Cherry sits with her legs up, her boots resting on the cream leather seats and her nose tucked into a book from the extensive library. The Doctor is under the glass platform, tending to the engine as he likes to in his spare time and Amy and Rory are blasting music in the console room and playing with the dart board they insisted the Doctor install. It's been about a month since they dropped River off at Stormcage. Cherry is finding little ways to cope with the future that awaits the Doctor. She's still plagued with nightmares that she cannot explain to the Doctor when she jolts awake in fear or weeps into her pillow during the night. It's strange though, because it's almost like she forgets about it when they're together. When they're adventuring or sharing intimate moments with one another, she can keep herself in the moment with him. He's alive and well, and she loves him more than anything. And then she remembers it and everything comes crashing down all too quickly. She's even stopped wearing mascara now, because she's had to excuse herself to the bathroom to hide her tears so many times and the Doctor was getting suspicious with the amount of times she returned with running makeup.
"You know that's a children's book?" Amy asks her cousin, shoving her legs off the seat and sitting down beside her. Cherry huffs and slams the Gallifreyan fairytale book shut.
"Of course, I know," Cherry rolls her eyes. "I was just interested. The Doctor said he used to read these when he was little."
Amy pulls a disgusted face, glancing down at the Time Lord through the glass floor. "I can't imagine the Doctor as a child."
"Well, he would've looked different then," Cherry points out, shrugging her shoulders.
"Yeah, and probably more mature than he is now," Amy snorts. "He's such a child sometimes."
"I think it's sweet," Cherry hums, a small smile gracing her lips as she thinks about the childlike joy the Doctor seems to have for the universe. "Most people grow up too fast."
"Any good stories?" Amy asks, picking the book up and reading the blurb.
"The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes was quite funny," Cherry says and the red heads eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
"The Emperor Dalek's New Clothes?" She repeats, shaking her head with a laugh that Cherry joins in on. "Look at this one," Amy giggles, pointing to the list of stories in the front of the book. "Snow White and the Seven Keys to Doomsday."
"That's ridiculous," Rory pipes up after he's finished throwing his round of darts at the board. He joins them, leaning over Amy to get a good look at the book. "The Judoon and the Beanstalk."
"Oh, the Judoon and the Beanstalk," the Doctor claps his hands together as he appears on the glass platform. "A classic. You know the Tardis doesn't usually translate Gallifreyan?"
"I asked her to translate the book for me," Cherry shrugs casually, taking it back from Amy. "She likes me."
"Will you read us one?" Amy asks, flashing Cherry puppy dog eyes and the brunette groans, leaning her head back against the headrest.
"No," she whines. "Read it yourself."
"Oh, come on," Amy grins, pulling Cherry's arm. "It will be like when we were kids."
"Fine," Cherry gives in, unable to say no to her little cousin. The red head cheers gleefully and opens the book up to the story of the Judoon and the Beanstalk, passing it over to Cherry. Cherry grumbles under her breath as Rory shuts off the music and then sits on the floor next to the cousins. The Doctor stays at the console, listening to her voice as she reads out loud the story of the Judoon Platoon who found out about a strange species of giant aliens on the distant planet of Nebulosia that were luring children up a beanstalk and then eating them for tea. He stares intently at the scan of Cherry's vitals and pregnancy status, which he has up on the monitor any time he is sure none of them can see, trying to deduce everything he can from it. He spends hours in the library when she is sleeping, agonising over different theories and explanations for what has happened to her. So far he has found one promising lead, but the implications of that theory being true are too horrible for him to think about before he can investigate it further.
"That was much better than Jack and the Beanstalk, actually," Amy decides, her head resting on her older cousins shoulder as the story comes to an end and Cherry quickly closes the book and sets it down so that she cannot be roped into reading anymore.
"Yeah," Rory agrees, nodding his head. "I liked the part where they... hold on. What is that beeping?"
A strange beeping noise is ringing from the console, like an alarm. The Doctor doesn't look away from the screen. Cherry recognises it immediately, and her eyebrows raise. "Isn't that a distress signal?"
Silence.
"Doctor?" Amy shouts at the Time Lord. He starts, and switches off the monitor as quickly as he can, his eyes going wide and his cheeks burning red. He pokes his head out and sends them a fake smile.
"Yes?"
"What's that beeping noise?" Amy asks again, as Cherry narrows her eyes at the Doctor, trying to figure out why he's been so distracted.
"Oh!" he rushes over to the red flashing light on the console. "It's a distress signal."
"Knew it," Cherry chimes and the Doctor flashes her a smile as she walks up to the console. "Where from?"
The Doctor brings up the distress call on the monitor, swinging it round so he can Cherry can see the coordinates on the screen. "Earth... 17th Century."
"17th Century?" Rory queries as he pushes himself up off the floor, his eyebrows knit together. "Pirates?"
"Pirates," the Doctor nods his head, an excited grin gracing his face at the thought of landing on a pirate ship and he yanks down the lever. The ship wobbles into flight, and Cherry braces herself against the console, reaching out to put on the blue stabilisers. "This should be fun. Pirates are cool."
"Said every little boy, ever," Amy remarks, making fun of the man as he lands the ship. He rolls his eyes at her as Rory and Cherry chuckle.
They all file out of the Tardis after Cherry has pulled on her thick blue jacket and they find themselves in the hold of a wooden pirate ship. The Doctor scans the surroundings with his screwdriver as the three humans inspect the cargo they have stored away. "No alien lifeforms... just humans."
"Well, it's not sunk," Cherry points out that from where they are standing, the ship appears to be completely dry and intact. "What do you think happened?"
"Well, let's find out, shall we?" the Doctor rushes up to a hatch in the ceiling. Cherry, Amy and Rory crowd around him, trying to get a peek of the deck above them through the little square holes in the hatch, but it is too dark for them to make anything out. The Doctor tries to open it, banging his fists against it when it doesn't budge to try to loosen the wood a little. It works, and he triumphantly throws the hatch open, revealing a group of five pirates staring down at them in absolute shock. The man in the middle, who seems to be the Captain judging by what he is wearing, is pointing an old gun straight at the Doctor. "Yo ho ho! Or... does nobody actually say that?"
Cherry sighs, shaking her head at her boyfriend and Amy seems as unimpressed as the brunette, whilst Rory offers the pirates a shy wave.
"Who are you?" the captain demands gruffly.
"We're here to help," the Doctor announces in a cheery voice, advancing out of the hatch and onto the deck. The Captain seizes him immediately and then the other pirates reach into the hatch and haul Cherry, Amy and Rory out of it. "Oi! That's not very nice. We're answering your distress signal!"
"We made no signal," the Captain states as they drag the three of them into the Captain's cabin and shove them into the middle of the room. They don't hold them hostage, though they don't need to because they are surrounded by pirates on every side of the room.
"Our sensors picked you up," the Doctor explains, interlocking his fingers in front of him. "Ship in distress."
"Sensors?" the Captain's face morphs with confusion at the Doctor's phrasing.
"Yes," the Doctor confirms simply and then he realises that he is talking to a group of pirates in the seventeenth century and he points at the Captain. "Okay... problem word. 17th century. My ship automatically, er, noticed-ish that your ship was having some bother."
"That big blue crate?" the Captain nods his head toward the deck and Cherry assumes they must have seen the Tardis in the hold when they opened up the hatch. The Doctor clicks his fingers, pointing again with a nod.
"That is more magic, Captain Avery!" one pirate butts in beside the captain. "They're spirits. How else would they have found their way below decks?"
"Well... er.. I want to say multidimensional engineering, but since you had a problem with sensors, I won't go there," the Doctor holds his hands out. "Look! I'm the Doctor. This is Charlotte, Amy, Rory."
"Cherry," Cherry interjects, correcting the Doctor. "My name is Cherry."
"We're sailors," the Doctor sends her a glare for interrupting his explanation and she sticks her tongue out at him. "Same as you. Ooo... argh," he does a pretty poor imitation of a pirate and Cherry hides her face in her palm as Captain Avery points his gun at the Time Lord. "Except for the gun thing... and the beardiness."
"You did look good with that beard, though," Cherry chimes and he smirks, adjusting his jacket smugly and nodding in agreement.
"Thanks, honey," he replies, smoothing a hand over his hair coolly.
"You're stowaways," Avery decides. "Only explanation. Eight days, we've been stranded here, becalmed. You must have stowed away before we sailed."
"Now what do we do with 'em?" the pirate behind Cherry growls, and she jumps away from him in surprise.
"Oh, I think they deserve our hospitality."
Cherry can tell by the captain's sarcastic tone that this is a lot more sinister than it sounds. The Doctor doesn't seem to notice this, though, and he wears a pleasantly surprised smile as they escort them out onto the deck. That is until they restrain Cherry, Amy and Rory once again and force the Doctor onto a wooden plank over the edge of the ship. He wobbles over the water, glancing back wearily at the laughing pirates.
"I suppose laughing like that is in the job description.'Can you do the laugh? Check. Grab yourself a parrot. Welcome aboard,'" the Doctor jokes, testing the bounce of the plank.
"Doctor, be careful!" Cherry calls out to him, the height of the drop from the plank to the water making her uneasy.
"Stocks are low. Only one barrel of water remains. We don't need four more empty bellies to fill," Avery explains to the Doctor and then turns to his men. "Take the doxies below to the galley. Set them to work. They won't need much feeding."
"That is really sexist!" Cherry scolds them as they walk her and Amy toward the Galley.
"Rory? A little help?" Amy calls out to her husband.
"Yeah. Hey, listen, right?" Rory stands up weakly to the pirates and the captain. "They aren't doxies."
"I didn't mean just tell him off! Thanks, anyway," Amy huffs. The redhead is shoved quite forcefully down into the galley and Cherry frowns.
"Don't hurt her!"
"If you're lucky, you'll drown before the sharks can take a bite," Avery tells the Doctor.
"If this is just because I'm a captain too, you know, you shouldn't feel ashamed!" the Doctor calls back to him as the pirate who has a hold of Cherry starts to push her forward into the galley. "Your ship is much bigger than mine. And I don't have cool boots. Or a hat, even."
"Idiot," Cherry grumbles as she falls forward into the galley and the entrance is slammed shut behind her.
"Cherry, look," Amy turns around, waving a cutlass at her and she stumbles back, memories of the Pandorica and Amy almost melting her face off with a torch resurfacing as her cousin brandishes the weapon.
"Jesus! Try not to cut my hand off," Cherry huffs. Amy scoffs in offence and then notices something out of the corner of her eye. There's a deep blue coat and two pirate hats hanging up nearby, and she grins.
"Catch." Amy plucks a hat off of a hook and throws it at Cherry.
"How do I look?" Cherry asks, placing it on top of her head and spinning around.
"Oh, just get a sword and hurry up," Amy says as she pulls on the coat. Cherry mumbles under her breath, cursing Amy for being so boring and she reaches into the box of swords. She hisses in pain and quickly retracts her hand from the chest when she slices her knuckles on a sword she hand noticed in the dim light.
"Bloody hell," she whines, noticing the sizeable gash along her hand which is bleeding already. She picks up a sword anyway, ignoring the stinging in her hand as the cut pulls painfully. Amy manages to break open the door to the galley, using the pirates cackling to cover up the noise of the door swinging open.
"Where are the rest of the crew? This is a big ship. Big for five of you," the Doctor observes, still standing on the end of the plank. He pinches his nose with his fingers, so that no water goes into it when he jumps, and carries on speaking in a squeaky, muffled voice. "I suppose the rest of them are hiding some place, and they're going to jump out and shout, boo."
"BOO!" Amy shouts behind the pirates, startling them all as she threatens them with the cutlass. Cherry points the sword out to the pirates nearest the end of the ship, slowly drawing nearer to the Doctor as the rest of them back away in fear. "Throw the gun down."
Avery obeys a little too quickly, placing the gun on the floor. Cherry holds her hand out to the Doctor, and he runs across the plank, using her hand to jump back down onto the deck. It's quite nice for her to be saving him for a change, even though they both know she'd never really do any actual damage to the pirates.
"You okay?" She asks the Doctor, dropping her sword to the floor and pulling him into a tight hug.
"I'm always okay." the Doctor pats her on the back and then pushes her behind him, observing the pirates' reactions to Amy wielding the sword at them.
"The rest of you, on your knees," Amy demands, and the pirates oblige, kneeling down.
"Amy, what are you doing?" The Doctor asks.
"Saving your life! Okay with that, are you?" The Scottish woman retorts.
"Put down the sword! A sword could kill us all, girl," Avery orders, keeping a fair distance between the blade and his neck.
"Yeah, thanks. That is actually why I'm pointing it at you?" Amy furrows her eyebrows. One of the crew jumps forward, slamming a metal pole into the blade to hit it away from their captain. Amy cries out in surprise and backs up, using the cutlass to block the continuous attack from the man. Cherry and the Doctor lunge forward to try to intervene, but they are both grabbed by other crew members and slammed into the wall of the ship.
"Amy!" Cherry shouts out to her cousin and then groans in pain when the pirate smashes her shoulders into the wall again to shut her up. Amy quickly regains control of the situation, fending off the rest of the crew with ease as they jump back away from the blade. The Doctor laughs, both surprised and proud, but Cherry's attention is somewhere else. She's staring down at the black circle on her palm, trying to figure out if she has spilt ink on it, or maybe touched some wet paint.
Amy runs up some steps and jumps onto a rope hanging down from the mainsail. She swings across the deck, slamming her boot into one of the crew's faces and slicing another one's hand as the Doctor covers his eyes.
"You have killed me," the man she injured speaks, staring down at his hand.
"No way, it's just a cut!" Amy replies, standing on top of some barrels. They all watch with wide eyes as a black spot forms on the man's palm, identical to the one on Cherry's. That can't be good. "What kind of rubbish pirates are you?"
"One drop, that's all it takes. One drop of blood and she'll rise out of the ocean," Avery says to her. Cherry feels sick. She cut herself on the swords, and then the black spot showed up on her hand, just like the pirate Amy attacked. Is she dead too, then?
"Doctor-" Cherry starts, but is cut off by Amy's complaining.
"Come on, I barely even scratched him. What are you all in such a huff about?" She swings at them again, but one man grabs ahold of her and the sword falls from her hands. Rory rushes forward to grab it, and he meets the same fate as Cherry, his fingers bleeding from the cut it makes. The black spot follows quickly, standing out on his pale hand.
"Er, Doctor, what's happening to me?" Rory asks the Time Lord as they are all released from their captors, apart from Amy.
"She can smell the blood on your skin. She's marked you for death," Avery says grimly.
"She?"
"A demon, out there in the ocean."
"Okay. Groovy. So not just pirates today. We've managed to bagsy a ship where there's a demon popping in," he laughs, stepping forward to inspect Rory's hand. "Very efficient. I mean, if something's going to kill you, it's nice that it drops you a note to remind you."
"Doctor," Cherry whispers, holding her hand with the black spot out to him sheepishly. The colour drains from his face and marches over to her, taking his hand and holding it close to his face.
"Not so groovy," he utters.
"Oh, thanks," Rory throws his arms in the air in disbelief. "So it's groovy when it's me, but not when it's Cherry?"
"Shut up," Amy tells him.
Something starts singing in the distance, a lyric-less siren song which echoes through the quiet of the night. They all back up, and the Doctor pulls Cherry close to him, keeping his arm locked firmly around her waist.
"Quickly now, block out the sound," the pirate with the black spot says, covering his ears.
"What?" Rory demands, eyes wide with fear.
"The creature. She charms all her victims with that song," Avery explains. Cherry quickly covers her ears, trying to block out the beautiful singing. It is really very pretty, though. Maybe she could just listen for a second longer.
"Oh, great. So put my fingers in my ears. That's your plan? Doctor, come on. Let's go... Let's get back to the er... back to the er..." Rory struggles to formulate his sentence, and he stumbles back and then starts to giggle with the other pirate. Cherry doesn't know what they're giggling about, but she joins in, leaning into the Doctor as she snickers in his ear. He watches her carefully, eyebrows raised in concern and intrigue as the song starts to take its hold on her and the two men.
"The music. It's working on them. Look."
"Wow," Cherry breathes out, looking up at the Doctor. She runs her hands through his hair, her purple and gold celestial nails tangling in his strands. He's the most beautiful man she has ever seen. She'll never get over his wonderful eyes, or his smile, or the way he blushes over her. Even when he's angry, he's beautiful. Sexy, even. Cherry never thought a negative emotion could be so appealing to her, but God when he's angry... "you are so pretty, did you know?"
"What?" The Doctor splutters, his ears turning pink as she flirts so shamelessly with him in front of so many pirates. "Me?"
"You are SO beautiful," Rory shouts as he staggers over to Amy like a drunk man.
"Yes, you. Oh, and sexy too," Cherry says, using her grip on the Doctor's hair to stand up straight. "We should go and put those handcuffs to good use..." The Doctor is crimson red now as he pries Cherry's hands out of his hair and wraps his hands around her wrist, holding them in place. He supposes it serves him right for embarrassing her this way in the Oval Office, of all places. She glances down at his hands engulfing her wrists and smirks. "That works too, I suppose."
"Charlotte!" The Doctor gasps, growing flustered as he scolds her. "That's really inappropriate!"
"I love your get up. That's great. You should dress as a pirate more often," Rory says, a little more innocently, but still dirty enough to bring a blush to Amy's cheeks as he tries to hug her. "Hey, hey, cuddle me, shipmate."
"Rory, stop!" She hisses at him, and he grips her shoulders.
"Everything is totally brilliant!" He insists, shouting at the redhead passionately. "Isn't it? Look at these brilliant pirates. Look at their brilliant beards. I'd like a beard. I'm going to grow a beard."
"No, you're not," Amy tells him.
"You should grow a beard," Cherry pipes up, her eyes fixed on the Doctor. "You looked so handsome."
"The music turns them into fools," Avery says, as Cherry, Rory and the pirate start giggling again. Rory and the pirate hug one another, leaning into each other for support as their laughter renders them weak. Cherry is still holding onto the Doctor, laughing as she hides her face in his shoulder.
"Oh my God," Amy says, her eyes focused on the ocean. There's a beam of light floating up from the seabed and then a feminine figure bursts out of the water and into the air. Rory covers his mouth in awe as she floats down onto the ship, and Cherry stares at the shining woman with her jaw slack.
The cursed pirate pushes past all of them, shoving Cherry into the Doctor's chest. He quickly wraps his arms around her middle, holding her there as the pirate approaches the singing spirit and raises his hand out to her. Cherry whines, struggling to break free of the Doctor's hold.
"She's so pretty," Cherry observes, her words slurring as she tries to get closer to the woman.
The pirate touches her outstretched fingers, and he's immediately vaporised, exploding in a cloud of soot. That terrifies most of them, and they stumble back in fear. Rory breaks free of Amy's hands and rushes forward and cherry only fights harder to get over to the floating lady. Amy pushes Rory aside and places herself in front of the creature.
"Sorry, but he is spoken for," she says firmly, standing up to the siren. The light around her turns from a very calm turquoise blue to a ferocious orange and she hisses at Amy, screeching in her face. She sends the redhead flying back with a burst of energy.
"Amy!" The Doctor shouts her name, unable to help her because of his efforts to keep Cherry away from the demon. "Everybody into the hold!"
The pirates help Amy up and they retreat into the hold, leaving the Doctor out on the deck with Rory and Cherry, both of whom are trying with all their might to reach the woman. The Doctor huffs, bending his legs a little and then using his grip around Cherry's waist to haul her up and over his shoulder. He holds her in place with one arm and then grabs Rory, dragging him and carrying Cherry safely into the hold.
"What is that thing?" Amy questions, cringing as they step in the bilge water in the bottom of the hold.
The Doctor lets go of Rory, leaving Amy to deal with him, and then gently places Cherry back down on the floor. She leans against him, her head lulling tiredly into the crook of his neck. A giggle escapes her lips when she spots his red bow tie and she starts to play with it.
"The legend. The siren. Many a merchant ship laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She's been hunting us ever since we were becalmed, picking off the injured," Avery tells them the legend of this demon creature.
"Bow ties are cool," Cherry says in a deep voice, imitating the Doctor and he frowns.
"Oi, stop it, you," he points at her, his finger tapping the end of her nose before he pushes her hand away from his tie.
"Like a shark. A shark can smell blood."
"Okay, just like a shark. In a dress. And singing. And green?" The Doctor lists. "A green singing shark in an evening gown."
"She's not a shark," Cherry protests, clumsily shaking her head. "She's a woman."
"The ship is cursed!" Avery cries out.
"Yeah, right? Cursed is big with humans. It means bad things are happening, but you can't be bothered to find an explanation."
Rory grips onto Amy's face, staring into her eyes deeply. "She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
"Actually, I think you'll find she isn't," Amy grumbles, not willing to share the spotlight with anyone or anything.
"She is," Rory doubles down.
"We have to leave right now!" Amy says to the Doctor.
"That crate of yours really is a ship?" Avery asks the alien.
"Well, it's not propelled by the wind," the Doctor replies and the captain points his gun at him.
"Show me! Weigh anchor. Make it sail."
"And the gun's back. You're big on the gun thing, aren't you? Freud would say you're compensating. Ever met Freud? No? Comfy sofa."
"Leave the cursed ones, Captain," one of the pirates suggests, narrowing his eyes at Cherry and Rory. "The creature can have them."
"Yes please," Cherry and Rory beg.
"No!" The Doctor snaps.
"We don't want the siren coming after us," Avery argues, and the Doctor sends him a glare dangerous enough to silence him. One of the pirates screams suddenly and jumps out of the water, revealing the leech latched onto his bare leg. He rips it off, his eyes wide.
"It's a leech!" Amy screeches, trying to climb out of the water.
"It's bitten me!" The pirate cries. "I'm bleeding."
"Everyone out of the water," the Doctor advises, pulling Cherry up onto a dry platform. "She wants blood. Why does she want blood?"
"What were you saying about leaving the cursed ones behind?" Amy snaps at the bleeding pirate.
"It's okay, we're safe down here. No curse is getting through three solid inches of timber," the Doctor reassures them. The siren screeches as it appears out of the bilge water, its green aura lighting up the hold. The Doctor jumps, tightening his grip on Cherry, who lunges forward. "Oh! Ah. Hello again."
"No!" They all cry out after the marked pirate as he careens toward the woman, willingly touching her hand and exploding into a cloud of ash. His hat falls to the floor, and the Doctor lets go of Cherry and grabs it before forcing everyone out of the hold, dragging his protesting girlfriend along with him.
"Safe?" Amy asks as the Doctor locks them into the mess deck.
"I have my good and my bad days," the Doctor breathes out. Cherry stumbles out of his grasp and over to Rory, gripping her friend by the arms and giggling.
"Rory, did you see her?" She asks, whispering, and he nods his head clumsily.
"She's so beautiful!"
"So beautiful!"
"How did she get in?" Avery asks, looking quite exasperated by the giggly pair.
The Doctor scans the hat with the screwdriver. "Bilge water. She's using water like a portal, a door. She can materialise through a single drop. We need to go somewhere with no water."
"Well, thank God we're not in the middle of the ocean," Amy says in a snarky tone.
"Did you see her eyes?" Rory gushes, awestruck. "Like crystal pools."
"You are in enough trouble," Amy hisses at him, pulling him away from Cherry.
"The magazine!" Avery says as the Doctor places the pirate's hat on his head.
"What?" Amy demands.
"He means the armoury where the powder's stored," the Doctor explains to the ginger.
"It's as dry as a bone," Avery agrees.
"Good, let's go there!" The Doctor stands up, and the gun is pointed in his face again.
"I give the orders!" He growls and the Doctor's eyebrows raise.
"Ah, worried because I'm wearing a hat now?" The Doctor grins and walks past him. "Nobody touch anything sharp!"
They walk to the back of the mess deck to a little door and one pirate, the boatswain, takes out a keychain full of brass keys. He rifles through them, trying to find the one that unlocks the door to the magazine.
"Quickly, man!" The captain tries to hurry the search along.
"I can't find the key. Tis gone, Cap'n," the boatswain shakes his head.
"How can it have gone?" Avery huffs as the Doctor steps forward, one hand around Cherry's wrist and the other outstretched. He prods the door with his fingers, and it swings open, already unlocked.
"Someone else had the same idea," the Doctor concludes. They all file into the magazine, some more willing than others.
"Barricade the door!" The captain tells his men as one of them takes down a lantern and hands it to him. "Careful of that lantern. Every barrel is full of powder."
"Who's been sleeping in my gunroom?" The Doctor asks slowly, looking around the empty store. There's a muffled cough, and Avery rips the lid off a barrel. His eyes go wide and he lifts a little boy out of it and holds him up against the wall.
"You fool! You fool, boy," he exclaims, shaking the spluttering child. "What are you doing here?"
"Who is he?" the boatswain asks the captain, and the Doctor furrows his brows.
"What, he's not one of the crew?"
"No. He's my son," the captain reveals. He puts the boy down, sinking into one of the benches with a dejected look on his face. The little boy sits down near him, coughing violently into his hand. "What in God's name possessed you, boy? Your mother will be searching for you..." there's a pause, and the captain takes in the saddened look on his son's face. "When?"
"Last winter. Fever," the boy shares the news of the passing of his mother. "She told me all about you. How you were a captain in the Navy. An honourable man, she said. How I'd be proud to know you. I've come to join your crew."
"I don't want you here," Avery deadpans.
"You can't send me back," the little boy argues. "It's too late. We're a hundred miles from home."
"It's dangerous here. There is a monster aboard. She leaves a mark on men's skin," Avery warns his son, and the little boy's face falls.
"The black spot?" The boy asks, holding out his palm and showing off the black circle on it.
Avery grabs hold of him, checking his body skin for cuts, asking if he's injured in any way, and the little boy shakes his head. This puts a frown on the Doctor's face. They all gather round in the room. Cherry sits cross-legged on the floor, tracing the circle on her hand with the point in her nail as the Doctor settles down beside Amy and sighs.
"There's nothing wrong with the boy," Avery states. "He has no scars."
"Yep, ignore my last theory," the Doctor waves his hand in front of his face and Amy pats him on the chest.
"He has his good days and his bad days," she jokes.
"It's not just blood, she's coming for all the sick and wounded, like a hunter chooses the weakest animal," the Doctor theorises, glancing over at the coughing boy.
"Okay, look. He's got a fever," Amy says. "The siren knows it."
"Humans... second-rate," the Doctor shakes his head regretfully. "Damage too easily. It's only a matter of time before everyone gets bruised. My ship, it can sail us all away from here. You and me, we fetch it. Let's go."
"You're not the Captain here, remember?" Avery stops the Doctor with his gun.
The little boy hobbles forward, coughing into his elbow as he lifts a lid off one of the barrels and exposes the water stored inside it. The demon's hand reaches out from the body of water, and the Doctor rushes forward. He snatches the lid off of the boy and uses the force of his weight to slam it back down, keeping the demon away.
"The water's dangerous. That's how she gets through. One touch of her hand and you're a dead man," Avery explains, tearing his son away from the barrel of water.
"We're all cursed if we stay aboard!" The boatswain cries out.
"It's not a curse. Curse means game over. Curse means we're helpless. We are not helpless. Captain, what's our next move?" The Doctor turns to Avery.
"Wait with the boy," the captain orders his men, placing an old silver medal over the little boy's neck.
"Captain, we're all in danger here," the boatswain argues against his captain's wishes.
"I said wait. And barricade the door after we've gone," the Captain ignores his man's protests.
"Sure you want to go?" Amy asks the Doctor.
"We have to get Charlotte, Rory, and Toby away. She's out there now, licking her lips, boiling a saucepan, grating cheese," the Doctor answers and Amy frowns.
"Okay... well, remember. If you get an itch, don't scratch too hard," Amy advises.
"We've all got to go sometime," the Doctor shrugs and Cherry's eyes snap up to meet his. She climbs to her feet, standing in front of him with a serious look on her face. "Ah, Charlotte. Nice to have you back with us."
"Let me go with you," she says, taking his hands.
"No, you can't. There's too much water out there," the Doctor tells her. She frowns and he sends her a reassuring smile, squeezes her uninjured hand and then kisses her forehead before walking past her and clapping Rory on the shoulder. "Besides, there are worse ways than having your face snogged off by a dodgy mermaid."
"Doctor!" Cherry scoffs as the Doctor and Captain Avery creep out of the armoury.
Amy starts to pace back and forth, and Cherry sits back down on the floor, trying to recall what happened after the demon appeared on the ship deck.
"What's wrong?" Rory asks his wife.
"The most beautiful thing you've ever seen," Amy says, crossing her arms over her chest. Rory groans, wincing.
"Oh, tell me I didn't really say that," he says and Amy laughs.
"Don't worry, you weren't as bad as Cherry," Amy says, glancing over at her cousin, who raises her eyebrows questioningly. "Handcuffs, eh?"
"Oh no," she frowns, hiding her bright red face in her hands.
"What's going on?" Amy asks, furrowing her eyebrows as the boatswain and the other pirate start to take the barricade away from the door.
"We're not staying here to mollycoddle the boy. The Captain's gone soft. It's time for us to leave," the boatswain snarls at them, casting Toby a disgusted look.
"He told you to wait, you dog. He's your Captain, a Naval Officer. You're honour-bound to do as he tells you," Toby stands up to the boatswain, standing up tall.
"Honour-bound? Do you know what kind of ship this is? Do you know what your father does?" The boatswain cackles at the boy.
"Don't listen to him, Toby," Amy says as Cherry ruffles the boy's hair.
"We sail under the black flag. The Jolly Roger."
"Liar! He's no wicked pirate!" Toby shouts.
"Oh, you think so? I have seen your father gun down a thousand innocent men," the boatswain says, his lips curling viciously and then he turns to the last pirate. "Get as much treasure as you can. I'll meet you in the rowboat."
"You're going to remain at your post!" Toby insists, pushing through Amy and Cherry with a cutlass pointed in-front of him.
"I am not playing games with you, boy. You put that down," the boatswain says, backing up.
"One more step and I'll use this, you blaggard!"
"You don't know how to fight with a cutlass, boy," the boatswain reasons with him.
"Don't need to, do I?" Toby steps forward, cutting the boatswain's hand and Cherry's eyes go wide.
"Toby!" she huffs, taking the sword away from the little boy.
"You little swabber!" The boatswain snaps at the boy.
"Congratulations, you made it to the menu," Amy remarks sarcastically. "Probably shouldn't go out there now."
"You scurvy ape!" The boatswain pulls out a gun in a fit of rage and Rory rushes forward, his hands up.
"Don't shoot! The powder will blow and kill us all," Rory reminds him where they are. The pirate takes the keys from the boatswain's belt.
"Mulligan, what are you doing?" The boatswain demands as Mulligan leaves the magazine, keys in hands.
"No honour among pirates," Amy shrugs as the boatswain puts his gun down and starts to build up the barricade again.
"Well, this is going well," Cherry sighs, sinking back down to the floor. Toby sits between her and Amy, fiddling with the medal his father gave him. The brunette looks over and notices the mermaid symbol on the front."That's cute."
"It's not cute, it's cool," he argues, and she laughs.
"Yeah, cool. That's what I meant," Cherry corrects herself as he starts to polish the back of the medal.
The Doctor and Avery suddenly pound their fists on the door, calling out desperately to the people inside. Amy and Rory jump up to move the barrels blocking the door, and let them inside. The Doctor bursts in first, snatching the medal off of Toby and breathing on it with short bursts of air. He flashes Avery a weak thumbs up, still fogging up the silver with the condensation of his breath.
"What are you doing?" Cherry asks, when the Doctor finally stops. He takes a moment to breathe properly before he rushes back out of the magazine with Avery following after him.
They're gone for a while, and there's a lot of smashing glass and then they return to the magazine and shut the door behind them.
"Doctor, what's happening?"
"I was wrong," the Doctor admits. "She isn't using the water to get through. She's using reflections. Any reflections she can."
"Okay, so?"
"So... we're going to wait here until the wind picks up and we start sailing again," the Doctor tells her the plan.
"Just wait?" Rory asks, staring incredulously at the Doctor.
"Not my most dynamic plan, I realise," the Doctor replies.
"The Tardis?"
"It's been towed," the Doctor tells them.
"What?" Cherry gasps and he winces.
"Sorry... we might be stuck here for a while."
"So you're saying that we should all just wait here below?"
"The sea is still calm, like a mirror. If you go out on deck, she'll rise up and attack you." Avery warns them.
"It's okay," the Doctor nods his head, placing his hand on Cherry's shoulder. "The calm won't last forever. When the wind picks up, we'll all set sail."
"Until it does, you have to hide down here," Avery says to Toby, Rory and Cherry.
"It's not so bad," the Doctor says, wrapping an arm around Cherry and shaking her playfully. "Think of it as a themed hotel, or something."
"A themed hotel where we're being hunted down by a murderous mermaid?" Cherry raises her eyebrows at her and he smiles.
"Exactly."