Alex blinked rapidly and groaned. She was lying on a cold hard floor, nothing compared to the tongue and filthy garbage she had last lied in. Suddenly, the past few minutes raced into her mind. She had blacked out when the wave of bile hit them. As she realized this, she caught a whiff of something horrible. Hesitantly, she brought her jacket sleeve to her nose and quickly jerked it back. She coughed from the stench and she then heard the Doctor saying, "There's nothing broken, there's no sign of concussion and yes, you are covered in sick."
Sitting up, she watched as the Doctor, his hair slicked back from the sick, helped Amy up, also covered in bile. If they looked as bad as they did, Alex didn't even want to see herself. As soon as Amy was up, the Doctor went over and carefully lifted Alex up by the waist. He leaned her next to him by the door that he was examining. Alex grimaced as her head started pounding, probably from the overwhelming vomit fumes. She rubbed her head as Amy talked.
"Where are we?"
"Overspill pipe, at a guess." The Doctor looked over at Alex and noticed her look of pain. "Are you okay?" he asked, hesitantly touching her arm.
"Headache," Alex dismissed. "I'll be fine after I have a shower . . . or four."
The stench then hit Amy's nose. "Oh god, it stinks," she moaned. She hesitantly sniffed her gown and drew back in a hurry. "Whoo!"
Alex smiled slightly at her before turning back to the Doctor. "Can we get out?"
"One door, one door switch, one condition." The Doctor moved slightly to allow the girls to see the single forget button next to the door. "We forget everything we saw. Look familiar? That's the carrot." The lights overhead, which had previously been dim, suddenly came on to reveal two Smilers sitting in their booths at the end of the corridor. "Ooh, here's the stick. There's a creature living in the heart of this ship. What's it doing here?" The Smilers faces spun to show mad.
The Doctor shook his head. "No, that's not going to work on me, so come on. Big old beast below decks and everyone who protests gets shoved down its throat. That how it works?" The faces spun to show their pissed off, angry expression. "Oh, stop it. I'm not leaving and I'm not forgetting and what are you fellows going to do about it? Stick out your tongues?"
"Don't bait them!" Alex snapped, but it was too late. The booths opened up and the Smilers started to walk towards them. The Doctor shoved Alex behind him and all three backed up away from the approaching robots.
"Doctor?" Amy grimaced, her face frightened.
Alex bit her lip and desperately looked for a way to escape. There was no way she was going to die at the hands of a freaky robot. Just as she was doing this though, she heard the door behind her open and whirled around. Standing there was none other than Liz 10, this time without her mask. In her hands were guns and she immediately shot the Smilers. As they went down, she twirled her pistols before placing them in her holsters.
"Look who it is," the Doctor smiled. "You look a lot better without your mask." Liz smiled at him and Alex felt herself twitch. Was he flirting with her? Alex shook her head. Why do you care, Alexandria? She scolded. You have no business being jealous! You two aren't together! For crying out loud, he's an ALIEN!
"You must be Amy," Liz said, snapping Alex back into reality. "Liz. Liz 10." Liz and Amy shook hands, although Amy seemed quite reluctant to do so, considering her current state.
"Hi," she greeted sheepishly.
"Ugh!" Liz pulled back and wiped her puke covered hand on her cloak. "Lovely hair, Amy. Shame about the sick." Liz went to the door again and quickly came back with a familiar figure. "You know Mandy, yeah?" she asked, putting an arm around the young girl's shoulders. "She's very brave."
"How did you find us?" the Doctor asked.
"Stuck my gizmo on you," she answered, tossing him a device. "Been listening in. Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?"
Alex frowned. "You're over sixteen, you've voted," she told her. "Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget about it."
Liz shook her head. "No. Never forgot, never voted. Technically not a British subject."
The Doctor positioned himself next to Alex. "Then who and what are you, and how do you know about us?" he demanded, gesturing to himself and Alex.
Liz smiled at the two of them. "You two are a bit hard to miss, love. Mysterious strangers, MO consistent with higher alien intelligence, uncrowned queen of England, hair of an idiot, eyes of an enchantress…" The Doctor looked like he was about to take offense to the 'hair of an idiot' part, but decided to let it slide. At least Liz's statement about Alex's eyes was true. The way they constantly changed colors truly did seem magical.
Alex agreed with this too, although she was curious about being an uncrowned queen of England. "I've been brought up on the stories," Liz continued. "My whole family was."
"Your family?" the Doctor quizzed skeptically. Liz was about to answer when the Smilers suddenly began twitching.
"They're repairing," she explained. "Doesn't take them long. Let's move." Wanting to get as far away from the Smilers as possible, the group hurriedly headed out of the overspill pipe.
Liz explained further as they walked. "The Doctor and Alexandria, old drinking buddies of Henry XII, a conquest of Henry VIII. Tea and scones with Liz II. Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, wasn't she, Doctor? Knighted and exiled you on the same day! Muse to William Shakespeare and Lord Byron. And so much for the Virgin Queen, you bad, bad boy!" The Doctor went bright red at this comment and Alex burst out laughing, although a back part of her mind couldn't help but grimace at the thought of the Doctor and Elizabeth I together.
It clicked simultaneously for them. "Liz 10?" they exclaimed.
Liz laughed. "The stories also talk about your ability to finish each-other's sentences and say things at the same time. Liz 10, yeah. Elizabeth X. And down!" At her command, they dropped to the ground while she fired upon the Smilers. When she was finished, she said, "I'm the bloody Queen, mate. Basically, I rule." Alex giggled as the Doctor pulled her and Amy up before Liz led them down another corridor.
"There's a high-speed vator through there." As they walked down the corridor, the group stopped at the sight of a barred area where two clawed tentacles were waving around. Liz sighed. "Oh, yeah. There's these things. Any ideas?"
Alex stepped closer, being careful not to touch the tentacles. She glanced at the Doctor, who seemed to look pained. Vaguely, she could hear Amy saying something about how she had seen one of these tentacles up top, but Alex was concentrating on something else. Her headache was increasing. She could feel a sort of tapping at the back of her mind. It wasn't pleasant, more like downright annoying. However, it seemed to be weak, as though it couldn't fight her even if it tried.
The Doctor kept an eye on her as he said, "It's the creature we were inside, reaching out. It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship."
"What?" Liz asked. "Like an infestation?"
"Someone's helping it. Feeding it," the Doctor mused.
"Feeding my subjects to it!" Liz exclaimed angrily. She turned on her heel, furious. "Come on. We've got to keep moving."
"Doctor? Alex?" Amy asked, concerned. Alex was standing ram-rod straight and she seemed to be concentrating on something intently. "Alex, are you okay?"
"Oh, Amy," the Doctor breathed, his attention focused on the tentacles. "We should never have come here."
Amy acknowledged his words but kept her attention on Alex. "Alex? Alex! Alex, are you okay? Doctor, what's wrong with her? I've seen her focus on something, but not with that kind of daze and blocking everything out."
The Doctor looked at Alex worriedly, who was now scrunching her face up in an unreadable expression. "Ally? Alex? Alexandria, can you hear me?" He snapped his fingers in front of Alex's face, but she didn't acknowledge him. The rapping in her mind had increased and her mind felt like it was throwing bombs at it to get it to stop. It hurt so badly, yet she knew it was really helping her…
Suddenly, there came a sharp pain and Alex cried out. Black spots formed in front of her eyes and she vaguely heard the Doctor and Amy calling her name as she sank to the ground into darkness.
~Living the Life of Ally~
Alex felt a cold sensation on her forehead and she twisted in order to get away from it. She vaguely heard voices, but there was one she specifically focused on. ". . .mind is extremely strong. I'm not sure . . . fought it off . . . brain shut down . . . body systems . . . get it away." It was the Doctor and it sounded like he was explaining something. Slowly, she forced her eyes open and found herself staring at the Doctor.
"Alexandria? Alex? Alexandria! Can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?" he demanded.
Alex frowned at him. "Yes, I can damn hear you, you're practically sitting on me! And do not ask me how many fingers you are holding up, I'm not an invalid!"
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "She's fine," he announced. He then looked back down at Alex. "Don't ever scare me like that again," he told her before kissing her forehead. His lips were soft and felt like they were studded with electricity when they touched Alex's skin. He moved off while Alex scooted up the soft bed she was now lying on. It struck her that this was the second time in less than twelve hours that she had been unconscious. Don't go for a third then, she thought wryly.
"What happened?" she asked, looking at Liz, who had been dabbing at her head with a damp cloth.
Liz bit her lower lip. "I'm not exactly sure, to be honest. Mandy and I were walking ahead when we heard you cry out. We turned around and saw the Doctor catch you. He carried you up here and started talking about how your mind had done something to keep something out."
Alex remembered that feeling of something tapping in her mind and she turned to look at the Doctor, who was currently walking in between several glasses sitting on the floor. She was about to ask what had happened when the Doctor said, "Why glasses of water?" Alex frowned but decided to go with it. The Doctor had other matters on his mind and he also probably didn't want Alex to worry about whatever had happened to her. He would tell her when he thought she was ready.
Liz sighed and leaned back against the pillows. "To remind me every single day that my government is up to something, and it's my duty to find out what."
The Doctor nodded and walked back over to them. He picked up Liz's white mask and held it before him. "A queen going undercover to investigate her own kingdom?"
"Secrets are being kept from me! I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this, my entire reign, and you've achieved more in one afternoon."
Alex watched the Doctor frown and begin to pace, still looking at the mask. "You were how old when you took the throne?" she asked.
"Forty. Why?"
"What, you're fifty now?" Amy said incredulously as she came into the room. She had washed her hair and tied it into a clean knot. Noticing Alex was awake, she perched next to her while Mandy sat at the foot of the bed. "No way!"
"Yeah, they slowed my body clock. Keeps me looking like the stamps," Liz joked.
"And you always wear this in public?" the Doctor asked, sitting on the side of the bed next to Liz. He held the mask up.
"Undercover's not easy when you're me," Liz defended. "The autographs, the bunting. . ."
"It's made of air-balanced porcelain," the Doctor revealed. "Stays on by itself, 'cause it's perfectly sculpted to your face."
"Yeah, so?" Liz questioned, looking confused.
"Oh, Liz," Alex breathed, catching a faint idea on what the Doctor was leading towards. "So everything." But before she could elaborate, the door suddenly burst open and four hooded men entered the room.
Liz stood up, her face furious. "What are you doing?" she demanded. "How dare you come in here?"
One of the hooded men stepped forward. "Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship U.K. You will come with us now."
Liz stared at him, challenging this. "Why would I do that?"
In response, the man's face turned and Alex's eyes widened as she saw the pissed off expression of a Smiler. "How can they be Smilers?" she asked.
"Genetic experimentation," the Doctor commented. "Half Smiler, half human."
Liz, however, refused to let this faze her. "Whatever you creatures are," she warned, "I am still your queen. On whose authority is this done?"
"The highest authority, ma'am," the man replied. Its voice was monotone and Alex involuntarily shivered.
"I AM the highest authority!" Liz protested.
"Yes, ma'am," the man acknowledged. "You must go now, ma'am."
"Where?"
"The Tower, ma'am."
~Living the Life of Ally~
As they walked into the Tower of London, Alex was reminded of the Tower that she was familiar with back on Earth. It had once been used as a prison and torture chamber where people such as Liz's ancestor Elizabeth I had been held. As they entered the Starship U.K.'s version of it, Alex couldn't help but think this was exactly like the prison and torture days of the old tower, especially when she caught sight of the thing in the center of the room.
Amy looked around the room, getting the same vibes about it that Alex had. "Doctor, where are we?"
"The worst part of Starship U.K.," the Doctor answered gravely.
"The dungeon," Alex added, stepping closer to him. On their walk, she had walked right next to the Doctor, him keeping one hand on her waist in case she passed out again. Now, the Doctor wrapped a hand around her back, keeping her close to him.
A man stepped out of the shadows. He had white hair and glasses and was dressed in a black robe like the Half Smilers. He bowed to Liz. "Ma'am," he greeted.
"Hawthorne!" Liz exclaimed, surprised. "So this is where you hid yourself away. I think you've got some explaining to do."
The Doctor and Alex watched as a group of children, all looking tired and drained, passed them. "There's children down here. What's all that about?" the Doctor demanded, his voice gaining an edge to it. Alex placed her hand on his tense shoulder and he relaxed slightly, although anyone could tell he was getting angry.
"Protestors and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast. For some reason, it won't eat children. You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky." Hawthorne truly sounded amazed, which only made Alex and the Doctor's blood turn cold.
"Yes, I feel very lucky," Alex sneered, her sarcasm evident. She fixated a glare on the man and she was pleased to see him bristle.
"Torture chamber of the Tower of London," the Doctor said, giving the man a glare of his own. "Lucky, we are really, really lucky." The Doctor moved around a railing in the center of the room and Alex followed him, vaguely aware of the others watching them. He stopped in front of a vast array of machines and equipment and added, "Except it's not a torture chamber, is it? Well, except it is. Except it isn't. Depends on your angle."
Alex swallowed hard at the sight in the middle of the room. The dots had connected in her brain and she wished that they hadn't. "It is a torture chamber," she said quietly with a furious glare in Hawthorne's direction. Hawthorne, to his credit, actually looked guilty.
The Doctor, eyeing Alex, walked over to the sight in the center of the room that she was so fixated on. Liz was already there, staring down. In the center of the room was a large opening with a railing around it. Inside the opening was a large pink brain and above it was a giant spike that was shooting a beam of light directly onto the brain. The lump moved in pain and Alex almost threw up.
"What's that?" Liz asked, her voice expressing shock and horror.
"Well, depends on your angle," the Doctor said, his gaze fixated on the brain below. "It's either the exposed pain center of a peaceful animal's brain, being tortured mercilessly. . ."
"Or?" Liz asked hopefully, hoping that the second angle was something less horrible.
Alex picked up, unable to stay silent. "The gas pedal - the go faster button for Starship U.K.," she choked out.
"I don't understand." Liz shook her head, confused.
"Don't you?" the Doctor asked, stepping towards her. "Try, go on. The spaceship that could never fly, no vibration on deck. This creature, this poor, trapped, terrified creature; it's not infesting you, it's not invading . . . it's what you have instead of an engine."
Alex walked over to him, her wide, unblinking eyes staring at the electrical spike shooting more electricity down into the creature's brain. How could people do this? She thought. This is sick. "And this is where you people, your government, tortures it to keep moving." Alex stopped next to the Doctor and glared at the human Starship U.K. operators. "This whole thing has just made me realize why I favor democracy much more than a monarchy." Liz visibly flinched at her words, but said nothing.
The Doctor watched as another shot of electricity stabbed the creature's brain. "Tell you what," he said as he walked over to some grating and shifted it. "Normally it's above the human range of hearing," he commented as a tentacle burst up. "This is the sound none of you wanted to hear!" Holding up the sonic to the tentacle, he pressed a button and a horrible screaming noise filled the room.
Alex cringed with pain and sank to her knees, covering her ears in a futile attempt to block out the horrible screaming. All of a sudden, she realized . . . this was what had been trying to tap into her mind. The creature was tapping into her mind to beg for help. Alex instantly felt bad for shoving him out like that, but it wasn't like it was her fault. Her brain just went berserk.
The Doctor watched Alex through his own pain. He felt his hearts sink as he watched her sink to the floor in pain, covering her ears. Her eyes were tightly shut, but suddenly they opened, revealing her now dark green eyes clouded with recognition. He knew then that she had realized who had been tapping into her mind, who had been reaching out for help. He saw a flash of regret flash through them as well, probably guilt over shoving the creature out of her mind like that. He knew he had to remind her it wasn't her fault her mind had reacted like that, even though he hadn't the slightest idea why her mind had gone all DEFCON on the creature's mind.
"Stop it!" Liz begged through clenched teeth. The Doctor didn't listen to her though, still concentrated on making the humans listen to what they had stupidly done to such a creature.
"Doctor, please!" Amy called, but her request fell on deaf ears.
Alex watched the Doctor and felt her body tense at the sight of him. He truly looked dangerous, like some inner demon inside of him had been unleashed to wreak unholy vengeance on everyone in the room. Hesitantly, she lifted her head to catch his eye. She saw a flash of sympathy in his eyes as he looked at her, but it was quickly replaced by pure, hard anger. Alex swallowed and kept her face in a non-confrontational expression.
"Doctor!" she cried over the creature's screams. "Please! Stop this! Now!" Her voice was pleading, something she never did. But now, it was her only option.
Her words rang in the Doctor's ears and he snapped out of his anger-filled daze to look into her pleading eyes. He switched the sonic screwdriver off and lowered it. The screaming stopped and everybody uncovered their ears, but the screams still echoed in their ears and minds. As soon as he had done that, he rushed over to Alex and helped her up.
"I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear, his breath hot on her skin.
Alex smiled weakly at him. "You had to do that. They needed to know what they did to this creature."
"Who did this?" Liz's voice rang out. The Doctor and Alex turned to see her looking furiously around the room.
"We act on instructions from the highest authority," Hawthorne calmly replied.
"I am the highest authority!" Liz reminded him. She cast a look down on the brain as she instructed, "The creature will be released, now." When no one immediately reacted, she yelled, "I said NOW!" Still, no one moved. "Is anyone listening to me?"
The Doctor and Alex exchanged a glance and the Doctor stepped forward, still holding Liz's mask. "Liz . . . this mask of yours. . ."
Liz stared at it blankly. "What about my mask?"
"Take a look," he urged as he handed it to her. "It's at least two hundred years old."
"Yeah, it's an antique, so?"
"An antique made by craftsmen over two hundred years ago and yet it's somehow perfectly sculpted to your face?" The Doctor looked at her sympathetically. "They did slow your body clock, but more than you know. You're not fifty, you're nearer three hundred. And it's been a long old reign."
"No, it's ten years. I've been on this throne ten years," she assured, more to herself than to anyone else in the room.
"Ten years. And the same ten years over and over again." He led her over to a section of the room. "Always leading you. . ." he pulled her to a small voting area, ". . .here." Alex stepped over and looked at the voting area. On it were two buttons, just like the booth Amy had been at. Only these choices were forget or abdicate.
Liz looked over at Hawthorne, her face horrified. "What have you done?" she demanded.
"Only what you have ordered," he insisted. "We work for you, ma'am; the Winders, the Smilers, all of us." He reached over and turned on one of the screens on the voting area. It started playing a recording of Liz.
"If you are watching this. . ." the recording began and the Liz on screen sighed, "If I am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower of London." The current Liz sank down into a chair to watch. The screen switched to show a computer-graphic of an animal Alex had never seen before. It looked like a whale with the face of a catfish. "The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there were millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travelers through the asteroid belts. This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind. And what we have done to it breaks my heart. The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came, like a miracle; the last of the Star Whales. We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then you must press the forget button." Liz gazed down at the button in question. "Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button." She then stared at the abdicate button with a forlorn expression. "Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate." The Liz on screen sighed sadly. "I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision." With that, the recording ended.
"I voted for this?" Amy cried, who had joined them sometime during the recording. "Why would I do that?" She looked at the Doctor, knowing that Alex had no clue.
The Doctor stared off into the distance as he answered. "Because you knew if we stayed here, I'd be faced with an impossible choice. Humanity or the alien. You took it upon yourself to save me from that." He looked up at her, his expression back to the one of contempt and barely hidden anger that had been present when he revealed the Star Whale's screaming. "And that was wrong. You don't ever decide what I need to know."
"I don't even remember doing it!" Amy defended. Alex gripped her arm and stared down the Doctor, just daring him to say something that would make her want to slap him.
"You did it," the Doctor retorted, his voice cold. "That's what counts."
"I'm . . . I'm sorry," she tried, but the Doctor cut her off.
"Oh, I don't care," he sneered at her. "When I'm done here, you're going home." He stormed off angrily, not even feeling the holes Alex was boring into his back.
"Alex," Amy whimpered, looking into the sympathetic and furious eyes of her friend.
"Don't worry, Amy," Alex soothed. "I'll talk some sense into him. If he even tries to punch in the coordinates for Leadworth when we get back to the TARDIS, I'll slap him."
Alex directed Amy to go sit with Mandy before she stormed up to the Doctor. He was alerted to her coming by the stomping of her boots. "Why send Amy back?" she demanded as he looked up at her, not even allowing him to get a word in. "Why? Because she made a mistake? One mistake? A mistake she doesn't even remember making?"
"Alex," he warned, his face threatening, but Alex refused to be affected by it.
"Doctor," she challenged in a similar voice. She crossed her arms and gave him a deep, dark glare.
Even in his aggravated state, the Doctor was still affected by her furious gaze. "Yeah, I know," he dismissed as he looked back down at the machinery he was standing in front of. "You two are only human."
"And so is everyone on this ship," Alex reminded him.
The Doctor felt like she had slapped him. He looked up at her, his face containing absolute fury. "You are the last person I would expect to be defending them, Alex," he snarled.
"I'm not," Alex argued. "Look, what they did is unforgivable. I get that. Amy? Completely different. She was trying to save you from yourself. I realize that now. And frankly, if I had been in that voting booth instead of her, I'd have done the exact same thing. Look at you! An absolute menace blinded by hatred! It's no wonder the Atraxi fled when they did! If that's how you act all the time, I almost feel sorry for them!"
The Doctor stepped threateningly towards her, but changed his mind at the last second. He whirled back to the machinery and focused on that. Even though she was being completely insufferable right now, there was no way he would actually hurt Alex. His fury had never allowed him to do that before and he didn't intend to start now.
Before they could argue any further, Liz interjected. "What are you doing?"
"The worst thing I'll ever do," the Doctor said, keeping his gaze on the machinery instead of Alex. "I'm going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable. The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it."
"That'll be like killing it," Amy protested, albeit timidly since she was still recovering from the Doctor's verbal attack on her. Alex simply stared at him in shock, his words ringing in her ears.
"Look, three options. One, I let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years. Two, I kill everyone on this ship. Three, I murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as I can. And then I find a new name, 'cause I won't be the Doctor anymore!"
Alex shook her head, critically thinking of another option. "There must be something we can do, some other way?" she mused quietly.
The Doctor snapped. "Nobody talk to me. Nobody human has anything to say to me today!" Amy and Liz flinched at his words and the mask of fury decorating his face but Alex was too busy to pay him any attention. There was another option, she could sense it. All she had to do was figure it out. . .
~Living the Life of Ally~
A few minutes later, Amy, Mandy, and Alex sat on a bench against the wall, watching the Doctor work. Well, that's what Amy and Mandy were doing. Alex had her head between her knees, thinking critically. Think, Alexandria! Okay, the Star Whale came at a time of solar flares. Children were screaming, the skies were growing hotter . . . and it just appeared. That cannot be a coincidence!
Alex looked up, her eyes weary, and she watched as three ragged children entered the room. Beside her, Mandy made a noise of surprise and then jumped up. She raced over to a boy about her age, a grin on her face. They chatted excitedly for a moment until the boy started to back away. Alex looked over and saw a tentacle sticking out of a grate. But to her surprise, the tentacle reached out and rubbed up against the boy. He stared at it for a moment before slowly petting it. Mandy followed suit and Alex watched in amazement as the Star Whale played with the children.
She looked over to see Amy watching the same sight. Suddenly, her brain connected the pieces and Alex gasped. How did she miss that? She looked over at Amy, who also seemed shocked. Amy looked over at her. "You figure it out, too?" she whispered.
Alex didn't even have to ask what she meant. The answer was written all over her face. "Yes. How did we miss that?"
Amy giggled a little bit before glancing over at the Doctor, still working. "Do this together?" she suggested.
Alex smiled. "Definitely," she confirmed. "Distract him and I'll get Liz."
Amy nodded before abruptly leaping up and racing over to the Doctor. "Doctor, stop!" she shouted. "Whatever you're gonna do, don't do it!" As Amy distracted the Doctor by pushing him away from the machinery, Alex ran over to Liz and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the voting booth.
"Sorry, Your Majesty, going to need a hand!" Alex led Liz's hand in the direction of the abdicate button.
"Alex, no!" the Doctor cried, pushing past Amy to try to get to her. "NO!" He ran over, but Alex quickly pressed Liz's hand down on the abdicate button.
As soon as she had done that, the Star Whale bellowed. The whole ship shook, knocking everyone to the ground. Alex landed hard on her back and grimaced. The Doctor sat up from his spot a little ways away. "Alex, Amy, what have you two done?" he muttered in horror.
"We did nothing. Right, Ally?"
Alex shot Amy an icy look. "Right. And it's Alex, thank you very much." She looked over at Hawthorne and smiled. "Check and see how fast you're going."
Hawthorne got up and examined the equipment. His eyes widened in shock. "We've increased speed!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot," Amy smiled, getting up. "Gotta help."
"It's still here?" Liz was shocked. "I don't understand."
Alex jumped up from the floor and skipped over to the railing. She leapt up on it and gazed down at the now peaceful brain fondly. "The Star Whale wasn't a miracle all those years ago," she explained, swinging her legs. "He volunteered."
Amy headed over to her. "You didn't have to capture him or torture him," she picked up. "That was you all just being daft. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry."
"What if you were really old, and really kind and alone?" Alex continued. "Your whole race dead, no future."
"What couldn't you do then?" Amy asked, smiling. "If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind. . ." She trailed off as she and Alex turned to look at the Doctor, who was staring at them with part pride and part sheepishness.
"You couldn't just stand there and watch children cry," they said together.
~Living the Life of Ally~
"I don't care what she says," Alex insisted as she and Amy walked to the observation deck where the Doctor was standing, alone. "I am not going to be Henry VIII's girlfriend."
Amy laughed. "She said conquest. He probably doesn't succeed."
Alex snorted. "He isn't going to succeed. That I'm sure of." She fingered Liz's mask in her hands. "Besides, if the TARDIS ever brings us to his time period, I can just wear this." She put the mask up to her face and Amy laughed, her laughter echoing over to the Doctor, who, despite the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips, didn't turn around.
Alex skipped over, taking the mask off, and held it out to him. "From Her Majesty," she said while doing a little curtsey.
"She says there will be no more secrets on Starship U.K.," Amy added when she reached them.
"Amy, Alex, you could have killed everyone on this ship," the Doctor scolded, although Alex saw a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, meaning that he wasn't really angry with them.
"You could have killed a Star Whale," Amy pointed out.
"And that's much worse if you want my opinion," Alex nodded.
The Doctor couldn't resist teasing her. "Well, I didn't ask for it, but thanks for your input." He chuckled when Alex stuck her tongue out at him, a gesture he thought was kind of cute. "And you saved it, I know, I know."
"Amazing though, don't you think? The Star Whale?" Alex said softly.
Amy nodded in agreement. "All that pain and misery . . . and loneliness. And it just made it kind."
"But you two couldn't have known how it would react," the Doctor protested, but he only looked at Alex. He had a feeling she had been the true mastermind behind her and Amy's actions back there.
"You couldn't," Alex corrected. "But we've seen it before."
"Very old and very kind, and the very, very last." Amy tilted her head at him. "Sound a bit familiar?"
The Doctor chuckled a bit, knowing that they were right. "Alright. You two are brilliant," he conceded.
Alex perked up. "Good! Keep remembering that!" She reached out and pulled him into a hug, pulling Amy in a moment later. She felt a jolt of electricity run up her arms as he touched her, although for the life of her, she couldn't explain why. She was physically attracted to him, so maybe that was part of it. The Doctor, meanwhile, felt slightly breathless at being this close to Alex and his own arms buzzed. He was getting his own version of an adrenaline high by touching her.
Reluctantly, he pulled apart from her. He couldn't get attached to her. She was human! She was brilliant and occasionally impossible, but she was human! That kind of a relationship would only lead to heartbreak.
Alex felt the adrenaline running through her system again as she skipped back to the TARDIS. She had barely heard Amy say gotcha to the Doctor when he released her because she was too busy yelling at herself. He was a freaking ALIEN, for crying out loud! Yes, he was a hot one, but she couldn't have a relationship with him! That would not end well. Still, Alex would be lying if she didn't admit that the idea intrigued her . . . oh shut it, Alex!
Focusing her mind on something else, she suddenly realized something. "Shouldn't we say goodbye?" she asked the Doctor.
Amy nodded, thinking the same thing. "Won't they wonder where we went?"
"For the rest of their lives," the Doctor said. "Oh, the songs they will sing!" He swung open the TARDIS doors and called over his shoulder, "Never mind them. Big day tomorrow!"
Amy stopped in her tracks, Alex almost bumping into her back. "Sorry, what?" she called.
"Tomorrow's always a big day with me around," the Doctor answered, poking his head out.
Amy shifted slightly, aware of Alex boring a hole into her skull. She knew Alex would heartily disapprove of what she was about to say, but she didn't care at that moment what Alex would think. "You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning. . . Have you ever run away from something because you were scared, or not ready, or just . . . just because you could?"
Alex kept her eyes slightly narrowed at her friend's back as the Doctor thought of how to answer. "Once," he said hesitantly. "A long time ago."
"What happened?"
The Doctor gestured to himself, although Amy wasn't really sure why. "Hello."
Amy sighed. "Right. Doctor, there's something I haven't told you." Alex perked up. Finally! She was going to tell him that she was getting married and not that she didn't want to return home, which was what she had expected her to do. However, this hope was quickly shattered when Amy wrinkled her nose in confusion and said, "No. Hang on, is that a phone ringing?"
The Doctor rushed inside as Alex and Amy followed him. Sure enough, much to the girls' surprise, there was a phone ringing.
"People phone you?" Alex cried incredulously as she shut the doors. There was something strange about people calling the Doctor. It just seemed so . . . normal. And he definitely was not normal!
"Well, it is a phone box," the Doctor pointed out as he messed with the controls. "Would you mind?" he asked, nodding to the phone on the console.
Amy beat Alex to it and answered. "Hello? Sorry, who? No, seriously. Who?" She placed the phone against her shoulder. "Says he's the Prime Minister. First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?"
"Don't forget all the others Liz mentioned," Alex added from her perch on the railing.
"Which prime minister?" the Doctor asked, fiddling with something under the console.
Amy put the phone back to her ear. "Which prime minister?" She covered the phone again. "The British one."
"Gee, that narrows it down," Alex commented.
The Doctor nodded, agreeing with her. "Which British one?"
"Which British one?" Amy asked after she put the phone back to her ear. Her eyes widened and she passed the phone to the Doctor. "Winston Churchill for you," she breathed. Alex's jaw dropped. The Doctor knew Winston Churchill?! That's freaking awesome! She thought excitedly, the adrenaline making her brain a little jittery.
"Oh!" The Doctor grabbed the phone, returning her to the present. "Hello, dear," he greeted. "What's up?" He listened for a moment and then nodded, even though Winston couldn't see him. "Don't worry about a thing Prime Minister. We're on our way."
A/N: Ooh, the angst! I hope it's believable that Alex could go off on the Doctor like that. Alex is really tough and she's also really loyal, so I don't think she could stand somebody talking to her friend like that. And there's still one more chapter left for 'The Beast Below'. . . I'm not saying what will be in it, but I think you can guess. :)
Thank you to Cupcake Frosting, ElysiumPhoenix, and XxKicking Your AxX for reviewing. Please guys, keep them coming! And thank you to those who followed/favored this story.
