"And why not, Minerva? You've already found a way to actually stay in the TARDIS with us and what's more - the biggest thing actually - you accepted your feelings for the Doctor," Martha shook her head at me, "So why not go ahead and tell him?"
I sat on my bed, against the headboard with a pillow in my arms, staring at her with a deep frown. She was sitting on a chair by my bed and she had a sharp look to scare anyone. "Because while I have accepted my feelings, it doesn't mean I agree with them. It shouldn't be, Martha. It shouldn't."
"And why not?"
"Because..."
She awaited for an answer that never came. Soon, a small smirk spread across her face, "Can't find a good enough reason, can you?"
"Martha..." I paused, the prick of tears beginning at the back of my eyes, "...I don't want a heartbreak."
Her smirk faded when she saw a tear stroll down my face, "Oh, n-n-n-n-no! Don't cry! Oh god, the Doctor's gonna kill me for this! I'm supposed to be making you feel better!"
"It's not your fault," I rubbed my eyes, "It's my fault for setting eyes on someone I shouldn't have."
"But..."
"Martha, I have issues with my Mom and Dad. I have issues with my grandmother. More importantly, I have issues with myself. I can't let go of my blame for Liv's death nor my grandmother's disappointment in me. If I get a heartbreak it will kill me."
"But who says it's going to end up with a heartbreak?" she asked softly, "Haven't you even considered the possibility that the Doctor might have some feelings for you?"
"He can't," I mumbled, "Rose-"
"If I hear one more word about her..." she wagged a finger, "Get it through your thick head, Minerva Joycelin Souza," she tapped my head, "Rose Tyler is gone and is a thing of the past. The Doctor did not love her."
"But I saw it!"
"But he never confirmed it!"
That got me to quiet down. I felt a mix of emotions at the thought of the Doctor confirming whether or not he loved Rose. On the one hand, it'd be grand if he said he never loved her. But on the other, he could say that he did indeed love Rose. If he said that last one, I don't think my heart could take it.
"I don't want to take that risk, I'm scared," I whispered, resting my head on the pillow.
"Yeah, I get it. You're afraid of what your grandmother could say if you returned, you're afraid of what may be wrong with your blood, and you're afraid of what the Doctor could say about your feelings."
"I don't try to make myself a poor, fragile thing, but it's just too much. I can't take that kind of pain. I already received rejection from my mother, I don't think I'd be able to take a rejection from the Doctor."
"What I don't understand is you not being able to even consider what the Doctor could think of. You're denying yourself the possibility!"
"I'm scared," I repeated, closing my eyes, the weight of all my fears settling on my shoulders.
"And it's consuming you," she sighed, "The strong woman is slipping away..."
"It's getting to be too much."
"Yeah. I can see that, we both can. We're really worried, Minerva."
"I'm sorry."
There was silence for a minute before Martha stood up from her chair and tried pulling me out of the bed I had refused to leave all day, "C'mon!"
"No."
"Minerva, c'mon!"
"I don't wanna."
"I don't care! C'mon!" she pulled harder but I grabbed onto the headboard.
"What for?"
"I'm gonna give you a make over!" she grinned.
"Oh hell no!" I shook my head, shutting my eyes and gripping the headboard, "I don't want to!"
"Do you want the Doctor to see you in your pajamas?"
"He won't, I'll close the door with lock."
"Not very efficient when the man carries a sonic screwdriver. C'mon! I promise I'll make his mouth drop to the floor!"
"I won't want to. He won't look at me twice."
"No, he'll look at you all the time!"
"He doesn't care about me like that."
"Minerva, I swear to God!" and she finally pulled hard enough to make me let go of the headboard, she herself falling to the floor while I ended half-way off the bed.
I lifted my head, my hair all over my face while I glared at her, "Really?"
"Oh yes!" she grinned and stood to her feet, "Make over time!"
~0~
"Okay, why don't we go see where we're going?" Martha asked as she pulled me to my feet, not even waiting for my answer as she led us towards the door, "I heard something about a planet...or was it a galaxy?" she glanced at me as we entered the hallway, frowning at my silence.
"I'm fine..." I tried saying, but she disregarded it with a hand and moved ahead.
"Don't even," she shook her hand and turned around, no anger written on her face, only a sympathetic look, "Silly me for thinking a little makeover could do anything. I don't know, I supposed it'd maybe improve your feelings."
"It's pretty and all, but..."
"It's not working, I know," she sighed, "Hopefully the Doctor can change that a bit."
I admitted I liked the clothes she'd chosen for me. Apart from being best friends, I swore she was psychic. She knew the right things that I would love. I wore a yellow cashmere, off-the-shoulder, long sleeved sweater and a pair of long white jeans with white flats. There was a clip to create a small bump on top of my head, a bright yellow ribbon fashioned around the clip to create a bow on the back.
I felt great, pretty even, but that didn't make me less afraid. I just wanted to know what was wrong with me. I wanted my grandmother's forgiveness, and deep inside, I wanted my mother's too.
Martha took my hand and led us down the corridors, until entering the console, "Doctor, help me out, bring us somewhere bloody fantastic! Oh, and could you tell Minerva she looks lovely?" I elbowed her in the ribs before the Doctor turned around, the woman grunting yet still managing to smirk.
He looked up from the console, almost hurt, "What? Does that mean I bring you to rubbish places?"
"Weeeell, you've been a bit mopy lately," Martha swayed her head.
"Mopy?" he raised an eyebrow, "That's not even a proper word!"
"But it's true!" she crossed her arms, walking up to him, "Now make her happy!" she pointed at me.
She made me feel like a true child sometimes...
"C'mon Minerva," the Doctor held out a hand for me. I made it seem like I was hesitant to take it, when really all I wanted was for him to hug me and make me feel better, "Minerva?" I rolled my eyes and walked over, taking his hand, "There we go!" he exclaimed, "And mind you, you really do look lovely. Wonderful." I still blushed, whether or not he was saying it just because Martha said to do it, or because he actually thought I looked nice. "Would you fancy ice-skating?"
"Ice-skating?" Martha asked, sounding indignant at such a bland idea, "Minerva, c'mon, some remark on this?"
"Oi, it's a good idea," the Doctor insisted, glancing at me for that remark that would never come.
"Minerva, remark of yours needs to be inserted right about now," Martha said.
I sighed, wearily at the two, but also appreciative, "I'm sorry guys, I am. I'm scared, alright? No amount of ice skating or makeovers are gonna change that. I'm sorry..."
The two looked at each other, giving up on any other attempt. The Doctor was the first to turn to me, "Okay, new plan then, how about we just go somewhere nice? Just to be happy for a while...and that ice skating...did I mention it was on the mineral lakes of Cuhlhan?"
"Of what?" I looked up, curious.
He grinned, "I got her Martha," the two high-fived beside me while I rolled my eyes, "You're gonna love it, Minerva."
"I don't even know how to skate..." I said quietly, a different fear creeping on m back, the one where I fell and fell repeatedly until the ice broke and I plummeted down to the cold sea.
"Doesn't know how to ride a horse or ice-skate, hm," the Doctor shook his head, "One more thing I don't know about you. And just like the horseback ride, I'll try to fix it!"
"Yeah, and then we could take silly photos on the ice," Martha suggested, whipping out her cellphone from her pocket, making a scowl as she looked at it, "Although with the lousy signal I get I doubt I'll be able to do much more with it."
"You haven't upgraded her phone yet?" I glanced at the Doctor, forgetting my fear for the safety of my friend.
"Oh no," he blinked, quickly reaching for the phone and using the sonic on it, "Sorry about that."
"What?" Martha barely caught on her phone had been swiped off her hands and was now being 'sonicked'.
"It's basically a way to upgrade your phone," I explained, watching the Doctor work on it, "You'll be able to call home anytime you want, anywhere you are."
"Is that how you'd call your grandmother?"
I looked down, fiddling with a knob on the console, "Sure...if I ever planned to," And once again, I felt their eyes on me with a sense of sorrow. I rolled my eyes as I looked back up, "Guys, can you stop?"
"Sorry," they both looked away.
"Well, here you go," the Doctor handed Martha her cellphone, "Universal Roaming. Never have to worry about a signal again."
"No way!" she beamed, "You're telling me I can call anyone, anywhere in Space and Time on my mobile?"
"Long as you know the area code."
"Try it, Martha. Test it out!" I said, knowing she'd feel a lot better now that she knew she could call home anytime she wanted.
"In the meantime, I'll be bringing us to those mineral lakes," the Martian flashed me a grin that I felt compelled to reply with a small smile at least.
As Martha dialed, walking away from us, the TARDIS unexpectedly shook, sending us all to the floor. As it continued to jolt, the Doctor used the console to try and stand up. I looked back and saw Martha against the wall, desperately trying to cling onto something. I tried following the Doctor's move, using the console to try and get up. The monitor flashed red as he tried reaching for a switch on the console.
"It's a distress signal! Locking on!" seeing he was failing, he took it upon himself to try and reach for it with his foot, "Might be a bit of..."
"You're kidding me!"I grabbed his arm, trying to pull him away. I may not be able to communicate as well with the box of wonders like him but I knew for a fact that she detested when he used anything but his hands on her console.
With another shake, we were sent to the ground, and since my hand was still on on the Martian, he fell with me...on top of me.
"Oh," I swallowed hard, blinking with wide eyes, "...hello."
"...hi," he mumbled, staring on as well.
We heard a clearing of a throat and I tilted my head back, seeing Martha use the wall to stand up, raising an eyebrow with a small smirk on her face, "Are you two just gonna stay there or are we gonna check out where we landed?"
With one last look at each other, we pushed ourselves up, standing as far away as possible, me blushing madly.
"Let's uh, let's go see where we are..." the Doctor turned and walked for the doors, Martha passing by with a bigger smirk as I rolled my yes and followed, "Whoa! Now that is hot!" the Doctor said as soon as he opened the door, letting in a big wind of hot air as Martha and I joined him.
We looked around to see a sort of engine room, glowing red from what I assumed was the unbearable heat.
"It's like a sauna," I frowned, rolling up my long sleeves as we stepped out, "Picked the wrong shirt today, Martha."
"Sorry," she removed her jacket and threw it back in the TARDIS.
I removed my bow from the clip and used it to tie my hair into a bun, recreating the bow where the scrunchie would be. It'd have to do for now.
"Venting systems. Working at a full pelt. Trying to cool down...uh, where ever it is we are," the Doctor looked around the equipment, walking for the door across us, "If you can't stand the heat," he opened it and we stepped out into a much cooler corridor, "Well, that's better."
"Oi! You two!" a young man yelled, making us look over and see two men and a woman running in our direction.
"Get out of there!" the woman motioned us away from the door.
"And seal that door!" one of the men pointed.
Martha and I closed the door and turned to the strange people, taking in their very sweaty appearances.
"Who are you? What are you doing on my ship?" the woman demanded.
"Are you police?"
"Why would we be police?" the Doctor raised an eye brow.
"We got your distress signal," Martha said.
"If this is a ship, why are there no engine noises?" I looked around, frowning at how true my words were, the Doctor nodding in agreement though he seemed much more concerned than I was about it.
"It went dead four minutes ago," the woman replied.
"So maybe we should stop chatting and get to engineering. Captain," the second man said.
"Secure Closure Active," a computer voice announced, leaving the captain a bit distressed.
"What!?"
There was a loud clanging noise from behind, but when we looked there was nothing there.
"The ships gone mad!" the second man yelled.
We saw a woman running down the corridors, the doors shutting just as she passed them, barely making them. She blinked when she saw us, getting over it and looking seemingly irritated, "Who activated secure closure? I nearly got locked into Area 27," she looked at us for a moment, probably realizing we weren't supposed to be on the ship, "Who the hell are you?"
"He's the Doctor, that's Minerva and I'm Martha," Martha said absently before walking forwards to a window. I stared after her, finding it to be strange of her to do that just now, "Doctor..." she called after a moment, but still not sounding like her.
"Impact projection: 42 minutes."
"Um, excuse me, but what exactly are we impacting to?" I raised an eyebrow, doing my best not to overreact.
It appeared that now I was prone to overreact and worry over things more than I should because I kept thinking how would it affect me and my unknown blood. Also, every time I heard a scream, whether on TV or nearby, happy or afraid, I became terrified. The scream I heard back with Lazarus had made a recurring presence in a lot of my dreams. I had no idea what it was or who it belonged to. Even in my dreams it was blurry, nothing was visible. The only thing I saw was white, lots and lots of white.
But no one knew about this, no one.
I simply hoped it was all just because of my paranoia and that with time it'd go away. With some good luck, perhaps it could be.
"We'll get out of this, I promise," the captain assured, although to us or to who her crew was unknown.
"Yeah, but 42 minutes til what?" the Doctor asked, now more concerned.
"Doctor!" Martha called, still sounding off.
"Martha are you-"
"Minerva, just shush and look out the window!" she snapped, practically pressing her face onto the glass.
The Doctor and I shared a look of concern and each ran to a window, he with Martha and I at one across. I saw a burning sun that was much too close for my liking.
"Forty two minutes until we crash into the sun," the captain announced.
The Doctor ran back to her and grabbed her arms, "How many crew members are on board?"
"Seven, including us. We transport cargo across the galaxy. Everything's automated. We just keep the ship..."
He didn't stick around for the ending and ran towards the door we had entered through, "Call the others, I'll get you out!" he opened the door and then suddenly fell back with a yell.
"Doctor!" I ran back to help him, finding he was just fine as I sat him up.
A crew member, dressed in the appropriate clothing for that type of weather, closed the door for us.
"But my ship's in there!" the Doctor cried.
"In the vent chamber?" the young man pointed.
"It's our lifeboat!"
"It's lava."
The woman who had closed the door was reading off the gauges, "The temperature's going mad in there. Up 3000 degrees in ten seconds, and still rising."
"Channeling the air. The closer we get to the sun, the hotter that room's gonna get," the young man said.
"We're stuck in here," I muttered, the fear increasing by the second.
"So? We fix the engines, we steer the ship away from the Sun! Simple!" the Doctor exclaimed, acting as if it was no big deal, like he didn't even remember just the luck we had, "Engineering's down here, isn't it?" he ran down the corridor.
~0~
We ran down the stairs into the engine rooms and found it was a complete mess.
"Blimey! Do you always leave things like this?" the Doctor looked around.
"What the hell happened?" the elder man said.
"It looks like it was on purpose," I said, walking over to a ruined engine, "Look at how everything's been pulled out."
"Where's Korwin?" the captain asked, "Has anyone heard from him or Ashton? Scanell?" she looked to the elder man.
"No."
She walked over to an intercom and began to speak into it, "Korwin? Ashton? Where are you?" but there was no response, "Korwin, can you answer?"
"Oh! We're in the Torajji system!" the Doctor said, happily, "Lovely! You're a long way from home, you two," he brought Martha and I to the window, "Half a universe away."
"That still doesn't make me feel better," I turned away, "We're stuck."
"Oi, that's not your spirit!" he frowned, scolding me lightly, "C'mon, do the snappy, little clever remarks," I rolled my eyes and walked towards the machinery, "Wait a minute," he looked back at the window then the crew, "You're still using energy scoops for fusion? Hasn't that been outlawed yet?"
The crew looked at each other, seeming nervous to answer. But I knew that look, it was the look of guilt. It was my natural face after all.
"We're due to upgrade next docking," the captain waved him off and walked off, "Scannell, engine report."
"No response," he sighed, leaving a piece of wire he held.
"What?"
"They're burnt out," he gestured, "The controls are wrecked. I can't get them back online."
"Oh, come on! Auxiliary engines! Every craft's got auxiliaries!" the Doctor exclaimed.
"We don't have access from here. The auxiliary controls are in the front of the ship," the Captain said.
"Yeah, with 29 passwords sealed doors between us and them. You'll never get there in time," Scannell added.
"Can't you just override the doors?" I tried, although now seeing if that had been an option it probably would've been done earlier.
"No. Sealed closure means what it says. They're all dead lock sealed."
"So a sonic screwdriver's no use..." the Doctor frowned.
"Nothing's any use. We've got no engines, no time and no chance."
"Oh listen to you! Defeated before you've even started! Where's your Dunkirk spirit!?"
"Doesn't anyone have the passwords?" I tried again, not at all happy about this situation.
"They're randomly generated. Reckon I know most of them. Sorry. Riley Vashti," the young man introduced himself, extending his hand for me.
I half-smiled, shaking it, "Hello, Minerva."
"Then what are you waiting for Riley Vashti, get on it!" the Doctor ordered.
"It's a two person job!" Riley walked over and picked up a large magnetic clamp and a backpack, "One, it takes to answer the questions and the other to carry this. The oldest and cheapest security system around, eh captain?"
"I'll help you!" I offered, the sound of a challenge not being too bad I supposed. Whatever helped us get out of here fast I'd be up for it.
"You sure, Minerva?" the Doctor asked, making me look over, "Think you can handle it?"
I narrowed my eyes, seeing his trick. I say yes, I'd be getting out of the fear for a while, thus making him and Martha win. I say no and I lose and stay stuck with fear...and who would win there?
"...yes."
He grinned, "Good, Martha you go ahead with them. In case there's a relapse...which I hope doesn't happen."
I smiled, nearly challenging him even if it was my own health we were talking about, "We'll see."
She won't!" Martha walked over, swinging an arm around my shoulders, "Because she's got nothing to fear of. She's got her friend with her."
My smile grew, she chuckled and led us after Riley.
~0~
"Could you maybe hurry it up?" Martha asked as Riley frantically typed away on a keypad for the first locked door.
"Alright," he finished up and looked over, "Fix the clamp on!"
Martha and I lifted the clamp and attached it to the door. We looked back to Riley and found him typing...again.
"Why are you typing so much?" I asked, slightly irritated.
"Each door's trip code is the answer to a random question set by the crew. Nine tours back, we got drunk, thought them up. Reckoning was if we're hijacked, we're the only ones who know all the answers."
"So you type in the right answer..." Martha trailed off.
Riley tapped the backpack, "This, sends an unlock pulse to the clamp. But we only get one chance per door. Get it wrong, the whole system freezes."
"No pressure there," I muttered, feeling the challenge becoming too much.
"Okay!" he moved to the screen where the question was to be, "Date of AS Pentallian's first flight? That's alright!" he typed in the answer, "Go!"
We pressed the trigger on the clamp, making its top turn green and opening the door.
"Only twenty-eight more to go!" Riley ran past us.
"Minerva? Martha? Riley? How're you doing?" the Doctor asked through the intercom just as we arrived at the second door.
"Area twenty-nine, at the door to twenty-eight!" I replied.
"You've gotta move faster!"
"Oi, we're doing the best we can!"
"Next question!" Riley said, "Find the next number in the sequence: 313, 331, 367...wait, what?"
"You said the crew knew all the answers!" Martha cried, annoyed.
"The crew's changed since we set the question!" he said defensively.
"Oh, you have got to be joking me," I rolled my eyes, "How are we supposed to-"
"379!" the Doctor suddenly yelled.
"What?" I blinked, glancing at the intercom.
"It's a sequence of happy primes. 379."
"Happy what?" I repeated, utterly confused.
"Just enter it!"
"Fine..." I looked to the others, "You heard him."
"Are you sure?" Riley asked, "We only get one chance!"
"Any number which reduces to one when you take the sun of the square of its digits and you continue iterating until it yields one is happy number," the Doctor spoke at light speed, "A happy prime is a number which is both happy and prime, now type it in!"
I rolled my eyes, "Show off."
"What? Don't they teach you recreational mathematics anymore?"
"Sorry, seem to have forgotten that particular lesson of the day seeing as I don't do math for fun," I said sarcastically, Martha shaking her head at me, "Once the teacher says we're done I'm out of there!"
"Shall I have to teach you then?"
"I'm free every day of the week, how about you? Oh, but I do recommend doors that won't open so easily because like I said..."
"Don't worry, I'll deadlock those doors. You won't be leaving until I teach you every damn thing I know."
I paused, smirking at my next remark, "Hm, considering you don't even know how to use a blender, you should only take about five minutes then."
"Minerva!"
"I'm sorry, but are they arguing or flirting?" Riley turned to Martha, utterly confused.
Martha shrugged, "I can never tell either. Usually when it's flirting it always ends with him yelling out her name."
"Oh..." Riley nodded, eyeing me.
"We're not flirting!" I whispered-shouted at the two, fearing the Doctor could still be hearing over the intercom.
"And we're in!" Martha exclaimed, quickly getting all the things and rushing away with Riley.
"Minerva?" the Doctor called again, making me wince in fear that he had overheard us.
"Yeah?"
"I know this won't be good for you and your fear but...keep yourself and Martha safe. There may be something else on board this ship."
Slowly, I nodded, swallowing hard as more fear gathered inside of me, "Okay..."
~0~
"Impact I'm 30.50," the computer announced.
"I can't believe our lives depend on some stupid pub quiz!" Martha frowned.
I peered to the screen and saw the next question, "Is that really the question?"
"Oh, this is a nightmare!" Riley covered his head with his hands, "Classical music. Who had the most pre-downloaded number ones, Elvis Presley or The Beatles? How're we suppose to know that?"
"Minerva, shouldn't you know?" Martha glanced over.
"What!? Why me!?"
"All-time American Band maybe?"
"Martha, the Beatles were English!"
"Still, isn't America all about the bands? And Elvis?"
"I don't know!" I threw my hands in the air, "I don't listen to music!"
Martha sighed and moved to the intercom, "Doctor?"
"Oh, what is it now?" he sounded irritated.
"Who had the most number ones, Elvis, or the Beatles. That's pre-download."
"Elvis. No, wait! The Beatles! No...um...um...What was that remix? Um...I don't know!" he snapped suddenly, "Figure it out! I'm a bit busy!"
"Fine. I'll ask someone else," she moved away from the intercom and mock-glared at me, "Oh, so he has a nice flirt with you but he shoos me off."
I made a face, "He's not flirting with me!" I paused and thought, realizing the Doctor had been a tad rude to our friend and sighed, "Sorry he was mean though..."
"Like it's your fault?" she smiled, shaking her head, "Guess I just haven't snagged a Time Lord's hearts."
My eyes widened, my face warning up as she smirked and Riley gave me a look. But what I feared most was that the Doctor could still be listening in, "MARTHA!"
Honestly, the woman lived to make me suffer because I was smitten.
"I'm not lying. Too bad he's the last one."
"Shut up!" I cried, nearly stomping my foot like a child.
She smirked and took out her phone, beginning to dial, "I'm calling Mum," she placed the phone on her ear and awaited a couple seconds, "Mum? It's me, it's Martha. Wow!" she looked at me, excited of her new found phone, "I need you to do something for me," she frowned, Francine must not be complying, "Mum! Please not now! I need you to look something up on the internet!" she moved the phone to her mouth, "Oh just do it will you!"
"Martha..." I said, stunned she had actually yelled at her mother like that.
Then again...who was I to judge if I didn't even speak to my mother. And when we did, we usually ended up with shouts.
"I need to know who had more number ones; the Beatles or Elvis?" she bit her lip as she waited, "Have you found it?"
"BURN WITH ME."
We froze. It had come through the intercom and it was as scary as hell.
"What!?" Martha was the first to come back to reality, "Really?" she pointed to the screen, "It's Elvis."
Riley quickly started typing the answer. Suddenly, the same roaring voice came through the intercom.
"BURN. WITH. ME."
"Just ignore," Riley said before running.
I swallowed hard, "But it's-"
"Just ignore."
"Mum, you're a star!" Martha exclaimed on the phone.
But again, we heard the same voice followed by a piercing scream. We froze in our tracks and didn't dare move.
"We can't ignore that," I said, hesitant to even look back. It sounded like the one in my head...
"I've gotta go," Martha hung up.
We ran again until we saw an intercom and stopped, "Doctor, what are those screams?" Martha asked.
"Concentrate on their doors! You've gotta keep moving forwards!" he yelled.
"See?" she looked back at me, "Favoritism."
I rolled my eyes, "Oh Martha, not the time!"
And we ran again to the next door, working as fast as we could...until the captain's voice came over the intercom, "Everybody, listen to me. Something has infected Korwin. We think...He killed Abi Lerner. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"
We looked at each other, silently, Riley ordering, "Move, move, move, move, move!"
~0~
"Doctor, we're through area 17," Martha spoke through the intercom as Riley and I worked.
"Keep going! You've got to get to area one and reboot those engines."
We worked at light speed to get by the next doors. Unfortunately, we got stuck at a door.
"Come on!" Riley smacked the terminal in frustration, "Everything on this ship is so cheap!"
Suddenly, we heard a banging sound from behind. We looked back and it only continued to increase.
"We should look," I said, taking a step forwards.
"Minerva, be careful," Martha warned.
The door across was letting out smoke, but we could see a figure emerging from it. "Is...is that Korwin?" I swallowed hard.
"No, wait a minute…" Riley called, walking up as well, looking at the man coming forth, "Oh, Ashton, what're you doing?"
"Burn with me! Burn with me!"Ashton's hand moved up to remove his eye shield.
"That's not him anymore..." I started stepping back, finding a corridor to Martha's left, "...and so we run!"
The three of us ran off, Ashton quickly moving behind.
"This way!" Martha called, turning.
"No, that's a dead end, this way!" I turned for the other direction. I tried finding another intercom as I ran but I couldn't see anything. Perhaps, I was passing them too fast, "Where to, Martha?"
I came to an abrupt halt at the sound of silence. I spun around, finding no one anymore. There was no Martha, no Riley, nor Ashton. I swallowed hard, taking a few steps from the direction I had came through, "Martha?" I felt my heart beating faster, the realization that I was left alone...it was not helping; the fear multiplied by the thousands.
"Martha!" I started running back, though not knowing whether or not I was running back to where we had came, "Martha!" I screamed, the tears building up in my eyes as I found myself back to where we had been working and found no one there, "Please..."
Being alone was just not an option for me. Every time it happened, it reminded me of the scream, that horrible scream. It sent shivers down my back. I didn't want to tell the Doctor or Martha, they'd think I had lost it. When I told them about the voices I had heard for a moment, after the whole Lazarus fiasco, the Doctor had ran another test but said it was probably out of my sleepless nights that accumulated. They wouldn't understand, even I didn't understand and it was all in my head!
"Doctor! We're stuck in an escape pod off the area seventeen airlock!" Martha's voice came through the intercom, "One of the crew's trying to jettison us! You've gotta help us!"
"No!" I exclaimed, dashing off once more.
~0~
"Doctor!" I called, seeing him and Scanell at the end of a corridor.
"Oh there you are!" the Doctor came rushing, both hugging once we reached each other, "Where've you been?"
I hugged him tight, my tears still strolling down, sniffling, "We got separated!"
"Oh no, we'll get her back. But everything's fine for the moment."
"I'm scared. I'm really scared!" I refused to let him go, thinking if I did he'd somehow disappear like Martha had.
"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry Minerva. But I promise it'll be alright. And to start, I'll get Martha back."
I didn't let go, but simply pulled away to look at him, "What do you mean by that? Where is she?"
"She was in the escape pod...but..."
I blinked, immediately letting him go and running to where Scanell was...and where there was no escape pod, "That bastard sent them into space."
"Excuse you, that was our friend!" Scanell scolded.
"Your friend just sent my friend to outer space!" I screamed, making him flinch.
"Okay, maybe you need to sit," the Doctor said quietly, pulling me away from the man, "And calm down."
I trembled a bit as he pulled me back, "You're gonna get her back, right?"
He nodded, "I swear."
"But it's a stupid way," Scannell spoke up, turning our attention to him, "You need to tell him."
"What are you going to do?" I asked the Doctor quietly. He sighed and gestured to an orange space suit behind Scannell.
"Tell him he's gonna die!" Scannell looked at me, "He wants to open an airlock in flight on a ship spinning into the sun. No one survives that!"
I knew it was dangerous. Very. But even if I refused to let him go, he'd just go right away, "You'll just have to watch then," I smiled, softly, glancing at the Doctor, "Well, go on then, get into that spacesuit, spaceman," he smiled and went ahead.
"Doctor, listen to me, if you open that airlock, it's suicide. This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you," Scannell insisted as he got into the spacesuit, "Please, just stop."
"If I can breach the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should re-magnetize the pod. Now, while I'm out there, you have got to get the rest of those doors open. We need those auxiliary engines."
"Will you just listen!?" Scannell yelled.
"I'm not gonna lose her," the Doctor put on his helmet.
Scannell sighed, finally giving up, "Let's go then."
"I'm not going anywhere. My friends are gonna be out in space. I am not moving from this space until both return."
He looked so done with the situation he just walked off without another word.
"You better be careful," I warned the Martian, "I want both my friends back."
He nodded, "I'm gonna bring her back. In the meantime, try to be calm okay? It's gonna be alright."
"I'll try..." I said, my voice breaking not exactly proving that I would try.
~0~
My body trembled, my heart continuously stopped and started again, and my eyes threatened every minute or so to tear up while I watched the Doctor try and save Martha. I didn't have a comm. for myself and Scannell had left. I felt so useless because all I could do was stand and watch and wait. I couldn't help in any way, not even to encourage the Doctor when he seemed to lose his hope.
But in the end, thankfully, the Martian followed through with his promise.
"Martha!" I exclaimed, happily, as I saw the pod slowly returning to the spaceship. I waited for the Doctor to return into the corridors, but for some reason, he didn't. I walked for the airlock room but stopped when he suddenly fell into the corridor, "Doctor!" I ran for him, "What's the matter?" I had trouble turning him on his back, "C'mon!"
"Minerva?" I heard Martha from behind, "Oh my god, what's wrong!?" she ran to help and together we turned him on his back and sat him up. "Doctor, what's wrong?"
He opened his eyes and allowed us to see that it wasn't just him anymore. There was something new.
"Stay away from me!" he yelled, angrily.
Martha and I quickly got up and backed away. We watched him convulse in pain but we couldn't help him.
"What happened?" the captain rushed in, Scannell behind her.
"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!" the Doctor suddenly yelled in accusation.
She blinked, "Wh..." she shook her head, "Riley! Get down to area 10 and help Scannell with the doors. Go!"
"You mined that sun!" the Doctor continued to shout at her, "Stripped its surface for cheap fuel! You should have scanned for life!"
"I don't understand," McDonnell said, staring in awe.
"What are you talking about, Doctor?" I asked, fearful of getting closer.
"That sun is alive! A living organism! They scooped out its heart and used it for fuel. And now, it's screaming!"
"What do you mean?" McDonnell said, frantically, "How can a sun be alive? Why's he saying that?"
"Because it's living in me," he gritted his teeth.
"Oh my god..." she backed up.
"Humans!" he said, enraged, "You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry! You should have scanned!"
"It takes too long!" McDonnell exclaimed, "We'd be caught! Fusion scoops are illegal!"
"You've got to freeze me, quickly!" he ignored her and seemed to try and get up. I rushed back to him, trying to help, Martha quickly doing the same, "Stasis chamber! You gotta keep me below minus 200. Freeze it out of me!"
I winced hearing his painful screams, wanting to do anything to help him, "What do we do? Where do we go?"
"Med-center, now! It'll use me to kill you if you don't. The close we get to the sun, the stronger it gets!"
"That's not gonna happen," I said, making my own promise now, as Martha and I struggled to get him moving.
~0~
"We can do this!" Martha ran for the stasis chamber to grab the manual, me barely supporting the Martian, "We can do this, right?"
"Of course we can," I answered, pulling the Doctor towards the chamber bed, helping him lay down, "Now, you said minus 200, right?"
"Ten seconds. That's all I'll be able to take. No more!" he screamed again, nearly making me cry.
"Oh god, make it stop!" I looked at Martha, "Please, do everything you can."
"You're the clever one, you're gonna get him to stop," she flipped through the pages of the book.
"Minerva!" the Doctor grasped my wrist.
I swallowed down my yelp at how tight he was grasping, "Yeah?"
"I'm sorry but it's burning me up! I can't control it!"
"N-n-n-no, don't apologize," I leaned beside him, grabbing his hand and passing another over his hair; I'd blush later for it, "We're not gonna let it take you. Everything's going to be fine."
"I could kill you," he said quietly, at first, glancing at me, "I could kill you all," then he took on a dark tone.
I stared, feeling frightened but not enough to leave him, "Doc-"
He screamed again, "I'm scared! I'm so scared!"
I softened up at his childish cries. He was always so brave and strong. I never really met him when he wasn't and now that I had it broke my heart. I wanted to hug him and hold him but sadly, I couldn't do either. So, I held his hand tightly. "We're gonna save you. Don't be scared, I'm here. This time, I'm here."
"It's bloody killing me! Then what'll happen!?"
"That's enough!" I felt my tears well up, "We've got you! Martha's working on it."
"The regeneration...if it's even possible anymore," he wailed, moving his head side to side, "...Martha doesn't know about it."
"It's not happening anyways. It's too early for you," I sniffled, "She won't have to know."
"I've got it!" Martha exclaimed, running back to us, "You ready?"
"No!" the Doctor yelled.
She sighed and hurried up to a lever, "Minerva, step aside."
"But I can't..." I looked him over, no where in my mind thinking of letting go as an option.
"Minerva, you have to do it! C'mon! I can't send him in if you won't let go. We can't save him like that!"
"I'm sorry Doctor, we'll get you out of this, I swear," I kissed his hand in mine and reluctantly backed away.
"It's gonna be fine," Martha assured me, "Soon he'll start talking about ice-skating and bananas and all his nonsense," she pulled down the lever and slid the Doctor inside the stasis chamber.
I couldn't take his piercing screams as the temperature dropped, "Martha..." I started to sniffle.
"He's gonna make it. He can take it. He can take it."
A few minutes passed by when the system started shutting down. Martha and I looked at each other, both confused.
"No! You can't stop it! Not yet!" the Doctor called.
"What's happened?" Martha looked about in the machinery.
"I think the power's been cut," I looked around, "What now?" I flinched when the Doctor started screaming again.
"Oh, he's defrosting," Martha started fiddling around with the machinery, "We've got to do something!"
"Minerva? Martha?" he called, and we peered inside the chamber, "I'v only got a moment. You've gotta go!"
"You're out of your mind!" I snapped.
"We're not leaving!" Martha agreed.
"Get to the front! Vent the engines! Sun particles in the fuel! Get rid of them!"
"I am not leaving you!" I yelled, more determined than ever, "You're out of your damn mind."
"You've got to! Give back what they took!"
Martha frowned, "Doctor!"
He screamed again, "Please, just go!"
Martha stood straight, 'We'll be back for him."
I looked at her like she was crazy, "Martha-"
She stared, almost sympathetically, "Hey, we're going to be back. C'mon," she pulled me for the door.
We started running as fast as we could down the corridors. Suddenly, we heard the Doctor's voice calling through the intercom. We stopped and looked around.
"Doctor, what are you doing?" Martha yelled.
"I can't fight. Give it back or..." he paused, and Martha and I scooted closer to each other, feeling very afraid now, "...Burn with me. Burn with me."
"Martha!" I cried, almost to tears, "It's taken him over!"
"Not for long it's not!" Martha took over and pulled us down the remaining corridors, all the way into Area 1, ""Vent the engines! Dump the fuel!" Martha ordered as soon as we burst into the control room."
Scannell and Riley looked at each other and did...nothing.
"What?" Scannell asked.
"Sun particles in the fuel! Get rid of them!"
"DO IT NOW!" I yelled, making them jump and finally get to work. If there was one thing I got from my mother and good, it was her loud volume of voice when needed. How else could she shout for so long?
"He'll make it," Martha muttered, as we watched the pair frantically switching knobs on the machinery.
The ship lurched one way and we were all sent to the floor. It then lurched another way and we just rolled around, trying to hang onto something that could keep us steady.
"There!" Scannell exclaimed, "How are we gonna fly?"
Impact averted. Impact averted," the computer announced and for once, we all did a triumphant laugh.
"We're clear!" Riley said, pushing himself up to his feet, "We've got just enough reserves."
"That's fantastic!" I said, also getting up, "But there's someone missing," I looked to Martha and she nodded. I turned and ran for the corridors, frantically searching as I passed. Finally, I saw the Martian not too far away and looking much better than earlier, still a bit weak but much better than before, "Doctor!" I called. I barely gave him enough time to turn around before I had already encased him in a big hug, "Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" I was probably squeezing him to death but he didn't complain.
"And you?" he asked, chuckling.
"No, no, no, forget me," I pulled back and looked at him, "Are you okay?"
He nodded, "Yeah. I am."
"Let's see, eyes filled with excitement, mouth ready to talk for ages and hair of an idiot perfect to be a great idiot for later, yup! All good!" I crushed him with another hug.
"I am gonna forget those little indirect insults," he warned, "But what about you-"
"No, no, forget me. It's just you, just you..." I shook my head and hugged him tighter, savoring this moment as I thanked the heavens my Martian was alright.
~0~
"This is so not your ship," Riley shook his head at the sight of the TARDIS, "It's a box."
"Get over it," Martha chuckled, "We've shown it to you."
"Doctor, we can't just leave them drifting with no fuel," I said, looking at Riley and Scannell, the only ones left of the crew.
"Don't worry, we've sent out an official mayday," Scannell said, "The authorities will pick us up soon enough."
"Though how we explain what happened..." Riley trailed off.
"Just tell them," the Doctor said, opening the TARDIS doors, "That sun needs care and protection, just like any other living thing," he stepped in.
We made to follow but Martha was pulled back by Riley and I gave her a smirk before entering. A few minutes later, she entered wearing a big smile.
"Have a nice talk? Any fun?" I made a popping sound with my lips, making her blush.
"Shut up," this time she elbowed me.
"Not so fun being teased, is it?"
"I wouldn't have to if you both stopped being idiots. You're the cleverest idiots I've ever met," I rolled my eyes and pushed her, making her laugh. She moved past me towards the Doctor by the console, "So! Didn't really need you in the end, did we?" she teased. That's when we noticed he was oddly quiet and somewhat distant from us, "Sorry, how are you doing?"
He turned around, with a fake smile plastered on his face, "Now then, I believed before any of this happened, I was working on getting us to those mineral lakes. Have to teach Minerva how to ice-skate."
"Doctor, you don't have to..." I said quietly, "...it's not like I have much spirits for it. How about we talk instead?"
"What for? Everything's fine!" he exclaimed, clearly fake.
Martha and I looked at each other, both knowing it was all we would get from the man.
~0~
"Minerva, I've got those colored pencils you wanted!" Martha exclaimed, running across the console room, to the doorway where I sat, "Hey...are, are you crying?"
I shook my head, sniffling as I frantically sketched on my newest page, "No..."
"What's wrong? I seriously left you for five minutes. What happened!?" she bent down beside me, but I merely turned to the side and continued, "Don't do that, what's wrong?"
"I'm fine, can you just leave me? Thanks for the pencils."
I could feel her burning stare but I did my best to focus on my drawing, "Hey, wait a minute," she suddenly snatched my notepad away and took a look at the drawings I had just made on the anterior pages, "What's all this?"
"Drawings."
"Yeah...horrific, nightmarish ones. What is this?" she held the pad between us, "You don't draw these!"
"Maybe I have a new inspiration."
That inspiration would be the horrific scream in my head that also made appearances in some of my dreams. I had just made scenarios where the scream I heard could potentially fit in. So far, it had all been women, close to death...
"Yeah, fear," she shook her head, "I get you're scared but-"
"No," I cut her off, looking at her, nearly glaring, "That's just it, Martha. You don't understand. You don't get it!" my glare softened as I looked at my unfinished drawing, the tears partially blurring my vision, "I'm a freak. And I can't take it anymore."
"Okay, I think you're taking it to another level. So there's one itty-bitty thing that's wrong with you, but you're fantastic!"
"Except that itty-bitty thing can get me locked up," I swallowed hard, "Martha, I wanna be alone."
"No."
"Martha..."
"I said no."
"I don't want you to be here!" I exclaimed, nearly knocking a few pencils out the doorway and into space when I crossed my legs, "God, I'm alone as it is..."
"I cannot believe you just said that," she stared at me, her look not of anger but more of...disappointment.
"You don't get it," I mumbled, wiping a few tears off my face.
"Don't get what? Being sick?"
"I'm not sick!" I snapped, suddenly realizing that I could in fact be sick. I glanced at her, taking a shaky breath in, "At least for now I think I'm not. Martha, look, I'm not trying to be rude as I know I'm being to you but...you don't understand, okay?"
"Then tell me," she said softly, offering a smile, "And I'll listen."
I shook my head, "No thanks."
"Alright," she stood up, her face still not angry but instead devious, "But I bet there's one person you will talk to. Or at least be forced to cause man does he talk!"
I frowned, glancing at her as she started walking off, "Wait, what are you doing?"
"You forced me..."
"Martha! You're not actually gonna snitch on me...are you?"
She stopped by the corridors, looking back, a small smirk spreading on her lips, "And while you're at it, I suggest you tell him that not so itty-bitty crush you have on him."
"There'd be no point," I said quietly, serious enough to catch her attention for the moment, "He probably thinks of Rose anyways."
She considered it for a moment, ticking her fingers on the doorway of the corridors, "Maybe he does...but I think his mind lies somewhere else now."
And she walked off...to snitch on me.
I turned back to face the open doors before me. I quickly ripped out those horror drawings and threw them out. I once again used the scenery in front of me to draw out some of my feelings...only for the fear to creep back and with an additional realization I had made earlier. I'll admit, some of the drawings had become a little...dramatic, but it's not like I did it on purpose. It's what I felt. And sure, I was being rude, immensely rude to Martha (and I'll have to make it up to her later on), but it's because she didn't understand. She had it. Divorced. But she had it.
And me?
I turned to the next page of my sketchpad, beginning a new drawing...one that hopefully would be just of the lovely view ahead of me. It wasn't long before Martha the snitch had done the deed and the Doctor had joined me.
"I don't need to talk," I said before he could even say a word to me.
"Can I see the book?" he asked, moving the pencils aside so he could sit beside me.
"No."
"Minerva."
"Martian."
"...I'm not from Mars."
I looked up, "And I don't need to talk. Bye."
He tilted his head, studying me, "Well, someone's a bit rude. When you declined the mineral lakes I presumed all you were going to do was to sulk."
"Go away please..." I meant for it to be a demand just as it had been with Martha, but instead it sounded like a whine, a plead.
"Sorry," he promptly sat beside me, placing his hands together and glancing at me with a clean smile, the ones he used when he was trying to be annoying, "No can do."
"Then shut up," I mumbled, grabbing my pencil and continuing on the drawing.
"Funny, I don't recall you being left-handed," he remarked as he observed me drawing, "I distinctly remember you telling me you were right-handed."
I stopped for a second, looking at my left hand that held the pencil, "Maybe I'm left-handed."
"Yeah, or maybe you're lying."
"I'm not lying."
"Then?"
Frustrated, I let out a breath, glancing at him, "Can you just leave me alone? God, I ask for one thing and it seems impossible! I'm not trying to be rude but you and Martha are making it so bloody hard! Go away, Doctor. Go away and leave me alone for this one, itty-bitty, moment that I ask!"
I finished with a watery eyes and shaky breathing. The Martian blinked, not expecting that kind of lash-out. However, he got over it, and silently reached for my sketchpad, easily taking it from me as I did not contradict, simply watched him do it. He went back a few pages, making a few surprised faces but none reprimanding me in any way. He stopped at one though, and traced a finger over it.
"Mum and Dad?" he asked, tilting his head as he observed, "And what's that? Little Minerva?" I swallowed hard, looking ahead and trying to focus on just that. Nothing more, "And we've got Olivia, about 11 or 12 years old...oh and look at that," I felt his stare now and it only made me feel worse, "Is that a grandmother I see? Oh, and a grandfather too. This drawing doesn't have anything nightmarish to it..." he awaited my response, knowing he would indeed get one. I made a face, forcing my tears inside and to keep myself in order, "Minerva..." he reached to touch me, "Minerva-"
"I didn't lie," I said quietly, stopping his reaching hand with the response.
"I know you didn't. I was just trying to make you talk."
I took a deep breath in and looked down to my fingers that were playing with each other, "It's gonna sound silly."
"I love silly, tell me what's silly?"
"I'm ambidextrous. Meaning, I can equally use my left or right hand to write, and consequently to draw."
"Yeah, I figured you were," he shrugged, "I just figured I'd irritate you enough that you'd finally tell me what was really wrong."
"And here's the silly part..." I glanced at him, sheepishly, "...when I get upset, I don't know why, but when I get upset, I use my left hand to write and draw. I don't know why, I just do..."
"That's not silly, that's interesting!"
I half-smiled, "My grandfather used to tell me that too. He was ambidextrous too. We used to have competitions to see who could write better with one of our hands."
"And what were the results?"
My smile grew, "I could use my right better than him. He was better at his left."
"And this was Grandpa Souz..."
"Lozano. He was my mother's father."
"Grandpa Lozano. He seems nice."
"He was," I nodded, remembering just how nice my grandfather was, "We used to play games all the time when I was a kid. I loved him."
"Alright, and so I suppose this was Grandma Lozano?" he tapped on the sketch of my grandmother with my family.
"She preferred Grandma Isadora. She didn't like my grandfather's last name."
"And what do you recall about Grandma Isadora?"
I paused, knowing there was so many things about that woman I could tell him, "She baked the best damn snicker-doodles in the world," I whispered, smiling.
"I'd like to try some, you know," he nudged me, earning a light chuckle, "The ones you made were delicious-"
"But it doesn't compare to the ones she made. Those are delicious."
"So then, Miss Souza, what seems to be the problem? What don't Martha and I seem to understand?"
I sighed, "Don't-"
"No, c'mon, Martha said you were pretty upset. Won't you tell me? I'm good at keeping secrets, honest."
I glanced at the drawing, and unfortunately all I got from it were the screams of my mother, the lectures of Olivia, and the constant orders of my father to get out. I sniffled, quickly looking away from it and out to space, "I don't have a family."
"What? But what are they-"
"Those people are not my family. My grandfather and my grandmother, sure...but they're not my immediate family, are they?"
"But-"
"When you were afraid, Doctor, when you were afraid of that sun or whatever it was, taking you over...I was there. Martha was there. And you know, we're sort of a family. But it also made me realize that I don't have a real one. A mom, a dad..."
"Technically speaking, you do have a mum and-"
"Just because they are alive does not suggest they have played the role. And you know, my whole life, it may not have been easy for me but I always knew what was going on. Everything was okay...to a certain extent. I always took care of myself and made things better on my own. But then this happens, you tell me something's wrong with my blood-"
"It doesn't mean there's something wrong," he tried to reason but I shook my head.
"But if it were to be out in the open, say in a hospital, I'd be locked up. I can't fix this on my own. And do you know what I realized in the midst of all this?"
"What?"
I glanced at him, "That I may be sick...and I don't have my Mom and Dad with me..." my voice pitched at the ending and I started to let it out, a big, childish sob.
"Oh no..." he put his arm around my shoulders, bringing me to him for a hug as I wept, "It's alright."
"I'm sick, I'm scared, I'm guilty, and...I don't have my mom and dad with me."
"Is that what we're not supposed to understand?" he sighed, rubbing my back soothingly.
"Martha has her family. Divorced parents but they care about her. They really care about her."
I sounded like a child, and probably looked like one at the moment. I sobbed uncontrollably, my head on the Doctor's chest, wrapped in his arms. I didn't deserve any of this, after being so rude to him and Martha. Yet, here I was.
"You're forgetting about me," the Doctor sighed, "Do you forget why I even travel in the first place?"
"But you have us. And besides, you have the universe. Anytime you need anything, the universe will always be there for you."
"But my mum and dad are quite dead."
I stopped, letting my tears stream down silently as I took in how calm he had said that. How...at peace?
"My whole family's dead actually," he shrugged.
I lifted my head up, looking at him curiously, "What do you do when you're scared then? When you're about to crack..."
He smiled softly, picking at the strands of hair that stuck to my face with my tears and pushed them back, "I remember who's there for me. I remember that I have the best people around me that won't leave me, no matter how much I tell them to go away," he poked my forehead, giving me a stern look that simply made me smile, "And I remember that no matter what, I will never be alone whether I have family by blood or just friends who care about me like a family would."
I nodded, glancing back at my drawing. I reached for it, tearing out the paper and crumbling it into a ball...and throwing it out into space, "I have friends who care about me just like a family would."
And while he didn't agree with what I had done, he nodded and took me into his arms again, "And do you know what you have that I don't?"
"What?"
He shifted me to reach inside his coat's pocket, surprising me with my little, white teddy bear, "This guy. He'll make you feel better."
I smiled through my confusion, taking it from his hand and looking at it, "How'd you get it?"
"When Martha told me to come, I thought you might need him."
"I feel safer already," I said, keeping it close to me.
"Well, that's what he's here for. When you're scared, just hold him and remember you're not alone. He could be like a supplement."
"What of?" I asked confused, petting my stuffed bear.
"Well...a replacement of me."
"You?" I looked up, finding him a tad nervous.
"Yeah, I mean I'll always be there when you're scared. I'm here now, aren't I?" I nodded, "And don't worry, Martha and I will be checking in on this dilemma. I'll scan for any type of sickness ever known to human kind. Past sicknesses, present and even future kinds! But in the meantime, try not to get so worked up over it. You've been fine for seventeen years, odds are you'll be fine until we get answers."
"I feel like it's all burying me, Doctor," I confessed, "All my guilt, my terror, my..." My feelings, "...it's consuming me."
"It will not, you won't let it."
"How? How do I do it?"
"Find your motivation in life. Remember what you want and think of how you'll get it. But most of all, just be happy. Being happy won't let anything consume you."
"Thank you," I nestled in his arms, feeling quite at peace, wishing it'd be like this all the time, "Maybe Martha did good in snitching."
He chuckled, "Maybe she did."
"I feel better. I supposed it took a Martian to help me."
He sighed heavily, "...I'm not from Mars."
I smiled, "Shush, Martian. Let me feel better."
"Okay," he obeyed immediately, hugging me tighter, exactly what I needed from him...
Author's Note:
Ta da! Don't you just love when it's vacation and you can update more often? :D *11's voice* I Dooo!
*avoids pointed glare* I updated! *says defensively*
I offer apologies but I could not help myself naming this chapter the way I did :3
Gotta say, 42 wasn't my favorite episode so apologies if it was a bit short or something.
When you say 'correct timeline' does that mean like I don't go in order or...? I'm a bit curious lol ^.^Because if it was then yes, I don't go in order. My other dw story really does not go in order. I hate going in order, it's so boring. I like doing something different and shaking it up, though making it still make sense however!
*takes virtual cookies* yumm!
As for your Kaeya theories, guess you'll have to wait and seeeee :)
*gasp* what's this? what's this? Is there another chapter after this...?
Let's go check it out...