Until We Burn | Dr Who

Chapter Six: Second Chances

"This ship is impossible!" the Slitheen gushes. Taking a seat in the fork of one of the pillars, I regard her with a suspicious glare. "It's superb! How do you get the outside around the inside?"

"Like I'd give you the secret, yeah."

A little put out at the Doctor's blunt response, she huffs and begins to pace around the console. "I almost feel better about being defeated. We never stood a chance. This is the technology of the gods."

Meeting my gaze across the room, he raises his eyebrows. "Don't worship me, I'd make a very bad god. Wouldn't get a day off for starters. Jack, how are we doing, big fella?"

He looks up from the device, a tool box waiting beside him. "This extrapolator's top of the range. Where did you get it?"

"I don't know. Some airlock sale?"

"It must have been a great big heist. It's stacked with power."

The Doctor glances thoughtfully down at it. "But we can use it for fuel?"

He shakes his head. "It's not compatible, but it should knock off about twelve hours. We'll be ready to go by morning."

"Then we're stuck here overnight."

"I'm in no hurry."

Rose sends the Slitheen a withering look. "We've got a prisoner. The police box is really a police box."

Margaret begins to fidget with a metallic sphere left on the console, watching us slyly. "But you're not just police, though. Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners. Each and every one of you."

"Well, you deserve it."

Her eyes bore into Mickey as he lowers his gaze. "You're very quick to say so. You're very quick to soak your hands in my blood. Which makes you better than me, how, exactly?" Her lips curl into a scathing sneer. "Long night ahead. Let's see who can look me in the eye."

One by one, each of us try to prove our clear consciences by staring her down. And, one by one, each of us fail.

—

"So, what's on?" It hasn't been long but the silence is almost unbearable. Jack continues to work on the extrapolator, glancing up to the screen that has caught the Doctor's attention.

"Nothing."

He moves out of the way, allowing me to get a look at the footage. I can't help but feel my heart sink a little when I see Rose and Mickey walking away from the Tardis, hand in hand. I don't think I want to understand that look on his face.

Even across the room with her back facing us, I can feel Margaret's cold glare. "I gather it's not always like this. Having to wait?" We don't reply. "I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go. You butchered my family and then ran for the stars, am I right? But not this time. At last you have consequences. How does it feel?"

"I didn't butcher them."

"Don't answer back," Jack quickly warns, "that's what she wants."

He shrugs. "I didn't. What about you? You had an emergency teleport. You didn't zap them to safety, did you?"

She goes quiet for a moment. "It only carries one. I had to fly without coordinates. I ended up in a skip on the Isle of Dogs." A quiet chuckle from the Doctor immediately prompts her frustration again. "It wasn't funny."

"Sorry." But, gradually, I find my lips curling into a wide grin. He admits, "It is a bit funny."

And suddenly we're all laughing. All four of us. For a moment, it all seems normal again. It doesn't feel like we are taking her to her death.