A/N: Part 4 of the 6-part episode "Pilot."

WARNING: more graphic depictions of violence, Doctor whump, and a major cliffhanger at the end of this chapter.

Chapter 19: A Pirate's Life

"More like his daughter," the pirate that found us says with a perverted smirk. "I'd recognize those old eyes anywhere." He then proceeds to look me up and down as if undressing me with his eyes, seeing if there's any physical part of me that might be different from human females, even though there isn't. I immediately look away from him, feeling immensely uncomfortable.

"Ah, yes, now I see the resemblance," Captain Pig-Nose says, again mimicking his comrade. "She has his chin as well, and his nose. Good eye."

I roll my eyes at this. Oh, good, more 'eye' puns, I can't help thinking sarcastically in my head. If I hadn't already known these creeps were…well, creeps, I would've laughed.

Pig-Nose then bends over to me. "You must be Nova," he says in a tone like he's speaking to a toddler. "Nova Susan Song, is it? Here for a little outing with your daddy, were you? Well, at least before you abandoned him and left him to die centuries later." He says that last bit with a snort, like he'd just told the greatest joke in the universe. He then cocks his head to the side, seeing my seemingly dead father in my arms. Not that he is dead, but the Captain must think that way about him, because he says with genuine disappointment, "Hmm… Seems like he might already be dead. Shame. I would've liked to have watched the light leave his eyes."

His statement sends a wave of anger washing over me, and I feel the so-called 'Jedi/Time Lord Force power' build up inside me again. However, before it intensifies to the breaking point, I suddenly feel the Doctor stir slightly in my arms, and I can sense our psychic link slowly reestablish itself as he regains consciousness.

Upon seeing this, Captain Pig-Nose smiles like a child being given an unexpected gift. "Oh! Guess he's not dead, after all. Excellent! That means I do have a chance to watch the light leave his eyes."

"Don't you dare touch him!" I growl at him, wrapping my arms tighter around my father. If they want to hurt him (again), they'll have to go through me first.

"Oh, my dear…" the Captain sniggers at me, "I already have. Several times, while you were gone. If you hadn't left Daddy's side, you could've stopped me. But you decided to abandon him instead. You abandoned your own father. Not a very good daughter, are you, abandoning your family like that? You should be ashamed of yourself."

Trust me, I already am, I growl in my head, glaring daggers at him. Not that you need to know that. If only looks could kill, he'd be a dead pig-man, as would everyone else. They'd certainly deserve it after what they did to my father. Oh, how I would love to have laser eyes right now.

"Nova…?" my father whispers in my ear as he slowly comes to.

"Dad—Doctor… I'm here," I assure him, caressing his cheek gently as he struggles to sit up but fails. "Unfortunately with company," I add, glaring at all of the pirates surrounding us. There appears to be seven total, including the multi-eyed waitress from Orka's, who I didn't expect at first to be one of them. Even just from her physical appearance, I knew there was something that didn't smell right with her. She must've been the one who spiked the Doctor's ice cream before she delivered it to him in the shop before I stormed out. If only I'd known…

The Doctor then does something unexpected. He smiles at them, saying, "Ah…good. I wondered when…you'd come back for me." He still sounds very weak, but that doesn't seem to stop him from speaking out.

Regardless, I can't help thinking incredulously, Really? You're happy that they're back to have a second go at killing you? Then again, looking back, he wasn't saying it seriously; he was actually being sarcastic. Of course no one would be happy to see their torturers return for a second strike.

"Sorry to disappoint," he continues his sarcastic drawl. "My daughter released me first. Maybe you'll get your turn next time, eh?"

I had to snort at that last statement, knowing that there won't be a 'next time' once we escape. Admittedly, I find it funny that the Doctor had just regained consciousness after a close brush with death, and he's still cracking jokes. Most people would think he's mad, but I think it's awesome—the ultimate "fuck you."

"Oh, we're not disappointed," another pirate says with the shake of the head. "In fact, we're delighted. It's just one extra Time Lord to eliminate."

"Seriously?!" I can't help exclaiming incredulously with a raised eyebrow. I've never even met these people, and they automatically decide to kill me anyway? What freakish world is this?

"Of course," the Captain says with a shrug, like that explains everything. "It's been our life's mission to rid the universe of the Time Lord plague, then steal their technology for ourselves. Unfortunately, there's just you two left, so whatever tech you have with you will have to do."

"I always wanted a time-machine of my own," the pirate that spoke up about wanting to kill me as well speaks up again. "So many enemies I could eliminate before they even make their mark…" Then, without warning, he points his gun at us, releasing the safety, and growls, "Starting with you, Doctor!" He prepares to pull the trigger.

"NO!" I scream on instinct, raising my hand up as a shield to protect us from the shot. However, instead of a shield, a bright ball of energy shoots out of my hand and blasts the gun out of the pirate's grip, blasting it to pieces on the floor. All of the other pirates, including the Doctor, gasp in horror. I stare, in my own horror, at my glowing hand, in total disbelief at what I had done. That's the third time now! Why does this keep happening?!

"Nova!" the Doctor gasps in shock, also staring at my glowing hand. "What have you done?"

"I-I-I don't know," I stammer, completely and utterly speechless. "I-I-It just sort of happened! I-I wasn't…I didn't mean—"

"Impressive," the Captain smirks at me. Several other pirates smirk as well; however, Multi-Eyes's smirk is strange, like she'd expected me to do that, though why, I don't know.

"I-I swear I don't know how I did that!" I say, feeling the need to confess for some unknown reason. "I didn't even know I could do that! That wasn't something I could do before…whatever that was!" That's actually a lie. I don't want anyone—certainly not the Doctor—knowing that this wasn't the first time I'd done something like this. It makes me wonder if this is some kind of newfound Time Lord power, but it isn't a normal one; from my studies on my father, he has no record of ever doing anything like this at any point in time. Knowing this makes me think that, in my case, this was a result of the Silence's so-called 'experiments' on me from when I was a baby. They sought to turn me into a physical weapon; was this the result they were hoping for?

"It seems like your little Time Tot has more surprises literally up her sleeve than meets the eye," the Captain says, smirking at the Doctor. "She could be quite useful to us."

"What happened to 'ridding the universe of the Time Lord plague?'" the pirate that almost killed us says disapprovingly. "We have our opportunity right here in front of us—the last two Time Lords in existence! We should kill them both right now!" He then brings out another gun and attempts to shoot us again, and my body, as well as the Doctor's, stiffens in fear.

"Frowler, did you not see what the girl just did?" Multi-Eyes says, speaking for the first time, her tone of voice completely unlike the one she used in the ice cream shop. "You foolishly targeted them, and she shot your own gun out of your hand! You target them again, and she could do way worse in a heartbeat…times two in her case. She clearly has extraordinary power, even more so than any other Time Lord, including her own father. She should be left alive."

I raise my eyebrows at this. Wow! She actually wants to save us?

Then again, if she actually wanted to save us, she wouldn't have helped the pirates by contaminating the Doctor's ice cream and participating in the beatings; I'm sure she snuck in a few blows herself.

"Why?" the other pirate, Frowler, frowns. "So she can blow us all to smithereens?"

"No, so she could join us," Multi-Eyes confirms. "We can use her newfound power to our advantage. A power like that, she could wipe out entire armies. Forget the time-machine; we could have the most powerful Time Lord on our side. Nothing will stand in her way."

Okay, now I'm seriously confused. Despite having helped the pirates brutally beat my father to death, she's now defending us and convincing the other pirates not to continue with the brutalities.

"Wow!" I say with a frown, glancing between the pirates and the Doctor. "Thanks…I think." I then murmur to my father as an argument ensues between the pirates, "Seriously, what the freak is happening right now?"

"I don't know," he says in a nervous tone as he struggles to sit up, having regained some of his physical strength, "but this may not be something to be thankful for."

"Why?" I ask, puzzled. "They seem to be changing their minds about killing us, after what I did…whatever I did. Well, Multi-Eyes over there, anyway," I say, nodding to her.

That's when I get a strange vibe, like her motives are familiar. She wants me to join their—rather, her own—group and use my newfound power as a weapon against their—her—enemies. This sounds much like the motives of another twisted group I know.

"Although, I can't help but notice that she seems to have similar plans with us as the Silence," I say, confessing my theory. "Bit suspicious, don't you think?"

"Yes," he says, nodding with concern. "I'm beginning to have that same vibe, too."

Once he finishes speaking, without warning, he doubles over in pain, clutching one side of his chest, and coughs into his hand again. When the ordeal is over, he pulls his hand away from his mouth, only this time it's a much bigger blood pool than last time, which fills the space of his entire palm. The pirates immediately cease their dispute, finding the Doctor's coughing fit to be much more entertaining.

"Oh my god!" I cry in panic. "Dad!" I wrap my arms around him to steady his shaking body.

"It's fine…" he says, shaking his head, like it's not a big deal at all to cough up a liter of blood from his throat. "I'm fine." Okay, so he didn't really cough up that much blood, but whatever the amount, it was still too much for one person to be coughing up, no matter what species. Whatever is happening to him, it's getting worse by the minute. Whatever it is, it's slowly killing him from the inside out. What the hell did they put in his ice cream?

"No, you're not!" I say insistently. Of course he's not fine! He's dying, and he really shouldn't be, especially as a Time Lord!

The big question is: why isn't he regenerating right now? Why is his body failing him, when it should be healing? If it was that poison he told me about that disabled regeneration…

"Indeed, he isn't," Captain Pig-Nose says with a smirk. "They say a Time Lord typically with two hearts can survive up to half an hour with only one heart still beating. After that, well…they die. Permanently, in your case, seeing as you have no more regenerations left to give. Isn't that right, Doctor?"

Fudgeknuckle, I curse in my head. I forgot… He's out of regenerations!

Regardless of the situation, I still feel the need to ask, turning to my dying father, "What's he talking about? What did he do to you?"

"Broken…rib…punctured…heart…" he struggles to say breathlessly. His voice sounds like a gargle, like he's drowning, except it's actually blood he's choking on instead of water.

"Yes," the Captain says with a smile, but it's not a sympathetic one. "Sadly, one of his hearts was severely punctured by a broken rib. He just has the one other heart working now. But soon that heart will fail, and seeing as he can no longer regenerate…" He then shrugs his shoulders in a 'oh well, not my problem' manner.

"I guess it's 'lights out' for him," the pirate named Frowler sniggers, like this is all a big joke to him. "Permanently. Bye-bye, Time Lord! Bye-bye forever!"

"You beat him to death just for a TARDIS key?" I growl, my anger seething inside me again at his callous words. At least they didn't poison him; though I don't know what would be a worse death: poison or bludgeoning. In any case, these sick pirates deserve a much worse fate than those two listed.

"Not just that," the Captain shakes his head. "We knew a TARDIS never leaves her Time Lord behind for good; she has to come back for him at some point. If it's true TARDISes are psychically linked to their Time Lord pilots, surely she'd feel his pain and come to his rescue."

These words suddenly make me remember the moment when Idris had electrocuted me to stop me from fighting her for the controls, and I felt a sort of pain from something or someone, but it was neither a physical nor mental pain. At the time, I didn't know the origins of the painful feeling, but now I know. It was coming through the Doctor's and my psychic link, specifically from the Doctor's end. When I 'felt' the pain from him, it must've happened during the time when the pirates were brutally attacking him, but they were doing it not just because he didn't have a TARDIS key but also so the TARDIS herself could end up feeling his pain through the psychic link and come to his rescue. When I no longer felt the pain, that must've been the moment when they put him in the time-lock, and they kept him like that until Idris and I had returned. The entire time, the Doctor had been dying since the beginning, but his death had literally been put on pause when they put him in the time-lock; and ever since I released him, he'd started dying again, and now there's no way to reverse that, especially now that he's out of regenerations.

"Unfortunately for him," the Captain continues, "she decided to come back fifteen centuries late, long after the damage had already been done. In all that time, she could've saved him; but instead she left him for dead, taking his precious little Time Tot with her."

His words make me want to hate Idris again for leaving her own pilot behind, but I know it wasn't her fault. Again, because of the centuries-long war, there was nowhere safe to land, and if she had landed, she would've been blown up with me inside; therefore, the only way to return was to wait out the war until it was over.

After he finishes speaking, the Captain says, smirking at me again, "And now that you're back, I believe you have something of ours."

Of course he knows the Doctor gave me his only key, which I actually still have in my pocket, but I decide to see if I can trick the pirates into believing different. "Who says I have what you want?" I bluff with a frown. "Maybe I left it in the TARDIS. Oops, guess that means no one gets in, not even us. Too bad, so sad. Tough luck, Buttercup." I figure Idris has the power to let anyone in whenever she chooses, key or no key; the key itself could just be a decoy, something that's just for show.

Unfortunately, the Captain doesn't fall for the bluff, because he says, "Search her!" and two other pirates, one being Frowler, approach me with their arms raised in preparation to snatch me.

"What?" I say, genuinely shocked. "No, you can't do that!" But they don't listen. They hoist me up by the arms, pulling me aggressively away from my father. "Get off me, perverts!" I scream, struggling against their strong hold. "It's rude to search through a girl's pockets!" They attempt to shove their hands into my jeans and jacket pockets.

"I think you'll find that we're not ones to ask nicely," the Captain says in a careless tone.

"Don't touch her!" the Doctor yells as he attempts to stand up on his own, despite the pain. "Leave her—!" He is suddenly interrupted as another pirate kicks him hard in the stomach, forcing him to double over in a coughing fit, spitting blood everywhere. When the kick was done, I could swear I heard a cracking sound from more of his ribs breaking from the blow.

"Dad!" I cry in alarm, and that's when my anger completely takes over my body, and I become something else entirely. In my frenzy, I abruptly lift my legs up and kick out toward the pirates as hard and far as I can, hitting them square in the groin. They scream in pain and double over as they release me, and I take that opportunity to take them down in a flash, throwing each of them into the piles of debris, one, Frowler, actually getting stabbed in the chest from a piece of sharp metal sticking out of the pile that kills him instantly—of course that was actually an accident on my part. The other pirate gets thrown into another pirate, knocking them both to the floor hard. Some other pirates approach me, and I prepare to take them down when I suddenly feel a sense of danger take me over, and I immediately duck as a large ball of energy flies directly over my head and explodes against the wall behind me. This seems to stop Time, as every single person present freezes on the spot in shock.

"Enough!" the Captain yells before he blows the smoke from the tip of his gun, indicating that the shot had come from him. "Seize her!" Two surviving pirates grab me by the arms and search through my pockets again, but this time, I struggle to fight them off, as they practically pin my feet to the floor.

"Let me go!" I spit at them. "You'll regret this! I'll kill you like I killed the other guy!" Of course, I just said that to try to scare them, but they don't seem to be fazed; in fact, they don't seem to feel any kind of remorse for their friend Frowler, if 'friend' is the right word.

"Found it, sir!" one of the pirates says, pulling out the TARDIS key from one of my pockets.

Upon noticing this, I laugh in mock-shamefulness, "Uh, did I say I left it in the TARDIS? I totally forgot I still had it."

"We learned to see past bluffs long ago, sweetheart," the Captain says with the shake of the head as he drags his finger across my chin, and I fight back the urge to bite him.

"Found this as well," the other pirate says, pulling out my sonic screwdriver and handing it to the Captain. "And…this?" he says uncertainly, pulling out my phone from the same pocket.

"Hey!" I scream, struggling to grab it out of his hand. "That's my phone! Give it back!" I'm afraid to have it destroyed in any way, knowing that all ties with my guardians and Hazel—particularly my photos and videos of them—are on the phone. If the pirates destroy it, everything that connects me with them will be lost forever.

"Ah, another sonic…'screwdriver,' was it?" the Captain says, smiling tauntingly at the Doctor, who appears to be barely moving on the floor, the kick to his stomach having severely weakened him. "Sharing your old toys with your daughter, are you? Introducing her to 'the family business?'"

Hearing these words instinctively makes me frown, wondering how in the world he knew those exact words.

"That's right, sweet-cheeks," he says, turning to me. "I heard you and your daddy talking when you first arrived, fifteen centuries ago. He wants to train you up to be just like him. A junior 'Doctor.'" He then glances down at the Doctor's body, smirking, "Too bad he won't live long enough to see that dream fulfilled. Though I suppose we can keep him alive a little while longer to see you join us. Like I said before, you could be quite useful to us." As he says that last statement, he reaches out to me again, this time to stroke my cheek.

"Maybe I will…" I say, pulling aggressively away, "but I won't. Like I told another twisted cult recently, I don't think 'murderous psychopath' would look good on a résumé. I'll die before that happens." They can torture me and kill me all they like, but they'll never make me into one of them.

"That can be arranged," the Captain says, genuinely disappointed. "I'd hate to destroy that pretty face of yours." His words put a confused frown on my face. Why would he be disappointed to see me—a Time Lord, a species that which he most deeply hates—killed?

He must've suddenly been having the same thought, because the Captain glances to the Doctor in a way like he has come up with a better plan. "Hmm…" he says, watching the Doctor writhe on the floor in pain, his life-force gradually fading from his eyes, just like how he wanted to see him during his last minutes, "perhaps you'll have a change of heart while under pressure. Or is it a change of hearts? No matter." He suddenly snaps his fingers, signaling to another pirate. The pirate cocks his gun, removing the safety, approaches the Doctor, and aims the gun at the back of his head, the barrel end trained right on his skull.

"No!" I say in fright as I attempt to step forward, but the other pirates restrain me hard. "Don't!"

"I'll give you one more chance," the Captain says as if to make a deal with me. "You join us peacefully, we'll let you accompany your father as he lives out the rest of his minutes unharmed…well, no more so than we've already inflicted on him. You refuse, we blow his brains out right here whilst you watch."

I can't believe this! Really? I scream in my head. Those are the choices? Clearly the pirates aren't going to give the Doctor a chance to survive, given his current condition. I can feel the strength of our psychic link continue to deplete as he slowly succumbs to his injuries. I'm well aware that a few minutes isn't long, but it is far better than none at all; therefore, I will do whatever I can to keep him alive for as long as it takes.

"So," the Captain continues after a minute, "what's it gonna be, princess?"

As much as I want to beat the shit out of him, like he did to my father, there's unfortunately nothing I can do right now. Even if I attempt to go after him, the pirate will shoot, and my father will be an instant goner. The only thing I can do is stall for time, and maybe then he'll have a higher chance to survive, at least for his last remaining minutes.

"It doesn't matter," I growl under my breath.

"What was that?" the Captain says in an offended tone, like I'd just dropped the F-bomb on him; in fact, I wouldn't mind dropping a real bomb on this sick son of a bitch.

"I said it doesn't matter!" I yell angrily at him. "No matter what I choose, you're just gonna kill him and take me with you anyway. Only a Time Lord can pilot a TARDIS; that's why you need me, right? You won't stand a chance even getting inside a TARDIS without a Time Lord, much less piloting one. Like car keys unlocking cars, Time Lords are the keys that unlock a TARDIS!" Of course, I could be wrong about everything I said, but I feel like this could be a good enough bluff that the pirates might actually believe to keep the Doctor and I both alive. I mean, it sounds like it could actually make sense. I just wish I could ask Idris.

'Fortunately for you, my dear, you are absolutely right,' I hear Idris's voice in my head, making me remember that she can hear me, no matter where, when, or how far I go. 'They are called Isomorphic Controls, meaning only a Time Lord psychically linked to me can pilot me. For anyone else who is not linked to me, the controls will be useless.'

'Thank god,' I say, relieved, believing that I had just made all that up.

Luckily, the Captain seems to actually take the bluff, because he sneers at me and says, "Clever girl. You really are your father's daughter." He then glances back to the Doctor, but this time his sneer changes to a twisted smirk, making me think that my bluff didn't actually work. My fear is confirmed when he says, "Unfortunately, your choice of words is not so clever. Like you said, we only need a Time Lord to unlock and pilot the TARDIS, and seeing as your father is no longer fit to pilot it, but you are, we have no further use for him. Say goodbye to your precious princess, Doctor!" He then snaps his fingers, signaling for the pirate to pull the trigger.

"NO!" I scream as a shot is fired.