In this exciting chapter: the end of the Lazarus Experiment, the beginning of Arachnids in the UK, and some exposition in between.
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Enough chat though, let's see how Marion is doing.
As Marion fell, time seemed to slow down. Over the sound of the organ music, and a person's (probably her own) panicked screams, she could hear the sound of a clock.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. It started out fast, but soon but as the ground grew closer the clock slowed down.
Tick….Tock….Tick….Tock….Tick…..Tock…..Tic…..Tock…..Tick…..Tock…..Tick…...Tock…...Tick…...Tock…...Tick…...Tock.
She closed her eyes and held out her hands in front of her as if to brace herself before she hit the ground. She heard something snap and felt something warm and wet and felt pain.
Everything was dark.
It was then that she heard the sound of the clock again despite the fact that, as just discussed, she really shouldn't have been hearing anything.
Tock…...Tick…...Tock…...Tick…...Tock…..Tick…..Tock…..Tick…..Tock…..Tick….Tock….Tick….Tock….Tick..Tock..Tick..Tock.. . .Tick.
Everything was dark.
She felt something cold below her and something warm and wet on the top and back of her head. She felt that wet thing re-enter her skull. She felt her head and her arms and her back, and her neck. They hurt. They hurt a lot and she felt them move and shift, but for some reason, they hurt less and less the more they moved. She felt the cool thing that was below her suddenly tremble.
She realized that she could hear the sound of the organ again. She opened her eyes and blinked slowly to see something falling to the left of her. It took her a couple seconds to realize that it was Lazarus's monster form falling to the ground. She saw him hit the floor face down and then return back to his human form, surrounded by splintered wood.
Marion heard a voice, "DOCTOR! MARION FELL!"
"I'M OKAY" Marion called out. And she was, surprisingly. She didn't even have a headache or feel sore. If anything, she felt just a little dizzy.
Marion pushed herself up on her elbows and shakily made her way to her feet.
"I'M FINE! NOT SURE HOW, BUT I'M FINE! YOU CAN COME DOWN NOW," she cupped her hands to her mouth and called up to them. "I'D ADVISE TAKING THE STAIRS INSTEAD OF GOING MY WAY THOUGH!"
She saw the Doctor running towards her. "Did you know that I could do that?" Marion asked quickly, "Because I think I just died? But I'm not dead. But I think I felt my skull break earlier. Did I die and come back to life or something? Can I do that?" she asked him.
"That's not it," he softly said to her as he leaned down to close Lazarus's eyes. Marion blinked and he was an old man again. Marion would've normally marveled at that, but her thoughts were elsewhere.
'What does he mean "That's not it"' she thought, panicked. She looked at where she fell 'I don't see a body there. Can you see your own body if you're a ghost? No I think I'd know if I was dead right?'. Marion decided that this was another thing that she would ask about later because if there's one thing that Marion Henson is good at, it's delaying potentially life-changing conversations.
"We can talk about this later, before, I want to meet with Martha and Tish again. Okay?" she said getting up and running to meet them. Martha ran and gave the Doctor a huge hug and Marion held up a hand for a high five.
"I didn't know you could play!" she said looking up at him.
"Oh, well, you know, if you hang around with Beethoven, you're bound to pick a few things up,"
"Hmm. Especially about playing loud," Martha said jokingly.
"Sorry,"
Tish cut in. "Marion I saw you fall!"
"I know! I was there. Lazarus would have knocked Martha over the side. She would've been able to hold on long enough for you to pull her up probably, but I wasn't willing to risk it you know,"
"But Marion-"
"I was just lucky Tish! You hear about it sometimes. Someone falls from a plane and ends up with just a scratch," she said quickly trying to sound like she was flippant and casual and not like someone who was 101% sure that she'd felt her blood rushing back into her skull a few minutes prior. She turned to the Doctor and Martha. "Shall we go then? Before people start to wonder why we're in a church with a dead guy,"
Marion was mostly on autopilot as they walked back towards Martha's home. 'Neither Martha nor the Doctor seem phased or concerned by what just happened. The Doctor I get but Martha? What's going on!' she thought as they walked.
The Doctor leaned against the TARDIS and put the key in.
"Something else that just kind of escalated, then," he said.
"I can see a pattern developing. You should take more care in the future. And the past. And whatever other time period you find yourself in,"
"I'll see that he does," Marion said, attempting to hide the fact that she was bouncing her leg.
"It's good fun, though, isn't it?" the Doctor said.
"Yeah," Martha responded. They laughed.
"So, what do you say, one more trip?", he glanced towards the TARDIS.
"No. Sorry,"
"What do you mean? I thought you liked it?". His voice seemed a little higher than usual as he spoke and he glanced at Marion out of the corner of his eye.
"I do, but I can't go on like this. One more trip. It's not fair,"
"What're you talking about?"
"I don't want to be just a passenger anymore. Someone the two of you take along for a treat. If that's how you still see me, I'd rather stay here,"
"Ok then. If that's what you want," the Doctor stood in front of the TARDIS and Marion leaned against it.
"Right. But we've already said goodbye once today. It's probably best if you just go,"
Martha turned to find them still standing there.
"What is it!"
"You said you didn't want to be a passenger anymore, and the Doctor said okay," Marion said with a smile.
"Okay," the Doctor said again, nodding towards the TARDIS.
"Oh thank you, thank you," Martha ran towards them and pulled them both into a hug.
"Like you were ever just a mere passenger Ms. Jones" Marion laughed. The Doctor opened the door and the TARDIS disappeared from the bedroom.
Martha thanked them once more and then went the hallway, presumably, her room.
"Hey, Doctor. I ask you something?"
"Is it about what happened in the cathedral?"
"Yes, it's about what happened in the cathedral. What did you mean when you said 'you didn't'? Did I not survive? Am I a ghost?", her voice got a bit higher as she said that last part.
"No. You were never in danger of dying in the first place,"
"Doctor. I'm pretty sure I felt my skull crack. I should, at least, have a headache and I don't. Was I just super lucky with how I fell or..." Marion asked, confusion in her tone.
"No. Well...Yes, you are lucky, but it wasn't just that you fell in a fortunate way. That's not it either," the Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a yoyo. "Imagine that my hand is being alive, and when you touch the ground, you die. Now when most people do something that ought to mortally wound them, this happens," He let go of the yoyo without putting his finger in the string's loop and it fell on the grating with a clatter. "See? Dead. However, when you experience that kind of thing, you do this," Picked up the yoyo and let it go. This time, he properly yanked it upwards right before it hit the ground? "Does that make sense?"
"So I just get really, really close to dying and then I don't?" she said confused.
"More or less, you do end up with some lasting physical effects though. It just messed with your hair a bit this time,"
"My hair, what about my hair?" The Doctor handed her an open compact mirror and held up another one so she could see the back of her head. The hair towards the top of her head was slightly lighter than the rest of the hair around it. "Is that where I hit my head when I fell?" she wondered aloud.
She handed the compact back to the Doctor and suddenly remembered something else.
"There was another thing Doctor! You know how I helped you distract Lazarus, well, I think I ran with Martha and her family to let the people out before I did that. And then I felt kind of sick and then my vision got dark and I decided to go with you instead. What's that about?"
"That I don't know," he said with a shrug.
"Are you kidding me! How can you not know?" she crossed her arms, "Wait...do you know, but you won't tell me because of spoilers? Because you could just say that instead of claiming that you don't know,"
"I'm not claiming anything. I'm telling you that I have no idea. The Associate never told me. I know that you do it sometimes because I can feel the time distortion, and I know that it has something to do with you and that you'll figure it out eventually, but whenever I asked her what was going on, all she would say 'spoilers' and poke me on the nose,", he paused like he was thinking about something. "It's possible that she wrote you a note offering some kind of explanation although I doubt it. She would've put it in your room. Probably on the desk,"
"I have a room? Where is it?" Marion asked.
"First door on the right," the Doctor said, "the TARDIS always moves it really close to the front of the hallway so that you can find it easily. She likes you. Somehow always has,"
"I'm going to go check. I'll come to find you once I look. Where will you be? The console room?"
"Nah. Martha and I'll be in the kitchen. You can ask the TARDIS where she's put it. She'll tell you,"
"Okay!"
Marion left and went to the hallway. The Doctor was right, the room was quite easy to find. She had barely walked more than a couple of inches before she saw a burnt orange door with a fancy "M" carved into the door. 'It's a good thing I don't hate the color orange. If I walked into a universe where everything was yellow, I think I'd assume I was in hell.' Marion pushed open the door and found a room that reminded her of one of the model homes she'd seen her mom would take her and her brother to go "looking for inspiration" because she didn't know what Pinterest was: decorated, but lacking evidence that a real person actually used it.
There was a bed pushed against the wall with three fat pillows and a dark grey quilt patterned with pale silver constellations. One the wall next to the bed was a bulletin board that Marion could tell had papers pinned to it connected together by yarn on one side and a bunch of photographs on the other. Next to it, was a dry erase board that had something written on it. However, the more she looked at the boards, the more her vision blurred as if she was trying to stare at her nose. She looked away from it. 'Whatever is on there, I'm not supposed to see it'.
At the foot of the bed was a chest of drawers that had pajama pants, some sweatpants, a couple of shirts of various lengths and sizes, a few pairs of jeans, socks, and a white puffy blouse. On top of the drawers were a pair of boots, a pair of slip-on shoes, and slippers.
Across from the bed was a wooden desk with a swivel chair. There were two thin drawers built into the desk. One had an M messily carved into it as if the desk hadn't come with such engraving and the person who wrote it merely had a pair of scissors and determination. The other drawer had an A carved into it with similar finesse. On the desk was a couple of (non-sonic) pens and a thick, spiral, notebook. Hanging on the chair was a messenger bag that looked to be slightly thicker than her own. On top of the notebook, was an envelope that said "READ ME" an orange cursive that floated slightly above the paper leaving a shadow. Marion opened the envelope and looked inside to see a note written with the same orange writing in the messy, almost illegible handwriting she recognized as her own when she was in a hurry.
Hey! Don't worry about the bulletin board or the whiteboard. It's where you? I? We? It's where we keep photos, notes and other stuff that we want to display that'd be spoilery. It's got a perception filter on it. If you don't remember putting something up there, you won't be able to perceive it. That way, I can display things from my friends without messing up your timeline.
The M drawer is for messages from me, the future you to you, Marion past you. Gosh, that's confusing. This is why we use Marion and Associate. There's nothing in it right now, but, if I need you to know or have something with you or something, you'll find it in the M drawer. If I ask you to grab something for me, put it in the A drawer so I can pick it up. The laws of time and space don't seem to care about bootstrap paradoxes provided they're properly resolved, so make sure to check that drawer whenever you can.
I know that room looks pretty empty and bland, that's because most of our stuff is kept in our bags. Putting the same kind of perception filter that is on the info boards on all of our stuff would be a hassle. You can find the bag that you'll eventually give to yourself when you become the Associate way in the back of the TARDIS wardrobe, but you didn't need to worry about that. The bags are a lot roomier than ours ;). You can fit a heck of a lot of stuff in there and don't worry, you'll be able to carry it just fine.
The silicon band is a watch I found. It's designed for miners, submariners, and other folks with jobs that mess with the circadian rhythm. It'll let you know when you've gone too long without eating or sleeping. Please don't do that.
That notebook on the desk is blank. It's for writing notes and filling out adventures. It helps you to keep track of what's going on and also, works as paper for when you have to pass notes to people you aren't able to be with.
You may have guessed this, but 9/10 times, that person should be one of the companions and not the Doctor themself. Try to stick with the Doctor when possible. This timeline is almost identical to that of the show but the "almost" is crucial. Speaking of a show. Don't tell the Doctor they're just a fictional character. They aren't a fictional character here and telling a real ass person that they're fake is kinda weird you know? They won't be taking the knowledge well. On the off chance you slip up, do what I did and come up with as many wacky explanations for how you know their future as you can. That way, if you do slip up, they'll assume it's yet another goof.
You probably have more questions, not the least of which being why you ended up back in the reception room, but this is all that I remember reading so this is all that I am writing. The rest of the mysteries are ones for you to solve for yourself and I wish you good luck.
-A
Marion folded the note. She wondered how much of the Associate's withholding of information was because of maintaining the timeline and how much if it was her future self going, "Well, if I didn't get the information, then neither does Marion," She grabbed the bag off the chair and looked it over. It was a nice, thick, dark blue canvas bag. She opened the flap and looked inside. It was definitely deeper on the inside than out and had rows and rows of inner pockets. Marion moved the things (wallet, Sonic Pen, non-sonic pens, a pencil, a phone, battery pack, music player, wireless headphones, assorted chargers, a granola bar, a non-sonic pocket screwdriver with removable heads she'd gotten at a utility themed secret Santa, and a small cloth sack full of screwdriver heads) out of her original bag and into this new one along with the spiral notebook. She slung the new bag over her shoulder.
She placed the armband on her wrist and it buzzed for a second before two sets of numbers appeared. They both blinked at zero as if waiting to be set. The top number had a small image of a fork next to it and the bottom number had a crescent moon. 'Let's see, not counting the appetizers at the reception, I ate a little bit of toast and some fruit about 7 or so hours ago maybe. I woke up just before that at around 11 ish that day so let's say 13 hours?' Marion tapped a button on the side to confirm. The numbers on the eating clock turned orange and the sleeping clock turned yellow. 'I guess orange means that I should eat something soon.' She exited her room and put her hand on the wall.
"Excuse me, Honey,", she really didn't feel comfortable with calling anyone or anything "Sexy", "could you show me where the kitchen is? I'd like to get something to eat," She felt a hum under her fingers much like when you're running too many things on a computer at once and you can hear the sound of the computers whirring. The hum began to move along the wall. "Do you want me to follow it?" she asked. She felt the hum grow a little bit louder and so, with her hand on the wall, she followed it. The kitchen wasn't too far away and Martha and the Doctor were already inside. Martha was sitting at the table and the Doctor was leaning on the counter. Both were eating some kind of sandwich and there was a third one still on a plate by the stove.
"Hey-o," she greeted, "do you mind if I grab that?" she asked, pointing to it.
"No by all means. It's yours," Martha said. Marion grabbed the sandwich and sat on the counter across from her. The armband had a button that said "reset meal timer" and so Marion tapped it twice and it turned back to zero and began counting up. As she ate, she felt something brush against her leg. 'It's the air current or something.' she thought to herself. 'No wait that doesn't make any sense. Didn't I feel something brush against me before I got here?'
"Hey Doctor, what does it mean if I feel something brush against my leg?" she asked, trying not to sound nervous. "I felt something brush my arm before I got here,"
"Well, usually, it means that you're about to head elsewhere in my timeline,"
"Is that s-oh," she was cut off as she was yanked by her leg off the counter by an invisible force and into some other time and space. She thought that she could hear the Doctor laugh.
For a split second, her vision went red as if someone was shining a bright light in front of her closed eyelids.
Marion landed on her feet and then lurched to the side. She was in another console room, "Thirteen's" one to be precise. The Doctor, Ryan, Yaz, and Graham were holding onto the console for dear life as the Doctor tried to navigate them through the vortex. She attempted to hold onto one of the pillars to keep from being shaken about.
"Are you sure you've got this under control?", she heard Graham as the Doctor who was fiddling with the controls.
"Totally. New systems. Just running them in," the Doctor replied.
Finally, they seemed to level out and the shaking stopped. Marion let go of the orange pillar and collapsed to the floor and pulled herself back up. Finally, the people at the console seemed to notice her.
"Marion!" the Doctor called waving at her in greeting.
"Hold on," Yaz said, "didn't you just say that you were about to leave? You suddenly let go of the console and fell backwards and then you disappeared,"
"Oh. That was the Associate. I haven't properly met y'all yet. I'm Marion Henson. Nice to meet you," she said with a wave.
"Where did you just come from? Judging from the dress, you just came back from some kind of party" the Doctor said, looking towards Marion, "It's early in your timeline right?"
"I just came from the Lazarus incident," Marion replied, "now, let's get these people home yes?"
Marion turned to Yaz, "You can open the door. She landed in the right spot,"
Yaz opened the TARDIS and poked her head outside. "We're home. We're actually home!" she shouted excitedly. The Doctor walked outside and looked around as well. "Yes. Result. See? I told you I'd do it,"
Ryan walked out of the TARDIS after the Doctor and Marion walked out after him. "We're at Park Hill," he said, looking around.
"That's my flat," Yasmine said pointing up to a window a few floors up.
"Wait, you live at Park Hill? We're just up there,"
Yasmine opened her phone. "And I've got mobile signal again. But no messages,"
"I wouldn't worry about that," Marion said, "you've only been gone for half an hour,"
"What, half an hour since we were with you in that warehouse?" Graham said looking at her confused.
"Yup! Half an hour. The T in TARDIS stands for Time you know,"
"So... I suppose this is it," the Doctor said, looking down and a bit sad.
"Yeah, I suppose it is,"
"Got you back. Guess we're done. Nice having you aboard,"
Graham, the Doctor, and Ryan continued with their goodbyes. It was quite clear that neither party actually wanted to go their separate ways, but both parties were convinced that the other didn't feel the same. Finally, Yaz realized that she was able to save this interaction.
"What're you two going to do now?"
"Oh, you know. Back in the box. There's loads to see," the Doctor said gesturing to the TARDIS's open door.
"Just you two until Marion disappears again?"
"Yeah, I suppose,"
"Do you want to come for tea at mine?"
"Definitely," the Doctor said almost before Yaz could finish the invitation closing the door., "Yes, I would. Thanks. I love tea. Tea at Yaz's?"
"From where I'm standing, I can't tell if that's social awkwardness, a crush on Yaz, or both...it's both I bet" Marion thought as she watched the Doctor power walk to follow Yaz. The Doctor turned to look at Ryan and Graham.
"Amazing. Are you coming? Are we all going for tea at Yaz's?"
"She didn't invite us," Ryan called back.
"Don't be daft, course you're invited," Yaz said over her shoulder.
"All right then,"
"Graham?" Yaz called, noticing that he hadn't moved from by the TARDIS.
"I think I'll nip home first, Yaz. Maybe join you later, if that's all right?"
'Does that mean that I can't save Grace?' Marion wondered. 'Well, maybe he really is just going back to his house for a second before meeting up with us again. Come to think of it…'
"I'll meet back up with you guys too," she gestured to herself and her long green dress, "I should probably change out of this. And also, I need to check something," With a wave, Marion walked back into the TARDIS.
Now that the TARDIS wasn't lurching around, she could get a proper look at the console room.
It looked like a magical cave of ice and rock salt. The room was mostly lit by a series of blue hexagon-shaped lights that floated around the center. There was a series of three concentric platforms each taller than the last that glowed orange from beneath. On the highest platform, were seven glowing pillars that looked like they had been grown from orange rocksalt. In the center, was a metal almost steampunk looking console. Another orange crystal grew from the center of it and a crystal stalactite hung from the ceiling. The seven pillars curled around the center like the fingers of a seven fingered hand grasping at it.
She tried to find the hallway leading to the bedrooms, but couldn't. She pressed her hand to the wall. "Hey Honey, would you mind leading me to my room? I can't find the hallway". She felt the TARDIS hum and all but one of the claw-like pillars dimmed. "Is that pointing to my room?" The hum grew stronger. "Thanks, Honey!" She followed where the pillar was pointing to a small corridor. The wall pushed in slightly and then turned a corner making it look like an alcove if you weren't looking close enough, and Marion hadn't been looking close enough until the TARDIS pointed it out to her. The burnt orange door with the "M" was right on her left, and she pushed it open. The room looked pretty much the same, except maybe the bulletin board might've had a few more photos on it that it did before.
'I'll check to see if I left myself any notes and then I'll grab one of the outfits from out of the drawer.'
She grabbed a pair of thick jeans and a long-sleeved grey shirt with a fallen hourglass on the front. She put a pair of socks and boots.
She put the flats she had been wearing where the boots had been and went over to the desk. And folded the dress and placed it on the bed. On top of the desk was what was clearly an address. 'Probably Yaz's place' The "M" drawer had a small pocket knife, a bandana, and a shaker of garlic powder,"Why would I need..." she paused, "wait, this is the episode with the giant spiders, isn't it. Christ,"
Next Chapter: The One With The Spiders
Marion: *learns when she is mortally wounded, she doesn't die, she just ends up with discolored parts of her body.
The Associate: *is covered in discoloration including but not limited to parts of her head, her eye, and around her neck*
Marion: "We don't have time to unpack all that,"
I hope that the yoyo metaphor for Marion's particular brand of invulnerability makes sense. In case it doesn't basically, unlike Jack Harkness, she doesn't die and get better, she gets better and doesn't die. In theory, if you could stop whatever is healing her long enough, she'd stay dead.
Side note, I had nowhere to put it but other forms of immortality in the show using the yoyo metaphor include:
Normal person: The yoyo is let go. It drops and hits the floor. The owner of the yoyo is done with playing with the yoyo for life.
The Doctor/Timelord Regeneration: The yoyo is let go. It drops and hits the floor. Now it's the next person's turn to use the yoyo.
Jack: The yoyo is let go. The owner of the yoyo does the walk the dog trick for a bit, and then brings it back to their hand.
Marion: The yoyo is let go. The owner of the yoyo brings it back to their hand before it hits the floor.
Black/White Guardian/Other unkillable immortals: The yoyo has been duct-taped to the person's hand for some reason. It cannot be dropped