Warning: Thar be cliches ahead
Lyssa shoved Abi ahead of her, pushing the older woman out into the hallway and wincing at the blazing heat at her back. She ran with no real destination in mind other than getting away from the med-center, constantly looking over her shoulder and terrified that she might see Korwin coming after them at any moment.
"Oof!" she grunted as she smacked into a hard chest, bringing her run to an abrupt halt.
"Lyssa!" the Doctor exclaimed, pushing her back with his hands on her shoulders. He stared at her for a moment before placing his hands on her cheeks and pulling her in for a quick kiss, resting his forehead against hers after. "Don't ever scare me like that again," he told her, before returning to business and heading back down the hallway to the med-center at a fast pace, followed by a bemused McDonnell.
"Okay," Lyssa agreed breathlessly, voice faint and high-pitched, staring after him. She turned to Abi, eyes wide and cheeks burning. "Did that just happen?"
Abi laughed shakily, sounding slightly hysterical herself. "Pretty sure we all saw that happen, you just didn't see it coming." She sighed, casting a nervous glance down the corridor. "We should probably go after them. Who knows what trouble they're about to get into."
"Korwin should be gone by now," Lyssa tried to assure her, though she felt much the same. "I mean, we would have heard something otherwise, right?"
Abi raised an eyebrow. "Sure. How about you go first, then, if you're so confident?"
Lyssa laughed sheepishly and nodded. "Yeah, okay. That's fair." Retracing their steps, they returned to the med-center, glancing about for any signs of Korwin as they went. Stepping through the plastic curtains, Lyssa's gaze was immediately drawn to the Doctor and she flushed once more.
His gaze flickered to her for a second, just long enough to acknowledge her presence, then returned to the far wall where Abi had almost died. McDonnell and Scannell, who must have joined somewhere along the way, were also staring at the wall, faces tense and wary.
Lyssa followed their gaze, and grimaced. Long char marks stained the wall and floor, and reports and tools lay scattered across the floor as if Korwin had thrown them there in a rage. And even more ominous, on the wall where the outline of Abi's figure should have been as she died, were words burned into the metal, still glowing red-hot and sizzling.
BURN WITH ME.
"How is that possible?" Scannell demanded in disbelief, still staring at the wall. "The walls are designed to withstand both high heat and pressure for sterilization. We don't have anything up here capable of producing the heat required for that. Is that... was someone going to use that on Lerner and your friend?"
The Doctor ran his fingers around the edge of the words, careful to avoid touching the red-hot letters. "Endothermic vaporization. I've never seen one this ferocious." He paused, looking distant. "Burn with me," he repeated thoughtfully.
"That's what we heard Korwin say," Scannell frowned, looking troubled.
"What? D'you think... no way! Scannell, tell him! Korwin is not a killer! He can't vaporize people! He's human!" McDonnell protested.
"Maybe he was," Abi muttered, crossing her arms. "Don't think any human can do what he tried to do to us."
"I mean, technically it wasn't Korwin," Lyssa mused absently, a bit louder than she'd meant to. Everyone turned to her and she cringed, silently cursing her lack of filter.
"What do you mean, it wasn't him?" Abi frowned. "I ran the tests myself. It was Korwin. I don't know how he did what he did, but it was definitely him." Her hollow gaze turned back to the words burned into the wall, right where she had been standing just a few minutes earlier.
Lyssa bit her lip, curling her arms around her stomach for comfort despite the sweltering heat in the room. "It may have been his body, but it wasn't actually Korwin who tried to kill us." She turned to McDonnell. "I never knew your husband, but I know he wouldn't have wanted to do what he did. You're right about that."
The captain stared at her, too many emotions flitting through her eyes for Lyssa to read. "Why are you speaking about him in the past tense? Where is my husband?" she demanded with a tight voice, scanning the room with the hope of the desperate.
The Doctor watched her with sympathy in his eyes before turning to Lyssa. "What do you know?" he asked in a low voice. "Any hints?"
She glanced away, cheeks heating up despite the situation under his attention. "He - it," she amended, trying to distinguish the true culprit from Korwin, "has been hurt, deeply hurt. It wants what was stolen to be returned, and it will do anything to get it back. Anything." She forced herself to meet his gaze, trying to impress on him the severity of the situation. "And it doesn't care who it has to go through to get it." She paused, eyes falling on the scans Abi had dropped on the floor in her haste to escape. "If you need more proof, look at the scans."
His eyes flickered with curiosity as he picked up the scan results and held them up to the light, studying them intently. "His bio-scan results... internal body temperature: one hundred degrees!" he exclaimed in shock. "Body oxygen replaced by hydrogen..." He turned to the captain. "Your husband hasn't been infected, he's been overwhelmed!"
McDonnell snatched the results away from him. "The test results are wrong!" she protested angrily.
"But what is it, though?" he continued, seemingly unaware of her indignation. "Parasite? Mutagenic virus? Something that needs a host body. But how did it get inside him?"
"Stop talking like he's some kind of experiment!" McDonnell exclaimed, sounding slightly hysterical.
"Hold on, Lyssa said something," he muttered, ignoring her anger. "Something important. 'It wants what was stolen to be returned, and it will do anything to get it back,'" he repeated thoughtfully before turning to the captain. "Where's the ship been? Have you made planet-fall recently?" She looked blank, so he switched his line of questioning. "Have you docked with any other vessels? Any kind of external contact at all?"
"What is this? An interrogation?" she spat, glaring at him indignantly.
The Doctor watched her with sympathy, but continued on. "I'm sorry, but we've got to stop him before he tries to kill again."
McDonnell looked away, distraught. "We're just a... cargo ship." Her shoulders sagged. "That's it, that's all we are."
Scannell stepped forward between her and the Doctor, acting as a shield. "Doctor, if you give her a minute..."
The Doctor nodded, waiting silently as McDonnell tried to collect herself.
Quickly recovering, she stepped away from Scannell and said brusquely, "I'm fine. I need to warn the crew." The Doctor nodded, turning his attention to the scan results once more as McDonnell flipped on the intercom. "Everybody, listen to me! Something has infected Korwin. He tried..." She stopped, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath before continuing. "He tried to kill Abi and the Doctor's friend. None of you must go anywhere near him, is that clear?"
Ashton responded a moment later. "Understood, Captain."
Riley replied in the affirmative shortly after, then the comm fell silent as the captain stepped away with a sigh. Lyssa frowned, going through her memories of the episode before jerking upright as she counted through the members of the crew and landed on the one who hadn't checked in, along with the memory of her fate.
Praying she wasn't too late, she darted over to the intercom, pushing past McDonnell and frantically switching it back on. "Erina, you've got to get out of there!" she exclaimed. "Korwin's close to your position, he's looking for you! Get out of there, as quick as you can!"
Ignoring everyone's startled questions, she bolted out of the room and towards the engine room, praying she'd find Erina in time.
A terrified scream filled the air, then cut off abruptly, making her flinch.
"Please be all right," she begged, pushing herself as fast as she could go in the direction of the scream.
She skidded to a stop outside a storage cupboard, the tale of what had happened horrifically clear on the wall though Korwin was nowhere in sight. "No, she mourned, sinking to her knees as tears filled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Erina."
"Impact in 24.51." the computer droned mercilessly above her.
"Lyssa!" the Doctor exclaimed, rounding the corner at a run and sagging in relief when he saw her. "You can't just go running off like that when there's a -" He stopped abruptly, eyes falling on the shadow burned into the wall. "Oh."
"I could have saved her," Lyssa whispered, gaze trapped on Erina's shadow. "I knew what was going to happen, and I didn't get to her in time. I killed her, just as much as Korwin did."
"Yeah, and you yourself said Korwin isn't the killer," he reminded her, crouching by her side and wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders. "It might be his body, but it's not actually him. You told us at the beginning not to go off by ourselves, and she didn't listen. Then, when you realized he was going after her, you warned her to get out of there, and came as fast as you could to get here."
"Not fast enough," Lyssa countered miserably, hanging her head and trying to discreetly swipe at her teary eyes.
"You saved Abi Lerner though, didn't you?" he pointed out. "You chose to stay behind with her, and that probably saved her life."
"Yeah, but-"
"But nothing," he said firmly. "You're not at fault for her death. She was murdered, yes, but only at the hands of whatever's possessing Korwin, wherever he may be."
"Korwin..." she muttered, furrowing her brow. Where had he gone after killing Erina? He hadn't been the one to trap Martha and Riley, that had been -
Ashton.
"Yes," the Doctor nodded, unaware of her thought processes. "He did it, not you. Or, well, his body did it, not actually him, but let's just call him Korwin for the sake of -"
"No, you don't get it!" she exclaimed, shoving herself to her feet and taking off for the engine room, closely followed by a confused and indignant Doctor calling her name. They arrived just in time to see Korwin, now wearing an enclosed red helmet and thick gloves, pulling a terrified Ashton to his feet by the wreckage of the engine.
"Not this time!" Lyssa declared fiercely, not allowing herself to think, just act, as she grabbed a loose pipe out of the wreckage. The Doctor, realizing what she was doing, started to protest as she charged at Korwin, reaching for her, but was too late.
Repeating what had worked before, she swung the pipe at Korwin's side once she got close enough, the force of the blow stinging her broken hand painfully once more as she dropped the pipe with a yelp, and causing Korwin to release Ashton on reflex as he staggered to the side. Ducking under his arms, she grabbed Ashton's hand with her good hand and yanked him out of reach. Shaken by his near miss, Ashton followed willingly as they ran from the engine room before Korwin could recover.
"We need to have a serious talk about the risks you're taking," the Doctor warned her, maintaining an even pace with her.
"You were just telling me it wasn't my fault I couldn't save Erina, and now you're mad that I took a chance and saved Ashton?" she countered, looking over her shoulder for any sign of Korwin.
"Hold on, what's happened to Erina?" Ashton interrupted, panting for breath.
"Korwin got her; sorry," the Doctor called over his shoulder. "And of course I'm not mad he's alive, I'm just not thrilled about the fact that you nearly got yourself killed, again," he emphasized, returning to their conversation. "Especially after what happened on your first jump," he muttered, eyes darkening at the memory.
Lyssa shrugged as best as she could while running, wringing her still-stinging hand in an effort to shake off the pain. "It wasn't as close as it was earlier, and it was to help someone. Though I will admit that I'm really glad that they've got these loose pipes all over. They've come in really handy twice today, now." She huffed a laugh despite the situation as they approached the med-center.
"Ashton?" Abi said in surprise as they entered. "Where's Erina?" She looked past the trio, a frown on her face as she noticed the absence. "You took off so fast... what's wrong?"
Lyssa looked down, still struggling to catch her breath. "She's dead. I'm so sorry. I tried to save her, but I didn't get there in time."
"Dead? What do you mean, dead? How?" Scannell demanded.
"Korwin killed her. Same way he tried to kill Abi and Lyssa. And the same way he tried to kill Ashton just now," the Doctor explained, taking Lyssa's broken hand in his and examining it with a frown. "Nothing left, just a shadow burned into the wall."
Lyssa shook her head, fanning her face with her free hand in a futile attempt to cool down. "Not kill. Convert."
"What do you mean, 'convert?'" the Doctor asked, a worried look on his face as he released her hand.
"Exactly what it sounds like," she grimaced. "Korwin, or whatever took over, needed back-up, so he was gonna change Ashton to be like him," she explained. "Turn him into something with the same powers, the same purpose."
The Doctor frowned, picking up the bio-scan results and examining them again. "Which is a very durable change. You hit him hard with that lead pipe - twice. And while it made him pause, he's still going strong - literally. A normal human would at least have broken ribs at this point, if not more severe damage like internal bleeding."
"Doctor, Abi couldn't make much sense of the results," the captain spoke up, desperation tinging her voice ever so slightly. "She says she's never seen anything like it. Is the infection permanent? Can you cure him?" she pleaded, sitting down on one of the benches.
The Doctor put down the scans and turned to her. "I don't know," he said seriously.
The captain frowned, crossing her arms. "Don't lie to me, Doctor. Eleven years, we've been married. We chose this ship together. He keeps me honest. So I don't want false hope."
Lyssa bit her lip, remembering the conclusion she'd somehow reached earlier - there was no saving Korwin by this point. He was gone.
The Doctor nodded, accepting her choice. "The parasite's too aggressive. Your husband's gone. There's no way back. Sorry," he said bluntly.
McDonnell just nodded, a light going out in her eyes though her expression remained unchanged. "Thank you," she said quietly.
The Doctor straightened abruptly, as if struck by some new idea as he focused on her. "Are you certain nothing happened to provoke this? Nobody's working on anything secret? It's attacking you for a reason, so it's vital that you tell me."
"I know every inch of this ship. I know every detail of my crew's lives. There is nothing," she stated firmly.
The Doctor watched her skeptically. "Then why is this thing so interested in you?"
She only shook her head. "I wish I knew."
"She really doesn't know, Doctor," Lyssa spoke up, glancing at him. "None of them do. But... it doesn't care if they know or not, if they intended to hurt it or not. It only cares that it happened, and that it be fixed."
"What did we do?" McDonnell demanded, stalking forward to face her. "Who did we hurt? You keep saying that, but you never say who, or how. How do you even know all this?"
Lyssa swallowed hard, but lifted her chin. "Do you really want to know? Because once you know, there's no going back," she warned the older woman.
The captain scowled, expression determined. "Tell me," she commanded. "I can't do anything about it if I don't know."
"You didn't scan," Lyssa told her bluntly. "You didn't scan for life, and now it's in agony, and it won't stop until it's over."
The captain frowned, not comprehending, but the Doctor's eyes widened with horrified understanding.
"No. You don't mean -"
"Doctor!" Martha's frantic voice came over the intercom. "We're stuck in an escape pod off the area 17 airlock. One of the crew's trying to jettison us! You gotta help us!"
"Right." The Doctor straightened, eyes going hard. "You lot, get to the engine room," he instructed the group. "Jump-start those engines, and stick together!" he emphasized. "Lyssa, with me." He held his hand out to her, already heading towards the door.
Lyssa hurried to place her hand in his, but turned back to the group before they could leave. "Don't go anywhere alone, and don't sacrifice yourself," she pleaded, locking eyes with the confused captain. "Please. Work together, and stay safe."
They frowned at her in confusion, but they didn't have time to wait, so she allowed the Doctor to tug her out the door, heading through the hallways at a run. They barreled into area 17 in time to see Korwin tapping at the keypad in an attempt to jettison Martha and Riley off the ship as Riley worked frantically at the controls on the other side of the escape pod.
"That's enough!" the Doctor ordered, moving to stand in front of Lyssa as the red helmet turned to look at him. "What do you want? Why this ship? Tell me!" he demanded
Korwin regarded him in silence for a moment before he turned and put a fist through the keypad, sending sparks flying from the now ruined device.
"Jettison activated," the computer announced.
His first goal accomplished, Korwin turned to them, slowly advancing forward.
"Come on. Let's see you," the Doctor challenged, standing his ground as Korwin grew closer but using an arm to keep Lyssa behind him. "I wanna know what you really are."
Korwin remained ominously silent, only lifting a hand to his visor.
The Doctor didn't move, instead watching curiously like the adrenaline addict he was.
"Korwin!" Lyssa shouted as a faint glow started to appear from the crack at the bottom of the visor, stepping to the side of the Doctor. "Korwin!" she repeated as he turned to look at her, the Doctor tensing and holding an arm out protectively. "He didn't have anything to do with it, neither of us did. We're trying to fix it; we're trying to help you! Just give us a little bit of time, and we can give it back!" she pleaded.
Korwin paused, lowering his hand from his visor, still completely silent.
The Doctor stepped in front of Lyssa once more, gently but firmly gripping her arm to keep her behind him this time.
"Airlock sealed," the computer announced.
Rather than continue his attack, Korwin pushed past the Doctor, who quickly shifted to keep covering Lyssa, and stalked out of area 17. As soon as he was out of sight, the Doctor skidded to the nearest intercom and flicked it on.
"McDonnell! Korwin's heading in your direction!"
"Acknowledged, Doctor. We'll be ready for him," she responded calmly.
"Ready?" the Doctor repeated, furrowing his brow. "What does -"
"Airlock decompression completed. Jettisoning pod," the computer interrupted.
"No!" Lyssa gasped, eyes widening as she realized that they were too late. They darted over to the airlock door, Lyssa trying frantically to open the airlock door as the Doctor tried to regain control of the keypad and stop the jettison.
But the keypad was fried, and the door was locked, and they could do nothing but watch in horror as the pod slowly ejected from the ship. Martha and Riley, still calling for help on the other side of the window, slowly fell silent as they flew farther away from the ship, and closer to the sun.
Lyssa cried out in frustration and looked around wildly, trying to find something to help with the situation, while the Doctor promised Martha through the airlock door that he would save her, not caring that there was no way she could hear him. Lyssa's gaze landed on the intercom and she darted over, memories of the episode flying through her head.
"Impact in 17.05."
Lyssa ignored the countdown, turning the intercom on again and relying on her memories of the episode for what to say. "Anyone who's available, I need a spacesuit in area 17, now!" she ordered.
"What for?" Scannell asked incredulously, thankfully answering immediately.
"For me," the Doctor said quietly, appearing silently by Lyssa's side, voice like ice.
"What are you going to do, Doctor? Go after them?" he asked. "You'll burn up!"
"Just get down here!" the Doctor yelled, rage starting to burn in his eyes, making Lyssa jump. He sent her an apologetic grimace but didn't speak, eyes still dark with rage and worry.
"Scannell and Abi are coming, Doctor," Ashton informed them a moment later.
The Doctor didn't respond, stalking over to the airlock door. They waited in silence until Scannell and Abi ran in a minute later, carrying a bright orange spacesuit and helmet and panting for air. The Doctor immediately took the spacesuit from them and started to put it on.
"What are you doing?" Scannell asked nervously.
"Going after them," the Doctor said bluntly.
"What?" Abi demanded. "This close? That'll kill you!"
"I can't let you do this," Scannell protested.
"You're wasting your breath, Scannell. You're not gonna stop me," the Doctor warned, tightening the straps.
"You wanna open an airlock in flight, on a ship spinning into the sun! No one can survive that!" Scannell said, trying to reason with him.
"Oh, you just watch," the Doctor told him, refusing to be reasoned with.
"You open that lock, it's suicide. This close to the sun, the shields will barely protect you," the crewman tried again.
"Seriously! That's not exactly a top quality spacesuit," Abi pointed out with a frown.
"If I can break the magnetic lock on the ship's exterior, it should re-magnetize the pod. Now, while I'm out there, you two have got to get the rest of those doors open. We need those auxiliary engines," the Doctor continued, not listening to either of them.
"Doctor! Will you listen? They're too far away, it's too late!" Scannell protested.
"He's right!" Abi agreed. "I'm sorry, but there's no getting them back. It's just not possible. We'll be lucky if any of us survive."
"It's all right, guys. I'll stay here and look after him," Lyssa said quietly, speaking for the first time. They both looked at her in surprise. "I mean it, I'm probably the most qualified to help him, because I know what he's trying to do. What I don't know is the password to those doors," she jerked her head at the sealed door to the next area, and the abandoned kit beside it. "So you two need to try and unlock those doors and get to the auxiliary engines. And when you get there, vent the engines. I cannot stress this enough," she emphasized, locking eyes with them both. "Vent the engines immediately, it's our only way out of this."
"There, you see? Lyssa'll look after me, I'll be fine," the Doctor urged. "Not quite sure what she's on about with the venting, but I'd listen to her. Time's wasting, so go! And vent those engines!"
The poor crew members looked bewildered, but agreed, hefting the security kit and getting started on the door. It must have been an easy one, for they unlocked it in a manner of seconds and disappeared through to the next area.
Lyssa turned to the Doctor, as he finished tugging the spacesuit into place, lifting up the helmet for him. "Doctor, listen to me. When you go out there, do not, under any circumstances, look at the sun." He nodded absently, not really paying much attention as he pulled it over his head. She scowled, whacking his arm and making him look at her. "I'm serious, Doctor! You can't look at the sun!"
"Why not?" he asked, frowning at her through the helmet.
She sighed. "Because it's alive," she told him honestly. "No!" she almost shouted when his eyes widened and his mouth started to open. "No questions, not now! There's not enough time! You've got to save Martha and Riley!"
He nodded, turning to leave, but Lyssa could see the wheels turning in his head. He walked inside the airlock chamber, the door sliding shut after him with an ominous rasp.
"Decompression activated," the computer announced as the air began dissipating from the room. "Impact in 11.15," it warned a moment later. "Heat shield failing at ten percent."
Lyssa watched nervously through the window, biting her lip as the Doctor opened the exterior door, recoiling from the heat and brightness of the sun, but avoiding looking directly at it as he began to clamber onto the outer hull of the ship, clinging tightly onto the frame. After waiting a few minutes, she couldn't take it any longer and accessed his personal comm unit from the station.
"Doctor, how are you doing?" she asked worriedly, biting her lip.
"I can't! I can't reach! I don't know how much longer I can last," he panted, sounding strained and desperate.
"Come on! Don't give up now! I know you can do it!" she urged. He didn't reply, but a moment later she heard him scream something unintelligible. She closed her eyes, whispering a frantic prayer under her breath.
"Re-magnetizing," the computer finally announced.
Lyssa sagged against the wall with relief. "Doctor! Doctor, you did it! They're coming back," she called over the intercom. There was a clang as he slid into the airlock and collapsed to his knees, face hidden from view.
"Doctor, close that airlock, now!" Scannell shouted over the intercom. "You've got to complete the re-compression before they get back!"
When the Doctor didn't move, Lyssa smashed her fist into the 'seal door' button and waited anxiously for the air to be returned.
"Impact in 8.57. Airlock re-compression completed."
The door slid open with a hiss. The Doctor promptly tore off his helmet and practically fell into the corridor, still on his knees. Lyssa raced to his side, crouching beside him and only then noticing that his eyes were screwed shut and his face was tight with pain.
"Oh, no," she groaned. "You looked at the sun, didn't you?"
"I couldn't... help it," he gasped, sounding pained. "Slipped and nearly fell... on the way back... Couldn't help... but look."
"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm not blaming you. You saved Martha and Riley, now it's our turn to save you," she quickly assured him, resting a hand on his back in a paltry attempt at comfort, wincing at the heat she could feel radiating from him already and frantically flying through attempts at a temporary solution. The only permanent cure was to vent the fuel back into the sun, but she couldn't help with that, as none of the later passwords had been included in the episode.
He groaned in pain, curling in on himself and writhing on the floor as Martha and Riley made their way out of the escape pod and ran to him.
"Doctor! What happened? Are you all right?" Martha asked, sharing a worried look with Lyssa and helping flip him onto his back so he could sit up.
He opened his eyes, glowing with the same energy Korwin's had and covered with burning gold. "Stay away from me!" he shouted desperately, trying to pull away from them and slamming his eyes shut tight with an effort, muscles tight with tension.
"Do as he says, Martha," Lyssa urged, though she kept an arm wrapped around the Doctor to help him stay upright. Martha reluctantly backed away a few feet towards Riley, still watching the Doctor in concern. Footsteps pounded towards them and Lyssa whipped her head towards the corridor, fearing Korwin might be coming back. She sagged slightly as McDonnell and Ashton came running in.
"What happened?" the captain demanded.
"It's your fault, Captain McDonnell!" the Doctor shouted angrily, keeping his eyes shut tight.
Her eyes went wide, but she maintained her composure, turning to Riley. "Riley! Get down to area 10 and help Scannell and Abi with the doors. Go!"
The Doctor tensed, face tightening in pain as Riley darted down the corridor after his crew mates. "You mined that sun! Stripped its surface for cheap fuel! You should have scanned for life!" he shouted.
"I don't understand," McDonnell frowned, shaking her head.
"Doctor, what are you talking about?" Martha pleaded, drawing closer once more.
He grimaced, struggling to stay upright against the pain and leaning heavily into Lyssa. "That sun is alive! A living organism! They scooped out its heart, used it for fuel, and now it's screaming!" he explained, panting.
"What do you mean? How can a sun be alive? Why's he saying that?" McDonnell demanded in a panicked voice.
"Because it's living in me," the Doctor groaned.
Lyssa could tell the exact moment they truly comprehended it, their eyes widening in shock.
"Humans!" the Doctor spat angrily. "You grab whatever's nearest and bleed it dry!" He screamed in agony, back arching. "You should have scanned!"
"It takes too long! We'd be caught! Fusion scoops are illegal!" the older woman defended herself weakly.
The Doctor cried out again. "You've got to freeze me, quickly!"
"What?" Martha said incredulously, dropping to her knees on the other side of the Doctor.
"Stasis chamber. You gotta keep me... below -200. Freeze it out of me," he gasped out before screaming again. Now sounding more scared than anguished, he said quickly, "It'll use me to kill you if you don't! The closer we get to the sun, the stronger -" he stopped, grimacing. "It gets. Med-center, quickly! Quickly!"
"We're on our way, Doctor. Martha, help me get him up," Lyssa requested, lifting one of the Doctor's arms over her shoulder as Martha did the same with the other. Trying their best to be gentle as he tensed in pain once more, they moved as fast as they could towards the med-center, followed by an anxious McDonnell and Ashton.
"Impact in 7.30."
Rushing as fast as they could, Lyssa winced as the Doctor screamed when they shoved through the plastic curtain acting as a door. "Martha, get the instruction manual, figure out how to use the stasis chamber. McDonnell, help me get him onto the bed!" Lyssa ordered, the captain replacing Martha as the other girl flipped through the controls of the stasis chamber. Working together, they lowered the Doctor onto the bed.
"Lyssa?" the Doctor asked weakly, reaching out blindly towards her. She grabbed his hand, clutching it in both of hers.
"I'm here, Doctor," she reassured him, squeezing it gently, trying to send him her strength. Keeping his hand in hers, she turned to Martha. "Have you figured it out yet?" she asked hopefully.
"I think so. Minus 200, yeah?" she confirmed, moving to the control panel.
"No, you don't know how this equipment works! You'll kill him! Nobody can survive those temperatures!" McDonnell protested, stepping forward.
"He's not human! If he says he can survive, then he can!" Martha shouted her down.
"Let me help, then," she tried again.
"You've done enough damage," Martha spat. The captain flinched as if struck, but said nothing in reply, falling back to stand by a silent Ashton.
"Ten seconds," the Doctor panted. "That's all I'll be able to take. No more." He screamed again, then retched. "It's burning me up! I can't control it! If you don't get rid of it -" his voice changed, growing darker, similar to Korwin's. "I could kill you. I could kill you all." He screamed, fighting back against it. "I'm scared! I'm so scared!" he whimpered, his voice dropping back to normal as the sun burned through him.
Martha looked over at him, face tense with worry. "Just... stay calm. You saved me, now let me return the favor. Just... just believe in me," she urged. "Believe in us."
Lyssa squeezed his hand tighter. "You'll be all right. Just hang on a little bit longer," she whispered.
He didn't seem to hear either of them. "It's killing me! Then what'll happen?"
"That's enough, we've got you. It's all right," Lyssa tried to soothe him.
"Martha," he started, pausing to gasp for breath. "Lyssa knows this already, but there's this process. This... this thing... that happens... if I'm about to die," he tried to say.
"Shh... Quiet now. 'Cause that is not going to happen," she told him flatly. "You ready?" she asked, softening her tone.
"No!" he whispered with a grimace, his hand tightening around Lyssa, burning with a heat so fierce she couldn't tell if it came from him or from the sun burning inside him.
Martha closed her eyes unhappily, flipping the lever that slid the Doctor back into the stasis chamber. Lyssa reluctantly released his hands as Martha set the temperature and pressed the start button, both girls wincing as he began to scream continuously.
"Heat shields failing at five percent."
The Doctor's screams grew louder as the temperature continued to drop in the chamber, before the machine shut off abruptly with an ominous hiss, having only reached -70 degrees.
"No! Martha! You can't stop it! Not yet!" the Doctor shouted from inside the chamber, voice wracked with pain.
"What's happened?" Martha demanded.
"Power's been cut in engineering," McDonnell said shortly, tapping at a computer screen.
"But who's down there?" Martha frowned.
"Korwin," Lyssa realized, eyes wide. "He must have decided we were taking too long, and decided to do it himself."
"Leave it to me. I can do at least this much," the captain said softly, disappearing through the door.
"Ashton, go after her. Keep her from sacrificing herself if you can, but don't take unnecessary risks," Lyssa ordered, meeting eyes with the older man. He nodded, quickly following after his captain.
"Impact in 4.47."
"Come on! You're defrosting!" Martha complained, banging the chamber with the side of her hand and trying to get it working again as the internal temperature began to rise.
The Doctor cried out in pain. "Lyssa, Martha, listen! I've only got a minute! You've gotta go!" he begged.
"No way!" Martha refused immediately, Lyssa nodding in agreement.
"Get to the front! Vent the engines! Sun particles in the fuel! Get rid of them!" he said desperately.
"I'm not leaving you!" Martha refused.
"You've got to! Give back what they took!" he pleaded. "You've got to get away from me, before I can't fight it anymore!"
"Doctor!" Martha exclaimed.
He cried out in agony. "Please! Go!"
"Martha, I'll stay here with him, make sure he stays alive. If the power comes back on I'll turn the machine back on again. Just go and get rid of the sun particles," Lyssa urged. "Make sure they vent the engines!"
Martha looked torn, but the Doctor cried out again and she gave in. "I'll be back for you. Both of you!" she promised desperately before darting through the door.
"Impact in 4.08."
"Just hang on, Doctor," Lyssa whispered as the heat in the room grew ever stronger, sweat dripping down her forehead and into her eyes. "Ashton and McDonnell should have it fixed in no time." There was no response from the Doctor or the chamber. She bit her lip, growing more nervous as the seconds passed; the fate of the captain all too clear in her memory.
"Impact in 3.43."
"Everyone, I'm sorry." McDonnell's voice suddenly came on the intercom. "Ashton's in the engine room. He's been injured, but he should be all right."
Lyssa froze.
"McDonnell!" Scannell shouted desperately.
Lyssa almost broke the comm unit in her haste to turn it on. "McDonnell, don't do anything stupid," she pleaded. "We've almost fixed it. Just please, hold on!"
The captain didn't respond.
The computer did.
"Exterior airlock opened."
"No," she whispered, tears filling her eyes.
"Impact in 2.17."
A thud from behind made her turn. The Doctor had fallen out of the stasis chamber and onto the floor before pulling himself to his feet. "Doctor?" she asked uncertainly, fighting back a surge of fear as memories of Korwin doing the same thing filled her vision.
He didn't answer, writhing in pain. Whatever fight he was facing with the sun, he was losing as he tried to pull himself up using the control panel, still-gloved hands scrambling over the controls before arching backwards in pain and falling to the floor once more.
She gasped, knowing she should stay out of reach but unable to help herself as she ran to his side and tried to help him up. "Doctor!"
He summoned up all the strength he had left and pushed her desperately away from him. "No! Stay back!" he shouted, throwing himself away from her, keeping his eyes shut tight.
"Survival element protection: zero percent," the computer warned.
Lyssa stumbled back, catching herself with her hands before hastily shoving herself to her feet and following him as he painfully army-crawled out of the med-center. "Doctor, where are you going?" she asked worriedly, shoving her sweaty hair out of her face and trying to stay close without getting too close. "You've got to stay here, remember? "
He stopped, leaning his forehead against the floor before summoning one last bit of strength and lifting his head to face her, eyes shut as tight as he could make them and sweat beading on his face. "I can't fight it, Lyssa," he said weakly. "I don't have much longer."
She cast about desperately for something to say to keep him going. "Don't you dare give in," she ordered him as firmly as she could with her voice threatening to break. "You've still got to... to... make it up to me for stealing my first kiss!" she finally shouted, spouting the first thing that came to mind.
"What?" he started, brow furrowing, before hunching in on himself in pain and collapsing to the floor with a whimper. "Give it back," he muttered. "Give it back, or..." he trailed off.
"Doctor?" she asked frantically, dropping to her knees and crawling over to him, tears stinging her eyes and struggling to breathe in the ever increasing oppressive heat.
He sat up before she could get too close, eyes wide open and glowing a bright gold that radiated heat even from that distance. "Burn with me, Lyssa. Burn with me," he said darkly, in a voice not his own as he turned to face her.
Lyssa gasped, scrambling back up against the wall as he began screaming once more, the golden glow spreading under his skin from his eyes outwards in a horrible imitation of regeneration, though this would kill rather than heal.
"Impact in 1.06."
Lyssa barely heard the computer over the Doctor's screams, clinging tightly to the wall. The ship dipped sharply to the side without warning, sending her flying across to the other side of the corridor.
She shielded her head as best she could with her arms and scrambled to her feet once it stopped, only then noticing that the Doctor had stopped screaming. Her heart pounding, she looked over, seeing him collapsed on the floor, eyes no longer glowing though pain still wracked his features. The ship lurched again, sending her flying once more as she smacked into the other wall with a grunt.
Then all became still.
"Impact averted. Impact averted," the computer announced.
Lyssa lay on her back, panting, and hardly able to believe that they'd survived. She slowly rolled over and pulled herself to her knees, crawling over to the still form of Doctor. "Doctor?" she asked in concern, leaning over him fearfully.
He opened his eyes, once more their usual brown, and looked up at her. "Lyssa?"
"Are you all right? Is it... gone?" she queried worriedly.
He grinned, sitting upright and drawing her into a tight hug. "It's gone," he reassured her. "I'm fine. Bit tired, but otherwise none the worse for the wear." He drew back a little. "Are you all right?" he returned the question.
She frowned at him. "Me? Yeah. Of course. Why wouldn't I be? I mean, I got thrown around a little bit, but I think I got off a lot easier than you, so what does it matter?"
He looked at her seriously. "You always matter to me, Lyssa."
She felt her cheeks heat up, though she was saved from having to reply when Martha came running in, pulling up short when she saw them on the floor. "Oh, thank goodness you're both all right!" she exclaimed in relief, kneeling on the floor and hugging them both. "I was so worried. We could hear you screaming on the intercom, and we thought... I thought..." She trailed off.
"Nope! You did it, Martha!" the Doctor grinned, still hugging them both. "Returned the particles to the sun, saved us all."
He released them and got to his feet with their assistance, signs of the limits he had been pushed to still showing on his face. "Is everyone else all right?" he addressed her wearily.
Martha shrugged. "Abi and Scannell are with Riley in area 1. Ashton and McDonnell..." her eyes grew wide. "Wait. McDonnell said that Ashton had been hurt, and then..."
"And then she died, taking Korwin with her," Lyssa finished sadly. "I tried so hard, and she still died."
The Doctor looked back at her as they started moving towards the engine room to help Ashton. "You can't always save everyone," he reminded her gently, taking her uninjured hand in his. "Some people have to die, in a certain place, at a certain time, and there's nothing you can do about it, like Korwin. And sometimes we try our hardest, and they still die. It hurts, but we have to keep moving forward, and save who we can, like you did."
"I guess," she muttered as they walked into the engine room, the unnecessary deaths still weighing on her heavily despite his comforting words. "Anyway, where do you think Ashton could be?" she asked, dismissing the subject and glancing around the room. "Anyone see him?"
"I found him!" Martha suddenly shouted, bending over behind one of the machines. Hurrying to her side, they found Ashton lying on his back with an angry red mark forming near his temple, unconscious. Martha quickly checked him over, gently shaking him in an attempt to rouse him. "He looks all right otherwise, just unconscious. Might need to stay in a hospital for a bit, though, or whatever version of them they have in space nowadays. Blow like that, he's probably got a concussion."
The Doctor turned on the comm unit. "We've found Ashton in the engine room. Took a blow to the head, but otherwise unharmed."
Scannell responded immediately. "That's some good news, at least. Abi and Riley are on their way now. I'm just sending out a mayday, then I'll join you there."
"Roger that." The Doctor turned the comm unit off as Abi and Riley rushed in, immediately going to their fallen crewmate's side as Martha and Abi worked together to bring Ashton around.
Scannell joined them a few minutes later, waiting in silence as they worked until Martha rose to her feet.
"There's nothing more we can do for him here. He's stable, and he should stay that way until help arrives," she said quietly. "Everyone else... well. They'll probably need a different kind of help after today."
Lyssa looked over at the Doctor. "I suppose we should get going, then?"
Riley looked at her in confusion. "Go? Go where? Your ship was in area 29. All the heat was vented in there. There's no way it didn't get damaged."
The Doctor chuckled. "Ah, never underestimate my TARDIS. She'll surprise you every time."
Riley shrugged, unconvinced. "If you say so. We'll be here to give you a ride if need be."
"Secure closure should be off by now. We'll be able to get in without any trouble, at least," Scannell piped up.
"All right, then, shall we go?" the Doctor asked, gesturing at the doorway.
"Hold on, what about Ashton?" Lyssa interjected, glancing at the dazed man.
"I'll stay here with him. He's in no shape to be walking right now. You guys go on ahead," Abi volunteered, still crouched by him.
Lyssa hung back as the others filed out of the room, the Doctor and Martha nodding their good-byes. "It was nice meeting you," she told the medic with a shy smile.
Abi returned the smile, the expression lighting up her face. "You too. You saved my life today. Korwin would've killed me. If there's ever a way I can make it up to you..."
Lyssa shook her head immediately. "Oh, I don't want repayment. Just... pass it on, I guess," she shrugged uncomfortably. "If you see someone in need of help, offer it to them."
Abi nodded. "I will, I promise. My contract is almost up, and I've been thinking of joining the hospital back home. Might apply there once we get back. I've had enough of space for a lifetime. Good luck!" she called as Lyssa waved and left the room.
"You too!" she returned, hurrying to catch up with the group. The Doctor had slowed when she didn't immediately follow, waiting for her with a pensive expression. He relaxed a little when he saw her, sticking out his hand to clasp hers when she grew close enough before leading the way back to the TARDIS.
It was far cooler in the little room when they unsealed the door. The TARDIS was standing, unharmed, right where they had left it. Riley and Scannell both stared at the seemingly small ship in confusion as Martha watched with a grin. The Doctor tugged Lyssa forward to look it over for any signs of damage, though the ship seemed untouched by the blazing heat that had filled the room mere minutes earlier.
"This is never your ship," Scannell scoffed, shaking his head.
The Doctor offered a small version of his proud grin, reluctantly releasing Lyssa's hand to unlock the ship though he stayed close enough that his arm brushed hers. "Compact, eh? And another good word, robust! Barely a scorch mark on her!"
Martha joined them, then paused, her hand falling from the door. "We can't just leave them drifting with no fuel," she objected, glancing back at the two men uncertainly, though her gaze lingered longest on Riley.
"We've sent out an official mayday. The authorities will pick us up soon enough," Riley assured her.
"Though how we explain what happened..." Scannell trailed off with a grimace.
"Just tell them the truth," the Doctor suggested, opening the door to the TARDIS. "That sun needs care and protection, just like any other living thing."
Scannell nodded.
Lyssa and the Doctor made their farewells then stepped into the TARDIS, his hand resting gently on her back before falling away once she was safely inside as they headed to the console.
There was a noticeable absence, and Lyssa bit back a smile, knowing full well just what Martha was up to - and with who.
"Martha might be a minute," she implied, humor tinging her tone as she glanced back at the door, which had fallen shut behind them.
"That's fine," the Doctor said quietly, appearing to be completely focused on the controls. But when she glanced at him, alerted by his tone, she found a strange tension to his shoulders, and his hands were jerky as they worked the controls, lacking his normal grace.
She frowned, wondering what had upset him so - because the earlier pain had long ago left his features - and started to say something, then hesitated. The Doctor, for all his friendly charm, was a very private man, and she barely knew him, for all that she knew of him. She didn't know him well enough to be able to tell if he would welcome her prying into his affairs.
Casting about for something to say, if only to perhaps distract him from his distress, her eyes fell on her clothes, now damp with sweat and clinging to her skin, now stained with dirt and oil from her many falls on the ship. "Oh my gosh. We almost flew into the sun, and I'm in my pajamas!" she exclaimed, throwing up her hands in the air. "Seriously? How come you barely look ruffled in your suit and tie and I look like I rolled out of bed and through an auto repair shop?"
A faint smile touched the corners of his lips, just visible enough that she counted it as a win. "Time Lord abilities. We can't help it, we always look good. Well, most of us," he amended. "I was one of the more fortunate ones."
She scoffed just as Martha popped in with a smirk and starry eyes. She turned her attention to the med student and raised her eyebrows. "Dare I ask what kept you, or are my innocent ears at risk?"
"Like you can talk," the other girl retorted good-naturedly, ignoring Lyssa's confusion at the non sequitur. "So," she addressed the Doctor with a grin. "We didn't really need you in the end, did we?" He didn't answer, his gaze once again distant and unhappy, and she stopped, a concerned frown appearing. "Sorry. How're you doing?"
The Doctor didn't answer for a long moment before he abruptly snapped out of it, shaking off his previous low mood and donning a clearly false excited demeanor. "About time you're back!" he exclaimed, sending them off into the Vortex with a flourish of his hands that was just a shade off of normal. "What do you say? Ice skating on the mineral lakes of Cuhlhan. Fancy it?" he offered as the familiar groan of the TARDIS filled the room.
The smile fell from Martha's face. "Whatever you like," she said unenthusiastically.
Lyssa gently kicked the Doctor with her foot and cleared her throat meaningfully, tilting her head at Martha.
He followed her gaze to Martha with a frown, then his eyes grew wide with comprehension. "Right. By the way, you'll be needing this," he said casually, pulling a TARDIS key on a long chain out of his pocket and dangling it in front of her.
Her eyes grew wide, excitement returning as quickly as it had left. "Really?"
"Frequent flier's privilege," he told her, slowly feeding it into her hand before looking at her properly. "Thank you," he said seriously.
She smiled. "Don't mention it."
He smiled back at her weakly, quickly turning his attention back to the console.
"Oh, no! Mum!" Martha suddenly shouted in realization, pulling out her phone and rapidly dialing a number. "Me again!" she said as her mother picked up the phone on the other end. "Sorry about earlier. Over-emotional, mad day!" She paused, listening. "Yeah! Tonight. Do my best," she said weakly, eyeing the Doctor. "Umm, just remind me, what day is it again?"
She paused again. "Right. Course. I'll be round for tea. Roughly." Her mother tried to say something, but she cut her off. "Anyway, gotta go. See you later! Love you!" She hung up, staring at her phone. "That's just -" She shook her head, still smiling.
"I don't know about you two, but before we do any ice skating, or whatever, I really need a shower," Lyssa spoke up. "It was incredibly hot in there, and my clothes got ruined. Also, I have no desire to go on yet another adventure in my pajamas," she added with a grimace.
Martha wrinkled her nose, glancing down at her own damp clothes. "Now that you mention it, a shower and fresh clothes couldn't hurt. An hour to clean up, then ice skating?" she asked the Doctor.
He rolled his eyes, but agreed. "All right, just don't take forever."
"Time machine! You never have to worry about being late!" Martha called blithely over her shoulder as she left the console room.
Lyssa grinned. "She's got a point, you know. So I don't know why you keep ending up so late wherever you go. Must be a Time Lord thing. Always neat, never on time. Or maybe it's a you thing? Anyway, I'm off," she said, turning to leave with a wave. "See you in a bit!"
"Lyssa, wait." His voice was quiet.
She turned around curiously and found him fidgeting nervously with the console, though he straightened and met her gaze when she turned to him. "Doctor?"
He hesitated. "Did I really steal your first kiss?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Because it's not a real Doctor Who timeline travel romance without the cliche "The Doctor kisses the unaware OC at least once." Which, yeah, uh... *Looks about shiftily* The muse made me do it! I'm innocent!
This chapter is one of the single longest chapters I have ever written, at over 9,000 words. Which... That's a lot. D:
Anyway, I was looking over this chapter, and I just realized that when the Doctor said Korwin's internal body temperature was 100 degrees, he was likely talking in terms of Celsius. I was thinking that 100F wasn't so bad, maybe just a mild fever. And then I realized that DW is a British show. For those of you like me who can't immediately convert it, that's 212 degrees Fahrenheit. That's a lot worse than 100F. 0.0
Special thanks to everyone who's voted and followed, and shout-out to everyone who's reviewed! You guys make my day. :)
Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the long read! :)
General Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC, but Lyssa is all mine.