Mae and The Doctor

21 - Warm Ice

I keep running and running and running.

Not knowing my way around this town, I try my best to find an alleyway. There aren't very many. Eventually I come across two people - men in maybe their late 20s - and they try to stop me.

"Hey," one of them shouts at me, "What's wrong? Slow down." His voice has concern in it, so I stop. By now they're moving towards me from the other side of the street. I'm panting and looking around, scared an ice guard is going to get me.

"What's wrong?" the other guy asks as they step on the snow covered sidewalk.

I open my mouth to speak, but my teeth are chattering too hard.

"She's.... you're from earth?" he asks. I simply nod, and they take me back across the street into a building. When I enter, I realize it's a house.

"Glen, go get one of my sweaters," the taller one demands, sitting me down on a couch made of ice. It's covered in a blanket, however, so I don't worry about slipping.

"I'm Tim, by the way," Tim says as he flashes me a bright white smile. His features are sharp, and the shadows under his cheekbones show up well on his pale skin.

I open my mouth to speak again, but my teeth are still chattering. My sigh lets out a great gust of white smoke. Glen returns with a baby blue sweater, leather jacket, some gray jeans, and a pair of sneakers.

"Hopefully this is warm enough for you. We don't get cold weather here much," Glen apologizes. Tim stands me up and walks me to the bathroom to change.

Deciding to have layers, I don't take off my original clothes. I simply slide the long sleeved sweater over my head. The leather jacket fits perfectly over it, and I take off my shoes to put on the pants. They probably don't have warmer boots, so I won't ask, and I put on the gray sneakers they got me.

When I emerge from the bathroom, Tim has made some tea in the kitchen that branches off from the living room. Glen has gotten a lot of blankets and puts them over a chair. "Come sit," he says, picking more blankets off of the floor.

I take a seat on the chair, blankets heavily cushioning my bottom. Piling more on top of me, Glen calls over his shoulder to Tim, "Don't make the tea cold this time, hun."

I see Tim nod his head as he twists a knob on the stove. Sadly, Glen has run out of blankets to put on me. So, I simply cope with what I have and pull them closer around me; I also zip up the leather jacket.

"Here you are, dear," Tim says, handing me a steaming cup of tea. I manage to pull my hands free from the blankets and chatter a thank you.

Tim just smiles and sits on the couch beside Glen. The tea is warm as I drink it all in one gulp. It excites my insides, and I'm less worried about dying of hypothermia.

"So," I start hoarsely, "are you two dating?"

Glen glances over to Tim, smirking. "We're married, actually." Tim smiles with him and nods.

"That's so cute," I breathe, staring at the two.

"Why were you running?" Tim asks after a moment of silence.

"I was scared... the, um, princess just froze one of my friends," I say sadly, suddenly cold again.

"Oh," Glen says, as if now it all makes sense. "We don't like her."

Tim nods in agreement, saying, "She's a witch - literally. Her parents tried to make her cover it up, but us two and a lot of other people are trying to expose her."

Glen continues for him, "She froze Tim's mother. And her coronation is soon, so we're trying to find as much evidence as we can against her to try to over throw her, or something."

I nod as I listen to what they have to say. The two continue talking about their anti-princess club and how about a third of the town is in on it. They sound very passionate about it all.

"Does she take people hostage a lot?" I ask worriedly.

Tim laughs, "Yeah! All the time.." His voice falters when he sees my face. I think I'm crying.

"Honey, I-" Tim starts. Glen cuts him off, walking over to me.

"Did she take your friends?" I nod to Glen, thinking back to John and Sherlock... and the Doctor.

Glen and Tim exchange a look. When they look back at me, I'm throwing the blankets off.

"What are you doing?" Tim asks, standing as I stand.

"I'm going to save my friends," I say, sounding more confident than I am.