Plans Change

It was the 27th of December, a Saturday. The night air was much colder in Charleston that time of year, yet not cold enough for a Christmas snow. The sky was clear, letting everyone see the bright stars.

One woman, the main character of our story, was watching Last Christmas for the tenth time. She had seen it with her three brothers and three kids when it aired, as was the tradition in their family. Have the youngest jump on the bed to wake you up, make chocolate chip pancakes (and ruby pancakes and fish pancakes) for breakfast, then opening presents with the whole family.

Oh, the other types of pancakes? Our hero didn’t have normal children. The eldest daughter, Lilac, was a dragon, and she liked eating gemstones. The middle daughter, Cookie, was a griffon, who loved anything with fish. The youngest, Hannah, was a human, if not a bit strange regardless.

Yes. Single mother of three, what a cliche right? Don’t be so quick to judge. There’s the kicker. The woman sitting watching the credits roll, she’s seventeen.

See? Told you not to judge.

She wasn’t human, obviously. She only looked seventeen. This was a girl who had seen the fires of war. She was barely a girl anymore, more of a woman. She hid this age well.

So, as she changed it to Deep Breath, she allowed herself to connect to those human emotions of her’s.

Morgan Spencer. That was her name (for now), though if she decided it would be Morgue. Morgan watched as the Doctor struggled to find himself, watched as Clara struggled to find her Doctor in him. Morgan could understand that, your best friend not being able to tell you who you were.

Morgan had a big family. A father, an old preacher who now worked as a principal/math teacher at her high school. A mother, a schoolmarm who tutored children and coached cheerleading in her spare time. Three brothers, ages from 15 to 5. They were all athletic, all in math levels higher than their grades, and all of them were favored over Morgan.

They were at home right now, her brothers probably playing with videogames or Nerf guns. Her parents might be in another area of the Centre, her mother

She wasn’t home right now, though she wanted to be spending time with her daughters. Morgan was at her work, a place simply called The Centre. She had the big office at the top of the building, she had been all day. Morgan had hoped her twin sister, Darcy, would barge in with some outrageous idea to kill boredom.

No such luck, not for her. Morgan thought it was strange. Her sister hated when she was at work. Darcy should have brought something dangerous, saying she couldn’t handle Morgan’s mother or father anymore. Or maybe brought something Hannah had made to show it off.

Morgan eyed the door with her bright amber eyes, warily. She was suspicious at the quiet now. Nothing good was happening when the Centre was this quiet. She paused Deep Breath on the big screen the Centre had given her, getting up from her chair.

*knock* *knock*

Morgan sighed, relieved. “Come in.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t her sister or any of her daughters. It was her mother.

Morgan and her mother, Sara, were as different as night and day. Morgan had raven black hair in a curly messy ponytail and a pair of bright amber eyes. Sara had straight blonde hair, and ocean blue eyes. Morgan watched Doctor Who, Supernatural, My Little Pony,   Impractical Jokers, and Once Upon a Time. Sara watched Real Housewives, The Bachelor, Scandal, and Orange is the New Black.

Beyond that, the mother and daughter had different opinions on everything. Morgan would rather lie in bed all day, Sara was a workaholic. Morgan loved Lilac and Cookie, even though they were not human or biologically her’s. Sara didn’t like the idea of being a grandmother to animals that could eat her family. That opinion was not one she told her daughter.

Sara walked into her daughter’s office, switching on the lights. Her daughter winced at the sudden brightness. “I don’t understand why you like it so dark in here.”

“It’s better for watching TV.” Morgan explained, rubbing at her eyes. She hated when her mother surprised her with the lights. “Is everything going alright?”

Sara sighed, shoulders dropping with dejection. “Darcy is acting up again.”

The not exactly human girl sighed, reaching up to her forehead. “Mom, please tell me you didn’t try taking away her Christmas present.” She sighed.

Her mother gaped at the question. Her daughter was speaking to her like Sara was the problem with the situation. “You bought her a weapon! What was I supposed to do? She’s seventeen, I was going to put it in a safe place.”

Morgan held back a groan. “She likes weapons, Mom. She’s fully trained in anything sharp. She wouldn’t just toss the ninja stars around like crazy, we’ve talked about this.”

Sara shook her head. She brushed some of her blonde hair of of her face, walking closer to her eldest child. “I know you care about her, Morgan, but please try to remember.”

Morgan paused, pushing her hands into the pockets of her new pajamas shorts. She eyed her mother patiently. It was going to be another one of the ‘preacher’s daughters must behave a certain way’ speeches. She always hated those.

“When we took in Darcy, your father and I only asked that she follow the rules of our house.” Sara explained, not noticing her daughter’s eyes rolling. “We have certain standards to meet as heads of a school. Darcy has to fit into those standards, or else we’ll lose credibility with the parents.”

Morgan almost pouted. Her mother was guilt tripping her on how to raise Darcy. Morgan had done that ever since she met the girl. Morgan Spencer was one hundred fifty by then, and Darcy only six. Darcy was from another universe, you’d understand it as the gingerbread house effect from Rise of the Cybermen. After Darcy lost her family (including that world’s Morgan), Morgan took the girl in. It had been ages since then, for both girls.

‘The funny thing is, Darcy is older than Mom.’ Morgan thought. ‘And I think my sister knows that.’

“So you see? We can’t let Darcy have such violent things.” Sara said. Morgan remembered her mother had been talking, and faked a smile. “It’s not safe for your younger brothers, or your children. I know you don’t want them getting hurt accidentally.”

Morgan’s eyes narrowed slightly. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve said her mother had just threatened her children. Morgan did know better, so she knows her mother was just thinking about this as baby proofing. It almost made her smile, because two of her children could grow claws and were known as carnivores.

“Can you explain this to her?” Sara asked. “She’s always listened to you.”

‘I like breathing, actually, so no.’ Morgan thought. “Sure thing, Mom. I’ll get right on it.” Morgan said, a small bit of sarcasm in her words.

Sara smiled, completely missing the sarcasm. She was relieved. “Thank you.” She made her way to the door. “She’ll see this is for the best.”

“Yeah-huh.” Morgan nodded, skeptical. She walked up to her TV remote, deciding she couldn’t heart watching Deep Breath right now. It was better to watch from the beginning, let it be white noise. “Could you turn off the lights?”

The door closed, telling Morgan her mother had already left.

“Not even a goodbye.” Morgan commented dryly. She walked over to the switch she had put into her desk, this not the first occurence of people not turning off the light when leaving. She should really put that sign up.

She heard music playing from the TV. The show had begun. Morgan smiled, sitting down on the couch she had installed after getting the job. She could tell Darcy about her mother later...when the holidays were over. New Years was coming up, after all.

Before Morgan could get to comfortable, there was an uncomfortable tugging feeling on her chest. She winced, reaching up to rub over her heart. It was a moment later when her breathing slowed, like she had something stuck in her throat.

Her eyes widened fearfully, looking up at how Rose wandered around the basement of Hendricks. Morgan knew what this feeling was. It couldn’t be, not for-

She shut her eyes, falling limp on the couch.

She was Traveling again.

==PC==

Morgan Spencer took a gasp of air as she appeared in this universe. She wasn’t any place special, from what she was seeing. It just a normal room, basic and boring. She knew better...she had been Pulled into Doctor Who.

She was a beautiful girl, in this dimension. She had skin that was barely tanning, with freckles splashed onto her face. Her hair was long, and black as a raven’s wing. It was very curly, held back in a tight ponytail. Her alert amber eyes were scanning the room, in case of enemies in the shadows.

She looked young. Seventeen, if she was guessing, so she didn’t have the shock of looking ten years older than she actually was.

Her clothing was simple now, not very complex. A simple green t-shirt, with camouflage pants. She also had black sneakers. If Morgan was guessing, she was dressed like a soldier.

A door opened to her right. Morgan stepped back, her fists balling. She never knew what could happen on First Day.

Truth is, Morgan Spencer was not a human. She had human parents, human siblings, but she herself was not a human. Not completely. A special evolution of the human race. Not only that, but she was their queen. Queen to nearly a billion people. She had only been queen for a fifth of her life, Morgan hated every second.

She had been Pulled into this world. She could count the number of times she’d been Pulled on one hand. The first time she Traveled, when she met Darcy, when she met Lilac and Cookie, and right now. Being Pulled for her people meant one thing, she wasn’t allowed to leave until she had accomplished what she had been sent to do. Morgan never knew why until she left, as she hoped wouldn’t be the case here.

She hadn’t even Planned for this. Morgan had little to no idea of what she was going to do here, she didn’t have enough information. She would have to Plan-And-Go. She hated having to do that.

Morgan Spencer’s eyes widened when she saw it was Madame Kovarian walking into the room. She would know that woman anymore. She took it almost as a personal offense when Melody had been taken, even know she hadn’t met Amy Pond yet.

The vile woman grinned. “Oh, it must be my lucky day.”

The young girl made herself strong. “How so, Madame?” She asked mockingly.

The older (and it showed) woman walked up to the girl. Morgan stayed still, just watching her with interest.

Madame Kovarian suddenly reached out, grabbing Morgan’s arm. Morgan leapt back, glaring at the eyepatch wearing woman.

“This ain’t my first rodeo, Kovy.” She spat.

The annoyance on Kovarian’s face was all the reward she needed. “Oh, we know, Terra, we know.”

Morgan felt fear in her spine. She refused to show it. Terra? Was that her name now? She always liked hearing her new names, new identity. It was like a new level of fun.

Or, could Terra just be the name she was known by with the Silence?

Soldiers stormed into the room. Ones Morgan recognized. She knew who they were. She knew where she was.

They grabbed her. Morgan fought, but it didn’t work. There was too many. They were too strong.

Kovarian walked forward, just as Morgan became restrained. She lifted up a Vortex Manipulator.

“We were told we would need this.” Kovarian said, igniting Morgan’s anger.

“Oh la de freakin’ da.” Morgan said with an eye roll. “Why do I care?”

Kovarian put the Manipulator on Morgan’s arm. She gave Morgan a smile that would give children nightmares. “Terra, that’s not even the best part.”

Morgan was curious for all of five seconds.

Way off inside Demon’s Run, in a sterile white room, a ginger woman held onto her baby tightly. Her brown eyes widened when she heard the pain filled screams of one of her best friends.