Touch The Sky: Doctor Who/Studio C [Book 3]

The Darkest Hours Are Just Before Dawn

The Darkest Hours Are Just Before Dawn

(Interlude—Recognizable dialogue from 'Midnight')

A/N: Two weeks until I leave for school... somehow. Also, enjoy the cameo of my current TV obsession (it's so good you guys why is there only one year sob).

Neither Mallory nor Donna were quite sure what to expect when the news reached them of the ill-fated cruiseliner. Even with no details other than the fact it had stopped and they had had to send out a rescue ship, both women knew, with the lives they led, things were probably bad. They didn't bother to change, still wearing the fluffy white spa robes when the rescue ship docked.

Mallory bit her lip as face after unfamiliar face emerged, ranging from expressionless to horrified to downright mortified. Where are they are they okay people said there were deaths—

Matt and the Doctor finally emerged, the former limping and leaning on the latter, both looking shaken but both very much alive. Not one of the four spoke a word.

Finally, Donna stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the Doctor, not saying anything but simply giving the solid reassurance that they were all still there. Matt stepped off slightly, balancing oddly and with a distant expression on his face.

It took a terribly conflicted moment before Mallory stepped toward him and slid her arm around his shoulders, taking some of his weight onto her. He let out a quiet sigh of relief and, still silent, leaned his head on her shoulder.

Half an hour later, they sat under one of the thick glass domes, x-tonic light streaming over them as the story of Midnight's possessive entity was haltingly told.

"I think... perhaps it's time to take our vacation somewhere else," the Doctor said when they finished.

He got an assortment of nods. "What do you think it was?" Donna asked quietly.

The Doctor, head resting in his palms, said, "No idea."

"Do you think it's still out there?" she asked. He didn't answer. "Well, you better tell them. This lot."

"Yeah," the Doctor said, shifting to scratch the back of his neck. "They can build a Leisure Palace somewhere else. Let this planet keep on turning 'round an x-tonic star. In silence."

Another beat passed. "Can't imagine you without a voice," Donna said.

"Molto bene," the Doctor said quietly, one corner of his mouth ticking upward.

"Molto bene," she answered with a tiny smile.

The male half of their quartet both winced. "No," the Time Lord said. "Don't do that. Don't." He sighed. "Don't."

~~~

The four crept back to the TARDIS, their vacation plans on an indefinite hold. Once again, no one spoke and even the TARDIS herself seemed quieter than usual, her humming subdued.

Mallory could find neither rest nor entertainment that would keep her occupied for very long. The baby was asleep, judging by how still he was in her womb, and what she realized was a growing nesting urge couldn't easily be satisfied on a sentient ship that kept every room impeccably clean. Even the library, with books from any time period she could imagine, had failed to keep her attention.

She didn't dare venture to ask to call this whole thing a failure and ask to be dropped back off at her apartment. Besides, the few peaceful hours she had managed to spend with Donna had been a welcome respite from real life.