So there's a moment in this chapter that's got me a little bit concerned… I don't THINK I need to change the rating of the fic or add a violence tag. I put in enough details that it's pretty obvious what's happening, but I intentionally left some details vague.
Still, if you feel like I need to put a TW/CW or something, feel free to politely let me know.
Thank you MyBeewing and Ceranis for following and thank you to the guest for reviewing.
Marion assured Agatha that she wasn't seconds from falling over dead and even offered to drink the tainted ginger ale again to demonstrate. Agatha quickly assured Marion that she absolutely did believe Marion and her re-poisoning herself wasn't necessary just to prove her point. Meanwhile, the Doctor told the cooks his plan to expose the killer. It was pretty easy to get them to go along with it. Something about rushing into the kitchen after being poisoned, eating a bunch of random stuff, and then coughing up grey smoke made people a lot more willing to take your word for it when you said that the best way to expose a murderer was through overseasoning some soup.
After she dumped what was left of their drinks in the kitchen sink. Marion snuck back into the sitting room and slipped the lockpick set into her bag. If the Unicorn asked for it back, she'd give it back. Barring that, she was now the proud owner of an authentic Edwardian lockpick set that she had no idea how to use. Eh, she'd just put that next to first aid on the list of things she was going to have to read up on. Something told her that taking the time to learn how to pick locks would be time well spent.
Especially if she was with One or Two or any other situation where she wasn't with someone that had a sonic or in front of a door she could kick down.
After she put the lockpick set in her bag, Marion went to the guest room Greeves directed her to. She took out her phone, and discreetly set it so that it would vibrate and wake her up in a few hours.
If she remembered correctly, this whole fiasco was going to go on until well after nightfall. If she was taken somewhere else DIRECTLY after this, then she'd regret not getting sleep while she could. A sufficiently sleep-deprived Marion was barely capable of passing the Turing test, let alone read!
When Marion finally woke up, it wasn't because of her alarm, it was because of a crack of thunder from the storm brewing outside. She checked her phone and saw that her alarm had been minutes from going off anyway. She looked in the mirror, quickly fixed her hair, and then made her way to the dining room with everyone else. Fortunately, she wasn't the last person in the room and, most importantly, there was a seat next to Roger. Once the lights went out, all she had to do was get up, and make sure that she was standing in between him and pretty much everyone else she couldn't confirm for sure wasn't trying to put a knife in her back.
Shame the dress she was wearing wasn't open-backed. Or red. On knife proof.
Well, at least there was soup.
Marion lifted a spoonful of soup to her mouth.
Peppery. Very, very, peppery. Still edible. But incredibly peppery.
"A terrible day for all of us," The Doctor commented; his hands folded with his chin resting on them. He looked around the table. Lightning flashed "The Professor struck down, and yet we still take dinner,"
"We are British, Doctor," Lady Eddison replied. "What else must we do?"
"And then someone tried to poison Marion and me," he continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Any one of you had the chance to put cyanide in our drinks. But it rather gave me an idea,"
Marion was surprised to see the people continue to sip their soup after that declaration.
"And what would that be?" the Colonel asked.
"Well, poison," The Doctor said. Everyone at the table froze, "Drink up,"
"Oh calm down," Marion said, "It's only pepper,"
"Ah," the colonel nodded, "I thought it was jolly spicy,"
"Ooo fun fact about spicy foods," Marion leaned forward and rested her chin on her hand casually, "Some plants have evolved to produce chemicals to keep them safe from predators that try to eat them! Well, most predators. The chemical doesn't do much to humans, you see. All it does is give the food a little kick!" She took another spoonful of the soup. She noticed the Reverend was staring right at her. "No 'cause we aren't the targets for the toxins. It's only harmful to bugs! You know, flies, grubs," Marion leaned forward, "wasps?"
There was a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. Wind rushed through the open window and snuffed out the flickering candle night. Marion felt a sense of wrongness and her vision spun.
That had happened earlier too. Now that she was looking for it, the sensation was familiar. She just needed a moment to think.
"Anyone got the shivers?"
"What the deuce is that?" the Colonel exclaimed.
"Shh..." Marion held a finger to her mouth. "Listen,"
Buzzing. Loud and repetitive buzzing.
"No," Lady Eddison said in disbelief, "it can't be,"
Lightning illuminated the dining room in bright flashes.
Agatha stood up slowly. "Show yourself, demon,"
"Everyone. It's not safe to be here right now," Marion stood up ever so slowly and edged closer to Roger ready to grab him. "So we ought to ever so carefully-"
In another flash of light, once again. Then in the room, there was a wasp.
"Out, out, out, out, out, out!" The Doctor began ushering people out of the dining room.
Marion quickly pulled Roger out of his chair and shoved him forward.
"What are you-"
"You heard the man! Move!"
Marion purposely walked forward and towards the door, and paid no mind to the buzzing. If Roger still got stabbed, it wouldn't be because she wasn't guarding his back. That was for certain.
It was dark enough that making out anything other than vague shapes was basically impossible. But there was a faint light under the door. Marion pushed Roger through the still open door and then swiftly shut it behind him so that the killer wasn't able to sneak out as well.
Marion heard a click and the dizziness faded. Marion took a deep breath and then choked. The feeling of relief was swiftly replaced by the sensation of someone punching her between the shoulder blades as hard as they could.
'What the fuck was that?'
And then, then pain hit. It was sharp and cold, and yet it burned. And along with the pain, came the answer to her question.
'A knife'
The killer couldn't get Roger, so it got her. Got her good.
Marion instinctively tried to shout, but it came out as a cough instead. Her mouth tasted metallic. Her vision blurred. She stiffened for a moment and stumbled forward. She slammed against the closed door and felt herself side down and onto the floor.
And here came the Clocks.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock
Marion now had a little bit of time to think. She didn't have anything else to do in the clock zone while she waited for whatever happened that kept her from dying and fixed her up to do its job.
Like for example, what the fuck the whole dizziness thing was about. Thinking back on it, Marion had absolutely noticed the way that whatever was causing the dizziness and the nausea and the sense of dread only showed up in high-stress situations. She wasn't getting hit by random pangs of nausea while she was resting on the TARDIS couch no, it was always triggered when there was action. Something had to be happening and she had to be in danger. It just happened then, and not any other time. It never happened when she was calm and safe. And the pain didn't start unless the dange-
Wait. Wait no.
It was like something clicked in her head. There was no way that it was a danger signal. It couldn't possibly be. Just now, the dizziness had left as soon as she shut the door. And the knife had gone into her back a moment later. That was a pretty shit danger detection method. And a few hours ago, she had still felt dizzy even after she had thrown up the cyanide. She hadn't started feeling better until- until she'd given the Doctor the salt and Donna had kissed him.
It was almost like...
Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick
In a moment, the clock noise disappeared, the darkness changed from something complete and total to the comparative less encompassing darkness of closed eyelids in a dark room and ticking and the sound of clocks and clockwork abruptly changed to a loud horrified scream.
"MISS HENSON'S BEEN STABBED. SHE'S IN FRONT OF THE DOOR!"
One of the double doors that Marion wasn't all but pressed against was pushed open as people rejoined the rest of the party.
The opening of the door jostled her. She did her best not to scream. Her body had healed the damage that actually put in her hypothetical danger. So there was no chance of her dying again. But she had fallen at an angle that was making her body have a hard time pushing the knife out. A knife trying to push itself out of your back, but angled in such a way that it was unable to hurt. It hurt a lot actually. It sucks. 0/10. Would not recommend.
All jokes aside, she knew that as long as someone didn't shove the knife in deeper, she was going to be fine.
From her place on the door, she saw someone walking closer. She stared blankly at them for a moment, until she recognized the shoes. The Doctor crouched down in front of her. He put a finger to the pulse points on the side of her neck.
"Hey…," Marion said, getting the Doctor's attention, "Don't worry. I'm outta the clock zone, but I've got a bit of a problem, would you mind? I can't reach and I'm too close to the wall to get the knife out. Could you…,"
The Doctor very lightly rested a hand on her shoulder and ever so slightly pushed her to the side so he could get a better angle on the knife. Marion could already feel her body pushing it out.
Marion hissed. The Doctor lightly grabbed a hold of the knife.
"Doctor," Agatha said quickly, "I don't know how Marion is still alive, but we need to get help. We need to call a hospital," she noticed where the Doctor's hand was situated and her voice raised. "Don't take the knife out! She'll bleed out you can't-,"
In one swift motion, he pulled the knife out of her back. Marion hissed in pain. It hurt. It hurt a lot, but nowhere near as much as it had going in. Marion heard the sound of the knife clattering to the ground as the Doctor let go of it. The Doctor let her go and lightly pushed her so she was resting on her stomach.
"Thanks, Doc," Marion sighed.
"DOCTOR! What have you-," Agatha went silent. Probably because of the sight of the wound on her back knitting itself together. Marion wondered what that looked like. Probably super gross. Marion shifted to get up, but the Doctor put a hand on her arm.
"Wait a moment," the Doctor warned, "The wound's not fully closed yet,"
Marion knew he was right. She could feel something warm and wet receding and the air stinging the stab wound as it slowly closed itself up leaving behind smooth discolored skin.
The Doctor helped her to her feet. Marion realized that the Doctor had positioned himself in such a way that no one was really able to see her back unless they were as close as Agatha, Donna, or himself had been. Everyone had at least gotten a glimpse of the knife in her though. Marion could see it in their faces. Marion looked around the room for something to use as a distraction. The knife caught her eyes. She didn't know what she was going to do with it, but she didn't want to leave it on the ground. And it wasn't like the knife was going to be fingerprinted.
"So...whoever's shoved this between my shoulder blades, do you want it back, or can I keep it!"
"Marion!" Donna admonished.
"What?" she asked, "Oh right. I got stabbed,"
This is normally where Marion might make a joke around the lines of "imagine being murdered, couldn't be me" or "I can't die. Sorry, I'm just built different,"
But considering the fact that someone had actually died earlier that day. That just didn't seem appropriate. So, instead of doing any of that, she simply said, "I'm a lot harder to kill the average human,"
"Are you human?" Agatha Christie asked.
Marion blinked. "...Yes?"
Was Marion human?
Probably?
Probably.
"I'm just very lucky,"
Marion was saved from any more awkward questions when Lady Eddison put her hand to her neck and then froze. She patted her neck again, and then her eyes went wide.
"My jewelry. The Firestone, it's gone. Stolen,"
After a bit of conversation, the Doctor, Donna, and Marion regrouped in the room where they had all gathered together in the sitting room. "And you're sure that you're alright Marion?" the Doctor asked as they walked into the room.
"You saw my back seal itself up didn't you? What, does it still look open? It doesn't feel open. It's not stinging. I'm not walking around with an open wound am I?"
"No," The Doctor shook his head, "I mean. Are you alright?"
Ah. He wasn't talking about her physical wellbeing. He was talking about her mental state.
How nice! Marion LOVED talking about her mental state
"I'm fine," Marion waved the Doctor off, "I got lucky. It only really hurt for a couple of seconds before I passed out,"
And then a lot of seconds when her position on the floor meant that she couldn't push the knife out despite her body's best efforts but that was neither here nor there.
She could walk it off. Roger wouldn't have been able to.
Pain is impermanent. Death isn't.
Agatha was already there, down on the couch and looking down at the floor. Lightning from just outside the window illuminated her face.
"Did you inquire after the necklace?" she asked when they saw them.
"Lady Eddison bought it back from India. It's worth thousands,"
"This thing can sting, it can fly," The Doctor stood in front of the fireplace and began to think aloud slowly, "It could wipe us all out in seconds. Why is it playing this game?"
"Every murder is essentially the same," Agatha brainstormed. "They are committed because somebody wants something,"
"What does a Vespiform want?" the Doctor thought aloud.
"Doctor, stop it," Agatha sighed, "The murderer is as human as you or I,"
"Well," Marion sat down on a nearby couch, "You aren't wrong," she said under her breath.
The Doctor looked up. "You're right," He quickly moved away from the wall and sat down on the couch next to Christie. "Ah, I've been so caught up with giant wasps that I've forgotten. You're the expert,"
"I'm not," she sounded agitated, "I told you. I'm just a purveyor of nonsense!"
"Oh but that's simply not true Christie!" Marion insisted. "Don't sell yourself so short. Humility is a nice trait, but there is such a thing as too much of a good thing,"
"Plenty of people write detective stories, but yours are the best. And why? Why are you so good, Agatha Christie? Because you understand. You've lived, you've fought, you've had your heart broken. You know about people. Their passions, their hope, and despair, and anger. All of those tiny, huge things that can turn the most ordinary person into a killer,"
"Agatha, whoever is doing this is acting like a villain from one of your books yeah? So just think like one of the heroes in your books. Who would've wanted to do it, who could've done it, and how did they do it?"
Lightning flashed outside of the window again.
Marion stood up off the couch. "Well, while you're doing that, I'll go round everyone up,"
"Right!" Marion said once everyone is in the room. She clapped her hands. "As you all know, Professor Peach was killed in the library, someone tried to shove a gargoyle on Ms. Chandrakala's head, and someone tried to kill me in the dining room. This mystery is something we need to get to the bottom of,"
"And," the Doctor continued, "When it comes to detection, there's none finer. Ladies and gentlemen, we give you, Agatha Christie,"
Both Marion and the Doctor stepped aside and sat down. The Doctor on the couch next to Donna and Marion on her other side perched on the arm of the chair.
"This is A Crooked House," Agatha looked around the room as if she was telling a spooky story to a captive audience. "A house of secrets. To understand the solution, we must examine them all. Starting with you," she looked at Lady Eddison and then sharply turned her head to Robina. "Miss Redmond,"
Everyone turned to look at the woman.
"But I'm innocent," she said lightly. She turned to look around the room. "Surely?"
"You've never met these people, and these people have never met you," Agatha raised her voice. "I think the real Robina Redmond never left London. You're impersonating her,"
"How silly," Robina replied airily "What proof do you have?"
"You said you'd been to the toilet…," Agatha began.
"Oh, I know this," Donna chimed in, "If she was really posh, she'd say loo,"
"Miss Henson, do you still have the-,"
Marion held up the lockpick set and placed it in Agatha's hand.
"Earlier today, Miss Noble, Miss Henson, and I found this on the lawn, right beneath your bathroom window," Robina looked away and began to sip her wine. "You must have heard that Miss Noble and Miss Henson were searching the bedrooms, so you panicked. You ran upstairs and disposed of the evidence,"
"I've never seen that thing before in my life,"
"What's inside it?" Lady Eddison cut her off.
"The tools of your trade, Miss Redmond," Agatha delicately opened the case and showed off its contents to the group. "Or should I say, the Unicorn," Everyone turned to look at Robina. Someone gasped. "You came to this house with one sole intention. To steal the Firestone,"
Robina was silent for a moment and then smirked. Her accent changed.
"Oh, all right then. It's a fair cop," she stood out of her chair and walked towards the opposite side of the room from Christie, just behind the Colonel. She dropped her fake posh-sounding accent. "Yes, I'm the bleeding Unicorn. Ever so nice to meet you, I don't think. I took my chance in the dark and nabbed it," she reached into her dress and pulled out the necklace. It swung back and forth like a pendulum on its chain, "Go on then, you knobs. Arrest me. Sling me in jail,"
She threw the necklace at the Doctor who caught it carefully in his hand. He sat back down.
"So, is she the murderer?" Donna asked.
"Doubt it," Marion piped up. "Stealing from people is one thing. Murder is something completely different," Marion put the lockpick set back into her messenger bag, "Just because you're fine with taking jewelry or money or whatever, doesn't mean you're fine with taking a life,"
"She's right," Robina replied, leaning against the Colonel's chair, "I might be a thief, but, well, I ain't no killer,"
"Quite. There are darker motives at work. And in examining this household, we come to you, Colonel,"
Everyone turned to look at the man. He looked away and then straight at Agatha.
"Damn it, woman. You with your perspicacity. You've rumbled me,"
And then the man stood up out of his wheelchair. Lady Eddison looked up at her husband in shock.
"Father!?"
"Hugh, you can walk," she looked at the wheelchair. "But why?"
"My darling, how else could I be certain of keeping you by my side?" the Colonel took Lady Eddison's hand in his.
"You're still a beautiful woman, Clemency. Sooner or later some chap will turn your head. I couldn't bear that. Staying in the chair was the only way I could be certain of keeping you," The Colonel let go of Lady Eddison's hand and turned to face Agatha. "Confound it, Mrs. Christie, how did you discover the truth?"
"Er," Agatha looked sheepish. "Actually I had no idea. I was just going to say you're completely innocent,"
"Oh," The Colonel looked around the room in horror. "Oh,"
"Sorry,"
"W-Well, shall I sit down then?"
"I think you better had,"
The Colonel quickly sat back down in the chair.
"So he's not the murderer," Donna clarified.
"But I have to say," Marion said from her perch on the arm of the couch, "faking a disability because you're afraid that your wife is going to leave you is a really really scummy thing to do,"
"Yes, but it isn't the murder," Agatha continued, "No, To find the truth, let's return to this," Agatha took the necklace from the Doctor and held it up. "Far more than the Unicorn's object of desire. The Firestone has quite a history. Lady Eddison,"
"I've done nothing!"
"You brought it back from India, did you not? Before you met the Colonel," Lady Eddison shut her eyes and looked away. She was silent. "You came home with malaria, and confined yourself to this house for six months, in a room that has been kept locked ever since, which I rather think means-"
"Stop, please," Lady Eddison begged.
"I'm so sorry," Agatha apologized. It sounded genuine, but still, she had to continue. And so she did. "But you had fallen pregnant in India. Unmarried and ashamed, you hurried back to England with your confidante, a young maid later to become housekeeper. Miss Chandrakala,"
"Mother, is this true?" Roger asked in disbelief. Marion didn't blame him. Finding out you had an older half-brother you knew nothing about would be enough to leave anyone in shock.
Lady Eddison started choking up. "My poor baby. I had to give him away. The shame of it."
"But you never said a word!"
"I had no choice. Imagine the scandal. The family name. I'm British. I carry on," Lady Eddison wiped her nose with a handkerchief and took a sip of what Marion was pretty sure was brandy. Brandy was that color, right? Marion didn't know. She didn't drink.
"And it was no ordinary pregnancy," the Doctor said from the couch. Now, instead of Agatha, everyone turned to look at him.
"How can you know that?" Lady Eddison replied, her voice filled with a mix of disbelief and fear.
"Excuse me, Agatha," the Doctor said quickly glancing at the woman before continuing, "this is our territory. But when you heard that buzzing sound in the dining room, you said, it can't be. Why did you say that?"
"You'd never believe it," Lady Eddison replied in a harsh whisper.
"Lady Eddison," Marion said, moving from her perch. "somebody in this room literally stabbed me in the back. The Doctor took the knife out of my back," Marion held up the knife that she hadn't put in her bag because she didn't have anything to wrap it in and wasn't going to just drop a whole knife in her bag. "But I'm still breathing and I know that everyone here saw it. Also, the person who stabbed me was a giant wasp. I'm pretty sure that everyone in this room is just a little bit more willing to believe the seemingly impossible than when they woke up this morning,"
"It was forty years ago," Lady Eddison began. Her eyes stared off into the distance, as if seeing the memory again. "in the heat of Delhi, late one night. I was alone, and that's when I saw it. A dazzling light in the sky. The next day, he came to the house. Christopher, the most handsome man I'd ever seen. Our love blazed like a wildfire. I held nothing back. And in return, he showed me the incredible truth about himself. He'd made himself human, to learn about us. This was his true shape. I loved him so much, it didn't matter. But he was stolen from me. 1885, the year of the great monsoon," she inhaled deeply. "the river Jumna rose up and broke its banks. He was Taken At The Flood. But Christopher left me a parting gift. A jewel like no other. I wore it always. Part of me never forgot. I kept it close, always,"
"Just like a man," Robina commented, "Flashes his family jewels and you end up with a bun in the oven,"
"A poor little child," Agatha continued her denouement. "Forty years ago, Miss Chandrakala took that newborn babe to an orphanage. But Professor Peach worked it out. He found the birth certificate!"
Donna's eyes lit up. "Oh, that's maiden. Maiden name!"
"Precisely,"
"So she killed him?"
"I did not!" Lady Eddison insisted.
"She's right. She didn't,"
"Miss Chandrakala feared that the Professor had unearthed your secret," Agthat continued, "She was coming to warn you,"
"So she tried to kill her!"
"I did not!"
"Nope. Lady Eddison is completely innocent,"
"Correct Miss Henson," Agatha nodded. "Lady Eddison is innocent. Because at this point, Doctor-"
The Doctor quickly sat up out of his chair and began to pace.
"Thank you. At this point, when we consider the lies and the secrets, and the key to these events, then we have to consider it was you, Donna Noble," the Doctor turned and pointed.
"What? Who did I kill?"
"No one. Not unless being a 'temp in Chiswick' is slang for something that I'm not aware of. He's talking about the way you were the first person to bring up the way that this murder mystery seems like something out of one of Agatha Christie's books,"
"You said it all along," The Doctor said, stepping closer to Donna. "The vital clue. This whole thing is being acted out like a murder mystery, which means it was you," the Doctor pivoted on his heel, "Agatha Christie,"
"I beg your pardon, sir?"
"So she killed them?"
"No!" "No!"
"But she wrote. She wrote those brilliant, clever books. And who's her greatest admirer?" The Doctor pivoted to face Lady Eddison, "The Moving Finger points at you, Lady Eddison,"
"Don't," her voice sounded teary, "Leave me alone,"
"So she did kill him!"
Marion sighed.
"No," Marion stood up, "What he means is, what were you doing last Thursday Lady Eddison?"
"I was-I was in the library," she paused for a moment, "I was reading my favorite Agatha Christie, thinking about her plots, and how clever she must be. How is that relevant?"
"That's not the only thing that happened last Thursday. Is it?"
Marion's connected the dots. Pretty much everyone was in the room with her. And she knew who the killer wasn't. Thinking it over, there was only one person it could possibly be. She turned to face the Reverend.
"Lady Eddison curling up in the library with a good book wasn't the only thing that happened last Thursday. Was it?"
"I'm sorry?" the man replied, speaking for the first time since this whole deposition had started.
"You said on the lawn, this afternoon," the Doctor reminded, "Last Thursday night, those boys broke into your church,"
"That's correct," the Reverend replied. "They did. I discovered the two of them. Thieves in the night. I was most perturbed. But I apprehended them!"
"Really?" the Doctor replied. "Really? A man of God against two strong lads? A man in his forties? Or, should I say forty years old, exactly?"
Lady Eddison looked towards the man in shock and horror.
"Oh, my God!"
"Lady Eddison," Marion asked, "That trip to India. It was forty years ago you said? How old would that child be today? Do you think?"
"Forty," the woman said in a hushed tone. She turned to look at the Reverend with a mixture of shock, horror, and confusion.
"Your other son's right there,"
The Reverend laughed and looked left and right. "Oh," he laughed again, "this is poppycock!"
"Is it?" Marion tilted her head to the side. "Is it really?"
"You said you were taught by the Christian Fathers," the Doctor reminded, "meaning you were raised in an orphanage,"
Lady Eddison was still in shock. "My son. Can it be?"
"You found those thieves, Reverend, and you got angry. A proper, deep anger, for the first time in your life, and it broke the genetic lock. You changed,"
"Good on you for going a whole four decades without feeling that kind of rage Reverend. I could never,"
"You realised your inheritance," The Doctor continued, "After all these years, you knew who you were. Oh, and then it all kicks off, because this isn't just a jewel," The Doctor leaned down and took the necklace out of Agatha's hand. "It's a Vespiform telepathic recorder. It's part of you, your brain, your very essence. And when you activated, so did the Firestone. It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time, it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie directly from Lady Eddison. It all became part of you. The mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain,"
"Only, you didn't latch onto Detectives like Poirot, or Tommy and Tuppence, and decide to go around solving crimes like they did. No. No, you decided to do them yourself. Create mysteries. Kill people. I bet it just grinds your gears. Doesn't it? The way I shoved Ms. Chandrakala out of the way. The way I skipped out on my Appointment with Death twice. Bet it makes you furious,"
"You've killed, and tried to kill in this pattern, because that's what you think the world is," the Doctor continued, "It turns out, we are in the middle of a murder mystery. One of yours, Dame Agatha!"
"Dame?"
"Not yet," Marion glared pointedly at the Doctor, "Not for another forty-five years or so,"
"So he killed him," Donna finally said. "Yes? Definitely?"
"Yup!"
"Well, this has certainly been a most entertaining evening," Lady Eddison looked at him hopefully. "Really, you can't believe any of this surely, Lady Edizzon,"
His voice turned into a buzz towards the end.
Marion felt a sense of dread.
"Lady who?"
"Lady Edizzzzon,"
"Little bit of buzzing there, Vicar,"
"Something wrong with your throat? Did dinner not agree with you or something?"
"Don't make me angry," the Vicar stood up.
"Why," Marion replied. Ignoring the dizziness. "What are you gonna do? Try and fail to kill me for a third time?"
The Reverend stood up
"Shut up woman! Damn it, you humanzz," The Reverend's head shook as his "s" came out as a "z". "worshipping your tribal sky godzz. I am so much more. That night, the universe exploded in my mind. I wanted to take what wazz mine," something about him began to glow a pinkish violet. There was no visible source of the light and yet there it was. Almost like it was coming from under his skin. "And you, Agatha Christie, with your railway station bookstall romancezz, what'z to stop me killing you?"
"Oh, my dear God," Lady Eddison stood out of her chair. "My child,"
"What'zz to stop me killing you all?"
The violet glow around Roger grew stronger. Some kind of fog rolled out of his pores like thick smoke, blocking him from view. When the fog faded, in the man's place was a giant wasp.
"Me," Marion said. Shifted in between the Doctor and Agatha and the wasp. "Just like when you tried to kill Miss Chandrakala and the Doctor and your own brother," She ignored the way her arms burned ever so slightly.
Marion heard soft "what," from the direction of Roger.
"Forgive me!" Lady Eddison tried to quickly move towards her long-lost son. Greeves grabbed ahold of her before she could.
"No, no, Mother, come back," Roger said, taking a hold of her as well.
"Keep away. Keep away, my darling," the Colonel added. The two of them pulled the screaming woman into the corner and away from the Wasp man where Robina was standing, huddled and rightly terrified.
"No," Agatha loudly declared. She held up the firestone in her hand. "No more murder. If my imagination made you kill, then my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature,"
And then she opened the door and ran.
Donna ran after her, along with Marion close behind her, the Doctor close behind Marion, and the Wasp close behind him.
"Wait, now it's chasing us."
The wasp was fast. Very, very fast. It buzzed loudly from just behind her.
Was the Wasp supposed to be that fast? That couldn't be right. She started to feel worse. Marion heard the buzzing grow ever so louder, and a sharp pain bloomed in her arm. Right where the pain had flared up at Ground Zero when the bomb was moments from falling. And at Lazarus's reception right before that weird time skip thing had occurred. Then Marion's chest felt like someone was sitting on it.
Marion saw Donna, right at the door, turned to look behind her. Something she saw made her scream. Marion turned to hear what it was just in time to hear increased buzzing and then a loud ripping/tearing sounding. And moments later, she heard a choked scream of agony. Marion turned to see what it was just in time to see the Doctor and the wasp was right behind him. And then the wasp moved away and the Doctor collapsed. Marion took a single step forward towards the Doctor, ignoring the way the ground swayed under her feet. And she ignored the wasp as it flew out of the still open door. That wasn't important. Something was wrong. She stepped closer to the Doctor. Something was very very very very very wrong. Something was stuck through his torso. Something sharp and as long as her forearm. She heard a single choked breath and then nothing. Marion took another step forward, her vision faded and she stumbled, her sense of balance, gone.
Marion blinked the darkness out of her eyes. And stood up from where she had been sitting? Even though she was sure that she had been standing a moment ago. And that had been in the hall. Not the sitting room.
Marion looked around the room quickly. And the Doctor was there. And he was standing upright and he was breathing and there was nothing stuck through his torse and she was back in the sitting room and her vision was back to normal and the pressure in her chest was gone and the Doctor was talking and-
'But he was. I saw it. He-,' Marion's thoughts were disjointed. Because she knew what she had just seen. The stinger; the way it was sticking out of- the dark ever-growing stain on the back of the Doctor's suit jacket. A stain that Marion knew deep in her bones, would've felt slightly sticky to the touch and shown up as vermillion had the Doctor been wearing something lighter than the dark brown pinstripe. And that last choked breath and…
What was the hint she had been given? It had something to do with something that had happened the first time she had met the Doctor?
Well, the good news was that Marion was pretty sure she'd figured out what had happened when she had first met the Doctor, and time skipped back several minutes after she'd decided to follow the Jones instead of the Doctor.
The bad news was that Marion was pretty sure she'd figured out what had happened when she had first met the Doctor, and time skipped back several minutes after she'd decided to follow the Jones instead of the Doctor.
"-deep anger, for the first time in your life, and it broke the genetic lock. You changed,"
The Doctor continued to speak. He glanced at Marion for a second but then continued to talk.
"You realised your inheritance. After all these years, you knew who you were. Oh, and then it all kicks off because this isn't just a jewel. It's a Vespiform telepathic recorder. It's part of you, your brain, your very essence. And when you activated, so did the Firestone. It beamed your full identity directly into your mind. And, at the same time, it absorbed the works of Agatha Christie directly from Lady Eddison. It all became part of you. The mechanics of those novels formed a template in your brain. You've killed in this pattern because that's what you think the world is. It turns out, we are in the middle of a murder mystery. One of yours, Dame Agatha.
"Dame?"
"Not yet," Marion reminded the Doctor for the second (from her view's) time. Much more subdued than she had before. "Not for another forty-five years or so,"
"So he killed him," Donna finally said. "Yes? Definitely?"
"Yup!"
"Well, this has certainly been a most entertaining evening," Lady Eddison looked at him hopefully. "Really, you can't believe any of this surely, Lady Edizzon,"
His voice turned into a buzz towards the end.
Marion felt a sense of dread. Which yeah. That feeling wasn't nothing after all.
"Lady who?"
"Lady Edizzzzon,"
"Little bit of buzzing there, Vicar?" the Doctor said, tapping his throat.
"Don't make me angry!" the Vicar replied through gritted teeth.
"Why?" the Doctor asked, What happens then?"
The vicar stood up sharply.
"Damn it, you humanzz," The Reverend's head shook as his "s" came out as a "z". "worshipping your tribal sky godzz. I am so much more. That night, the universe exploded in my mind. I wanted to take what wazz mine," something about him began to glow a pinkish violet. There was no visible source of the light and yet there it was. Almost like it was coming from under his skin. "And you, Agatha Christie, with your railway station bookstall romancezz, what'z to stop me killing you?
"What'zz to stop me killing you all?"
"Forgive me!" Lady Eddison tried to quickly move towards her long-lost son. Greeves grabbed ahold of her before she could.
"No, no, Mother, come back," Roger said, taking a hold of her as well.
"Keep away. Keep away, my darling," the Colonel added. The two of them pulled the screaming woman into the corner and away from the Wasp man where Robina was standing, huddled and rightly terrified.
"No," Agatha loudly declared. She held up the firestone in her hand. "No more murder. If my imagination made you kill, then my imagination will find a way to stop you, foul creature,"
And then she opened the door and ran.
The wasp had been faster than it was supposed to be. Which meant that she needed to slow it down slightly. Because otherwise the Doctor…
Marion wasn't going to think about that right now actually.
"Hey!" Marion shouted. It turned to look at her. "Here's your knife back". The wasp turned to look at her for a moment and at that moment, Marion hurled the knife at it. It didn't stab into the wasp, unfortunately. Even though the adrenaline and part of Marion's brain wanted the knife to pierce through just like what its stinger had done to-.
The knife knocked against the wasp enough to distract it for a few precious moments.
The moment the knife was out of her hand, Marion ran as fast as her legs would let her out of the sitting room with the sound of buzzing following behind. As she came up to the Doctor Marion grabbed his shoulder and shoved him the rest of the way towards the door that Donna already had open.
The Doctor and Donna and Marion were out of the building and the door was shut behind them.
"Move away from the door," Marion said quickly.
She wasn't going to let what she saw happen this time. Not to Donna. And not to the Doctor.
Absolutely fucking not.
Just then, through the trees, they saw a blue car speeding by with a blonde woman in the driver's seat. Agatha stopped the car for a moment and honked her horn just as the wasp burst through the door. Marion quickly grabbed a hold of Donna and the Doctor and moved so that they were behind her.
She wished that she hadn't thrown the knife. She reached into her bag and her fingertips brushed against the half-a-spear in her bag. Agatha honked her horn again.
"Over here!" the woman shouted, "Come and get me, Reverend!"
"Agatha, what are you doing!?" the Doctor yelled at her.
"If I started this, Doctor, then I must stop it!"
"It's not your fault! None of this is your fault!" Marion shouted. Although she wasn't sure if Agatha had heard her or if she'd sped off too fast.
The wasp turned to look at them for a moment and in that moment and as Marion looked into its beady eyes, she knew with startling clarity that if it started charging towards the Doctor or Donna she was going to kill it. The thought came into her brain in such a matter of a fact way. The Earth is round. The sky is blue. Grass is green. She'd kill the wasp with her bare hands if she had to.
Perhaps the wasp could read her mind or perhaps it had sensed how far away the necklace was getting. Either way, it turned around and sped after Agatha's car.
"Come on!" the Doctor shouted.
The three of them raced to another car that somehow still had the keys inside of it. The Doctor jumped into the driver's seat and turned the car on. Donna took the passenger seat and Marion sat in the middle of the backseat bench; her legs bouncing with adrenaline.
The Doctor sped off after the wasp.
Marion noted the lack of pain in her arms and the fact that she felt a little bit dizzy, but not much.
A good sign. She kept her hand on the end of the spear through. Just in case. It made her feel slightly better.
"You said this is the night Agatha Christie loses her memory!" Donna had to raise her voice to be heard over the sound of the wind rushing past them as the Doctor drove.
"Well yeah," Marion replied, "But time is rarely fixed. This could end up as the day mystery author Agatha Christie left a party distraught and then was later found dead. You- You can't always assume that everything is going to be alright just because it did when you weren't there,"
Because in the show the Doctor hadn't gotten…
If time hadn't reset...
"Things don't always go exactly the way you think that they're going to. Especially when you add extra factors into the mix,"
"But where's she going?"
They continued down the narrow country road. Up ahead, they saw Agatha take a turn and speed past a signpost.
Silent Pool
"The lake," The Doctor exclaimed, "She's heading for the lake. What's she doing?"
"She's trying to lure the Vespiform away. What do you think?"
Finally, Agatha suddenly made a sharp turn and the Doctor followed after her. She stopped her car and got out, holding the Firestone in her fist. It glowed the same violet as the Reverend had when he transformed.
"Here I am!" she shouted. Her voice easily carried across the lakeside. "the honey in the trap. Come to me, Vespiform,"
"She's controlling it!" Donna observed, climbing out of the car.
"Its mind is based on her thought processes. They're linked,"
Marion hopped out the side of the car joining Donna and Marion.
"Quite so, Doctor!" Agatha agrees, "If I die, then this creature might die with me,"
The wasp buzzed forward and to Marion's horror, the Doctor stepped forward as well.
"Don't hurt her! You're not meant to be like this. You've got the wrong template in your mind,"
Marion grabbed the Doctor by the arm and pulled him back. Marion might've thought to snatch the firestone from Agatha and toss it into the lake. But she wasn't thinking straight. Luckily, Donna Noble was. She snatched the necklace from Agatha and hurled it into the lake as hard as she could. They ducked as the Vesprifom flew over their heads. Marion took a deep breath as it hit the lake and her dizziness disappeared along with it.
The spot where it had sunk glowed a molten purple like a hunk of pure potassium dunked in a flask of water.
Marion had expected to feel a bit bad, like how she had felt about the giant spider back in Yorkshire. But the only thought that hit her brain when the Vespiform crashed into the lake was:
Good
Try as she might, she couldn't bring anything else to mind. And if she was being honest, she didn't feel NEARLY as bad about that as she knew she probably should.
"How do you kill a wasp?" Donna asked rhetorically, "Drown it, just like his father,"
"Donna," the Doctor said in disbelief, "that thing couldn't help itself,"
"Lady Eddison beamed stories of cunning people solving crimes and bringing murderers to justice. And yet he chose to be one of the villains instead of the heroes,"
"It made its choice," Donna said finally, "and I made mine,"
Agatha silently stared out into the lake in disbelief.
"Death comes at the end, and justice is served," the woman finally said.
"Murder at the vicar's rage,"
"Doctor that's pushing it," Marion admonished.
"Just one mystery left," Marion looked between the two of them. "Who exactly are you?" Before the Doctor or Marion could open her mouth and give any kind of answer, Agatha suddenly doubled over and started to collapse. Marion and the Doctor caught the woman before she hit the ground and slowly lowered her onto the grass. Agatha's face screwed up in pain and she gasps as if she'd been stabbed in the gut.
"You're going to be okay," Marion assured quickly. She didn't know if Agatha was lucid enough to hear her. But she said it anyway.
"Oh, it's the Firestone," The Doctor said in realization. "It's part of the Vespiform's mind. It's dying and it's connected to Agatha,"
Suddenly, the same violet glow that had bathed the Reverend as he changed and had illuminated the water illuminated Agatha. It shined brighter and brighter until the light in the water slowly faded and then light surrounding Agatha faded as well.
The woman's eyes rolled back in her head and then shut. With a sigh, she went limp. Fully out of it.
"He let her go," The Doctor said in disbelief. "Right at the end, the Vespiform chose to save someone's life,"
"Is she all right, though?" Donna asked.
"She's fine," Marion replied, "When she wakes up, she won't remember any of this. Not the Wasp. Not the murders. None of it,"
Marion wasn't envious of Agatha being able to forget all of that. Not one bit.
"And us," Donna reminded, She'll forget about us,"
"That's fine,"
"And besides that, we've solved another riddle. The mystery of Agatha Christie. And tomorrow morning, her car gets found by the side of a lake. A few days later, she turns up in a hotel at Harrogate with no idea of what just happened,"
Marion adjusted the way she was supporting Agatha and stood up steadily, until she was holding the woman effortlessly in her arms.
"C'mon," she said, walking towards the car, "we need to go back to the estate before she wakes up,"
They watched an awake, but still not very lucid Agatha walk towards the gates of the hotel.
"No one'll ever know," the Doctor remarked watching the woman walk towards the gates of the hotel.
"Lady Eddison, the Colonel, and all the staff. What about them?"
"Oh? What are they going to tell people? Ah yes, we were the last people to see Agatha. She ran off after the Vicar that was actually Lady Eddisons long lost son after he turned out to have the ability to shift into a giant wasp and murder people?"
"And even if people believed that it's a shameful story. They'd never talk of it. Too British. While the Unicorn does a bunk back to London town. She can never even say she was there,"
"What happens to Agatha?"
"Oh great life," The Doctor answered, "Met another man, married again. Saw the world. Wrote and wrote and wrote,"
"Everyone in the world talks about her books. The only things more translated than her works are religious texts. Her name becomes synonymous with detective fiction. She gets to live a long and happy life and even after she's dead, her memory lives on,"
"The thing is," the Doctor turned on heel and walked back to the TARDIS. He clicked his fingers, opening the door, "I don't think she ever quite forgot," he tossed his jacket over one of the coral branches. "Great mind like that, some of the details kept bleeding through. All the stuff her imagination could use. Like, Miss Marple,"
Donna sighed. "I should have made her sign a contract,"
"See, now we're coming dangerously close to pulling a Beethoven's Fifth,"
"And," the Doctor bounced on his heels and started shaking his finger, "where is it, where is it," the Doctor ran off the side and to a chest, "hold on. Marion, could you pass me your pry bar?"
"Sure?"
The Doctor took it and lifted the grating up. He reached down into a crawlspace and pulled out an old-looking wood and iron chest. He passed the pry bar back to Marion and lifted the chest's lid. He rummaged through the contents. He pulled out something metal and flat, a green glowing crystal ball that shrieked faintly, and a cracked plaster head of Caesar.
"C," He murmured as he took them out, "That is C for Cybermen, C for Carrionites, and Christie, Agatha. Look at that!"
He pulled out a paperback copy of "Death and the Clouds", a cover that featured a giant wasp front and center.
"She did remember!" Donna exclaimed.
"Somewhere in the back of her mind, it all lingered," he opened the book and handed it to Donna. Marion shifted to the side to read over his shoulder. "And that's not all. Look at the copyright page,"
"Facsimile edition, published in the year five billion!"
"Good books are timeless,"
"People never stop reading them. She is the best selling novelist of all time,"
Donna sighed. "But she'll never know,"
"Well, no one knows how they're going to be remembered," the Doctor replied, "All we can do is hope for the best. Maybe that's what kept her writing. Same thing keeps us traveling. Onwards?"
"Onwards!" "Onwards!"
Next Chapter: A Warm Loaf of Bread and a Guilt Complex
Marion: You know, I'd really like to know what the fuck is going on with me! If the universe could send me a hint or some kind of clue as to why I keep feeling worried and dizzy and why my arms hurt sometimes, I'd appreciate it!
The Universe: Okay! *does That™*
Marion: Oh great. More Trauma.
You ever have something you are planning on writing, but you have no idea where you're going to put it. And then you're writing and you suddenly go. "Yo! YO! Wait a minute. Here's a place where I can!"
Anyway, a lot of you already figured out what Marion's whole deal was (or at least one of them). But now Marion figured it out as well!
Next chapter, we're gonna have the fallout of this realization, another companion that's been asked for, and what is possibly one of the WORST points in the Doctor's timeline Marion could end up in after something like this!