Oh, also, I have a bio for Marion on my profile. It has a lot of information that I may or may not be able to include in the story organically including her middle name, birthday, height, weight, a more in-depth physical description of how she looks, and some of her personal philosophies. If there is any more information about her that you'd wish to know, drop a review and I'll add it to her profile. I want to talk about Marion, but I don't exactly want to force details into the story.
But enough about that, I want to move onto acknowledgments so I can move onto this story.
Thanks to all these people for following: Faery66, Spazzy13
And thanks to WhovianPotter for following and favoriting.
I'd be real swell if some of my viewers dropped a review but you don't have to.
After sneakily taking a few photos of the area with her phone just in case Robertson actually tried to run for President, Marion and the rest of the group ran back into the kitchen to regroup.
The Doctor ran in first, followed by Yaz who shouted to Graham and Ryan
"We've found out what's going on!"
"Massive spider in the ballroom!" Ryan shouted at almost the same time as Yaz did. Both he and Graham were breathing heavily, probably from running all the way back here.
"How massive?" the Doctor asked.
"The size of a large van," Graham answered, crouching down with his hands on his knees and breathing heavily.
"Wow!" Marion said in a faux-excited tone, "I hate that!"
"It must be the mother and the rest are the babies,", Jade reasoned aloud "Some stayed here, some went out into the city, their pheromones disrupting the spider ecosystem, causing other spiders to behave abnormally,"
"Of course. Najia, you weren't the link," the Doctor turned back to Jade, "Your colleague, Anna. What if she had the same pheromones on her, accidentally calling out to a spider that had gone out hunting from this hotel? All these spiders answer the same call because, in the end, every living thing has the same instinct. To come back home,"
"That's very touching. But there's a plague in my hotel and it needs to be fixed," Robertson shouted.
'I'm getting sick of this dude,' Marion thought to herself.
"Take us to your panic room," Marion ordered.
The panic room was at the end of yet ANOTHER long winding corridor. Said corridor was dark and the only light coming from the soft glow of the locking mechanism. There was a red thumbprint sensor next to a green retinal scanner. Robertson leaned down to present his eye to the scanner as he pressed his thumb against the sensor. The retinal scanner made an odd whir noise as the laser-scanned his eye until the light turned off and the door began to beep.
"It looks like a bank vault," Graham commented.
Robertson pulled a final lever and pushed the door open. He gestured with his hand inside the room.
"My lockdown palace," he walked inside of the vault "I have one in every hotel, just in case it's needed,"
The group followed Robertson inside. Yaz entered last and closed the door behind her.
The panic room was a decent sized room. It's curved concrete walls and the way that it was lit made Marion think of the metro station. There was a large flatscreen tv against the wall and the room was filled with black unopened crates.
"What's in the boxes?" Ryan asked.
"Food, water, entertainment system, a book. I could survive here for six months if I needed to. And I've got a huge stash of weapons, enough for all of us. Enough for two guns apiece,"
"Oh, mate", Ryan said pointing to the Doctor, "She's not going to like that,"
"No, I'm not. You are not shooting those creatures,"
"Told you,"
"They're mutants," Robertson tried to reason.
"Caused by you," Jade reminded him.
"Your carcasses, lady, not mine,"
"Your poor business management," Marion said, "Not hers,"
"Whatever happened", the Doctor cut Marion off before she could go on yet another rant, "there are living, breathing organisms out there and we treat them with dignity," The Doctor could tell from his expression that she wasn't going to be getting through to Robertson, and therefore, she turned her back to him and addressed the more reasonable and less bull-headed members of the group, "So here's what we're going to do..."
"SHOOT THEM", Robertson shouted.
"How many times do I have to tell you to shut up before you listen, Robertson!", Marion shouted back, she calmed her tone a bit and took a deep breath, "Your decision-making skills or lack thereof are what caused this mess. Do be understanding if we don't trust your idea of how we get out of it. We are not going to shoot those poor spiders," she said sharply.
"What's wrong with you people? What is wrong with this country? Why don't you do what normal people do? Get a gun, shoot things, like a civilized person. And you? You're American. Why aren't you with me on this?" Robertson retorted.
"First of all, I don't think that the firearms that you have are even legal in this country. Second of all, who needs guns when she's got a plan?" Marion pointed to the Doctor, "You Do have a plan right Doc?"
"Right Marion," Perhaps it was just Marion's imagination, but the Doctor seemed to smile slightly when she called her "Doc". (Of course, since it's being brought attention too, it must not be her imagination, but that's neither here nor there.)
"Spiders are roaming this hotel searching for food. We're going to lure them in here with the promise of food, then deal with the spider mother in the ballroom," the Doctor paused for a second and then said more or less to herself, "Oh, that sounds like the best novel Edith Wharton never wrote,"
"Once they're in here, what happens?" Nadja asked.
"We shut them in and isolate them," Jade replied.
Robertson held up a finger to call attention to himself, "You're going to let spiders use my panic room?", he said in disbelief.
"They deserve a humane, natural death,"
"Shooting's quicker,"
'He must be a lot of fun at the ICU,' Marion thought to herself.
The group stared at him for a second in shock that he would seemingly miss the whole point of what they were saying. Instead of responding, Graham sighed.
"So how are you going to lure them?" he asked.
"Spiders gravitate to their food through vibration," the Doctor thought aloud before coming up blank. "Any ideas? Marion?"
"Ask Ryan, I know he's got a good one,"
Ryan thought for a second,
"Easy, Raze," he turned to Yaz who looked up at him in confusion. "Am I right?"
"I don't know what you're saying"
Ryan waved her off, "Yaz, you're so uncool right now,"
A moment, later, Ryan had hooked his phone up to one of the speakers which began to blast...music. It had lyrics, and a beat to it, and some music in the background, which is what music is after all. It was loud enough to make Robertson flinch back from the speaker and recoil at both the volume and the content playing at said volume.
'You know what,', Marion thought to herself bouncing her foot slightly, "this music actually kind of slaps.,
As RAZE blasted "music" through the sound system and into the hotel, Marion could hear the thundering sound of dozens of giant spiders. It sounded a lot like thunder but with spiders instead of lightning. They made their way back to the kitchen which at this point had become almost a home base for the group. The Doctor, Nadja, and Marion crouched behind one of the kitchen counters and watched the procession and Ryan and Yaz by one of the doors. Marion yawned, unable to stop herself and checked her band to see how long it had been since she slept. The number glowed dark orange nearly red.
'God, I'm going to have to take a nap once I get back into the TARDIS. I was barely in 10's for half an hour when I ended up here. Hope I'm able to stay longer this time. At least long enough for a bit of sleep,"
Sleep deprivation aside, the plan seemed to be working fine. All the spiders were marking their way towards the panic room in droves. After all of the spiders had cleared out of the room, the Doctor waited for a second and Marion tried to listen to see if any more were coming.
"The coast should be clear," she said after a moment.
"Right," the Doctor said standing up from behind the counter, "phase two then,"
Between the ballroom and the kitchen were the spa area and part of the spa was a large swimming pool. Marion pointed to the Yaz, her mom, and Ryan.
"You three, go into the spa and get as many essential oils as you can. The stronger the smell the better," she snapped her fingers, remembering something, "If it's too much to carry them all and they have lemon and minty smells get those. Peppermint, Tea Tree Oil, Lemon. Get plenty of that,"
"What are we going to do, spa it into submission?" Nadja asked rhetorically.
"Precisely. The Doctor and I will meet you at the entrance to the ballroom,"
The ballroom looked like most fancy hotel ballrooms. It was a large room with patterned carpeting. The walls were dark brown and the color was only broken up by the white rectangular pillars sticking a bit out of the wall. Between each pillar was a large door, the same color as the walls.
Marion could imagine the room filled with round fancy, folding tables covered in white or dark-colored tablecloths. With people filling the room and sitting at the seat with the name in front of it; their glass of water seemed to get refilled every time they took a sip and looked away for a second. She could imagine young children getting dragged to fancy parties they don't want to be at and their parents dragging them.
Marion tried to imagine these things being there because with all the hustle and bustle, she had for a moment forgot that instead of a wedding, an athletics banquet, or even an especially lucky girl's sweet sixteen, all that was in this room was a spider with a body the size of a double bed not even counting the legs. She adjusted the bottle of diluted peppermint oil she had on her hip
"Ooo! Very big spider," the Doctor said aloud,
"What have we got?" Ryan asked, shaking his bottle.
"Diluted peppermint and tea tree oil. Spiders hate it for about the same reason that they hate garlic. It smells really, really, really, strong," Marion explained.
"I'm hoping that this will help us herd it out," the Doctor said walking with a purpose towards the spider. The rest of the group walked with them.
'You know, spiders are somehow less scary when they're big.' Marion attempted to convince herself.
"You want us to herd out a giant spider?" Graham said in disbelief, "They're attacking people," he reminded them.
They walked a little bit closer when Jade held out her arm.
"Stop a second. Can you see that?" The spider climbed a bit and then fell back down. It was a lot like watching a spider try to climb up a bathtub although except Marion didn't think she had a cup big enough to carry it outside.
"It's grown too big," the Doctor said, looking at the spider with pity.
"She's suffocating. She's got too big to breathe efficiently. Even moving around in here, it's using up what little oxygen she can absorb. She won't survive for long. She's more scared of us than we are of her,"
"Poor thing," Marion said softly.
"I'm so sorry this has happened to you," The Doctor said in a way that reminded Marion of the person she had been three faces prior.
They watched the spider continue to try to climb the wall and continue to fall back down.
"So what do we do," the Doctor turned to look at Graham as he spoke, "just leave her?"
Just then, the door that they had come out of swung open and there was Robertson, brandishing a gun and walking into the ballroom in a way he probably thought made him look like some kind of action hero.
"No. Absolutely not," the Doctor said, she ran towards the spider and attempted to put her body between Robertson and the spider. Robertson began to walk closer and closer to the spider.
Marion was torn, 'He's an asshole, but what's worse, suffocating to death or being shot?'
"My hotel, my rules. I am the future President of the United States," Robertson declared. He aimed the gun "how's this for fire and fury,"
'There's got the be a more humane way to put her down right'
Thinking quickly, Marion grabbed Robertson's arm and yanked it downwards, throwing off his aim and making him miss. He shoved her aside and made her lose her balance making her hit the ground. Before she could stop him, he took another shot, this one, hitting the mark.
The spider fell on it's back nearly knocking the Doctor over. It screamed and hissed and writhed as the Doctor looked down almost in shock. Marion got back to her feet and snatched the gun from Robertson's hands. She would have dropped it on the ground, but seeing that as an American, she had a basic understanding of gun safety, she merely set it on the ground and kicked it away with her foot before moving to look at the dead spider with the Doctor.
"She wasn't a real threat. She was dying anyway," the Doctor said to Robertson. Tears could be heard in her voice and she sounded furious.
"Ah, well, then it's a mercy killing," Robertson replied cruelly.
"That wasn't mercy, it was just killing," Marion said, regretting that she didn't stop Robertson from grabbing the gun in the mineshaft.
"I don't need either of your approval. This is what the world needs right now. This is what's going to get me into the White House,"
Robertson left the ballroom.
"God helps us all," Graham said. Nobody spoke for a bit, and then Marion said,
"That gun was most certainly under 30 cm. Maybe Kevin had a permit but I don't think that he did. That's illegal, right? Not to mention the apparent stockpile of guns he had in his bunker..." she trailed off, "although I suppose in order to get proof we'd need to open up the spider bunker...nevermind,"
"Someone should go get Kevin," Marion said after a few seconds of awkward silence.
Marion and the Doctor stood in the TARDIS. Well, to be precise, the Doctor stood. Marion was sitting on the stairs facing the TARDIS doors.
"They should be here soon Doctor," Marion said softly, "any minute now,"
"Are they going to want to stay, or am I going to find someone else along the way," the Doctor asked. Marion noticed the use of "I" instead of "We". She also noticed that it was a Question.
"As far as I know, they'll want to stick around," Marion paused for a moment, she often knew what she was trying to say but had no idea how to word it. She sometimes found it hard to speak in a non-rambly way, especially went she felt anxious.
"On the off chance that they don't. I-I think you still need a companion, someone not me. I...know that it probably feels weird lookin' at me. You look at me and hope to see 'the Associate'. A person you've apparently known for centuries and I look back at you instead, and you can tell that I barely know you. I-I can't imagine that that feels good. I think that no matter what, you need a person who can meet you properly in order...you know? And...and I hope that when I disappear, the Associate that you meet shares a few more of those memories you know especially since the older you get, the less of those you see I imagine,"
The Doctor didn't respond for a bit. And then she let out a small laugh, "You're not wrong about you being a little bit different from the way you will be and I can't help that, but honestly, things like what you just said show that you aren't that different from how you'll be in the future. You've always said that kind of thing to me, reminding me to pick up companions that aren't you, reminding me that everyone matters. Reminding me that I've got to have someone that meets me in the right order along with you," she turned to look Marion in the eyes, "You know, you haven't changed all that much. Sure the Associate acts a bit more familiar and a bit more confident, but you're still my brilliant Miss Marion," she said that last part with a wink.
Marion might have replied, but then there was a knock on the door.
"It's them," Marion said. She grabbed ahold of a small knob on the side of the console, "this opens the door right Doc?"
The Doctor looked up from where she had been fidgeting with the console and nodded her head.
Marion opened the door and Yaz, Ryan, and Graham walked into the TARDIS.
"Proper goodbye this time," the Doctor asked, not willing to look up from the console.
"About that..." Ryan said.
"Do we have to?" Graham asked, stepping forward, "You see the thing about grief is it needs time. I don't want to sit around my house waiting for it to go away, cos that house is full of Grace and it makes it so much harder. But, er, being with you two and seeing all these things out there, it really helps,"
'I'm going to fail to save Grace.' Marion thought to herself, 'or maybe...maybe I can fake her death somehow? Well, I'll have to try something anyway...or maybe I already tried something and it failed?'
The Doctor moved away from the console and closer to the group, "What about you?"
"Do you really think I want to go back to working in that warehouse?" Ryan shook his head "No way,"
"Yaz, you wanted to come home,"
"I know. I love my family, but they also drive me completely insane. I want more. More of the universe. More time with you. You two are like the best people I've ever met,"
"You're pretty awesome,"
"You're alright I suppose,"
Marion didn't want to dissuade them, god forbid, but she also wanted to make real sure that they knew what they were getting into.
"I can promise that I'll do the best I can to keep you safe, and Question limit be damned if there is something you need to know that's a matter of life and death, I'll tell you. But you've got to understand, even I'm not 100% or what's going to happen next once we flip that lever,"
"We know," Yaz said simply. Marion supposed that she had told them this before. Yet, the Doctor chose to press the point, "Do you? Really? Cos when I pull that lever, we're never quite sure what's going to happen,"
"That's okay," Ryan said.
"You're not going to come back as the same people that left here,"
A small part of Marion wondered if this speech was directed at her as much as it was to them. Marion caught the Doctor's eye and nodded.
"But that's all right. I think that's good," Graham replied.
"Be sure. All of you, be sure," the Doctor said, trying to give the group a chance to back out.
Yaz, Ryan, and Graham all assured the Doctor that they were in fact, positive that this was what they wanted to do.
The Doctor smiled widely, "Look at you. My fam," she scrunched her nose. "No, still doesn't quite work. Team TARDIS? I used to not like that name much, but you know, it is growing on me. How about it, Team TARDIS,"
"I know I like it," Marion said. The Doctor gave Marion a look that said, "You would,"
The rest of the group looked to mull it over for a bit before Yaz said, "We'll take that,"
The Doctor smiled brightly before turning and running towards a large lever. The dematerialization switch or, if you want to be pedantic about it, the parking brake.
"Do you want to do it together?" she asked excitedly, "You too Marion,"
The five of them each put a hand on the lever.
"I love this bit!" the Doctor said with a smile in her eyes. The five of them slammed the lever down and the TARDIS made the telltale grinding noise as the box disappeared from Earth and who knows where.
Perhaps it was the hum of the TARDIS or the rhythmic grinding of the console, but Marion felt incredibly tired. She had eaten some kind of soup made with tomatoes, spice, and some kind of meat that as far as she knew wasn't of earth, but tasted somehow like beef, and the band on her arm showed a cheerful green hue which contrasted greatly with the harsh red hue of the number informing her that sleep was of the essence. As if she needed a number when she had zoned out so hard in the TARDIS showers that she had to stop herself from falling over. She changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top and made her way to her room.
Like always, her room was around the corner and to the right on the left side of the wall. Had she been more aware of her surroundings, she might have noticed the fact that the bathroom was in fact, NOT located in the same spatial location as the console room and therefore, her room shouldn't have been in the same relative location relative to both of them.
However, she was too tired to really think too in-depth about this. She just put her hand on the bedroom wall and offered a quick thank you to the TARDIS. She couldn't see where the light the room was coming from, she didn't see any switches.
Too tired to really worry about this, and content to just get down, deep enough in the covers that this wouldn't be a problem, Marion climbed into the bed and under the grey covers. If she hadn't conked out as soon as she soon as her head hit the pillows she would've seen the TARDIS lights dim slowly until there was only a faint light, barely brighter than the light of a full moon.
Marion is back on the path where she had gone on her way to the convenience store. In front of her, she could see herself. It was funny how that happens sometimes in dreams.
You knew you were looking at yourself, but you also knew that you were the one looking.
Your brain doesn't make up faces. It makes sense to see yourself.
Marion decides to follow herself walking along the path and after a few seconds, choosing the one leading to the woods. Their shoulders touch briefly as she moves in front of them.
She follows the dream into the clearing in the middle of the forest. She sees herself take a look around the beautiful forest. It's a lovely place with the cherry blossoms and the dogwood and the sweet smell of the woods in spring. She remembers this, not what happens after.
The air behind the her that she's viewing glows orange for a split second to form a rift about 45 degrees to the ground. Through the rift, she sees stars and galaxies. Something like tangible smoke moves from the rift and brushes against Marion's arm.
The Associate watches as Marion turns around but if she sees the rift behind her, she does a convincing job of acting like she doesn't. She ignores the rift and continues moving forward. The smoke makes itself seem just a bit more tangible and the edge of it wraps around her forearm almost like a cuff.
Marion now seems to notice that something is off. She attempts to walk forward but is held in place by the smoke. She looks confused. The Associate wonders if it's because she can feel the smoke, but is unable to see it. Suddenly, the smoke moves swiftly into the rift taking Marion with it.
There is no one in the woods but the Associate. And then she wakes up.
One might say that Marion woke up with a start, but that'd be incorrect. She woke up the way that most people do after a good night's rest. She realized that her eyes were closed, except she wasn't sleeping, and there was an odd feeling in her mouth. She stretched her body out slightly and yawned. She tapped the button on the band twice until it went from dark red to the bright green symbolizing that she wouldn't need sleep for a while yet.
She stuck a foot out from under the warm grey comforter and dragged herself out of bed. Her dream was already slipping away from her mind. 'Something with blue smoke...and was there a forest? I think I heard people talking maybe.' She shook her head. Sometimes, dreams were just dreams.
She made her way to the chest of drawers at the foot of the bed and rummaged through them for something to wear that day. As far as she knew, the show never showed what happened right after team TARDIS flipped the switch, and she wanted to be prepared for everything.
'It's doubtful that we're going to be going anywhere fancy, so it'd be for the best that I grab something comfortable and mobile on the off chance that I've got to do a lot of running. That's not much different from what I normally wear if I'm being frank.' she thought looking through the drawers for something to wear.
She eventually decided on dark grey-colored pants made out of some odd fabric that was thin and soft but seems very sturdy. With it, she wore a chocolate brown mid sleeve of similar material.
She was about to head out the door to say good morning (or whatever time it currently was) when she felt a brush against her arm. She felt that at this point, she knew the drill quite well and knew what was about to happen. So, before she could be sent somewhere else, she grabbed onto her bag and made sure that it was securely over her shoulder. She used the pen to write a quick note letting the gang know that she had left and was sorry that she was unable to properly tell them goodbye before she left and, realizing that that sounded a bit dramatic, added a postscript letting them know that she wasn't about to like, die or something. Feeling the tug get a bit stronger and realizing that she was likely going to be unable to leave her room before she left. She turned the letter into a small airplane, opened the door, and threw it outside.
She thought that she heard the Doctor's voice, but she definitely didn't see anything. The second the note left her hand, the hand in question was grabbed by some unseen force and it pulled her back. She was falling and like she had done many times before, she closed her eyes but not before seeing a glimpse of something blue.
Next Chapter: Sometimes, Pretty Girls Like Sand
Marion: Wow what a nice rest. Before I leave, I think I'm going to go say hello to the Doctor and maybe enjoy a nice day or relaxation
The Universe: Ha. That's funny.
I have an idea and I want y'all's thoughts on it, how would you feel if for the first time an important character, (the Doctor {and possibly each of their incarnation or at least the ones that started with a bit of post-regeneration amnesia}, Companions, etc.) met Marion (as in, the first time from their perspective) instead of writing in a 3rd person limited perspective following Marion like I normally do, I wrote their meeting in a 3rd person limited perspective following the person in question. Not for the full chapter, just until a line break.
If no one says anything, I'm going to do it, but if you feel like it breaks the story or something, let me know. I think it'll work fine since this story is in 3rd instead of 1st or 2nd.