The Fate of Persephone (10/OC) (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter Nine: Found

            When Jackie Tyler entered her flat the next morning after spending the night at Cousin Mo's, she had completely forgotten about the Doctor and his plot to meet Persephone. So when she found the Time Lord once more sprawled face-down on her sofa, she immediately dropped off her things by the door and called out to him as she approached, "Why are you still here? Did you meet Percy?"

The Time Lord in question didn't say anything, just nodded his head against the pillows.

"Well that's wonderful! How did it go?"

The only reply she got was a grunt.

"Oh. Not so well, huh? Did she run away?"

Another nod and then a huge sigh.

            Jackie felt for him, she really did! She walked up to him and sat on the coffee table, facing him. "What happened," she asked gently. After a few seconds, the Doctor rolled over to face her, exposing his big brown eyes that started to swim slightly with tears. He let out another massive sigh that expressed all the hopelessness and frustration he was feeling. He hated to look weak in front of Jackie Tyler, but at the moment, the comfort of a mother was welcome.

         He took a deep breath. "She let me bandage her hand, as it was broken from punching me, and after a while I thought she had grown to trust me. But then, I don't know, I must have said something that scared her because she just bolted out the front door! By the time I got outside, she was long gone." He sighed again and closed his burning eyes. "What kind of Time Lord am I if I can't even keep track of and protect my bonded?"

         Jackie laid a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it soothingly, lightly scolding him by saying "Hey, don't say that about yourself! We all know that Percy is different. She's got trust issues that will not be cured in a day. If you just visit more often, I'm sure she'll grow to see you're no harm to her! And eventually you'll be able to tell her who she is."

         But the Doctor became more agitated. "But that's just the thing, Jackie!" he said, sitting up and holding his hands out emphatically. "She doesn't know who she is and if I am not near her to protect her, she could hurt herself!"

        Though the Tyler saw the sincerity in the man's voice, she couldn't quite find the connection between her statement and his. "But," she said. "She's been doing fine on her own for 18—" "300," the Doctor corrected. Jackie gave him annoyed look but altered her statement anyway, "...300 years! Why would she be in danger now?"

         The Doctor kept his eyes on his hands, which he wrung anxiously. "You see," he started. "In cases of extreme negligence, a time tot's mind will try to grow without a parenting or Amarthin bond. It's nearly impossible and almost always ends in madness, but it seems that Persephone is lucky in that her mind was able to more or less adapt. But when she came in contact with me—first by punching me, then by letting me bandage her hand—the bond in both of our minds sparked. She likely felt nothing, as she would be unfamiliar to the feeling which itself would be faint due to the weakness of the connection. But at that moment, her mind remembered what it was like to have a bond and how much it craved it, whether she knew it or not! So now that she's run away again, she won't be able to continue to live like she has all this time; she'll have this unidentifiable feeling in her soul that, if not satisfied, could prove very harmful to her."

        There was silence for a moment as Jackie took all this in. "So," Jackie breathed at last. "Now that she's met you, she has to stay with you in order to survive?" The Doctor nodded. "More or less," he said. Jackie asked another question, "How long does she have before problems start?"