Midnight ⋆ Doctor Who²

9. The Pirate Ship

AURORA STAYED IN THE TARDIS. She refused to go home, and talked the Doctor into letting her stay. He didn't have much choice, to be fair. Not after seeing those readings about Amy. And she didn't care much about living in the TARDIS with the Doctor for a little while. They had been way more domestic before.

Though, to be fair, her main concern should have been about aging faster than anyone else around her. But to be fair, her only friends knew about the Doctor, and she also had an extended lifetime, being a Time Lady and all. It had its perks. Sometimes.

What she didn't plan on being concerned about, however, is that the emotional overdrive of knowing that something is wrong with someone you love, can also get to them. They may be Time Lords, but they're still human at the hearts. For better... or worse.

Worse, in that case. They're completely unnerved, racking their brains day and night to find something that could explain what happened to Amy, if she was pregnant or not, and how to fix it. It's a lot.

"Doctor, you've been watching the scanner for hours now," Aurora calls from the other side of the TARDIS console. "You should take a break. Maybe I can—"

"No," he abruptly stops her, resting his forehead on the scanner's screen. "No. I have to do this."

Aurora frowns. She didn't expect him to answer like that. Especially when she just offered to help. "Alright, I get that we have to fix this. But I can help, so you can rest."

He seems against the idea. "I need to fix this."

She knows why. It's that whole guilt he carries around everyday, that what he's doing to his friends is bad, letting them come with him. Leading them into danger. He keeps forgetting that they may not be hundreds of years old aliens, but they do have a mind of their own and are able to make their own choices.

She sighs, and walks to him. "Doctor..."

"I need to fix this!"

She stares at him, taken aback. Almost scared. Him breaking down is never good. It gets him emotional, makes him make mistakes. And his mistakes are star destroyers.

He looks at her from the corner of his eye. "I'm sorry." And he is. His worry is getting to him, therefore getting to her. And he doesn't want that. He wants to keep her safe, up on that pedestal of his, oblivious to anything bad that could ever happen.

When she doesn't answer, he turns around and starts the TARDIS. Aurora doesn't excitedly ask where they're going, she doesn't smile or jump around, or playfully bumps him on the shoulder to fly the TARDIS.

She just stares at him, blankly, stifling the anxiety that always comes before she confronts someone. "Why do you have to fix it? Why not we?" He doesn't answer, walking around the console. She follows him, angry. "Why not we, Doctor? Am I just supposed to sit and watch?"

"Of course not!" he cries out, turning around. "But sometimes, Aurora, there are just things that I have to take care of myself, because they're my fault." He forces himself to calm down. "It's better this way."

She scoffs, too furious to form her thoughts coherently. "That's — That's stupid. It has never been like that!"

He takes one last look at the scanner. "It is now."

Aurora is almost shaking with frustration, and rage. It brings tears to her eyes, because of how angry she is. "Why?"

"Because I said so!"

Aurora shuts her mouth, and clenches her jaw in hurt and anger. His hearts are beating painfully as the words escape his lips. Because her hearts are breaking, but he's the one doing it. And he's very aware of it.