Last Man Standing
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Why me? he silently asks the universe. Why is it always me?
He is not selfish ; merely tired. Exhausted, broken down, burned out and jaded. He has been this way since forever, or at least what feels like it.
He's run for so very long now that he can't even remember when he started – nowadays, he tells people he's a thousand, but that's just his vanity seeping through. It has to get out somehow, you see, and he might as well be vain about his age. Really, he's probably closer to ten thousand than he is to one, not that he'd ever admit it. He expects that this is just his subconscious trying to take him back to the times when he really was one thousand – before he'd faced the War, before he'd lost quite so much.
Because that's the problem with age and lifespans and friends of different species – because no matter what he does, or how much he wishes it to be otherwise, he'll always live longer than his companions (except Jack of course, but he's excepted by everyone and everything, so he doesn't count, really) and even if he wants to pass on himself, the obligation and responsibility he feels for the universe is too great and can usually overpower his self-pity.
But he's tired now. He's getting old, ancient even for his seemingly eternal species, which is quite astounding when you consider how fraught with danger his life has been.
He's been running for so very long now, and he's exhausted. But he can't stop no matter how much he wants to, for the momentum is simply too great and he can't remember how. He's put one foot in front of the other as quickly as possible for millennia and now he doesn't know how to stand still.
He runs so fast that he leaves everyone in the dust – they can keep up for a while, some surprisingly long, but they all fall behind eventually and he loses sight of them and they become little more than memories. Sometimes they find him again, but rarely, and they don't stay. He doesn't blame them in the slightest ; he would do the same, if he were them.
He misses them all, of course he does, he's not as heartless and cold as some would have you believe. He misses them so much and most of them he can never see again without breaking every law of time there is. They're lost to him and he can hardly stand it – all those brilliant, fantastic people that he can never see again, naught but memories.
He's so alone, so very alone, and has been for such a long time.
But that's alright, because as long as he doesn't run with anyone, he can't leave them behind.
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Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Doctor Who.
A/N: What is it with me and omitting the name (or title, rather) of the main character? It's getting a little odd.
Thank you for reading,
Idoloni