
"Clara, I want you to pack up and get back to the TARDIS, NOW!" the Doctor demanded Clara's eyes widened at his tone.
"What-Doctor but why?" Clara asked and Morgan just quickly rolled up the towel handing it to her, getting her running shoes back on quickly.
"Clara, I really do not have time for your questioning right now, just get to the TARDIS NOW!" he shouted and Clara flinched back a little, frowning. But she obeyed picking up the stuff starting to run towards the TARDIS.
"Doctor-" Morgan started but was cut off.
"Morgan, not right now," he spat and Morgan bristled. Really? Not right now! There were other people on this beach, innocent people! And there weren't even that many!. Morgan wasn't just going to leave them here to die.
"Doctor, there's a tsunami heading here right now and we don't have much time," Morgan started, but the Doctor didn't let her finish again.
"Yes, I can see that!" the Doctor shouted again turning away from her to scan the water with his sonic. Morgan marched forward, grabbing his arm to turn him forcefully to look at her.
"Doctor, there are other people on this beach." Morgan said, "They are innocent people and there are currently about only two families here." she continued.
"No." the Doctor dismissed and Morgan clenched her fists at his response.
"Doctor, you are going to let them get into the TARDIS and you are going to save them. The Doctor frowned a bit more, furrowing his eyebrows and turning on Morgan angrily.
"Fine." he spat, turning on Morgan, "But it's your idea so you are the one in charge. Your job," he decided, pointing his finger aggressively at Morgan. Morgan held his glare with her own for a few moments before agreeing. Fine. It was Morgan's responsibility. So if she messed this up, it was on her. Morgan ran over to Alex's family hurriedly. They didn't have much time.
We need to evacuate right now." I want all of you to run to that little blue box up there," Morgan pointed to the TARDIS in the distance, "There's a tsunami coming and trust me, that's your only chance to get out fast." Morgan directed, but the parents looked at her with uncertainty.
"And why should we trust you?' one of Alex's parents piped up. Morgan opened her mouth to speak but froze. They had no reason to trust her, but she couldn't let them die.
"Becau-"
"Because I am the Doctor," the Doctor interrupted, everyone froze looking at him with wide-eyes. "And if you want to live, if you value your lives at all, you will listen to her and get into that blue box." he finished. Morgan glanced at him with a thankful smile while Alex looked up wide-eyed with awe. The Doctor then stalked off to finish whatever he was doing. Morgan turned back and met Alex's parent's eyes. They shared a look and the family started packing hurriedly.
By the time Morgan had convinced the other family to go as well, the wave was getting much, much closer. There was a faint roaring that could be heard in the distance and Morgan took that as a cue to start running off towards the TARDIS. By the time she got there, she estimated the wave would hit the beach in about 10 to 15 minutes. She turned to the Doctor.
"Is everyone inside?" Morgan asked and the Doctor paused looking in.
"I don't know, I think so-" he was cut off suddenly by sudden wails. "
Alex's father was running around frantically, "Alex! Where's Alex!" came his panicked cries. Morgan searched around hurriedly, turning over and looking behind everything. Morgan froze and quickly turned around to examine the beach. No- Alex couldn't be- And there she spotted them. Small and still on the sand as the wave approached ominously.
Morgan turned to face the Doctor, "I'm going after him," she declared. If she timed it right, he would have just enough time to run there, get Alex and run back. She was about to go when a strong arm pulled her back suddenly.
"No Morgan, you won't have time!" the Doctor said, "Either Alex dies or you both do, there's no saving them!" he exclaimed and Morgan frowned.
"Can you get him in the TARDIS," she pleaded and he shook his head.
"I've already activated the devices, I can't go any nearer with the TARDIS now, Morga-" the Doctor continued but Morgan cut him off.
"Then I'm going. You said it was my job to get them all in the TARDIS safe, so I'm going to do it," she decided, resolute "And the longer you stand here arguing with me, the less of a chance I'll have at surviving, so Doctor, let go of my arm," Morgan ordered. The Doctor frowned at her for a moment before letting go reluctantly. Morgan sprang off, pushing off the sand towards the beach. She pulled forward harder, her breathing ragged and heavy but she kept going faster and faster.
The impending wall loomed overhead growing so big now that Morgan could properly see where it started. She sprung off faster, trying to use as much force as she could to propel forward. She was almost there. She could see Alex now, only a few meters away. Only a few steps away- And then she was there and a wave of relief hit. She kneeled down shaking a bit as she reached out towards Alex. She stretched her arms to pick them up, about to start running again. She went to grab them but then. Then her hand went straight through them. As if they were nothing. As if they were- They flickered away. A hologram. Morgan froze. A wave of dread trickled in and Morgan's gut clenched. Shaking, she brought her face up to meet the tsunami. It was so close now. So much closer and so so tall.
She wouldn't be able to make it back in time. The realization hit her as the wall of water became so tall and wide that it seemed that was all that she could see. And all that she would ever see again. The last thing that she would see. Morgan crumbled, her heart pounding in her chest, tears threatening to spill. And all for nothing, Alex wasn't even here. All for nothing on a beach! She was going to die on a beach! She-
An arm grabbed her shocking her out of her stupor. She was propelled sideways away from the beach but not towards the TARDIS. Morgan stumbled, frowning and staring wide-eyed as the Doctor ran forward with determination and fury written on his face. He powered forward, like he always did, running with determination. Morgan attempted to take a deep breath in, resigning herself to do the same. She was not going to die like this. Morgan sped up trying to keep up as he ducked into a cave. The rushing noise from the tsunami was much louder now so that Morgan could barely hear anything else.
Her ears were pounding now as they both ducked under a bit of cave that was jutting out going carefully over the slippery rock. There was a large opening to a larger cave coming up but something was wrong. There seemed to be some sort of silvery shiny film hanging at the entrance. The devices! It was a forcefield right? The Doctor whipped out his screwdriver, deactivating the wall long enough for them to run through. He quickly whirled around, barely missing a beat, putting the protective barrier right up again just as it had been before. And at that moment, the water came rushing in barreling against walls and swirling closer and closer- but it was stopped suddenly by the wall, stopping abruptly and churning as the tsunami continued to rage overhead.
Morgan slowly layed down to sit on the floor, taking deep breaths in and out. She was still shaking, but after a bit of concentration, the shaking faded as well. The Doctor stood quietly in the corner, although he was definitely bristling with anger still. Morgan paused once her heartbeat got under control, turning to face the Doctor. She slipped off her backpack and walked over carefully. He had brought the bag. Ok, that was probably so they could sleep through the night or something. Clara did say that there were beds or something in there. She hesitated before speaking.
"Doctor…" she started and flinched as the Doctor turned his livid anger onto her. She shrunk back a little. Maybe she shouldn't have talked. Maybe she should never talk again. Or just hide in a hole and then wake up and maybe this was all just a nightmare and had never happened. This was the oncoming storm, wasn't it? Morgan looked into his eyes quickly then flinched away. They were old and angry and honestly, he looked ready to destroy a world. OR a person. Specifically Morgan.
"Oh look you're still alive!' the Doctor remarked sarcastically, "No thanks to you." he spat continuing, "Oh look, I'm a stupid human and I think it a good idea to go running towards a tsunami," he continued his onslaught and Morgan sank deeper. He was angry. Definitely angry. Probably angry enough to never let her travel in the TARDIS again. Or worse. She'd be like that one companion-Adam. Rose befriended him so the Doctor took him along for a trip. But then he messed up and the Doctor threw him out. And as much as Morgan wanted to argue on the fact that he had called her a stupid human (because it wasn't entirely accurate) she really couldn't.
"Is… is Alex ok?' Morgan's voice called out shakily, barely above a whisper. The Doctor deflated at that, his eyebrows softening a bit.
"Yes, the child is fine, they were just hiding in the TARDIS, that's all," he explained and another wave of relief washed over her. Hey, at least it hadn't been entirely for nothing. Alex was still safe. Alex was not dead. She took another deep breath in.
"I-I'm sorry," Morgan looked down, "I was stupid."
"Yeah, you were, stupid," he agreed and Morgan winced a little at his brute honesty, "And now we're stuck here, in a cave!" he shouted out at the cave as if somehow the cave could hear him. Morgan sighed looking out to see the swirling dark water outside.
"Well, at least it'll be over soon," Morgan tried to be a little optimistic. It would only be a few hours at most. Right? Unless the barrier didn't hold and then they all died instead. Morgan brushed away the thought. It wouldn't do them any good to think like that.
"No." the Doctor retorted and Morgan paused slightly. No? Ok, she knew he didn't like being bored but still, he could at least wait a few hours!
"Doctor, it's only a few hours, you won't have to-" she started again but he cut her off. She shot another glare in his direction. Oh yes, do continue. It wasn't as if MORGAN WAS TRYING TO SPEAK!
"No!' he repeated, turning around, "It will not be a few hours!"
Morgan paused, "What do you mean?" What did he mean? Tsunamis didn't normally last that long, it shouldn't be more than 2 hours max. Did he mean he was planning on sulking in here for more? That didn't really make much sense.
"Why do you think I was scanning the water?" he asked and Morgan paused again. Why had he been scanning the water? That was a good point, "There was an abnormally large amount of fresh water in it when it was the sea. And it was rising. Someones been tampering with this planet's oceans." he finished and Morgan turned to face him again.
"What do you mean?" Morgan asked, her voice rising slightly in panic, "Doctor, what does that mean?" And it better not mean was she thought it meant.
"It means that they tampered with their planet's water levels. This is a permanent change, not just a tsunami." he continued. Permanent! But then-, She froze, "Well, not exactly permanent. They should be able to reverse it with their technology, but it'd take at least-"
"Doctor," Morgan warned, "How long?" he hesitated before replying.
"By my calculations?" he started. How long would they be stuck here? A week? A month! Oh god, a whole month! Imagine being stuck a whole month with the Doctor in a cave. That would be unbearable!
"Doctor, how long…" Morgan repeated.
The Doctor didn't meet her eyes, "At least 6 months,"