Hello! Hello! Hello! It's me. I'm back again! Y'all heard about the new Doctor announcement yet? I for one, am very, very, very excited to see what Ncuti Gatwa will do and even more excited to know what kind of character the Fourteenth Doctor will be. And Donna is coming back for the 60th anniversary AND we're meeting a character who I'm pretty sure is Donna's daughter. Not to mention we get to see 10 again. Pretty sure David Tennant is becoming NuWho's Patrick Troughton and I am Here For It.
The next serial will be a First Doctor story, Specifically, Planet of the Giants. After that, the Rings of Akhaten, and after that? Either a Nine comic or End of the World. This of course all assumes that I don't suddenly change my mind, which I have been known to do, but that's the plan as of right now.
Anyway, for this chapter, I had an idea, and then I realized the implications of that idea, and that that idea would allow me to make explicit something I've been hinting at in a way that I'm not sure was noticeable. So that'll be fun! For me and you readers. Probably not some of the characters though. :)
This is a drawing bookworm did of Marion and Five: tiktok [PUT A PERIOD HERE] com/ dc [PUT A PERIOD HERE] bookworm/video/7083753371642989867
And this is a drawing I did of Marion and Six: deviantart (PUT A PERIOD HERE) com/lunammoon/art/Marion-and-Six-914830363
Thank you alkeygin for following and jansesu for following and favoriting.
The three of them continued to run until they had reached the secret passage under George's house. The knight wasn't chasing after them. Honestly. Marion wasn't even sure that the soldier was able to leave the church in the first place.
"I think we can slow down now," Hampton said, "That thing isn't following us,"
Both Hampton and the Doctor were out of breath.
"I need to speak to Sir George," the Doctor said, not responding to Hampton's words.
"Haven't you got enough troubles?"
"The Doctor? Never enough. He actively looks for more,"
"As if you aren't just as bad," the Doctor retorted, before turning to Hampton, "Do you know anything about psychic energy?"
"Oh, you know I don't."
"Then a quick lesson." the Doctor started to gesture with his hands, "It can of course occur in many and varied forms, but the type here, capable of creating projections, requires a focus point."
"Uh uh,"
"Like a movie projector," Marion offered, "You need a lens to focus the picture."
"Yes, yes" the Doctor nodded, "And like how a lens needs light in order to project images, the focus point needs some source of psychic energy. And what at the moment is creating the most psychic energy?"
"Um, er,"
"The War Games,"
"The War Games?"
"And," Marion said, "George is the man in charge of the War Games. That's why the Doctor wants to speak to him,"
"Yes, the trouble is, I don't think he can have any idea of what he's doing. The Malus is pure evil. Given enough energy, it will not only destroy him but everything else"
"Cheer up. If every single evil entity and the idiots they trick into helping them that wanted to destroy the earth got their way, this planet would have been ash by now. And that's assuming that the Earth was even able to exist in the first place."
They continued to walk along the passage. Unlike the Doctor or to a much less extent Jane, Marion did not need to lean down or hunch to make it through without scraping her head on the ceiling, although it would probably be a good idea to wash her hair.
"Not much further," the Doctor said. He gestured ahead at the stairwell.
"Wait," Hampton stopped walking, "Will said he saw the Malus in 1643, in the church,"
"He did," Marion nodded, "and he did"
"It's been there for hundreds of years,"
"Wouldn't surprise me if it's been there since long before the war,"
"So why has it been dormant for so long?"
The Doctor turned to look at them and then started to walk up the stairwell. "It requires a massive force of psychic energy to activate it. When the Civil War came to Little Hodcombe, it created precisely that."
"And Sir George is trying to recreate that same event:"
"Yup,"
"Yes, in every detail. Tegan's grandfather must have told him everything he discovered. He knows it's the only way for the Malus to be fully activated,"
"I've had a terrible thought," they stopped walking, "The last battle in the war games has to be for real!"
"It's a shame that they have to do all this with real weapons. A bunch of people running around town attacking each other with foam swords and darts might be fun. Real weapons? Not so much,"
"Precisely. The slaughter will be dreadful," the Doctor remarked, before continuing up the stairs.
"You must stop him,"
"That was the plan, yes," Marion replied. "Anyway," she turned to the Doctor, "Tegan's through there. I'm going first,"
"How do you-,"
"I listen," Marion replied. Also, she knew even before they had gotten there but that was harder to explain to Hampton so she didn't.
Marion could hear the sound of footsteps followed by Tegan's strong and distinct voice. She was yelling at someone. Sir George, or maybe it was the man who'd dragged them to meet Sir George. She couldn't remember. Marion lightly grabbed a hold of the doorknob.
"History is littered with loonies like you. Fortunately, most of them end up safely locked away!"
Marion could hear Tegan shout.
"Insight is often mistaken for madness, my dear," replied a male voice.
"I didn't realize that the Malus was so evil," said another.
'It's literally called the Malice, that should at least raise some red flags,' Marion thought.
"Don't worry Wolsey," said the first man, "It will serve us,"
"It will use you," Tegan corrected.
Marion pushed open the door into the study. The first man was in fact Sir. George. "She's right," Marion said with a nod towards Tegan, "Cosmic forces pretty much never keep their bargains with humanity, and when they do, it's just so they can continue to use them until they've been deemed of no use. If the Malus gets its way, the whole planet is toast. If you're smart, you'll stop!"
"Stop it? Are you mad? You speak treason!"
The man leveled his rifle at her face.
"Pull the trigger." Marion said, looking the man in his eyes, "I dare you,"
The man stared at her for a moment, before lowering his gun and handing it to the other man. Marion had heard him being referred to as "Colonel' by one person and "Wolsey" by another. He had been the more reasonable of the men earlier that day.
"Eliminate her, Wolsey. Now." Sir George said and then left.
The moment that Sir George was out of earshot, Hampton, spoke in a frantic whisper, her eyes darting from Wolsey to the rifle.
"Put that down, Ben."
He sighed. "I don't understand him anymore."
"Don't try," the Doctor replied, "He's under the influence of the Malus. Are you with us, Colonel?"
Wolsey sighed again, but he lowered the gun so that it was aiming at the ground and moved to sit in one of the chairs by the fireplace.
"Can you tell me what's going on, because I don't know any longer,"
Marion heard a twinkling noise somewhere to her right. She turned to look. Blue squares twinkled in the air as the stone face of the Malus slowly began to form up in the corner of the study.
"Be careful!" Tegan warned.
"It's the thing in the church!" Hampton exclaimed.
"Not exactly,"
The Doctor moved closer to the image. "It's a projection of the parent image, probably one of several energy-gathering points."
"Keep away from it,"
"Oh, it has no force, yet,"
Wolsey raised his rifle towards the projection. "Well, let's put a stop to it,"
"The thing's got no substance," Marion pointed out, "You might as well be shooting at fog,"
Wolsey turned to her "We have to do something!"
"We must prevent the reenactment," the Doctor turned away from the projection to fully face Wolsey, "Spoil it in any way we can. Reduce the amount of psychic energy being produced,"
"Good," Tegan nodded, "Then we can forget the May Queen procession,"
"The cart to take you to the village is already there," Wolsey said.
"Will there be guards for this procession?"
"No, I'm the only escort, but they will send somebody to investigate,"
"Make sure that Tegan and Jane get safely back to the church. You can use the underground passage. We need to get Will and Turlough. Come along Marion," the Doctor said, halfway out of the door.
"We'll catch up later. See you in a bit! Oh, and be careful!"
"So where did the young man run off too?"
"Somewhere near the village green,"
Marion looked around the dusty road. The place was mostly silent, if not for the sound of their feet kicking at the dusty dirt road and the persistent chirp of birds. It was a good sign, the birds continuing to chirp. When things got really bad all the animals left.
That COULD be just a storm thing come to think of it. Did psychic energy count as a storm?
Marion shook herself out of her thoughts and turned her head back toward the Doctor.
"You see that Maypole over there?" Marion nodded her head towards it. Looking there properly made Marion realize something that made the silence even eerier. The townspeople were standing around it. In silence. Marion couldn't hear any chatter or laughter or anything at all. Not even from the children. The only chatter came from the birds. "He's hiding in one of those hedges nearby. Doesn't want to be seen by the soldiers. Or the Malus. Or both. I'm not sure which shrub he's hiding in, but there aren't that many so there can't be too many places for him to-"
The Doctor started moving with a purpose. Marion followed his path with her eyes and caught the figure crouched down in the greenery.
"Oh, you've found him. That's good."
The Doctor crouched down next to Will with Marion joining him.
"Are you alright?" the Doctor asked.
Will let out a shaky breath. "It's just like before,"
"Like back in your time, with the Malus right?" Marion asked.
"I's not pleased,"
Someone started to bang drums and from the other side of the city came the click-click-clack of a horse-drawn carriage. A man lowered a torch and lit a bonfire next to the pole. Will winced.
"They burn Queen of May," Will said grimly. His voice sounded shaky. He sounded like he'd witnessed a woman being burned alive and was terrified that he'd be forced to see it again.
The Doctor smiled grimly. "The toast of Little Hodcombe,"
"Tain't funny. " Will said with a glare. "She was screaming,"
"Well, it's not going to happen again," Marion said with a nod.
"How can ye be sure of that?"
"I know things." Marion replied, "The guy who's supposed to be bringing the Queen of May here isn't too keen on the whole, you know," Marion spun her wrist, "murder thing so he's bringing a scarecrow instead."
"Will that keep the psychic energy from being generated," the Doctor asked.
Marion tilted her head and hummed thoughtfully.
"I doubt the amount of psychic energy that's produced by a burning a straw effigy is anywhere near as much as the amount of psychic energy from a woman being burned alive, but-"
"But…"
"I'm pretty sure that you'd know more than me,"
"Then let's go see if we can put a stop to it," the Doctor said, already running off.
"Doct-,"
Marion sighed and chased after him,
"STOP THOSE TWO!"
Two men grabbed Marion by her arm and out of the corner of her eye, Marion saw them do the same thing to the Doctor.
The guards dragged the two of them forward and closer towards the center of the square.
"You're just in time for the show," said Willow, "You can have a front seat."
The distant drumbeat grew louder and louder. Up the road, Marion could see Wosley riding towards them in his cart. A human-shaped figure sat in the chair behind him. Marion figured that it was the scarecrow.
Sir George stared at it for a moment, squinting, and then he frowned.
"Something's wrong," he said under his breath. Marion was only able to hear him on account of how close he was standing to her.
George quickly drove his horse towards the approaching wagon.
"Something's wrong," he said again, louder.
George stared at the wagon in fury.
"What happened?"
"Here's your Queen of the May, Sir George," Wosely said, gesturing to a dummy stuffed with straw. "You can burn her if you wish. Not as attractive as Tegan, but more humane,"
"What are you trying to do, wreck everything?"
"No, trying to return some sanity to these proceedings,"
"You've ruined it!" Sir George said, his voice was loud, but it was full of rage, "You've ruined everything. Kill him!" he ordered before riding away. Wosley started to ride close to them on the cart.
"OVER HERE WILL," the Doctor shouted.
The young man raced towards the two of them. Marion yanked her arms from her captors, grabbed one of their wrists, and slammed one into the other as hard as she could.
Will snatched the lit torch from a guard and shoved its previous holder to the ground. He waved it wildly above his head and swiped at the men holding onto the Doctor. They momentarily loosened their grip and he used that opportunity to pull himself away from them. Will continued to wave the torch around making it harder for anyone to get George's horse reared up and knocked its rider off.
Wosley rode his cart directly next to the three of them. Marion climbed up over the side of it and reached down to yank up Will and the Doctor. The Doctor took the Queen of May effigy from the back of the cart and threw it off to the side.
"Back to the church, and thank you, Colonel,"
With a shout, Wosley flicked the reins and the four of them were off leaving King George and his men behind in the dust.
"After them!" Sir George shouted at them as they got further and further away, "After them!"
They stopped at the wooden arch at the back of the church. It wasn't too far from where they had been caught by Willow and his men earlier that day.
Marion lifted herself over the side of the cart followed by the rest of them. Marion stood and waited for the other three to pass. She looked behind them, just on the off chance that Sir George's men were already on his way, and then followed behind them.
Tegan and Hampton were just exiting the trap door with the tunnel that led to Sir George's home.
They ran through the entrance to the church. The Malus's green stone eyes moved back and forth, observing them from the inside of the church wall. It let out a low noise that might've been its version of a growl. It sounded like someone breaking heavily through a mic with compression problems. Every breathy growl was accompanied by more smoke.
"Hurry!" The Doctor shouted, sharply turning around a corner to take them back down into the crypt he had landed the TARDIS in.
"The door's still open!" the Doctor exclaimed.
"We never came back down here!" Tegan explained, "Marion said that there was already something inside of the TARDIS and there wouldn't be much of a point,"
The Doctor groaned. "This is all we need," before rushing inside with Tegan close after him.
Marion turned to look at Wosley, Will, and Hampton. She tilted her head towards the entrance. "Come in. Trust me, there's a lot more space inside of there than you would think,"
The vibes inside of the TARDIS felt off. It wasn't muffled mind you. Nor did it have that weird muted Hot-Chocolate-With-Water vibe she got when the Time Lords took control of Three's ship. It just felt wrong.
"Honey?" Marion asked, looking up to the sky. The TARDIS buzzed underneath her feet.
The Doctor moved to the TARDIS console. He tapped a few buttons, and flipped a few switches. The TARDIS made a warbling sound. The Doctor turned to look at the four of them that had just come in. Marion heard a twinkling noise.
"Quietly, now," the Doctor said softly, "Don't alarm it."
The Doctor pointed to something just out of Marion's peripheral vision. It looked like a lizard, a big one with the Malus's face and thick, rough scales in the same ivory cream color as the walls of the TARDIS interior.
The Doctor began tapping at different buttons and squinting at the TARDIS screen. Marion reached for the lever that controlled the TARDIS door and closed them.
"What are you two doing?" Tegan asked.
"Closing the door. Didn't want anyone or anything else getting in. Sir George and his men aren't far behind."
"And I'm trying to see if I can lock the signal conversion unit onto the frequency of the psychic energy feeding it. If I can, I might be able to direct the Malus."
"Is that possible?" asked Wosley.
"Well, there's a remote chance. Marion, what do you think,"
"It'll work,"
Tegan flicked on the TARDIS scanner. Outside of the TARDIS, Willow and another man began to approach.
"Doctor?" Tegan warned.
"It's fine," Marion said with a wave of her hand, "I've already locked the door and there's no way that they're getting in here."
"They didn't waste much time," Wosely remarked.
"It's not like they've got anything else to do right now."
Through the scanner, the group could hear the two soldiers talking.
"A police box?" asked Willow, drawing his sword. They could both hear and see the other man tugging at the TARDIS entrance, but she wouldn't budge.
"It's locked!" he exclaimed.
"Well, don't just stand there," Willow ordered, "break it open,"
The man lifted a piece of broken column from off the ground and started to slam it against the Police Box facade like a battering ram.
'Yeah, good luck with that,' Marion thought to herself.
Tegan turned away from the screen and back towards the evil rock lizard. Her eyes flickered up at it and then back down.
"Doctor, the Malus!" she warned.
Its scaly head turned around almost 180 degrees to face them and growled.
"It's growing stronger," the Doctor slammed his fist on the console.
"Won't it work?"
"It will Colonel," Marion replied, "It will, it just takes a bit,"
"Excuse me," the Colonel backed up to let the Doctor scoot past. Hampton did as well. He examined something on his screen and frowned before tapping something off to the side and glancing back at it once more.
Marion could his mouth moving like he was thinking out loud, but she couldn't make out any of what he said. He tapped a few more buttons, looked back at the screen, and then pressed a couple of different ones. After another moment, he nodded and moved back to the side of the TARDIS where he had been at the start. He pressed some more buttons and typed something on a keyboard and then flipped a few levers as if he was looking for a specific change in frequency.
The Malus turned its head around to face them once more.
"Doctor!" Tegan warned.
The Doctor looked up towards the monster and then turned back to his work."I know! It senses what I'm about. Now everybody stay perfectly calm and still!" the Doctor said not sounding calm at all. He then darted off the other side of the console room and continued checking monitors, pressing buttons, and flipping levers.
The Doctor flipped a few more switches, pressed a couple more buttons, and then fidgeted with a lever while staring at the Malus.
The TARDIS's off-ness faded away.
"I think that's it? Marion, is that it?"
"It should be," Marion replied. "Things feel normal anyway,"
"Can you control the Malus?" Tegan asked.
"Not quite," the Doctor replied, "but it can no longer fuel itself from the turmoil in the village."
The Malus started to make a loud gurgling noise and vicious gunk with some thicker lighter chunks mixed in started to pour out of its nose and mouth. It might have been an incredibly gory scene if not for the fact that the gunk was a deep green rather than crimson.
"Doctor look!" Jane pointed to the scanner. Marion had taken her eyes off it and when she looked back, Willow and the other man were unconscious on the floor with Turlough and an older gentleman that Marion was pretty sure was the Grandfather that they had come down in the first place to see.
"Gross!"
"Ah. I think it's time we left this thing to die in peace."
The Doctor reached to pull the lever to reopen the TARDIS doors but Hampton beat him to it. She pulled the lever with a smile and the doors opened with a soft whirring noise and they exited the TARDIS.
"Well done!" the Doctor said energetically. He slapped Turlough on the back excitedly.
Tegan's grandfather was crouched down over one of the men that he'd knocked out.
"Is he…" Marion mouthed, glancing down at the man and gesturing in front of her neck.
Turlough shook his head.
"Cool, cool!" Marion moved closer to the Doctor.
Tegan rushed at his grandfather and embraced him.
"Granddad!"
"Tegan, my dear!"
The Doctor started to make his way up the crypt stairs and back to the church.
"Save the greetings until later!" he called over his shoulder.
"Never a dull moment," Tegan sighed.
"Now what?" Wolsey asked.
"I don't know yet," the Doctor replied.
"Doctor!" Turlough pointed to three soldiers standing in formation near the back of the church.
Marion felt off and she took a few steps forward while everyone else took a few steps back.
"What are you doing!" Hampton asked.
"Don't worry about it," Marion waved her off.
"Where did they come from?"
"They're-"
"Psychic projections" Hampton finished the Doctor's statement.
"I'd feel happier with a gun," said Wolsey.
"Wouldn't make any difference," Tegan replied, "They're not real,"
"They look solid enough to me,"
"They're solid enough to kill people," Marion remarked. She took a deep breath. She took another step forward as the rest took a step back. The soldiers took a step forward closer to the group, but fortunately much closer to Marion. "But not solid enough for a bullet to do much of anything. It's funny how that's always the way,"
"The Malus' last line of defence," the Doctor remarked, "They'll kill as effectively as any living thing."
Ah, hello Vertigo. The dizziness was not making it easy to think which was less than ideal because thinking was what Marion was trying to do.
Something had happened to make the soldiers disappear. Something that had used up so much energy that the Malus could no longer form those soldiers. Projecting them had to use up a lot of energy, to begin with.
But. Oh. OH!
"They're just projections!" Marion said aloud.
"Yes, Marion," said Turlough, "We were already aware of that,"
"Marion, where are you going with this?" the Doctor asked.
"The Malus doesn't have the strength to create and maintain something tangible. Not for long anyway. Not without the war games. Not since you blocked it off from the village. So those soldiers are only going to be solid when they're interacting with people,"
"Interact with? You mean killing!"
"Possibly," Marion said, she started to rummage through her messenger bag for her pocket knife. It sat comfortably in her hand. "Or possibly not. It just needs to be tangible. Doesn't need to kill, just needs a fight,"
And look, it's not that Marion THOUGHT that she could fight them off. At least not enough to matter. If they had been real actual physical soldiers made of flesh, blood, and bone then maybe. It's kind of hard to lose against someone who'll just get back up again. Not that that would mean much if they just killed everyone else while she was out. But the thing is, they weren't flesh, blood, and bone. They were psychic projections. She could swing at them as much as she wanted and she would simply pass through them. But see, all that was only a problem is her plan was to fight against them and "win" and it wasn't.
But the Malus didn't know that, and that was crucial. It was very important that they THINK her plan was to fight back. Because if they knew that her plan was to make them use up their tangibility, the plan wouldn't work.
But yeah, this was probably going to fucking suck.
The soldiers stepped closer to their group and closest to Marion. They extended their swords.
This was going to suck so much but if she didn't do it, then the man from the crypt that wasn't Willow was going to run up the stairs and he would. Marion didn't know who he was, but he probably didn't deserve to die.
"We're running out of places to run!"
Marion held up the knife, quickly moved forward, and then raised it as if she was going to try to stab at the armor of the one directly in front of them.
"What are you-!"
Just as planned. The three soldiers surrounded her. Each of them, holding their sword to the side of her neck.
"Oh god!" Hampton said.
For a moment, Marion considered that this might have been a bit of a shit idea.
Then soldiers swung their swords and then Marion felt a sharp, sharp, pain. Someone screamed, but it wasn't her. And then nothing.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock
Huh, so the rumors were true. Decapitation didn't hurt NEARLY as much as some other ways to die.
That would be a fun fact to drop on people.
Marion rested there in the clock zone. 'Please tell me that decapitation can't actually kill me,'
That was probably something to consider BEFORE you tried to bait the Malus into using up its energy by cutting your head off. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'too late to worry about that now. And anyway, she doubted that she'd be in the clock zone if she was actually dead. Unless this was the afterlife. But the endless darkness of the clock zone accompanied by the tick tock tick tock tick tock of a clock didn't seem like the kind of afterlife she'd end up in.
Besides, she was pretty sure that the Associate would've let her know that decapitation could kill her. Unless of course she had been killed here. But that couldn't have been the case since she hadn't left herself any of the notes yet. And the Doctor said that he'd known her for a while. So that should mean that she wasn't dying here.
She thought about that. Time could be rewritten, couldn't it? Hopefully, this wasn't causing some kind of paradox. Was she a "Doomed" Marion?
Ok, now she was just trying to make herself worried. Two versions of the Associate she'd seen in person had had discoloration around their necks. It had been there in both the one she figured was older and the one she figured was younger. And now she knew how they had gotten those deathmarks.
She was still alive. She knew that she knew that. She wondered why the healing process was taking longer than she expected, but then she considered the fact that her death might've counted as a spinal injury.
So it was just a waiting game.
Man, the sound of clocks sure was annoying. She wished it would play less.
Then again, silence might be worse.
Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick
When Marion woke up and her senses clicked out of the clock zone and into the real world, it was all she could do to not throw up. Her neck stung terribly and felt oddly warm and wet. Although that sensation was ever decreasing. Her vision was spinning and the thundering sound of rock and rubble crashing was NOT helping her nausea in any way.
The next thing she noticed was the fact that she was being carried in someone's arms. And judging from the echoing heartbeat pounding rapidly against her ear, and the way it felt cooler than a human being could safely be, it had to be the Doctor.
She caught the latter half of a conversation. "-can't leave her!" the Doctor cried "And I can't take her in the TARDIS until she's awake!"
"And what if she doesn't wake up! You'll be crushed!"
The Doctor didn't finish whatever answer he was going to give to that. If the Doctor needed her awake so he'd leave this rapidly crumbling church, then she'd be as awake as possible.
Marion forced her eyes open, reached up a hand, and lightly tugged on the Doctor's lapel.
"I'm-," Talking hurt. Marion coughed. Her mouth was filled with the taste of copper, but the taste receded, as if the blood, having entered her mouth, was returning back to whence it came.
The Doctor's shoulders lost some of their tension. He carried her through the doors of the TARDIS.
"Turlough!" the Doctor said the moment he and Marion were on the ship. "Hold her while I take us out of here. There's not a moment to lose. And keep her by the door. As soon as the TARDIS lands, she needs to get out!"
As the Doctor spoke, he was already placing her in someone's outstretched arms. They were a lot bonier than the Doctor had been.
Speaking of the Doctor, he seemed worried in a way that she knew he shouldn't be. There was no way she'd gone this long without getting mortally wounded in front of him.
"Marion, I need you to listen to me. Keep your eyes open and do not close them even for a moment until we're out of the TARDIS. Do you understand?"
He didn't just seem worried. He sounded terrified for some reason. But Marion couldn't imagine why. Was something wrong with the TARDIS console room or something? She was feeling cold. Maybe a rock had hit something because the Doctor insisted on waiting for her to wake up before he brought her inside and it busted the temperature unit.
"Doctor, I'm-" She coughed again. Her mouth filled with copper.
It wasn't receding. That should've been more of a concern than it was. She didn't open her mouth again.
She heard the TARDIS beeping frantically. But, nowhere as frantic as the Doctor looked as he darted around the console with his eyes glancing to look at her any time he wasn't looking at something at the controls that needed his attention.
Just as she was hearing the sound of crashing rocks outside grow louder and louder as the Malus crumbled the church around them, she could hear the TARDIS dematerializing with a loud whoosh. And then moments later, it landed. The TARDIS doors opened instantly. So fast that Marion wondered if it had been someone at the controls or Honey.
The TARDIS had landed just outside of the remains of the Church and the moment that the door was open, she was outside and being placed not very gently onto the soft grass.
Marion could hear the Doctor scolding Turlough as the copper in her mouth finally faded. The warm-wet feeling in her neck began to recede along with the persistent stinging. And she could feel her back again, she hadn't realized that she was unable to. Funny that.
Marion stood up and rubbed at the side of her neck, feeling the last of the rawness disappear under her fingertips.
"My God!" said Ms. Hampton.
"How are you-," said Wolsey.
"Fine thanks!" Marion said before he could finish his statement and ask how she was alive.
"The Malus killed her," said Will. "I saw it,"
"Don't worry about it!" Marion insisted.
"Marion!" Tegan's eyes kept flickering between her and her neck, "You were-,"
"Tegan, as long as you've been traveling with the Doctor, I refuse to believe that this is the first time you've seen me take a hard hit like that," Marion crossed her arms. "there's no reason for you to be losing your head over this."
"MARION!" Mission accomplished. The woman sounded less worried and slightly pissed.
"What Tegan! It's fine if I joke about it,"
"Marion!"
The Doctor's voice was sharp. He didn't sound angry. But he definitely sounded…something. He exited the TARDIS and stood directly in front of Marion. His sleeve and part of his jacket and sweater were covered in red.
"Holy-," Marion exclaimed, "what happened. Are you okay!"
"Am I ok-?"
The Doctor leaned down and put his hands on her shoulders and stared her in the eye.
"Marion, do you know how long you were unconscious for?"
"No," Marion sighed "But I'm sure you're going to tell me,"
"Over three minutes. Your-" the Doctor froze, "whatever has been healing you pulled you back together, at least for the most part, but you were bleeding, motionless, not even breathing, for three minutes. Three whole minutes!"
"Doctor, I don't know if you're aware of this," Marion deadpanned, "but I tend to pass out and enter the clock zone whenever I'm otherwise fatally injured. Like I told Tegan, this isn't a new thing. It's something you should be well aware of,"
"For seconds," He was gripping her shoulders tight. Like he was trying not to let go, or he was trying not to shake her. "Seconds. A minute maybe. Never three. Never that long! I thought you were-"
"Well, I wasn't. I'm not. I'm fine! Okay? And besides, if I did die, it'd be my own fault not yours,"
The Doctor lowered his head slightly and sighed.
He turned to look at Tegan. "Tegan, we came here in the first place so that you could visit your grandfather, didn't we? How about you and him catch up. I need to take Marion back to the TARDIS to make sure that everything is alright,"
"I'll come too, Doctor. A bit of-"
"No Turlough," the Doctor said very pointedly., "I think it's best if you stay with Tegan for right now. Marion and I need to have a talk. Don't worry, we aren't going anywhere. Come along Marion,"
Marion got the strangest feeling that she was about to get lectured.
The moment they set foot back inside of the TARDIS Marion got a proper look at the Doctor.
'Oh God,' she thought, 'Oh fuck that's so much blood,'
It was even more noticeable up close in the white light of the TARDIS that it had been near the shadow of nearby trees. Maybe Marion was wrong about her being anxious and dizzy and in pain meaning that the Doctor was in danger. Because surely, if he was bleeding that much he'd be close to death. His jacket sleeve was dark dark red instead of the tan it was supposed to be and a messy splotch stood out against the cream of his cricket sweater. Holy shit was he about to regenerate? Surely she couldn't have fucked things up THAT bad.
"Doctor, do we need to get you to the medbay?"
"No," the Doctor said.
"But you're-" Marion gestured to the blood covering his jacket sleeves and sweater vest. It was much, much, much too early for Five to become Six. "No. No. No. Come on, let's go. Are you in shock? If you lost all that blood you must be in shock."
Marion grabbed the Doctor's hand, the one whose sleeve wasn't covered in blood, and tried to tuck him along. He didn't budge. "Marion,"
"Doctor, if you're trying to preserve the timeline, trust me when I-" "Marion" "say that this wasn't supposed to happen. I don't-" "Marion" "know what changed but-"
"MARION."
The Doctor raised his voice to finally get her attention. "Marion, that's not my blood. It's yours. It got on me when I carried you down to the TARDIS. When I was scared you were-" the Doctor cut himself off.
Marion didn't understand why the Doctor was so frightened.
"Marion, did you know that the Malus was going to crumble the church with us all in it? Did you know that when you-"
When she had stepped forward to trick the Malus into temporarily using up its tangibility to give her a low haircut.
"Sort of. Doctor. I'm going to need you to spell out why you're so angry. I can't read your mind. Is it because I took too long to wake up?"
"MARION!"
Marion stared at him. His voice was raised. He wasn't quite yelling, he sounded sharp. But there was something else in his voice.
"The Malus blocked off the exit to the church first. You were still lying on the floor of the church. Dead to the world. You're- you were together, but the wound hadn't fully closed and you weren't awake. You don't know how you look when you're like that, do you? You don't look like you're sleeping. You look like you're dead. You stop breathing. Not even your eyes shift under your lids. The only movement is when your blood's flowing back into place or when putting some part of you back together makes your body twitch."
"Doctor?"
"-I had to carry you down to the TARDIS. And you weren't waking up. Three minutes. You were unconscious for three minutes!" the Doctor kept repeating that part, "And I couldn't take you into the TARDIS because if I did, then you might never wake up! And I-"
'What?'
"What?" Marion stared at the Doctor blankly. "Why'd I have to be awake to enter the TARDIS."
"Why'd you have to- Marion! You can't heal inside of the TARDIS," The Doctor sounded surprised that she was unaware of this. "I don't know if there's something wrong with the temporal grace circuits, or there's some kind of radiation in the TARDIS, or if the TARDIS is blocking off whatever heals you, but in here you don't heal. You were barely awake when I carried you inside. And your neck was still bleeding! It didn't stop bleeding until Turlough carried you back out. If I brought you in here while you were still unconscious, I- you might never wake up."
"Well if that was the problem why didn't you just leave me then?"
"What? Have you gone mad!"
"I wouldn't have been mad at you for it. You know I wouldn't have. Especially if you explained the whole 'can't heal in the TARDIS thing,' I probably would've cracked a joke about it. I could have dug my way out. You didn't need to-,"
"And what if you couldn't Marion! What if after we left in the TARDIS, whatever's taking you around my timeline took you?" The Doctor was looking in her direction, but his eyes didn't seem to be focusing on her. "You've been taken while outside of the TARDIS before. But no matter what, you always are dropped off inside. Sometimes, you end up in the console room where I am, but sometimes you don't. What if it dropped you off somewhere in the TARDIS corridors and you couldn't get out in time. And then sometime, in MY future, I happen to be looking around the TARDIS and come across you dead,"
Was this something the Doctor worried about frequently?
Marion tried to calm him down.
"I'm pretty sure if I showed up in the TARDIS bleeding to death, Honey, would let you know with more than enough time."
"But what if I wasn't in the TARDIS. What I had stepped out!"
Marion very carefully put her hands on the Doctor's shoulders. "Doc, look at me. Look. At. Me. You need to calm down. You're panicking and I think your brain is making up scenarios to freak you out even more. Just take a deep breath in and-"
"MARION!" the Doctor still sounded angry, but Marion could finally recognize the other sound that was mixing into his voice.
He was scared.
"Look," said Marion, "someone had to get the Malus to do something or it would have killed all of you!"
"But did that someone have to be you!"
Marion leaned her head back and groaned. "YES! If I didn't do it, the trooper that came up would've. And HE would've taken more than three minutes to wake up. He wouldn't wake up at all. He'd be dead. Look, I'm sorry that I didn't remember enough to tell you my plan before we entered the church okay."
"Did you even have a plan, or were you just being impulsive?"
"IMPULSIVE!" Marion shouted, "DOCTOR-" Marion closed her eyes. Ok, sure. She hadn't thought of the plan until she was face to face with the soldiers but still, it was a plan and she had come up with it. She pressed the sides of her temples for a moment and took a deep breath. And then another one. And another one.
"Doctor. I understand that you're upset,"
"I am more than just upset,"
Marion continued as if the Doctor hadn't said anything. "And if I was in your position, I'd probably feel the same. And then you'd remind me, that there's nothing to worry about, and that you were fine. I am not trying to downplay how you feel, I just want to remind you that I'm fine, everything's fine. I'm okay."
Someone might say that Marion was being a hypocrite, telling the Doctor not to worry about her throwing herself into danger while at the same time doing it herself, but anyone who said that would be incorrect and wrong.
She was unkillable, no matter what the Doctor's worries. Ok, mostly unkillable, that apparently wouldn't work in the TARDIS, but now that she knew that, she'd keep that in mind.
The point still stood outside of the TARDIS.
The Doctor leaned back against the console with a sigh. When he spoke again, the anger was gone. And he was quiet.
"Marion, you don't- Marion you looked dead. Hampton and the Colonel and Will. They INSISTED you had to be dead. I didn't believe them. I just knew you were going to get up any second. You always do. But Marion, three minutes. You're normally up again in seconds. Seconds. The longest I've ever seen you down was for only a minute and that was-" the Doctor cut himself off "that was a special case. A special situation,
"A spoiler I assume?"
"Marion, three minutes. Three minutes. I picked you up and you were limp. I could feel your blood on my clothes and you weren't waking up-,"
Marion turned and hugged the Doctor fully.
"I'm sorry that I worried you," Marion didn't say she wasn't going to do it again. At the end of the day, she had saved a life. And she was sorry that she had freaked the Doctor and Turlough, and Tegan out in doing so, but she'd do it again.
"Marion, you're the only one who's still here,"
"Doctor, Tegan and Turlough are literally just outside. They'll come back."
"They'll come back," the Doctor agreed, "but sooner or later, they're going to leave. Everyone leaves eventually. Either they leave, or they're taken. Except you. But it's different. Sure maybe the next time I see you, you won't remember something that's new and fresh in my mind because it's far in your future, but it's still you. You and the TARDIS are the only things that are still here. Ever since you appeared out of nowhere back at the junkyard, it's always been the Doctor, Marion, and their silly blue box," the Doctor let out a light laugh and then sighed, "I'm worried that one day you're going to do something reckless because you think that just because there doesn't seem to be a limit to how much you can physically heal and because you convinced yourself that your life matters less and I'm going to have to see you die. And then, some time later, a younger version of you is going to appear and I'm going to have to look at that younger you and pretend that I didn't just see the light leave your eyes and watch you breathe your final breath. Because maybe YOU can meddle and fix things, but I can't. And I can't-" the Doctor choked.
Marion was getting the sinking suspicion that this wasn't JUST about what she'd done at the church. This was clearly the result of multiple things pooling up and it just so happened that this event in particular was what made things spill over. Some version of the Associate would be better equipped to deal with this.
Meeting out of order was such a pain.
But even if she wasn't her older self, she could sort of understand how he felt. Marion was going to try and keep Five and Peri out of that godforsaken cave and away from that godforsaken nest. But if Five ended up being like Three, then she had a pretty good idea of how he was eventually going to die.
Marion hated thinking about that.
She also hated thinking about the next time she was going to see Three. He had told her that looking at her, he'd have no way of knowing that she'd seen him die. Marion hoped that he had been telling the truth.
The few seconds between Three dying and that other Time Lord coming in and helping to jumpstart his regeneration into Four had been nerve-wracking and that had been just a few seconds. She couldn't imagine a few minutes.
"Doctor…"
What could Marion say? That she wasn't going to do it again? That she'd avoid throwing herself into danger? That she wouldn't do stuff like this unless she'd given the Doctor a warning ahead of time so he could brace himself?
She could nod and pat the Doctor on the shoulder and say that easily.
But those would be lies. And she knew that they would be lies. And she was pretty sure that if she told the Doctor those lies, he'd know that she was telling him lies.
So instead of that, Marion patted the Doctor's sleeve which was stiff with blood. (And it was oddly relieving that the blood on his clothes was the crimson red of a human and not the vermillion red of a Time Lord. It assured her that he wasn't his). "If you're going to walk around Little Hodcombe. You really should change your shirt. You'll frighten people, covered in blood like that,"
"You're one to talk," the Doctor replied, "It's all over your collar,"
"Is it?"
Marion tugged at the collar of her dress shirt. It felt stiff to the touch and when she pulled at it so that she could see it properly. She felt where some part of the fabric had been frayed and she could see the bright red dying the off-white fabric.
"I'm starting to think that I really should stick to darker colors. Huh,"
"Perhaps stick to not throwing yourself in front of every blade or gun that's aimed at someone else." The Doctor wasn't smiling, but at least he didn't sound anywhere near as frightened or angry as he had been when he had first all but dragged her into the TARDIS.
And speaking of dragged. Marion was feeling a brush curl around her wrist.
"Perhaps. You know, Doctor, if you hurry and soak that in peroxide and then run it under cold water while scrubbing it with salt, you should get those bloodstains right out!"
The Doctor took off his jacket, held it up, and grimaced. "No, I don't think I'm going to be wearing this again anytime soon. Or ever,"
"Ah. Then why don't you change and then you can join Tegan and Turlough outside. Maybe bring him a new shirt in case I got blood on his. Relax for a bit, Lord knows you need it. Oh. and tell that I'll see them all again shortly,"
"Why can't you tell them yourself?"
"Because I'm afraid I'm about to go elsewhere and probably give you a bit of a fright!"
And then Marion was tugged to the side and was gone.
It was nice of the powers that be to let her finish her sentence.
Next Chapter: The World is Big and You are Small
Marion: Doctor, you need to stop being so reckless all the time. You're scaring me.
The Doctor: It's fine. Don't worry about it.
Also The Doctor: Marion, you need to stop being so reckless all the time. You're scaring me.
Also Marion: It's fine. Don't worry about it.
I tried to drop hints as to the fact that Marion's abilities don't work in the TARDIS, but most of them have been really subtle stuff like mentioning that running around the TARDIS made her out of breath or the fact that running into walls and getting shocked continue to hurt for a while. There is a very specific reason why they don't work, and it's not because Honey secretly hates her.
Also, I hope that the reason why Five freaked out a bit makes sense? It more or less boils down to "Marion's been with the Doctor for long enough that he's basically waiting for the other shoe to drop"