Out There ✿ The Doctor [1]

18- Boom Town (pt. 2)

"This ship is impossible. It's superb." Margaret comments that night as she looks around the Tardis console room before asking, "How do you get the outside around the inside?"

"Like I'd give you the secret, yeah." The Doctor replies sarcastically.

"I almost feel better about being defeated." Margaret jests, "I never stood a chance. This is the technology of the gods."

"Don't worship me— I'd make a very bad god. You wouldn't get a day off, for starters." The Doctor responds as he tinkers with something, taking a part from Avery's hand as she stands next to him, and Jack works beside him, "Jack, how we doing, big fella?"

"This extrapolator's top of the range." Jack notes before looking at Margaret and questioning, "Where did you get it?"

"Oh, I don't know. Some airlock sale?" Margaret dismisses.

"Must've been a great big heist. It's stacked with power." Jack accuses.

"But can we use it for fuel?" Avery asks him.

Jack shook his head, taking a tool that Avery hands him just as he needs it, "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." The Doctor states.

"I'm in no hurry." Margaret says.

"We've got a prisoner. The police box is really a police box." Rose comments, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"You're not just police, though." Margaret reminds Rose, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face as she plays with a small ball she found, "Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners. Each and every one of you."

"Well, you deserve it." Mickey tells her.

"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?" Margaret asks, leaving Avery's heart heavy with guilt, "Long night ahead." She turns away from Mickey and sits down on the jump seat, crossing her legs, "Let's see who can look me in the eye." Margaret first stares down Mickey and he doesn't last long before he looks away. She shifts her gaze to Rose, who quickly interests herself with whatever the Doctor is doing. Margaret looks at Avery, who is the only one who doesn't look away from her. However, the look Avery gives her makes her feel sick and disgusted by the utter empathy and honest guilt the girl was sharing with her. That sort of vulnerability was not something Margaret had expected from any of her captors and she didn't know how to react so it was her who looked away first.

***

Avery watches Mickey and Rose on the scanner with a soft smile on her face, "So, what's on?" Jack asks her, causing the Doctor to look over.

"Nothing, just—" She shrugs before switching the scanner off like she had seen the Doctor do several times before.

"I gather it's not always like this... Having to wait." Margaret comments from where she is sitting on the stairs, "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." The Doctor replies.

"Don't answer back. That's what she wants." Jack tells him.

"I didn't." The Doctor repeats before asking, "What about you? You had an emergency teleport. You didn't zap them to safety, did you?"

"It only carries one. I had to fly without coordinates. I ended up on a skip in the Isle of Dogs." The Doctor laughs at her answer, "It wasn't funny."