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

Chapter Seventeen: Let Her Go?

                At last, after nearly three minutes of agonizing torment (for both Time Lords), Percy's body finally relaxed into a crumbled heap on the ground, shuddering in the aftermath of the pain and gasping for the breath her lungs had deprived her of. Chip rushed to his mistress' side as fast as he could and assisted her onto her feet, though it seemed likely she would collapse again at any moment.

                "You see," the Doctor asked softly, his eyes pleading for her to understand. "Persephone's mind is extremely fragile. What you just experienced was her brain trying to expel you, as it instinctively sees you as a foreign invader." He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing hearts. "Please, Cassandra! Please get out of her! Go into me! Anything! Just let her go before you ki-" The Doctor's voice broke momentarily, as he found it almost unbearable to finish the thought. "...before you kill her."

                  For a moment, it looked like Cassandra was actually contemplating his words. She stood there, leaning on Chip's arm, and allowed Percy's consciousness to float to the surface ever so slightly.

                 She was crying. Inside her mind, Persephone was weeping bitterly, clawing at the walls of her consciousness, confused, scared, and in outstanding amounts of pain. Though she wasn't aware of her surroundings, the thoughts of Cassandra, or even the movements of her own possessed body, she was instinctually terrified.

               Though Cassandra didn't know it, what was happening was exactly what the Doctor had said a few days prior in the med bay to Percy: he had warned her that now that her mind had connected with his, it would be fatal for her to ever be separated from him over long distances or for great periods of time. And while Persephone currently was not far from her Amarthin physically, the immovable block the psychograft put on her consciousness prevented the Doctor's mind from reaching hers, thus causing the tremendous pain both she and Cassandra had felt.

                But as quickly as it came, the moment was gone and Cassandra once more forced the young Time Lady's mind back into its prison. Then she straightened, smoothed out her shirt and snarled at the man in the pod. "You think I'm going to listen to the man who murdered me?! You think I'm going to give this poor girl back to you, the very man that she pleaded for me to help her escape from?! No! Now hushaby—it's showtime!" Then with a swish of her dark hair, she turned away.

              But Cassandra's last statement had hit a very tender spot in the Doctor's hearts and caused him to sit back in the chamber, eyes wide in hurt and confusion. Had his Amarthin really been so desperate to escape him that she employed the help of a random alien she found on a distant planet? Did she really trust a talking piece of skin more than him- the man who had saved her life in the alleyway, revealed her true biology, given her a safe place to stay on his spaceship, bandaged her wounds, and offered her companionship? Was their bond really so weak, and Persephone's mind so damaged, that she not only didn't recognize their connection as Time Lords and Amarthins, but actually worked as hard as she could to get away from him? Was her phobia of settling down and having a family and friends really that bad? Was his constant watch over her actually harming her more than it helped?

               The Doctor still felt that instinctual need to protect his Amarthin (and he knew nothing short of his own death would prevent him from doing so), but the new revelation of Persephone's extreme hatred of him caused him to pause when it came to their future. For instance, he knew he had to free Percy from Cassandra's psychograft (that was obvious), but once she was free, should he take her back to her home on earth, give her a very strong bio-dampener, and then just release her and never see her again? Did he have the right to disregard her own views and desires in order to keep her safe? Did he have the right to practically keep her prisoner with him in the Tardis simply because of her species and connection to himself?

                  'No,' he thought to himself firmly, ignoring his aching hearts and pounding head. 'I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. For now, I must focus on saving Percy from Cassandra and helping the people in these pods.' So, pushing the swirling thoughts aside, he tried to gaze through the filthy door and could barely make out the forms of Persephone's body interacting with Matron Casp a few yards away. The two were discussing the outrageous demands Cassandra was making in return for keeping the Sisterhood's criminal operations a secret. Unfortunately for her, the cat-nun blankly refused, and when she went to pounce on the woman with extended claws, Cassandra quickly jumped to plan B and yanked on a leaver, opening all the doors on their level.

                 As soon as the Doctor heard his own pod beep, he swung it open and climbed out, relief for not being infected by thousands of diseases and worry for his bonded coursing through his veins. "What have you done," he demanded of the woman as he watched dozens of 'patients' stumbling out of their own pods and wandering around with hopelessness and pain in their blood-shot eyes.

                 "I've just given the system a shot of adrenaline, just to wake them up," Cassandra said, feeling quite proud of herself. Then she turned on her heel and sprinted (a little clumsily) toward a door. "See you!" She found joy hearing the panicked spluttering of the Doctor as he frantically called after her "Don't touch them! Whatever you do, don't touch!" She could hear his footsteps gaining on her from behind, but didn't look back, focusing instead on placing her feet where she wanted them to go and avoiding tripping. (Jeesh, going nearly seventy years without a real body sure did make running difficult!)

                  Only several seconds later, a cacophony of beeps and scraping metal caused the Doctor and Cassandra to stop and peer over the nearest ledge, allowing them to view the entirety of the vast pod system. To their upmost horror, every single pod had opened, allowing thousands upon thousands of the infected to pour out. Several levels above, they watched as Sister Jatt was overrun by them and died screaming in agony as the diseases transferred into her own body.

              "What the hell have you done?" the Doctor snarled, unable to look into the eyes of his Amarthin, knowing it was really Cassandra looking out of them. The woman was also afraid, though her fear was expressed through panic. "It wasn't me," she exclaimed as she eyed with terror the oncoming wave of patients.

               The Doctor grit his teeth and latched a hand firmly on Cassandra's arm, steadily drawing her backwards. "One touch, and you get every disease in the world; and I want that body safe, Cassandra!" He didn't know what he would do with himself if Persephone was killed or forced to regenerate.

No! She couldn't regenerate because she never looked into the Schism and received her regenerations! If she died, she was gone forever!

                   A new fire lit in the Doctor's eyes. "We've got to go down!" "But there's thousands of them," Cassandra had the audacity to complain. But the Time Lord just grabbed her shoulders and turned her toward a stairwell himself and gave her a forceful shove, peering over his shoulder periodically to check on the progress of the infected. They were gaining quickly.

             "Run! Down! Down! Go down!" he shouted, taking Cassandra's hand and dragging her down metal staircase after metal staircase in their effort to escape. Above, they heard a tannoy begin to drone the phrase "This building is under quarantine. Repeat: this building is under quarantine. No one may leave the premises. Repeat: no one may leave the premises."

                  The Doctor had to think of a plan, and fast! Regardless of Persephone's views on him and her biology as a Time Lord, it was his duty to protect her.

And he'd be damned if he failed.