A senior-looking police officer, complete with a dark blue flak vest and domed helmet with a silver peak on top and badge on the front of the helmet, walked along a concrete path going past a blue wood plank sign that read "I.M Foreman, Scrap Merchant, 76 Totters Lane" with a long white arrow pointing in the opposite direction the police officer had just come from. After rounding a corner he passed yet another sign that read "Coal Hill Secondary School, Shoreditch, Chairman of the Governors: I. Chesterton, Headmaster: W. Coburn".
Inside a classroom within Coal Hill Secondary School, Clara dictated to a class of students 'waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be, be one, Marcus Aurelius' she said as she stood writing on a glass board.
Then the school bell rang.
As the students left a young man in a grey suit with a pink shirt and tie rushed past students into the classroom where Clara stood wiping down the glass board, skidding to a stop behind her.
Clara, noticing him as he did so, looked at him 'have you been running?' she asked as he stopped.
'Are you ok?' the young man said as he looked at her with concern 'there was call for you at the office from your Doctor' he said as he pointed behind at the way he had just come from. A grin almost crossed Clara's face before she turned back to him 'did he leave an address?' she asked.
The young man handed her a note and she took off without another word, grabbing her coat and motorcycle helmet before she did so.
Leaving the school yard on her motorcycle Clara took off down the street and made for the highway, passing car after car as she went.
After some time of riding Clara stopped at the top of a sloping portion of the road of the open countryside to see a blue box sitting on the side of the road in the near distance.
Again that grin returned, but this time she didn't restrain it and let fill her face.
Going full throttle on the motorcycle while braking to get the best possible speed when she let go, Clara rode on, beeping as she got closer to the blue box to signal the one occupant inside it of her imminent arrival and entry.
As she anticipated, the doors of the blue box opened before her and she rode on in, stopping with a skid just in front of the TARDIS console.
Off to the side, the Doctor, in his usual purple coat, waist coat and bow tie, sat with his back to her with his reading glasses on, that had once belonged to an old friend, with a book in his hand titled "Advanced Quantum Mechanics".
He looked up momentarily for a second as he was reading, though didn't turn to her, and took on a grin before licking his finger to turn the page and going back to the book.
Clara took off her helmet after dismounting her motorcycle and looked at the Doctor 'draught' he said without turning to look at her. Clara raised her hand and clicked her fingers, causing the doors to the TARDIS to promptly close.
The Doctor closed the book before he said 'Fancy a week in ancient Mesopotamia followed by future Mars?' as he turned to face her.
'Will there be cocktails?' Clara asked, the Doctor took off his glasses 'on the moon' he said. 'The moon'll do' Clara said as she shrugged.
Both the Doctor and Clara grinned at the same time before laughing and embracing each other. Putting Clara down, the Doctor then asked her 'how's the new job? Teach anything good?' to which she then replied 'no, learn anything?' followed by the Doctor's reply of 'not a thing' before they both put their open hands and palms together as if in a double high five.
But then, an alert sounded from the console and text appeared on the scanner screen reading "Alert TARDIS Interference Detected" to which they both looked to and then looked around the console room as they heard the sound of metal under strain 'what's happening' Clara asked as the ship began to shake momentarily.
'Whoa, whoa, we're taking off' he said before he looked to the console then back again and said 'but the engines aren't going'.
Outside, a steel claw held the TARDIS in its grip as it was being air-lifted by a helicopter 'Windmill Eleven to Greyhouse leader, Blue Eagle is airborne, Ready to receive…We're on our way' the pilot said in the cockpit of the helicopter.
Inside the TARDIS the Doctor went to the controls and started flicking switches, he then went to the TARDIS doors, opened them and grabbed the phone inside the compartment in the exterior side of the doors.
Elsewhere in London, a girl in a white lab coat and a rainbow multi-colored scarf around her neck, Osgood, answered the phone she had on her as it rang with the distinct sound of the TARDIS 'hello? Kate Stewarts phone…oh hold on' she said before broke into a run.
As she ran towards a slightly blonde-haired woman in a dark coat sitting at a park bench she almost ran into a member of the royal guard to which she said 'excuse me, sorry' as she passed him, continuing towards the woman in the dark coat, calling out to her she did 'mam, mam'.
In acknowledgement of Osgood the woman said 'the ravens are looking a bit sluggish, tell Malcolm they need new batteries' said Kate Lethbridge-Stewart.
Osgood held the phone out to Kate as she was eating a sandwich 'it's him, sorry it's your personal phone, but, well I recognised the ringtone, it's him, isn't it?' she said, becoming a bit breathless as she handed the phone to Kate who, noticing her near-breathlessness, said to her 'inhaler' before answering the phone 'Doctor hello, we found the TARDIS in a field, I'm having it brought in' she said to the Doctor.
At the TARDIS doors with the phone in his hand the Doctor said 'no kidding' he remarked as loudly as he could over the sound of the helicopter rotors.
With the phone to his ear he heard Kate ask 'where are you?' to which he then held up the phone in his hand to the sound of the helicopter.
Kate quickly realising the situation stood up with a start 'oh my god! Oh Doctor, I'm so sorry, we had no idea you were still in there' she said, Osgood just stood and watched with mild interest as the TARDIS was airlifted above London.
'Come on' Kate said to Osgood with the her phone still to her ear.
'Roger, new heading two-zero-seven, changing course' the helicopter pilot said as he piloted and flew the helicopter airlifting the Doctor's TARDIS and changed direction while in flight, which then caused the Doctor to fall from the doors of the TARDIS 'Clara!' he cried out as he hung from the doors of the TARDIS by his feet alone.
This sprung Clara into action as she saw the Doctor fall from the TARDIS 'Doctor!' she cried as she ran to the TARDIS doors and grabbed the Doctor's feet.
'Doctor, can you hear me?' Kate said into the phone as she walked along.
Hanging from the TARDIS doors way above London the Doctor quickly pulled himself together and caught the phone in his hand, but not before it hit him on the forehead as it dangled, he heard Kate on the other side of the call as she said 'I don't think he can hear me'. With the phone firmly in his hand the Doctor spoke into it 'next time would it kill you to knock?!' he said.
'I'm having you taken directly to the scene' Kate responded as she and Osgood continued along.
After a short time as the Doctor hung from the doors of the TARDIS and Kate and Osgood made their way to Trafalgar Square Kate spoke into her phone again 'Doctor, hello, are you okay?' she said.
The Doctor, hearing Kate's voice from the phone in his hand, spoke into it 'I'm just going to pop you on hold' he said just before he changed his position and grabbed onto the base of the TARDIS with this hands, which Clara wasn't prepared for 'Doctor!' she cried as the Doctor yanked his feet from her hands while Kate, taken by surprise from his response, said 'Doctor?'.
For the rest of the way while the TARDIS was airlifted the Doctor just hung from the TARDIS while Clara stood in the doorway looking down on him.
When they arrived at Trafalgar Square the Doctor dropped from the base of the TARDIS before it could be fully lowered and took a few steps forward until he stood in front of the group of ten UNIT soldiers standing behind Kate and Osgood. It was as he went to stand in front them that one of the soldiers could be heard saying 'Atten-tion!'
The Doctor then saluted to Kate and Osgood without knowing why 'why am I saluting?' he said to himself as he had his flat palm to his head in a salute.
'Doctor, as Chief Scientific Officer may I extend the official apologies of UNIT' she said as he stepped closer.
'Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, a word to the wise as I'm sure your father would've told you, I don't like being picked up' said the Doctor.
'That probably sounded better in his head' said Clara.
'I'm acting on instructions direct from the throne' said Kate as Osgood went into her lab coat pocket and withdrew a folded piece of paper with a wax seal on it 'sealed orders from her majesty Queen Elizabeth the First' said Kate.
'The Queen? The First? Sorry, Elizabeth the First?' Clara asked to clarify that it was actually "Queen Eliabeth the First" Kate was meaning and referring to as she looked from Kate to the folded and wax-sealed paper then back to Kate.
'Her credentials are inside' said Kate. The Doctor just looked at her like "right, ok if you say so" before going to break the seal and open the letter 'no, inside' Kate said as she pointed at the National Gallery behind her.
The Doctor stopped what he was doing and took a second-long look at Osgood's multi-coloured scarf, a very brief "blink and you miss it" hint of recognition in his eyes, pointed at it and said 'nice scarf' before going ahead to the National Gallery, going through Kate and Osgood and the five UNIT soldiers in formation standing just a couple of feet from them. 'What's our cover story for this?' Kate asked Osgood who replied with 'um, Derren Brown' she said.
'Again?' Kate immediately said in response, 'oh we've sent him flowers' said Osgood to which Kate gave a slight dismissive "ok" shrug before they proceeded towards the National Gallery behind the Doctor.
As they all made their way up the stairs to the entrance a UNIT soldier could, again, be heard saying 'atten-tion! Right, I want a secure perimeter around the gallery'.
Inside, Clara questioned the Doctor as she proceeded through the gallery with him at his side 'did you know her, Elizabeth the First?' she asked.
'Unified Intelligence Task Force' the Doctor replied seeming to avoid Clara's question. 'Sorry?' Clara said, taken a bit by surprise at what the Doctor had just said 'this lot, UNIT, they investigate alien stuff, anything alien' he said.
'What, like you?' Clara said with a very slight almost barely perceptible grin.
'I work for them' the Doctor responded 'you have a job?' she questioned.
'Why shouldn't I have a job? I'd be brilliant at having a job' the Doctor replied.
'You don't have a job' she said in a "poking-at-him" sort of way.
'I do, this is my job, I'm doing it now' he said, looking at her as they went along and pointing at the message from Elizabeth the First as if to prove it.
'You never have a job' Clara continued to say despite the Doctor's insistence 'I do, I do' he said just before they stopped before what looked like a mounted covered landscape picture.
When one of the UNIT soldiers pulled the cover off the Doctor and Clara both took on looks of mild surprise 'but…' said Clara as they both took in the sight of the painting, of Gallifrey's second city of Arcadia consumed by war and looking on the verge of near-destruction.
'But that's not possible' Clara managed to say.
No more the Doctor said to himself in his mind 'no more' the Doctor then said out loud but quietly.
'That's the title' Kate said.
'I know the title' the Doctor said in response.
'Also known as "Gallifrey Falls"' said Kate. The Doctor and Clara continued to look at and take in the painting 'this painting doesn't belong here, not in this time or place' said the Doctor.
'Obviously' Clara immediately said in response.
'It's the fall of Arcadia, Gallifrey's second city' The Doctor continued.
'But how is it doing that? How is that possible?' Clara asked looking at the Doctor as she spoke 'it's an oil painting…in 3D' stepping closer to the painting and putting her hand to the canvas and almost expecting it to keep going into the reality within the painting.
'Time Lord art, bigger on the inside, a slice of real-time' The Doctor replied 'frozen'. Something changed in the Doctor's eyes, and from within his own mind, his own memories, he could hear an emergency siren.
'Elizabeth told us where to find it, and it's significance' Kate said, but the Doctor was barely listening as his mind seemed to drift back, back through time. His hand went to Clara's hand without him even thinking or realising as his gaze wandered slightly and he hung his head a bit.
'Are you ok?' Clara asked when the Doctor's hand took hers.
'He was there' the Doctor said.
'Who was?' Clara questioned.
'Me' he replied.
The Doctor suddenly felt alone, so very alone, like he was the only person in the room as a portion of his past that he'd forgotten was even there bubbled back to and unexpectedly disturbed the surface of his calm consciousness. A time in his amazingly long life that'd he preferred to keep deep under the surface of and at the bottom of the huge, MASSIVE pool of water, where it was darkest at the bottom, that was his memories.
'The one I don't talk about' he continued.
'I don't understand' Clara said, the Doctor paused for a second or two before he said 'I've had many faces, many lives, I don't admit to all of them, there's one life I've tried very hard to forget'
Again the Doctor heard the words "no more" echo in his mind, but not in his own voice.
'He was the Doctor who fought in the Time War and that was the day he did it, the day I did it…the day he killed them all, the last day of the Time War, the war to end all wars, between my people and the Daleks' the Doctor said as he began finally to open up about his past, a time in his life that he had almost completely forgotten about and moved on from, until now, and had had no intention of ever digging up and unearthing in his memories.
'And in that battle there was a man with more blood on his hands than any other, a man who would commit a crime that would silence the universe…and that man was me' he said.
The Last Day of the Time War…
Above Gallifrey, fleets and swarms upon fleets of Dalek ships fired upon the surface of Gallifrey, bombarding the planet.
On the planet surface at the city of Arcadia Dalek drones flew about above the city firing relentlessly on towers and buildings below and its population, Gallifreyan men, women and children alike, with smoke and ruined buildings almost everywhere.
On the ground Gallifreyans fled from the violence, gunfire and explosions as fast as they could while Gallifreyan soldiers did their best to hold their ground and fire on the drones and any Daleks that appeared and came within sight with everything they had that they could throw at the enemy. Laser and gunfire was everywhere, and even when everyone was taking cover while not running for their lives and trying to escape the heat of the battle they were so dangerously close to being hit.
Above them all the top of a tower exploded and the debris from it fell and rained down on them all with only some fortunate enough to get out of the way of the debris before it could land on and crush them.
As more and more drones swept through the city a soldier manning a huge mounted turret fired on every single drone it could, managing to down a few before it too was destroyed along with the soldier inside it.
The soldiers that fought, that were fighting, were quickly losing ground fast and were rapidly being overwhelmed and instead were focusing on providing as much cover fire as they could for the civilians and innocent bystanders that were fleeing.
One lone soldier with a heavy weapon was trying to fire back on a group of Daleks who were in pursuit of him as best he could while running as fast and hard as he could to avoid their fire.
He looked back to see them closing in on his position and kept going till he rounded a corner and hid there. Bringing out his com device the soldier spoke into it 'message for the high council, priority Omega, Arcadia has fallen, I repeat Arcadia has fallen' he said before pushing a button on the device to close the channel.
That was when he turned and saw something completely unexpected, yet also unexpectedly welcome, in the near distance.
A blue box with the words "Police Box" across the top of it.
As the soldier stood with his back to the wall looking at the blue box the shadow of a person appeared off to his left and continued to shift and move, getting the soldiers attention and causing him to turn his head to see what or who the shadow was, until an elderly looking man with greyed hair and a tidy beard and sporting a battle-weary leather jacket appeared.
'Soldier, I'm going to need your gun' said the Doctor.
Chunks of a wall were blasted off as the elderly man repeatedly fired the gun at the wall while the soldier just stood nearby and watched the elderly man do….whatever it was he was doing firing at the wall like he was.
Meanwhile, Gallifreyans throughout the place continued to flee from the violence of the war, however some were quickly surrounded by Daleks and, with nowhere to go, surrendered and cowered before them as they repeatedly uttered their signature battle cry 'Exterminate!' in their mechanical voices. 'Please…please just don't!' one Gallifreyan said as he and the others he was with became surrounded, the children they had at their side cowering behind them terrified.
The elderly man continued to blast the wall, having made letters in the wall with where he had been aiming. He had so far made the letter "N" with an "O" right next to it and was just about to finish another. The Daleks, somehow sensing his presence, began to say 'alert! Alert! The Doctor is detected!' while the Gallifreyans had confused looks as if thinking wh- what? Who? Who are they talking about?
The Daleks continued with their high-pitched mechanical cries 'the Doctor is surrounded! Inform high command! We have the Doctor!' they said almost in unison. It was in this moment that the surrounded Gallifreyans took their opportunity to escape while the Daleks were distracted.
'Seek! Locate! Destroy! The Doctor is detected!' the Daleks continued in their high pitched rasping mechanical voices.
Meanwhile, the Doctor had finished blasting the wall and now had six letters blasted into it "N – O – M – O – R – E, NO MORE", the soldier still present just looked at him in confusion then back at the wall.
'Seek! Locate! Destroy! Seek!...' the Daleks continued to say but they said no more nor advanced any further through the city on their murderous rampage as the same blue box that the soldier had seen suddenly burst through the wall and knocked over the group of Daleks as it did so, destroying them in the process and flew into the night sky.
One such Dalek, on the brink of death but still alive, turned it's metal head while saying 'the Doctor is escaping' it said in a struggled tone before it saw the words in the wall 'what are these words? Explain! Explain!' it continued to no one in particular, save for maybe the soldier who now had a heavy weapons blaster aimed right at the Dalek and pulled the trigger on it blasting the Dalek before it exploded mere seconds later.
Gun and laser fire continued to pelt the Citadel, which had already sustained damage to the point where the glass dome that had covered the massive city like structure had broken, making it almost completely vulnerable to attack.
Meanwhile, two Time Lords strode along towards a war room where Time Lords stood at a flat top surface with a miniaturised version of the battlefield on Gallifrey far beyond the walls of the Citadel were being projected by hologram just inches above its surface.
'The high council is in emergency session, they have plans of their own' the Time Lord known as Androgar said to the General, the bald headed Time Lord 'to hell with the high council, their plans have already failed, Gallifrey's still in the line of fire, so he was there then?' he said.
Androgar then put his hand down on something which brought up another hologram of a wall, the same wall that had been blasted by the Doctor earlier, the same two words on it "NO MORE" 'he left a message, a written warning for the Daleks, he's a fool' Androgar said as he looked back at the General.
'No, he's a madman' the General said.
'As you can see sir all Dalek fleets surrounding the planet are converging on the capital, but the sky trenches are holding' Androgar continued before a blast impact shook the war room.
'Where did he go next?' the General questioned.
'What does it matter? This is their biggest ever attack sir, they're throwing everything at us' said Androgar.
Just then a Time Lady approached them 'sir, we have a security breach to the Time Vaults' she said.
The General then turned to a nearby console, pressed a button on it which brought up another hologram projection of the Time Vaults 'the Omega Arsenal, where all the forbidden weapons are locked away' he said.
'They're not forbidden anymore we've used them all against the Daleks' said Androgar.
'No…no we haven't' said the General.
Moments later they were striding through the Time Vaults, with fans of light sweeping the place keeping watch for any unauthorised entry and presence with green lasers doing the same all as part of the security system, accompanied by soldiers before they stopped before what could've been mistaken for an altar.
'The Moment is gone' the General said in mild surprise.
Androgar stopped before the raised plinth beside the General 'I don't understand, what is the Moment? I've never heard of it' he said.
The General turned to him and replied 'the galaxy eater, the final work of the ancients of Gallifrey, a weapon so powerful the operating system became sentient, according to legend it developed a conscience' he said which got him a curious look.
'And we've never used it?' Androgar questioned.
'How do you use a weapon of ultimate mass destruction when it can stand in judgement on you? There is only one man who would even try' the General said as he directed his gaze from the bare plinth at Androgar with a thoughtful look in his eye.
Elsewhere, in the middle of a desert on Gallifrey…
The blue box stood in the middle of the desert, footprints trailing from it far over the lip of a sandy hill.
'Time Lords of Gallifrey, Daleks of Skaro, I serve notice on you all, too long I have stayed my hand. No more. Today you leave me no choice, today this war will end, no more…no more…'
The Doctor made his way along carrying a sack on his back with something heavy looking inside. He stopped for a bit when he spotted a lone primitive looking village hut-like barn in the distance.
After looking at it for a moment the man subtly and briefly raised his brows before continuing on.
Opening the door to the barn, the Doctor stepped inside and closed it behind him.
Putting the sack down on the floor of the barn, he opened it up and pulled it down to reveal a clockwork cube box with Gallifreyan symbols along the edges. The Doctor inspected it and looked it up and down 'now, how do you work?' he wondered out loud, even turning it over as he looked for an interface and a way to use and operate it.
'Why is there never a big red button?' he said out loud to no one in particular.
When the Doctor heard scuttling outside he looked up at the door, went to it and opened it. Looking outside he called out 'hello? Somebody there?' that was when he heard a voice behind him 'it's nothing' which made the him whirl around quickly at the sound of it to see a slightly blonde-haired girl in rough, raggedy clothes sitting on the cube 'it's just a wolf' she said.
'Don't sit on that!' the Doctor said harshly as he dashed to her to get her off the box.
'Why not?' the girl asked which the man immediately replied to with 'because it's not a chair it's the most dangerous weapon in the universe' he said hurriedly grabbing the girls arm and taking her to the door and carefully shoving her through it before closing the door on her.
He then braced himself lightly against the door and dipped his head in seeming relief before he turned back, which at the same time when he did he heard the girls voice again 'why can't it be both?' and saw her sitting exactly where she had been as if she had never moved at all, a surprised look on his face.
The Doctor took a few steps towards her with a look on his face of slight confusion and question.
'Why did you park so far away? Didn't you want her to see it?' the girl said leaning questioningly towards him as she sat on the box.
'Want who to see?' the Doctor questioned with the same sort of look.
'The TARDIS' the girl whispered.
Something on the Doctor's face gave a very subtle reaction to the girl's words.
'You walked for miles, and miles, and miles, and miles, and miles' she said before the Doctor started to say 'I was thinking- ' he said before he was cut off by the girl 'I heard you' she said.
'You heard me?' the Doctor questioned, unsure what she meant.
The girl continued to look at him as she slowly said in a mild attempt at a low pitched voice 'no more'.
The Doctor gave her a sideways look before he looked down on the ground for a second as she did a slight mock "jig" on the spot where she stood as she said 'no more' again then back at her with the same sideways look no more the words echoed in his mind.
'No more' the girl continued to say this time stepping past him.
The two words continued to echo in the Doctor's mind such to the point that he sharply said 'stop it!' when she kept saying the two words repeatedly. However she got in one last 'no more' before she stopped as if just to annoy him and see how far she could go.
'Who are you?' the Doctor questioned to which the girl just looked at him before they both
heard something stir within the box like a rattling 'it's activating get out of here' the Doctor said.
The girl however just turned and looked the other way, and for a brief moment a faint yellow glow filled her eyes just as the Doctor touched the box 'ow!' he cried out as he immediately pulled them away.
'What's wrong?' the girl asked.
'The interface is hot' the man replied.
'Well I do my best' the girl said as she sat and watched him.
Oblivious to what she had just said the Doctor kept examining the box 'there's a power source inside' he said before he stopped what he was doing and looked back at her with an expression that said "hold on, what did you just say?" before he actually said 'you're the interface?' to which the girl replied 'they must've told you the moment had a conscience' she confirmed.
The Doctor just looked at her as if not quite able to believe 'hello' the Interface said almost enthusiastically and waving at him with a big smile on her face.
The same rattling he heard before came from the box again which made him look back down on it.
'Aw look at you, stuck between a girl and a box' the Interface said 'story of your life eh Doctor' to which the Doctor looked back at her with furrowed brows and said 'you know me?' he questioned.
The Interface stood up 'I hear you' she said 'all of you, jangling around in that dusty old head of yours'.
The Doctor just continued to look at her with the same furrowed look.
'I chose this face and form especially for you, it's from your past…or possibly your future, I always get those two mixed up' the Interface said looking off to the side as she reconsidered her words with furrowed brows.
'I don't have a future' the Doctor said.
'I think I'm called- …Rose Tyler, no, yes, no sorry no, no in this form I'm called…' the Interface said as she considered and worked out her appearance and who she was manifesting as '…bad wolf' once again her eye's briefly took on the same faint dim yellow glow before she said 'are you afraid of the big bad wolf Doctor?'.
The Doctor briefly closed his eyes as if irritated as he spoke 'stop calling me "Doctor"' he said.
'That's the name in your head' she said.
'It shouldn't be, I've been fighting this war for a long time, I've lost the right to be the Doctor' said the Doctor.
'Then you're the one to save us all' the Interface said, the Doctor looked briefly looked off to the side, then back at the interface while saying 'yeah'.
'If I ever develop an ego, you've got the job' she said, the Doctor stood back up and stepped towards her stopping just a few feet in front of her 'if you've been inside my head, then you know what I've seen…suffering, every moment in time and space is burning, it must end, and I intend to end it the only way I can' he said.
'And you're going to use me to end it, by killing them all, Daleks and Time Lords alike' the Interface stated.
The Doctor had turned away by this point and stood with his back to the girl that was the interface.
'I could, but there will be consequences for you' said the girl.
'I have no desire to survive this' the Doctor said before he went to sit down with the girl who was already sitting on the box the Doctor sat himself down on as if she had, in the blink of an eye, stepped past the Doctor and beat him to it.
'Then that's your punishment, if you do this, if you kill them all then that's the consequence…you live' she said 'Gallifrey, you're going to burn it, and all those Daleks with it, but all those children too'.
The Doctor's expression turn to that of worry and dread, but then when the Interface asked him 'how many children on Gallifrey right now' his eyes widened a bit at her question.
He thought of them all, every single Gallifreyan child who still had their long lives to live and look forward to, and replied 'I don't know' before he thought despite how much it may pain me to know exactly how many, I'll have to find out just how many children, whose lives I'll be ending horribly, there are.
As the Doctor stared off into space at the painful thought of all those children whose lives he'd be bringing to a horrible and excruciating end for the sake of the rest of the galaxy and all of time and space the girl said 'one day you will kill them, one terrible night'.
She then leaned closer to him 'do you want to see what that will turn you into?' she said, the Doctor turned his head to her in acknowledgement of her question.
When he didn't answer she gave him a nudge 'go on, aren't you curious?' she said.
Right there and then a whirling portal appeared and opened just above and before them 'I'm opening windows on your future' said the Interface 'a tangle in time through the days to come, to the man today will make of you'.
The Doctor just dipped his head a bit for a moment and then looked back up at the swirling vortex that was the portal to his future.
It was as she spoke that a fez appeared and came through landing on the ground before them. Both the Doctor and the Interface looked down on it in surprise, the latter more so but with confused questioning on her face 'ok I wasn't expecting that' she said.
Back in the present day…
The Doctor looked at the framed image of Arcadia in its war torn state with a pained look on his face.
'But the Time War's war over, why have you brought us here to look at a painting?' Clara asked.
'The painting only serves as Elizabeth's credentials, proof that the letter is from her, it's not why you're here' said Kate.
The Doctor then broke the wax seal on the letter from Queen Elizabeth the First and read it.
'My dearest love, I hope the painting known as Gallifrey Falls will serve as proof that it is your Elizabeth who writes to you now. You will recall that you pledged yourself to the safety of my kingdom. In this capacity I have appointed you as curator of the Under Gallery, where deadly danger to England is locked away. Should any disturbance occur within its walls, it is my wish that you be summoned. God speed gentle husband'
The Doctor then looked to Kate 'what happened?' he asked almost quietly.
'Easier to show you' said Kate before she proceeded to lead them to the under gallery, the Doctor took one last brief moment to consider everything and also to spare one last glance at the painting of "Gallifrey Falls" before he and Clara followed Kate.
It was in that moment that they did so that the scientist, McGillop, recieved a call on his mobile phone which he answered 'McGillop' he said, waiting a few seconds as whoever was on the other end of the line spoke before he held the screen of his phone out to look at the number on it before he put it back to his ear 'but, that's not possible I was just- ' he said before he cut himself off.
He then looked at the painting of Gallifrey Falls 'understood sir, but…why would I take it there?' he said to the caller on the other end.
The Doctor, Clara and Kate came to an exhibit room with a big cup-like vase in the centre of it and portrait paintings of various historical people; a metal door then came down after they'd each stepped into the exhibit room.
The Doctor then took notice of the big portrait painting at the far end of the exhibit room, not just because Queen Elizabeth I was in it, but also because of the man that stood just next to her hand in hand, a man the Doctor recognised immediately.
'Elizabeth the First, you knew her then?' said Clara.
Next to Queen Elizabeth was a man with sideburns and neat and short yet sticky-uppy hair that some would consider "great" or "amazing" along with handsome features, that and a blue steel sonic screwdriver. A man the Doctor knew as none other than his past and former self, the face he'd had before the one he had now.
'A long time ago' the Doctor replied in a tone that indicated he was remembering his time in England in the year of 1562 very much related to the portrait he and Clara were looking at along with a look on his face that indicated recognition and familiarity…
England, 1562…
The blue box that was the TARDIS sat in the middle of a field in a meadow on the opposite side of a river to a castle that dwarfed it. From out of the TARDIS rode a man in a brown suit with teal-blue pinstripes, cream-colored trainers with sideburns and reasonably tidy and "great" hair that was spiked up and "sticky uppy".
The Tenth Doctor, sitting in the saddle with a woman just behind him with ginger hair and in royal garments and sporting royal jewellery. Queen Elizabeth the First.
'Allons-y!' the Doctor said at the top of his voice as they emerged through the doors from out of the TARDIS on horseback 'there you go your majesty what did I tell you, bigger on the inside' he said.
'The door isn't, it nearly took my head off, it's normally me who does that' Elizabeth said with a giggle.
Moments later, both the Doctor and Queen Elizabeth lay back on a rug with a plentiful amount of fruit and other food just off to the side of them 'tell me Doctor why I'm wasting my time on you, I have wars to plan' Elizabeth said as she lay back against the Doctor.
'You have a picnic to eat' the Doctor replied as he lay back on some pillows.
'You could help me' said Elizabeth.
'Well' said the Doctor as he picked a grape from the big pile of fruit just beside them 'I'm helping you eat the picnic' he said as he put the grape into her mouth.
'But you have a stomach for war, this face has seen conflict, it's as clear as day' Elizabeth said as she stroked his chin with her free hand.
The Doctor just looked down on her as she spoke before he said 'oh I've seen conflict like you wouldn't believe, but it wasn't this face' before he abruptly got to his feet 'but never mind that your majesty up on your feet, up up' forcing Elizabeth to put her drink down and get to her feet.
'How dare you I'm the Queen of England' she said as the Doctor helped her up.
'I'm not English' he said before he got on one knee and said 'Elizabeth, will you marry me?' Her reaction and response was typical of any woman as her face turned to that of delight as she replied 'oh my dear sweet love, of course I will' before she went to embrace him but she fell short as the Doctor then got back onto his feet 'ah got ya!' he said as he put his hands in his pockets as he usually did.
Elizabeth took on a confused expression which also featured a hint of disappointment and, possibly, a hint of hurt in it 'my love?' she questioned.
'One, the real Elizabeth would never have accepted my marriage proposal, two the real Elizabeth would notice when I casually mentioned having a different face, but then the real Elizabeth isn't a shape shifting alien from outer space' the Doctor said as Elizabeth just looked at him in confusion 'and…' he said as he brought out a funny looking device '…ding' as it made the same sound accordingly just after he spoke it.
Elizabeth continued to look on in confusion, now at the funny looking device in the Doctor's hand 'what's that?' she asked.
'It's a machine that goes "ding"' the Doctor said just before it made the same sound again accordingly 'made it myself, lights up in the presence of shape shifter DNA, ooo, also it can microwave frozen dinners from up to twenty feet and download comics from the future, I never know when to stop' he said.
'My love I do not understand' Elizabeth said.
'I'm not your love and yes you do' the Doctor said before he leaned in closer to her 'you're a Zygon' he said.
'A Zygon?' Elizabeth responded in further confusion.
'Oh stop it it's over, a Zygon yes, big red rubbery thing covered in suckers' the Doctor said as he monetarily put his hands up in front of him for a second as he described the appearance of a Zygon.
'Surprisingly good kisser, even the real Queen of England wouldn't just decide to share her throne with any old handsome bloke in a tight suit, just 'cause he's got amazing hair, and a nice horse' he said looking back at his horse as he spoke the last few words just as the horse, which the Doctor and Elizabeth had initially believed to be a horse, but was actually a Zygon, reverted back to Zygon form which made them both look again as they saw the Zygon standing where it stood as it finished reverting back to its own form 'oh, it was the horse' he said as he looked back at Elizabeth with a "oh, what have I done?" look 'I'm going to be king' he said to himself in slight shock.
'Run!' the Doctor said as he grabbed Elizabeth's hand and took her away from the monster in a run.
'What's happening?' she cried as they went.
'We're being attacked by a shape shifting alien from outer space formerly disguised as my horse' the Doctor replied.
'What does that mean?' Elizabeth questioned.
'It means we're going to need a new horse' he replied.
The Doctor and Elizabeth took cover behind the arched entrance of a ruined fort as the Zygon ran past 'where's it going?' she asked fearfully.
'I'll hold it off you run, your people need you' said the Doctor.
'And I need you alive for our wedding day' said Elizabeth before she abruptly lunged at him and kissed him before running off.
'Oh good one Doctor, nice one, the virgin queen, so much for history' the Doctor said to himself after she had taken off before he too ran off but in the other direction.
Elizabeth ran along through the woods but then stopped after hearing something behind her.
The Doctor, not far from Elizabeth, descended down into the woods himself while holding a strange looking device in his hand.
Elizabeth continued to run through the woods panting heavily since she was running in her royal dress, but then only several feet behind her the Zygon puts its foot down heavily causing Elizabeth to stop for a second before turning at the sound of it.
At the sound of Elizabeth's screaming the Doctor ran in her direction before stopping beside a lop-eared rabbit that sat on top of a moss covered stump 'whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, oh very clever' he said as he pointed his gizmo at the rabbit.
'Whatever you've got planned forget it, I'm the Doctor, I'm 904 years old, I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterberous, I am the oncoming storm, the bringer of darkness…annnnd you are basically just a rabbit aren't you' the Doctor said as he stepped closer to the rabbit and knelt down next to it when he realised he was wasting his breath.
'Ok carry on, just as you were, general-…warning' he said before he brought up the gizmo and gave it a few firm whacks with his hand.
That was when he heard Elizabeth cry out and call for him 'Doctor!' she said in the distance to which he went running.
Elizabeth lay on the ground eyes open as if in partial shock of what had just happened. 'Elizabeth!' the Doctor said as he ran to her side.
'That thing, explain what it is' Elizabeth said as the Doctor helped her up 'what does it want of us?' she asked.
'That's what I'm trying to find out' said the Doctor 'probably just your planet'.
Then, from behind, the Doctor heard the same voice say his name 'Doctor' to which he turned to see another Elizabeth, a copy of her…or, maybe the real, actual Elizabeth?
'Step away from her Doctor that's not me that's the creature' the other Elizabeth said as the Doctor just looked at them both questioningly with a look Ooook what's going on here, which one of them is the real Elizabeth? His expression said.
'How is that possible? She's me, Doctor she's me' Elizabeth said as the Doctor brought out his gizmo again, extended the antenna and pointed it at both Elizabeth's.
'I am indeed me, a compliment that cannot be extended to yourself' said the other Elizabeth as Elizabeth looked at her doppelganger…or maybe her real self…with a curious interest.
'Extraordinary, the creature has captured my exact likeness' Elizabeth said in amazement 'this is exceptional'.
'Exceptional, a queen would call it "impertinent"' said the second Elizabeth…unless SHE was the real Elizabeth.
Things were becoming difficult, quite confusing and complicated fast. The Doctor had to act and do something, but first he had to work out and decide which one was the real Elizabeth. 'A queen would feel compelled to admire the skill of the execution, before arranging one' Elizabeth said as the Doctor shook the gizmo in an effort to get it to work making an impatient grunt as he did so 'it's not working!' said the Doctor.
'One might surmise that the creature would learn quickly to protect itself from any simple means of detection' Elizabeth said as the gizmo gave off a *ding* again as the Doctor continued to point the gizmo at both Elizabeth's.
'Clearly you understand the creature better than I, but then you have the advantage' said the second Elizabeth.
Just then a sparking noise sounded as a wormhole vortex appeared in the air just a few feet from them.
The Doctor looked up at it as it appeared and quickly ran front of both Elizabeth's 'back, both of you now!' he said 'that's a time fissure, a tear in the fabric of reality, anything could happen'.
Then, without warning a fez appeared and dropped to the ground just in front of the Doctor 'for instance, a fez' he said in mild surprise…
Back in the present day…
The Doctors mind came back to reality as Kate pulled back the portrait to reveal a doorway 'this way' she said as she did so 'welcome to the under gallery'.
The Doctor, Clara and Kate proceeded through the doorway 'this is where Elizabeth kept all art deemed too dangerous for public consumption' said Kate.
It was as the Doctor stepped along that he started to hold back in his steps as he looked down on the sand on the ground in suspicious thought and stopped where he was, his leather shoes creaking as he stopped in his tracks.
Bending down on the ground the Doctor scooped up some sand in his hand and looked at it with a slight squint 'stone dust' he said thoughtfully yet out loud.
'Is it important?' Kate asked with a hint of impatience as she went back to him.
'In 1200 years I've never stepped in anything that wasn't' the Doctor said as he looked up at Kate.
From behind the Doctor they each heard the soft sigh of Osgood as she stood just outside the doorway in the gallery 'oy you!' the Doctor said as he pointed at her 'are you sciency?' he asked her.
Osgood became a bit flustered as she stepped through the doorway and joined them 'oh er, well er, yes' she said with a smile.
'Got a name?' the Doctor asked her to which she replied 'yes' just before the Doctor said 'good I always wanted to meet someone called "yes", now I want this stone dust analysed' he said as he handed her the stone dust letting it pour out of his hand into hers 'and I want a report in triplicate with lots of graphs and diagrams and complicated sums on my desk' said the Doctor, pointing at Kate as he mentioned the desk then looking back at Osgood 'tomorrow morning ASAP, pronto, LOL' clicking his fingers and pointing at Clara as he said the last couple of words.
He then looked at Clara with a grin 'see? Job' he said before he looked at Kate and asked 'do I have a desk?' pointing at her as he asked.
'No' she said, replying with a very slight stutter as if surprised by his question.
'I want a desk' said the Doctor.
'Get a team, analyse the stone dust' Kate said as she pointed at Osgood before she and Clara proceeded on while the Doctor stood where he was for a moment and gave Osgood a wink before turning away and proceeding on as well.
When Osgood inhaled with troubled difficulty Kate looked back her way as she went and said 'inhaler' prompting Osgood to bring out her inhaler and inhale as she pressed down on the button on it as she put it to her mouth and inhaled.
Elsewhere, Powell Estate 2005…
Within the blue police box that stood within the grounds of the Powell Estate, the Doctor stood at the TARDIS console and controls dressed in his usual garb of black working shoes, black working pants, green t-shirt and leather jacket with close-cropped hair.
The Ninth Doctor looked from side to side as he made tweaks and adjustments to the TARDIS systems as he kept himself occupied and busy while going back and forth between the under-floor systems of the TARDIS and the console and it controls, all the while waiting for Rose to return.
She had gone off back to the flat where she lived with her mother, Jackie Tyler, for a little bit after the Doctor had brought her back from another "round the galaxy and all of time and space" trip having seen the shimmering crystal lake on the planet Svalbard and visiting the luxury resort on the glowing moon of Nawayka among other places.
Blimey Rose what's taking you so long, honestly the Doctor thought as he continued to tinker with everything to pass the time.
He figured Jackie was keeping Rose with repeated worried warnings of Rose please, be careful, not knowing where you are and what you're doing is worrying enough, especially with that man, the Doctor, or whatever he's called and however old he is while rose would probably be saying something like mum I'll be fine, don't worry about me, I'll be ok while I'm with the Doctor, he's knows what he's doing and won't let anything happen to me while Jackie, being the good worrying mother that she was, would say so you say, but then anything could happen, and that's what worries me.
It was while he was spending another half minute with the under-floor systems that he heard a beeping sound from the console which made him look up from what he was doing and poke his head through the floor hatch huh, weird he thought for a moment before he shrugged after a few seconds when it didn't sound again and he went back to what he was doing.
The beeping sound he heard was usually just the TARDIS systems acknowledging and confirming flight coordinates before dematerialisation, but he hadn't entered any coordinates or set or prepared any controls for flight so he would check on it very soon when he was finished with what he was doing.
However, about a few seconds later the handbrake lever flicked down by itself and the TARDIS went into flight with its usual mechanical grating and wheezing *vworp vworp* with a shake surprising the Doctor who immediately stopped what he was doing and poked his head back through the gap in the floor where he had been working and just about feel backwards when the TARDIS shook as it took off.
He then almost missed a step as he climbed back up the ladder as he scrambled to get to the control's, the Doctor pulled the scanner screen round to where he was to find out what was going on and maybe see what had hijacked the TARDIS…even though that wasn't possible…it wasn't supposed to be…not really.
'What are you doing? Why are you taking off?' the Doctor said to himself as he tried to get some feedback on the screen, giving it a few firm whacks with his hand.
When he finally did after several seconds his confused expression dropped to mild surprise and shock 'come on, what are you doing?...what? Why are you taking me there?' he questioned as he looked up at the time rotor…
Back in the under gallery in the present day…
Various different items were on display as the Doctor, Clara and Kate went through the under gallery, some in square glass cases.
One in particular caught the Doctor's eye after he glanced at it which made him slow in his tracks and look back at it.
A fez.
He quickly looked Clara's way, seeing that her interest and attention was on a painting on display, before lifting the glass case and putting it on his head and putting his arms and hands out in a "what do you think" gesture.
When Clara looked his way and saw the fez on his head she took on a knowing expression that said so typical of you 'someday you could just walk past a fez' she said as she gestured with her hands in the direction they were heading following Kate.
'Never going to happen' the Doctor said before he kept going while Clara took on a knowing grin.
When they entered the next part of the under gallery the Doctor noticed the broken glass that was on the floor as he and Clara went to join Kate as she stood waiting for them while looking at paintings on display which looked reasonably normal, except that the edges of each painting were or looked jagged near the edges.
'3D again' said Clara.
The Doctor looked down on the broken glass on the floor before he said 'interesting' as he looked back at the paintings.
'The broken glass?' Clara questioned as she too looked down on the broken glass then back at the Doctor.
'No, where it's broken from' he said before he stepped forward and picked up a piece of glass and looked at it 'look at the shatter pattern, the glass in these paintings has been broken from the inside' the Doctor said with his back to the paintings as he stepped away before he threw the glass back over his shoulder and turned back with his hand briefly on his face in thought. 'As you can see all the paintings are landscape, no figures of any kind' said Kate.
'So?' said the Doctor, Kate then handed him a tablet computer which the Doctor looked at while holding it up to look at in front of one the paintings before them, Clara leaning in a bit to see as well.
On the tablet screen in front of him was a cropped version of the painting they stood before with a figure holding a staff in the middle of the image.
The Doctor lowered the tablet down to look at the painting in front of him at the exact same spot which the figure was absent from in the actual painting itself, bringing it up again before he lowered it again, he looked at Clara who said 'something has got out of the painting' which the Doctor immediately contributed with 'lots of something's, dangerous' he said as both he and Clara looked at each painting in front of them with jagged glass edges.
'This whole place has been searched, there's nothing here that shouldn't be and nothings got out' Kate said as they puzzled over the situation.
That was when, as the Doctor and Clara were stepping away back in the direction they had come, that a vortex wormhole appeared in the air behind them, causing them to turn to it with a start.
Interestingly, as soon as the Doctor saw it his face turned from that of mild surprise to that of "oh come on, what is this?", that or he knew where he'd seen it before and immediately knew what was going with its sudden appearance 'oh no not now' he said as if he had been expecting it at some point or knowing it would appear at some stage.
'Doctor what is it?' Clara asked in response to the Doctor's reaction to the whirling vortex above and before them, though the Doctor seemed not to hear or acknowledge her question 'no not now I'm busy' he said in mild frustration.
'Is it something to do with the paintings?' Kate asked.
'No, no this is different, I remember this…almost remember' the Doctor replied as he remembered seeing the same thing at earlier points in his life, previous lives…the Doctor then looked up at the fez on his head and took it off as he looked at it, then back at the portal in sudden re-collective thought.
'Oh of course, this where I come in' he said as he continued to look from the fez to the portal. He then stepped back and looked at Clara with an excited grin before he threw the fez into the vortex and ran towards it shouting 'Geronimo!'.
Clara went to go after him 'Doctor!' she cried out before Kate held her back 'no wait' she said. The Doctor disappeared into the vortex and dropped out the other side face first with a quiet "oof", right in the middle of some woods in England in 1562, and in front of his former incarnation.
The Tenth Doctor.
In England in 1562…
The fez the Doctor had been wearing just moments ago before he had thrown it into the vortex wormhole had landed just in front of his former self who had knelt down to pick it up just as the Doctor came through the time fissure.
Eleven looked up at his younger self, Ten, who was still kneeling as he looked at his future self, Eleven.
Seeing where he was the Doctor immediately remembered the place, sort of.
Oh, back here again, I remember this…sort of the Doctor thought.
Despite 1200 years of travel through time and space the Doctor still couldn't help but experience the somewhat funny feeling of crossing his own time stream and going somewhere he'd already been before in one of his previous lives with a past version of himself of the time also present, something he should be used to by now, or thought he would've been used to.
Both Doctors stood up, Ten putting the fez on his head and Eleven with a "oh…" look on his face as he looked at himself, his past self who was staring back at him with a similar look, but of "uhh….".
'Who is this man?' Elizabeth, or one of them, asked.
'That's what I just wondering' Ten replied who was unaware he was looking at his older self as he looked at Eleven with suspicious curiosity.
'Oh that is skinny, that is proper skinny' Eleven said as he turned sideways while still looking at Ten to compare his own body and frame with that of his former self, looking down on himself for a split second as he did so.
Ten just looked down on his own body then back at Eleven.
'I've never seen it from the outside before, it's like a special effect' Eleven said as he approached Ten and knocked the fez off his head 'oi! Ha matchstick man' he said with a grin. Ten looked that little bit closer at Eleven as realisation and familiarity dawned on him '…you're not...'.
Both Doctors held their gaze with each other, the hint of a challenge passing between them, as they each slowly moved to withdraw their sonic screwdrivers, while still holding each other's gaze.
Ten went to put his hand into the internal pocket of his suit jacket, but stopped short when Eleven did the same.
After a couple of seconds they each went into their jacket and coat pockets and both withdrew their sonic screwdrivers.
Eleven held back a bit as Ten brought his out and held it in front of them both before Eleven brought out his one.
As Ten's sonic screwdriver bleeped away Eleven gave his sonic screwdriver a flick, with a smug smirk on his face, so that it was bigger than Ten's.
Ten's face seemed to say "what?" as he looked at Eleven's sonic before he returned his gaze to him self and extended his sonic so that it was almost on par with Eleven's who looked at Ten's sonic, surprisingly, with mild surprise and a deflated sense of "my one's better than yours"…that or he forgot that the version of his sonic screwdriver that Ten had and held in his hand was able to extend just as much as his current one.
'Compensating?' Ten questioned almost mockingly.
'For what?' Eleven questioned back.
'Regeneration, it's a lottery' said Ten.
Both Doctor's tossed their sonic screwdrivers in the air a bit before putting them back in their internal pockets in their suit jacket and coat 'oh he's cool, isn't he cool, I'm the Doctor and I'm all cool, oops I'm wearing sand shoes' Eleven said as he waved his arms in a windmill motion before pointing down at Ten's trainers.
'What are you doing here? I'm busy' Ten said as he gestured discretely behind himself.
'Oh busy, I see, is that what we're calling it eh, eh' Eleven said as he picked the fez up off the ground and put it back on his own head 'hello ladies' he said as he bowed.
'Don't start' Ten said as he put a hand on Eleven's arm who said 'listen, what you get up to in the privacy of your own regeneration is your business' as he gave a bit of wink to both Elizabeth's.
'One of them is a Zygon' Ten said which made Eleven grimace a bit 'ugh I'm not judging you' he said as he held up his flat open-palmed hand in defence of his words.
That was when the time fissure reappeared causing both Doctors to turn to and step towards it.
As they did so they both put on their nerdy specs and looked up at it before turning to each other 'oh lovely' they both said simultaneously as they noticed they each had their glasses on with Ten pointing back and forth between them both, each of them grinning with amusement. Eleven took off his specs and approached both Elizabeth's 'your majesty's, probably a good time to run' he said.
'But what about the creature?' both Elizabeth's said simultaneously, Ten turned back to them 'Elizabeth, whichever one of you is the real one turn and run in the opposite direction to the other one' he said.
'Of course my love' both Elizabeth's said before one of them went to Ten 'stay alive my love, I am not done with you yet' she said before she kissed him for a few seconds before taking off.
'Thanks, lovely' Ten said as she went, the other Elizabeth was next 'I understand, live for me my darling, we shall be together again' she said before she too kissed him and left.
With Ten's suggestion to exact the real Elizabeth having backfired Eleven just stood off the side and watched everything with a look of what looked to be of question and mild disbelief. Both Doctors watched her go for a second before they turned back to each other 'well, won't that be nice' Ten said looking away again.
Eleven looked at his former self for a couple of seconds longer before looking away 'one of those was a Zygon?' he questioned, and clarified.
'Yeah' Ten replied.
'Big red rubbery thing covered in suckers?' Eleven continued.
'Yeah' Ten replied again.
'Venom sacs in the tongue' Eleven continued to say.
'Yeah I'm getting the point thank you' Ten replied irritably and impatiently.
'Nice' Eleven concluded.
'Doctor is that you?' Clara said through the fissure making both Doctors look up at the time fissure again 'ah hello Clara, can you hear me?' Eleven said as he stepped towards the swirling vortex.
'Yeah it's me we can hear you, where are you?' Clara asked on the other side.
'Where are we?' Eleven asked, almost looking back at Ten.
'England 1562' Ten replied.
Both Clara and Kate straightened in surprise at the Tenth Doctor's voice as well as what he said 'who are you talking to?' Clara asked.
'Myself' both Doctors said simultaneously to which they both looked at each other and grinned in amusement at their synchronisation.
'Can you come back through?' Kate asked.
'Physical passage may not be possible in both directions it's…ah! Hang on, fez incoming!' Eleven said before he took off his fez and threw it into the vortex.
Both sides waited a few seconds before Clara shrugged 'nothing here' she said.
Back on the other side in England in 1562 Eleven's expression slowly sank with disappointment as he thought ah, so much for that, and I lost my fez.
Ten darted his eyes about for a second in curiosity before he said 'so where did it go?' and he and Eleven looked at each other.
Back in the barn on Gallifrey…
The elderly man that was the Doctor, but wasn't…not really, picked up the fez that had dropped to the ground from out of the time fissure and brushed off the dirt and dust with the sleeve of his worn leather jacket that had accumulated on it when it landed on the ground.
It was as he brushed it off that he heard the voice that was Clara's through the swirling vortex 'Who's he talking to?' followed by another 'he said "himself"' said Kate.
What the second voice said made him look up at the vortex in mild interest and curiosity, though it barely registered on his old and worn face.
In the under gallery…
'Keep him talking' Kate said as she took out her phone and walked off 'Malcolm I need you to send me one of my father's incident files, code name "Chromer", 70's or 80's depending on the dating protocol' she said.
After she rounded a corner something stirred behind her at the window and made an inhuman growl as a shadow stirred.
Back in England…
'Okay you used to be me, you've done all this before, what happens next?' Ten said as he looked at Eleven for a second before looking back at the vortex that was the time fissure.
'I don't remember' Eleven immediately replied.
This made Ten look back at him, at the vortex above them then back at Eleven as if he was thinking wait, what? Really? Seriously?! You don't remember? 'how can you forget this?' Ten questioned Eleven as he gestured between himself and Eleven.
'Hey hang on it's not my fault, you're obviously not paying enough attention, reverse the polarity' Eleven said as he turned and looked at his past self and pointed at the time fissure before they both drew their sonic screwdrivers again and pointed them at the vortex of the time fissure and soniced it.
Seconds passed as they both held and pointed their sonic screwdrivers at the time fissure, nothing happened during those few seconds.
'It's not working' Eleven said after a while, Ten stopped sonicing and straight up said 'we're both reversing the polarity' as if it was obvious.
'Yes I know that' said Eleven.
'There's two of us, I'm reversing it and you're reversing it back again, we're confusing the polarity' Ten said seconds before the time fissure made another brief sparking sound and a bearded elderly man in a worn leather jacket appeared and landed on the ground.
'Anyone lose a fez?' the man said as he looked at both Doctors.
Ten and Eleven just looked at the old man before them, their past self, in surprise, his appearance and arrival completely and utterly unexpected.
'You' Ten said, being the first between himself and Eleven to say something in response 'how can you be here? More to the point why are you here?' Ten continued as the elder looking man that was their younger self, the Doctor… the one version of themselves that the two Doctors never expected nor were in any hurry at all to cross paths with, or in this case time streams with, just grinned at them.
'Good afternoon' he said as the two Doctors just looked at each other in bewilderment 'I'm looking for the Doctor' said the Warrior.
The two Doctors just kept looking at him as if he'd said something weird or out of turn 'well, you've certainly come to the right place' said Ten.
'Good, right' the Warrior said before he paused for a second and said 'well who are you boys?' he asked which had Ten and Eleven look at each other as if to say oh, here we go… 'oh, but of course, are you his companions?' the Warrior asked.
'His companions?' Eleven said questioningly as he looked at his younger self in disbelief while Ten just looked off to the side and exhaled in awkwardness.
'They get younger all the time' said the Warrior 'well if you could point me in the general direction of the Doctor' he continued.
An awkward pause followed before Ten raised his sonic screwdriver, pressed the button on it and it bleeped away.
The Warrior's expression dropped and changed at the sight of Ten's sonic screwdriver, while Eleven drew his after seeing Ten raise his one and had it bleep away as well.
'Really?' the Warrior said in surprise.
'Yeah' Eleven replied before Ten too confirmed and said 'really'.
The Warrior couldn't shake his surprise 'you're me? Both of you?' he questioned.
'Yep' Ten replied again.
'Even that one?' the Warrior questioned still as he looked slightly at Eleven who replied 'yes!' with an expression of "seriously? Is that really so hard to believe?" as Ten just nodded.
'You're my future selves?' the Warrior continued to question, his incomprehension of the two Doctors before him that were regenerated incarnations of him evident.
'YES!' both Ten and Eleven said at the same time in irritance of their past selves' inability to realise, understand and accept who they were and that they were indeed his future incarnations.
'Am I having a mid-life crisis?' the Warrior said out loud as he got his head around and attempted to accept that Ten and Eleven were both him and started towards them before they stopped him in tracks as the two Doctors once again raised their sonic screwdrivers and pointed them at the Warrior as if in self-defence like they were weapons.
The Warrior stopped suddenly in response and looked at them in surprise 'why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments not water pistols' he said as he looked at them scornfully 'you look like you've seen a ghost' he continued as both Ten and Eleven exchanged looks and lowered their sonic screwdrivers.
'Still, loving the posh gravelly thing, it's very convincing' Ten said before Eleven turned to him and said 'brave words Dick van Dyke'.
Just then a troop of soldiers ran towards them right behind a Nobleman 'encircle them' the Nobleman said as Eleven raised his sonic screwdriver at them.
'Which of you is the Doctor?' the nobleman known as Lord Bentham said as the soldiers he was leading surrounded the three Doctors 'the Queen of England is bewitched, I would have the Doctor's head' Bentham said as Ten and Eleven pointed their sonic screwdrivers at the soldiers around them.
'Well, this has all the makings of your lucky day' the Warrior said.
In the under gallery in London, Clara turned back to see Kate return 'I think there's three of them now' she said quietly.
'There's a precedent for that' Kate said on the other side in the under gallery in response to Clara, her slightly hollow sounding voice as it was heard through the vortex of the time fissure heard by the three Doctors, the soldiers and Lord Bentham, all of them looking up at it.
'What is that?' Bentham asked.
Ten and Eleven both pointed their sonic screwdrivers at him.
The Warrior, quick to criticise them about it upon hearing the buzz of Eleven's sonic screwdriver as it extended and turning to notice both his older selves aim their sonic screwdrivers at Lord Bentham, said 'oh the pointing again, they're screwdrivers, what are you going to do? Assemble a cabinet at them?' he said criticisingly.
Both Eleven and Ten exchanged looks before they lowered their sonic screwdrivers and put them away.
'What witchcraft is it?' Bentham asked.
'Ah yes, now that you mention it, that is witchcraft' said the Doctor 'yes, yes, yes witchy witchcraft, hello? Hello in there, excuse me' he continued, saying the last couple of words to everyone before he went back to the time fissure 'hello am I talking to the wicked witch of the well?'
'He means you' Kate said from behind Clara who looked back at Kate suddenly from paying attention to what was, apparently, happening on the other side of the of the time fissure from their end 'why am I the witch?' she said almost resentfully as she looked back up at the time fissure.
'Clara?' Eleven said as he called to her through the time fissure to which she responded 'hello?'
'Clara, hi, hello, hello, would you mind telling these prattling mortals to get themselves begone' Eleven said as he looked back at the soldiers, the Warrior giving him a raised eyebrow look and Ten just looking at the soldiers surrounding them.
'What..he said' Clara said in a flat, almost hesitant tone.
Eleven turned back to the time fissure in response to Clara's flat and disappointing tone 'yes, tiny bit more colour' he said.
Clara sighed in reluctance as she prepared to sound as genuine as possible with what she was about to say next 'right, "prattling mortals, off you pop or I'll...turn you all into…frogs"' she said.
'Ooo, frogs, nice you heard her' said Eleven while Ten just nodded and pointed at them for the effect of emphasis.
Clara shifted on the spot impatiently 'Doctor what's going on?' she asked.
Eleven shifted awkwardly as he stepped back to join Ten and the Warrior 'it's a…uh…timey wimey thing' he said, the Warrior turned to him 'timey what? Timey wimey?' he said to Eleven questioningly giving him the same sort of look as he furrowed his brows and squinted at him.
Ten, from behind the Warrior, said to him 'I've- I've no idea where he picks that stuff up' as he shook his head.
It was then that Queen Elizabeth…or the Zygon copy…whichever she or it was, appeared from out of the woods 'the Queen!' said all the soldiers, including Lord Bentham, as they saw her and knelt before her.
You don't seem to be kneeling' Elizabeth said with a strange and mysterious smile 'how tremendously brave of you'.
Ten looked at her suspiciously 'which are you? What happened to the other one?' he said, a slight pause before Elizabeth replied 'indisposed, long live the queen' she said.
Long live the queen!' said all the soldiers and Bentham in immediate response.
'Arrest these men' Elizabeth continued as Bentham rose to stand by her side before she continued 'take them to the tower'.
Ten pointed at her 'that is not the Queen of England that is an alien duplicate!' he said.
'And you can take it from him 'cos he's really checked' Eleven said as he pointed at his former self.
'Oh shut up' Ten responded to him before Eleven continued 'venom sacs in the tongue' he said, not quite finished joshing and giving himself, his past self, a hard time about his past "personal moments" with Queen Elizabeth.
'Seriously stop it' Ten said back to him as he became annoyed by the "jabs" his older self was making at him.
Suddenly and abruptly Eleven turned briefly to himself, Ten, then back to Elizabeth, all in one second, and pointed at her 'no, hang on, the tower, did you say the tower?' he said 'ah yes, brilliant, love the tower'.
It was while Eleven spoke that back in the under gallery on the other side of the time fissure Kate looked off to the side in thought of what the Doctor was saying.
'Breakfast at eight please, will there be wi-fi?' Eleven queried jokingly.
The Warrior was bemused by Eleven's body language 'are you capable of speaking without flapping your hands about?' he questioned as Eleven had been doing just that as he had spoken.
'Yes' he said as he put his hands together as he thought to challenge to his younger self's criticism before realising it was pointless to do so and immediately said otherwise 'no, I demand to be incarcerated in the tower immediately with my co-conspirators "sandshoes" and "granddad"'.
Ten and the Warrior just looked at him questioningly at they wondered what in the heck he was doing…that or they found his choice of nicknames for them surprising and questionable…before the Warrior realised what Eleven had just said 'granddad?!' he responded.
'They're not sandshoes' Ten said in mild irritation.
'Yes they are' the Warrior said insistently as he and Eleven looked down on Ten's trainers. 'Silence! The Tower is not to be taken lightly' said Elizabeth.
Clara and Kate heard Queen Elizabeth's voice through the Time Fissure 'very few emerge again' Elizabeth said as her voice was heard through the swirling vortex.
'Dear god that man's clever, come on' Kate said before she gestured for Clara to follow her as she walked away.
'Where are we going?' Clara asked as Kate went 'my office, otherwise known as the Tower of London' Kate replied.
At the same time back in 1562…
A blue police box materialised, *vworp vworp* with the light on top flashing as it did so, becoming solid with a hollow *thud*, after it had repeatedly faded in and out of spatial and material occupation, in the very same woods.
From out of it stepped the Ninth Doctor.
Stopping to look around the Doctor said out loud 'huh, must be in England in…' he said, trailing off as he held up his index finger and sniffed the air a bit before he continued '…1562' before he turned back to the TARDIS and said 'but why here though? Why did you bring me here? I have to get back to Rose'.
Stepping back to the TARDIS the Doctor stopped in his tracks when the TARDIS made the hollow *thud* sound it made just before dematerialising as it did just that while the Doctor scrambled to get back inside before it was…too late, he put the key to the TARDIS in the lock but not before the lock itself and the TARDIS began to fade, at which point the Doctor knew there no point in trying to get back in.
The double doors were no longer physically there, not really. That and they would've been sealed anyway, one of the TARDIS's safety protocols when dematerialising.
The TARDIS was leaving him behind, so he just stood calmly and watched it go with an expecting expression knowing there was nothing he could do to stop it, that and he'd be able to find it again later, before he closed his eyes for a second then lowered bowed his head a bit before immediately looking back at the space where the TARDIS had been seconds ago and said 'yeah'.
He then turned from the tree he was standing by and looked around again 'right then, to find out exactly where I am' he said.
That was when he heard voices in the distance.
Moving to investigate he got to a ridge where he carefully peered over the top of it to see, in the near distance, a group of soldiers led by a Nobleman escorting three shackled men.
Two of them were young looking, one looked the young gentleman type with a purple frock coat, a waistcoat and bow tie and a flop of brown hair off to the right side of his face, the second man was in a brown pinstripe suit with converse trainers, which the Doctor thought to be a strange combination, and tidy yet spiked up and sticky uppy hair.
The third man the Doctor recognised though, which made his eyes widen in surprise and caused an uncontrollable feeling of resent and disgust to bubble up inside him as he looked at the man scornfully.
The one he had, for some time, been attempting to bury in his memory and forget, such to the point that he had never been.
Elderly looking with a beard and a worn leather jacket similar to what the Doctor wore but light brown with a Victorian style waistcoat, he was the very last person the Doctor expected, or even wanted to see.
Just the sight of him brought painful, almost traumatising memories bubbling and rushing back to the surface of the Doctor's memory which almost made him wince no…come on Doctor, focus. He then wondered with a burning curiosity what in the heck is he doing HERE?WHY is her here? I don't remember this he thought as he narrowed his eyes on his younger self.
Interestingly though something about the other two seemed vaguely familiar…like a gentle inkling in his mind that he knew who they were and recognised them… something told him he should follow them, discretely.
Arriving at the castle, and in the tower dungeons…
'Come on you lot get in there' the Warder said as Eleven, Ten and the Warrior were firmly shoved into the dungeon cell, the Warrior uttering a bit of a cry of pain as he was somewhat aggressively pushed in 'ow'.
Eleven found a small, thin piece of metal on the ground and started scratching on one of the stone pillars in the dungeon cell 'three of us in one cell? That's going to cause some nasty anomalies if we don't get out soon' Ten said as the Warrior began to sonic the dungeon door. 'What are you doing?' Ten questioned when he turned and saw Eleven scratching at the wall with the piece of metal 'getting us out' Eleven said when he turned to look at his younger self.
'The sonic won't work on that it's too primitive' Ten said when he saw the Warrior sonicing the cell door.
'Shall we ask for a better quality of door so we can escape?' Eleven said playfully.
'Ok, so, the Queen of England is now a Zygon, but never mind that why are we all together? Why are we all here?' Ten said questioningly.
Eleven stopped what he was doing and looked at his former self.
The Warrior just looked at Ten in such a way that said …yes?... . 'Me and…Chinny' Ten said as he gestured at Eleven as he took a moment to come up with a suitable nickname for him 'we were surprised, but you came looking for us, you knew it was going to happen, who told you?' he questioned.
Eleven had stopped what he was doing when he heard what his former self had called him 'oi, "Chinny"?' the Doctor said with a minor look of disgust.
'Yeah, you do have a chin' Ten responded.
It was in that moment when the interface, of the Moment back in the Warrior's timeline in the barn on Gallifrey, appeared with a finger over her mouth for the Warrior to hold his tongue as he saw her.
Undergallery…
McGillop stood at a microscope as he examined and analysed the stone dust from the ground while Osgood looked at some data on a clipboard 'marble, granite, a lot of different stone, but none of it from the fabric of the building, it's like somebody smashed up a lot of old statues' she said as she put the clipboard down and stepped away from it in thought before turning back on the spot to McGillop 'are there any missing?' she asked.
McGillop looked up from what he was looking at through the microscope and replied 'don't think so, why would anyone do that anyway?' he questioned before he went back to the microscope but kept talking 'I mean, I know we're meant to keep an open mind, but are we supposed to believe in creatures that can hide in oil paintings and have some sort of a grudge against statues?' he questioned with a slight giggle.
While he spoke Osgood slowly raised her inhaler and used it as it suddenly dawned on her the answer to her, or their questions.
McGillop acknowledged this and said 'you all right?' he asked.
Osgood slowly lowered her inhaler and said almost fearfully 'we have to go right now this minute'.
'What's wrong?' he asked.
'The things from the paintings, I know why they smashed the statues' Osgood replied as she kept her voice lowered a bit.
'Why?' McGillop asked.
'Because they needed somewhere to hide' she said.
In that very moment, dust sheets stirred around them as whatever was ACTUALLY under them began to make their move.
McGillop and Osgood looked around as one after another Zygons emerged from under the dusts sheets as they tossed them aside. Being almost surrounded on all sides, the Zygons got to and attacked McGillop first before Osgood let out a cry before turning and running before the Zygons could get to her.
Running through the under gallery entrance way Osgood shifted the painting of the Doctor, the Tenth Doctor, and Queen Elizabeth the First over the entrance way and paused as she assumed herself safe for that moment.
Except one of the Zygons punched through the painted face of Queen Elizabeth I and pushed aside the oil painting in pursuit of Osgood who ran to the elevator and pushed the button to call the elevator.
However when she realised it would take time, too much time to arrive, she cowered in the corner while using her inhaler as the Zygon came directly towards her.
Squeezing her eyes shut she began to repeatedly say to herself 'the Doctor will save me, the Doctor will save me' as she then held up her hands and arms over her head to protect and brace herself against whatever blow the Zygon before her might deliver.
However, seconds later the Zygon had changed appearance to become an exact mirror image of Osgood who then heard a somewhat familiar yet unexpected voice 'excuse me, I'm going to need my inhaler' Zygon-Osgood said as she/it held out a hand.
When Osgood looked up she was somewhat surprised to see herself standing over her 'I do so hate it when I get one with a defect' Zygon-Osgood said as she reached down and snatched the inhaler from Osgood's hand.
'Oh you've got some perfectly horrible memories in here haven't you' Zygon-Osgood said before she/it used the inhaler and went to taunting Osgood 'so jealous of your pretty sister, I don't blame you, I wish I'd copied her' she continued before Osgood noticed that her scarf was right under the foot of her Zygon copy.
'So do I!' she said and pulled her scarf out from under the foot of her Zygon copy who then went down backwards which, when this happened, Osgood seized the chance to run.
While she did so the Zygon said 'oh for goodness sake' before recovering and getting up of the ground to pursue Osgood.
The Tower of London grounds…
'The Doctor will be trying to send us a message, we're looking for a string of numerals around 1550 approximately, priority one' Kate said into the phone as she and Clara sat in the vehicle they were in on their way to the Tower of London.
'I'm going to need access to the Black Archive' Kate said to the security guard that stood waiting for them as he acknowledged Kate and Clara and the driver before going to say something into his radio and the vehicle drove onwards.
Inside, Kate and Clara went along a dark corridor with vents in the ceiling that allowed rays of light into the Black Archive 'highest security rating on the planet, the entire staff have their memories wiped at the end of every shift' Kate said as they went along.
She then pointed at a circular contraption in the angled ceiling 'automated memory filters in the ceiling, access please' she said to another security guard who stood up from his desk and greeted her 'mam' he said before he brought out some keys of his own and went to the door to unlock it.
Clara glanced at a memory filter in minor curiosity while this happened 'Atkins isn't it? Kate said to the guard 'yes mam, first day here' the guard replied who then proceeded to unlock the door further after receiving Kate's security key.
'Been here ten years' Kate whispered to Clara before they both went through.
The guard closed the door behind them before clinking and clicking sounds were heard as the guard and Kate locked it 'lock and key? Bit basic isn't it?' Clara commented as Kate finished locking the door 'can't afford electronic security down here, got to keep the Doctor out, the whole of the tower is TARDIS proofed, he really wouldn't approve of the collection' Kate said as they both proceeded into the room.
'But you let me in' Clara said in response 'you have a top level security rating from your last visit' Kate said as she pointed at a board with printed images of every one of the Doctors known companions, Amy and Rory, Rose Tyler, Martha, Donna, Sarah Jane Smith and Clara, among others…
'Sorry…my what?' Clara said in shock, surprise and confusion as she looked from the board to Kate then back at the board before she then went to the board to look at and see images of all of the know companions the Doctor had had since the days of his third incarnation, even seeing images of herself with Kate.
'Apologies we have to screen all his known associates, we can't have information about the Doctor and the TARDIS falling into the wrong hands, the consequences could be disastrous' Kate said as she went to and stopped at a window looking into a closed off and isolated room and looked through it at a device that looked like a big oversized watch mounted on a stand.
'What is that?' Clara asked as they both looked at it.
'Time travel' Kate said as she went to lean against the frame of the window 'a vortex manipulator bequeathed to the UNIT archive by Captain Jack Harkness on the occasion of his death, well, one of them, no one can know we have this, not even our allies' Kate said as she gazed at it in wonder, the same tone in her voice.
'Why not?' Clara asked.
'Think about it, Americans with the ability to rewrite history, you've seen their movies' Kate said before she went to enter the small room where the vortex manipulator was being kept. 'Ok, so this is how we're going to rescue the Doctor?' Clara said as she stepped around to the door and stepped into the room with Kate after she pressed a big red button on a panel that opened the door.
'I'm not sure there's enough power for a two way trip, in any event we don't have the activation code, the Doctor knows we have this so he's always kept the code from us, let's hope he changes his mind' she said as her phone started ringing.
'Yes?' Kate said as she answered it 'well if you've found it, photograph it and send it to my phone' she said in response to whatever had been said by the other person on the other side of the line.
Clara looked up from the vortex manipulator when she saw Osgood and McGillop enter the room 'um, hey, should they be here? Why have they followed us?' Clara questioned.
'Oh they've probably just finished disposing of the Humans a bit early' Kate replied.
'The hum- ?' Clara questioned as she looked at Kate for a split second then straight back at "Osgood" and "McGillop" in slight shock as she realised, after what Kate had JUST unexpectedly said, what was going on.
'Dear me I really do get into character don't I' "Kate" said as she immediately realised her mistake. Clara slowly looked back at Kate as the Zygon copies of Osgood and McGillop stood where they were and looked on with wicked grins while "Kate" reverted back to Zygon form, spitting venom from her mouth as she/it did so.
Clara jumped back in fright and shock.
The Zygon that was once Kate turned to Zygon-Osgood who said 'the under gallery is secured' she said in a matter-of-fact tone just as the image of the activation code for the Vortex manipulator appeared on Kate's phone, which Clara noticed.
'Prepare to dispose of one more human' the Zygon commander said as Clara dashed to the Vortex Manipulator, put it on and input the activation code.
'We have acquired the device' the Zygon Commander continued while Clara activated it.
The Zygon heard Clara inputting the code into the device and turned back to her with a low growl 'activation code right?' she said with a grin and pressed a button to teleport away while the Zygon roared at her in anger as she disappeared.
Tower dungeon exterior, 1562…
The Ninth Doctor quietly made his way through the interior of the castle towards the dungeons, avoiding and slipping past guards as he went in search of his younger self and the two men he had followed to the castle and into it.
It hadn't taken much to distract the guards outside the castle in order to sneak in apart from patience, caution and precision to distract them in the right way at the right time.
Treading along carefully and quietly through the dark and dingy under-castle while being weary of everything behind and in front of him, even quickly and abruptly dashing into cover as guards came along.
The Doctor carefully and quietly approached the next corner with certainty that the dungeons were just around the corner and rounded it when he heard no one coming, but stopped in his tracks when he bumped into a twenty-something girl in a short skirt, stockings and a jacket…Clara, who just looked at him wide-eyed in surprise.
'oh…' she said in surprise, at a loss for words at having just bumped into someone who evidently wasn't from this time, even more so that it was the Doctor…one of him anyway, the look of dawning familiarity surfacing in her eyes.
The Doctor looked at her in surprise as well but then became all squinty-eyed '...who are you and what are you doing here? How did you get here?' he said quietly almost whispering. Clara gave him a look that seemed to question him 'I could ask you the same thing, Doctor' she replied.
Clara remembered the Ninth Doctor, sort of, from when she had entered the Doctor's personal time stream on Trenzalore and met every single version of him, and now to have actually met one of the Doctor's past selves, again, even though the first time was just ghosts of the Doctor's former faces, time travel seemed to get just a little bit stranger.
The Doctor stiffened a bit in surprise when Clara addressed him with his title name 'you know who I am, have we met before?' he questioned, Clara hesitated a bit before she answered 'yes…sort of, but not really, well, in a sense' she said.
The Doctor just looked at her very confused '…what?'.
Clara looked at him speechless as she considered what she'd just said 'sorry that did not make any sense' she said slight flustered 'it's a long story, but basically I know who you are from having seen you before'.
The Doctor just looked at her for a couple of seconds in consideration of what she'd just said before he responded 'right, that makes more sense I suppose, you still haven't answered my question, who are you and what are you doing here?' he said repeating his words.
'I'm Clara, apart from now we haven't met yet, not really' Clara replied 'hold on, are you the one he was talking to earlier?' she asked as she gave him a questioning look.
The Doctor looked at her questioningly '"the one he was talking to earlier"?' he said before he did a double-take 'wait...those men I saw outside the castle, one of them, maybe the other two as well, are me aren't they?' he said with a slight questioning tone that had an underlying knowingness in his words.
'…Yeeah, that would be right, one of them definitely is and he's who I'm here for, he was captured along with "himself" and another and I've come to get him out' Clara said.
The Doctor looked at her in thought 'hmm yeah, one of them is definitely me without a doubt, unfortunately' he said with raised brows 'I don't even know how or why he's here, he SHOULDN'T even be here, the fact that he is is just wrong, but the other two' he continued before he exhaled 'four of me here in one place, this is going to be interesting' he concluded. The Doctor then gestured with his hand to the stairway they had been about to head down 'after you' the Doctor said to which Clara gave him a look and with that they both descended down the stairs to the dungeons…
Simultaneously…
The Warrior soniced the dungeon cell door while Eleven continued to scratch away at the stone pillar with the piece of metal he had 'in theory I can trigger an isolated sonic shift in the molecules and the door should disintegrate' said the Warrior.
'You'd have to calculate the exact harmonic resonance of the entire structure down to a sub atomic level, even a sonic could take years' Ten said as he walked away, unknowingly going past the interface of the Moment who watched him go for a second as he went past.
'No, no the sonic would take centuries, oh we might as well get started, help to pass the "timey-wimey"' said the Warrior.
Eleven hesitated a bit at the Warrior's words and the not so fitting use of the word "timey-wimey" while in the middle of scratching the pillar.
The Warrior questioned his own words and the use of the word "timey-wimey", if it was even a word 'do you have to talk like children? What is it that makes you so ashamed of being a grown up?' the Warrior questioned.
Eleven stopped what he was doing and looked at him; Ten had also stopped and was looking at the Warrior.
Ten had a look about him that almost seemed to resent the Warrior's words, and maybe even his presence, his eyes a little bit shifty before he looked away in what looked to be some sort of resentment, Eleven sharing a similar look but with his gaze unmoving as if he was thinking really?... the way someone would when someone else has said or done something so ridiculously questionable.
'Oh, the way you both look at me, what is that? I'm trying to think of a better word than "dread"' the Warrior said as he looked at both Doctors questioningly.
'It must be really recent for you' Ten said resentfully.
The Warrior looked at him for a second in slight confusion 'recent?' he questioned.
Eleven looked down for a second before meeting the gaze of his not-so-favourite younger self 'the Time War, the last day, the day you killed them all' he said.
'The day WE killed them all' Ten said to Eleven in correction of his words as he looked at his succeeding self at the same time.
'Same thing' Eleven said calmly, yet almost as if to brush off the words of his self as well. Ten just walked away seemingly in minor disbelief, once again unknowingly stepping past the interface before he started pacing lightly around the dungeon.
'It's history for them' the Interface said 'all decided, they think their future is real they don't know it's still up to you' she said.
After a moment's hesitation the Warrior said 'I don't talk about it' whether to the interface in reply or to his older selves, it wasn't clear.
'You're not talking about it there's no one else here' Ten said as he kept walking around the dungeon to occupy himself and think on the go as to what they were going to do and how they were going to get out.
'Go on, ask them' the interface said as she appeared sitting next to the Warrior 'ask them what you need to know' to which the Warrior turned back to the two Doctors after looking at the interface for a moment and asked 'did you ever count?'.
Eleven looked back at him and replied 'count what?' he said.
'How many children there were on Gallifrey that day' the Warrior clarified.
Once again Eleven stopped his scratching at the pillar for a couple of seconds and stiffened a bit as he thought about and considered his answer 'I have absolutely no idea' he replied, Ten just looked at him as if he didn't really approve of or like Eleven's answer.
While this happened the Warrior asked another question 'how old are you now?' he asked. Eleven kept scratching away at the pillar while he answered 'uh I don't know, I lose track, twelve hundred and something I think, unless I'm lying, I can't remember if I'm lying about my age, that's how old I am' he said.
At Eleven's answer the Warrior immediately said '400 years older than me and in all that time you never even wondered how many there were?' he asked, a light questioning tone in his words.
At these words, Eleven seemed to seemed to increase how fast he was scratching at the pillar for a couple of seconds as if in irritance of the Warrior's questioning words, even closing his eyes as if he was pained.
'You never once counted?' the Warrior continued, that was when the Doctor abruptly scratched downwards so hard while stopping what he was doing that a fair bit of dust dropped to the ground, all to indicate the Doctor's seeming irritance and resentment at being questioned by himself, about the last day of the Time War and not knowing or bothering to know how many children had been on Gallifrey on the day.
The day he had ended their lives so suddenly the way he had.
Turning to his former self, Eleven answered 'tell me, what would be the point?' he responded in a bit of an irritated and firm tone.
'2.47 billion' Ten said abruptly before the Warrior could respond, answering the Warrior's question.
'You did count' the Warrior said, not just to Ten but to Eleven as well.
Eleven just shook his head before returning to scratching the pillar 'you forgot?' Ten questioned as he stepped toward himself, his older self '400 years? Is that all it takes?' Ten said with a disgusted tone in his voice and look on his face, his reason for the look he gave himself, Eleven, moments ago now obvious.
'I moved on' Eleven said in response in personal defence, but also to correct himself.
'Where? Where can you be now that you can forget something like that?' Ten questioned.
'Spoilers' the Doctor responded.
Ten, completely unsatisfied with Eleven's answer, said 'no, no no no for once I'd like to know where I'm going'.
Eleven still standing his ground immediately said 'no you really wouldn't' with such suddenness, firmness and conviction that it silenced and shocked Ten as he acknowledged the words he would, in time, speak himself and the look in Eleven's eyes that would one day be his.
The Warrior having seen and heard the whole exchange between the two Doctors said 'I don't know who you are, either of you' as the Doctors continued to look at each other unblinking as if having a stare down before Eleven looked back at the Warrior who said 'I haven't got the faintest idea' he continued.
That was when the Moment spoke 'they're you' the Moment said as the Warrior looked back at her 'they're what you become if you destroy Gallifrey, the man who regrets' the Moment continued referring to Ten who was still looking at his future self in slight disbelief and shock, mostly the former, before going back to pacing around the dungeon 'and the man who forgets' referring to Eleven who just went back to scratching away at the pillar with the metal bar.
'The moment is coming' the Moment said 'the moment is me, you have to decide' it continued before the Warrior looked away in thought before he spoke quietly yet out loud 'no' he said, suddenly unwilling to consider anymore the BIG, galaxy-sized decision he was having to make about using the Moment or not after what he'd just witnessed between his future selves, Ten and Eleven.
Whether it was to himself or otherwise both Ten and Eleven couldn't tell, but Ten, after hearing him, said 'no?' still with a frown on his features.
'Just…no' the Warrior responded.
Eleven started giggling a bit as he leaned against the pillar, both the Warrior and Ten looked at him as he did so 'is something funny?' Ten questioned 'did I miss a funny thing?' he asked in an almost critical way.
Eleven casually scratched his head with the metal bar as he spoke 'sorry, it just occurred to me that this is what I'm like when I'm alone' he said with a grin before he continued to giggle, this was when the moment spoke again to the Warrior 'it's the same screwdriver' it said as Ten started to occupy himself again by repeatedly tossing his screwdriver up in the air in front of him, the Warrior just gave her an acknowledging look.
Ten continued to toss his sonic screwdriver up in the air before the Moment continued as it stood almost right next to him 'same software, different case' the Moment said before it disappeared, it's voice, the voice of Rose Tyler, fading to an echo.
The Warrior then looked down on his sonic screwdriver in consideration and looked back at his future self, Doctor Ten, and his sonic screwdriver.
That was when an idea formed in his mind, he opened his mouth to say something but then hesitated in consideration as his sonic made the high pitched *bleeeep* before he said '400 years' briefly putting his hand to his forehead before putting it back down.
Ten questioned him again, this time confused 'sorry?' he said looking at his past self with a questioning squint.
'At a software level' the Warrior said as Eleven looked to Ten before looking at their youngest self 'they're all the same device aren't they' the Warrior continued as he looked at both his future selves 'same software, different case' he said, echoing the Moments last spoken words.
'Yeah' Ten said in slight agreement as well as curiosity at the Warrior's words and what he was getting at as he held his sonic screwdriver while Eleven drew his 'so…' he began before the Warrior rose from his seat and continued 'so…it would take centuries for the screwdriver to calculate how to disintegrate the door' the Warrior said as he went to the door and looked it up and down.
'Scanning the door, implanting the calculation as a permanent sub-routine in the software architecture' the Warrior continued as he scanned the door with his sonic screwdriver before he turned back to his older selves 'and if you really are me, with your sandshoes and…your dicky bow' he continued to which Ten rolled his eyes a bit at the repeated mocking of his converse trainers before he exchanged looks with his older self, Eleven.
'And that screwdriver is still mine…that calculation is still going on' the Warrior said with a clever look in his eye.
Ten then raised his sonic screwdriver and bleeped it while putting it up close to his ear while the Warrior and Eleven just watched him as he did so 'yeah, still going' he said while he continued to hold up his sonic screwdriver and looked at Eleven and the Warrior.
Now Eleven bleeped his sonic screwdriver as he flourished and extended it to open the claws at the end 'calculation complete' he said as he and Ten looked at each other as if to say to each other "it worked".
'Same software, different face' the Moment said with a smile as she reappeared to the Warrior.
'Hey, 400 years in four seconds, we have had our differences which is frankly odd in the circumstances but, I tell you what boys, we are incredibly clever' Eleven said.
That was when the dungeon door opened and Clara entered, almost stumbling as she did, followed by a man with close cropped hair, black pants and leather jacket and green t-shirt.
Doctor Nine.
Eleven and Ten responded with surprise, Eleven at Clara being able to enter like the way she just did, but then both he and Ten were equally surprised by the sight of their past and former self, Nine.
'You' Ten said, the surprise on his features slightly evident as he just looked at his younger self, Nine.
'Well, hello me' Eleven said, his surprise a bit more evident.
Nine looked at both Eleven and Ten, squinting a bit as he did so before his eyes widened a bit in recognition 'ah, so you two are my replacements, a pretty boy and a chin' Nine said.
Ten raised a brow '"pretty boy"?' he said questioningly.
Nine's comment about Eleven however went a little deeper and Eleven gave Nine a look and said 'what's wrong with my chin?' Eleven said as put his hand to his chin.
Ten looked back at Eleven and answered 'you could poke someone's eye out' he said, to which Nine snapped his fingers and pointed at Ten acknowledgingly while Clara looked at Ten and gave him a wide eyed look with a grin which Ten, again, raised his brows to, though only momentarily before looking at his preceeding self.
Nine made a gesture at his own hair while looking at Ten 'also, what's this' he said referring to Ten's sticky-uppy hair and fringe.
Ten, in response looked up at his own spiked up hair 'what?...what about it?' he responded as he quickly looked back his younger self.
Nine scrutinised Ten's hair before he commented 'why is it all messy and…' he said before he made another gesture to refer to its "sticky-uppyness".
Ten furrowed his brows 'what? What's wrong with it?' he questioned.
Nine gave a questioning raised brow look "seriously?" his face said.
'…ok, so it can get a little crazy, it has a mind of its own' Ten said to make light of it a bit.
'Ha' Eleven said before he and Nine said 'so you say' at the same time which had them looking at each other then back at Ten who then looked at Eleven 'oi! You used to be me, you had this too' said Ten.
'Yes, I did' Eleven said before he exhaled and looked off to the side.
The Warrior just watched and observed all this with a bemused look 'honestly…' he said quietly to himself as he looked at each of his older selves from one to the other while Clara just giggled a bit which made Eleven look at her questionably.
'What's so funny?' he asked.
'Nothing, it's just- ' Clara replied before she giggled again and said 'you're making fun of yourself, do you have any idea how amusing that is?' she said with a grin.
Nine then finally yet slowly looked at and acknowledged his former self, the Warrior, and he took on a hard, resentful look, looked him up and down, almost with disgust, before he turned back to Ten and Eleven and said 'what in the heck is he doing here? How is he here? I don't remember this' Nine questioned in an almost demanding and near- contemptous way.
The Warrior just gave Nine a look as he said 'hello to you'.
Eleven stepped forward a couple of steps 'now, now we may not appreciate what he did- ' Eleven started to say before Ten cut him off 'what WE did' he said with the same disapproving frown to correct him.
'-at the end of the time war, but there's no need to be rude' Eleven just said as he continued, ignoring his former self.
'You look like you have a better dress sense than these two' the Warrior said he looked his succeeding self up and down, Ten and Eleven looked at him with raised eyebrows 'excuse me?' Ten said in a questioning tone before he looked down on his suit then back at the Warrior.
'What's wrong with my dress sense? F=First my chin, now this, what, would it poke someone eye out as well?' Eleven responded in an almost cheeky way.
'I suppose so, in a metaphorical way, yes' The Warrior said an almost casual way which raised brows on everyone.
Looking back at his younger self, Nine, Eleven said to him 'I take it you came through the time fissure after he did?' he asked Nine as he gestured at the Warrior, Nine just looked at him with a confused look 'time fissure? The TARDIS brought me here, for some reason' Nine replied.
Both Ten and Eleven exchanged looks as they both shared the same thought oh yeah, that's right 'right yes, I remember now, annnnnd it's taken off without you, right?' said Eleven.
Nine gave a slight nod as he responded with a simple 'yeeep'.
'By the way, how did you do that with the door?' Eleven said to Clara 'it wasn't locked' she replied.
Eleven nodded 'right' he said before Clara looked at Ten, then Nine, then the Warrior 'so they're all you then, yeah? Even this one?' Clara asked, gesturing at Nine as she said the last few words.
'Yes, you've met them before, don't you remember?' Eleven said as he looked at Ten then back at Clara.
'A bit' Clara replied before she looked at Ten again 'nice suit' she said to which Ten gave a modest acknowledgement of her compliment and said 'thanks'.
Clara then gave her Doctor, Eleven, a sideways look 'hang on, three of you in one cell and none of you thought to try the door?' she questioned as she gestured at the dungeon door.
'It should've been locked' the Warrior said in response.
'Yes, exactly, why wasn't it locked?' Eleven questioned.
In that moment Elizabeth emerged from the shadows outside the dungeon as she finished descending the stairs and pushed the ajar wooden door open further 'because I was fascinated to see what you would do upon escaping' she said before she then noticed and acknowledged the Nine 'who might I ask are you? What are you doing here and how did you get in?' Elizabeth questioned.
Nine, having taken a moment to realise he was looking at Queen Elizabeth the First, went to introducing himself 'oh, sorry I'm the Doctor, it's an honour and privilege to meet you your highness' he said with a big smile on his face and a slight bow.
Elizabeth's eye's widened a bit before she responded 'dare I say another one?'.
Ten quickly stepped in to correct his former self before things could go any further and Nine made a fool of himself 'that isn't the Queen of England, she's a Zygon' he said which made Nine look at Elizabeth again who now had a smug grin on her face 'ah…in that case…I take back what I said' said Nine.
Elizabeth turned back to Ten and Eleven 'I understand you're rather fond of this world, it's time I think you saw what's going to happen to it' she said before turning and heading back up the stairs to the castle.
Undergallery…
From behind the portrait painting of the Tenth Doctor and Queen Elizabeth the First, Osgood peered through the hole where Elizabeth's face had once been before she headed back down the stairs to the under-gallery where she slowly and quietly tread through with a flashlight in hand.
When she heard a groan come from under a sheet, with thick threads of bio organic matter coming from under it and attached to the ceiling supports on either side, Osgood jumped back a bit and, seeing a pair of shoed feet beneath the sheet, slowly went to remove the sheet from whatever or whoever it was that was underneath the sheet.
Immediately after removing the sheet Osgood recognised the figure under the bio organic matter as Kate 'Kate, goodness you're not actually dead, oh that's tremendous news' Osgood said before she proceeded to remove all the bio organic matter from Kate.
'Those creatures they turn themselves into copies, and they need to keep the original alive, refresh the image so to speak' said Osgood.
'Where, where did they go?' Kate said with a weak voice.
'I don't know, oh hang on yes I do, the tower' Osgood replied.
'If those creatures have got access to the Black Archive we may have just lost control of the planet' Kate said before Osgood dumped all the bio organic matter that had been on Kate onto the ground.
1562…
Zygons worked away at lit up control panels and other odd and alien-looking things as Eleven, Ten, Nine, the Warrior and Clara followed Zygon-Elizabeth 'the Zygons lost their own world, it burnt in the first days of the Time War' Elizabeth said as she stopped at the railing to their left overlooking the Zygons at work 'a new home is required'.
As they all looked down over the Zygons Clara said 'so they want this one' to which Nine agreed with her statement 'that they do, evidently' he said with raised brows, although the Zygons had slightly different ideas 'not yet, far too primitive, Zygons are used to a certain level of comfort' said Zygon-Elizabeth.
Eleven and the Warrior exchanged looks as did Nine and Ten, a rasping voice behind drew their attention as a Zygon stood in an archway looking at them 'Commander, why are these creatures here?' it questioned.
'Because I say they should be' Elizabeth replied 'it is time you too were translated' she said before the Zygon went to the quietly whirring transparent cube 'observe this, I believe you will find it fascinating' Zygon-Elizabeth continued as the Zygon put its hand on the cube.
The Warrior watching with raised brows in anticipation and wonder.
The Zygon stood there with its hand on the cube for a few seconds, which bathed them all in a blue glow, before it dissolved in a wake of pixilation before it appeared in the painting before them.
Clara looked at the Doctors then back at the painting 'that's him, that's the Zygon in the picture now' she said as she stepped forward to get a closer look at the Zygon in the painting before the Warrior corrected her.
'It's not a picture it's a stasis cube, Time Lord art, frozen instants in time, bigger on the inside, but could be deployed as- ' the Warrior said before the last of his words were intercepted by Ten ' -suspended animation' he said as he looked at the Warrior, Nine and Eleven who clicked his fingers and pointed at Ten in agreement 'oh that's very good' Ten said as stepped forward as well beside Clara.
'Impressive I might say' Nine said as he too stepped forward to look closer at the painting on Clara's other side.
'The Zygons all pop inside the pictures, wait a few centuries till the planet's a bit more interesting and then out they come' Ten said to Clara.
'And the invasion begins' Nine added.
Now Eleven stepped forward as well, just behind Clara and Nine 'you see Clara they're stored in the paintings in the under gallery, like a cup-a-soups, except you add time, if you can picture that' Eleven said.
Nine looked at Eleven questioningly '…what?' he said in response to Eleven's not-very-adequate explanation.
'Nobody could picture that forget I said cup-a-soups' Eleven said when he realised the insufficiency in what he had just said to explain the stasis cube, not just after Nine's questioning tone but also after hearing himself.
As they all continued to look at the picture Clara kept talking 'and now the world is worth conquering, so the Zygons are invading the future from the past' she said.
'Exactly' said Eleven.
Nine looked at Eleven and said 'I take it that's something that happening in your time?' to which Eleven responded with a simple 'yes'.
While the Warrior, Nine, Eleven and Clara continued to look at the picture Ten turned back to Zygon-Elizabeth 'and do you know why I know that you're a FAKE? Because you're such a BAD copy, it's not just the smell or the unconvincing hair or the atrocious teeth or the eyes that are just a bit too close together, or the breath that could stun a horse' he said while the Warrior, Nine, Eleven and Clara just watched.
'It's because my Elizabeth, the real Elizabeth would never be stupid enough to reveal her own plan, honestly, why would you do that?' Ten continued.
Elizabeth smiled a bit for a short second before she responded 'because it's not my plan, and I AM the real Elizabeth' Elizabeth said, raising her voice just a bit a bit as she said the last few words.
Ten maintained his gaze with her for a couple of seconds before he said 'okay, so, back tracking a moment just to lend some context to my earlier remarks' as he looked from Elizabeth to his past and future selves then back to Elizabeth.
'My twin is dead in the forest' Elizabeth said as she reached below her dress to reveal a dagger in a garter which she then held up, which made Ten flinch back a bit 'I am accustomed to taking precautions, these Zygon creatures never even considered that it was me who survived rather than their own commander, the arrogance that typifies their kind' Elizabeth continued.
'Zygons?' Clara questioned in a clarifying tone to which Elizabeth responded 'MEN' with seeming resentment as if to curse men in general.
'And you actually killed one of them?' Clara said as she continued to ask questions, Elizabeth looked at her as if to say "really?" 'I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but at the time so did the Zygon' Elizabeth said.
She then looked to Ten 'the future of my kingdom is imperilled, Doctor can I rely on your service?' Elizabeth asked.
'Well I'm going to need my TARDIS' Ten responded, to which Elizabeth grinned as she said 'it has been procured already'.
At this Ten simply said 'ah' as he looked at his other selves as well as Clara.
'But first my love' Elizabeth continued which had Ten look back at her attentively again 'you have a promise to keep' Elizabeth said with the same grin.
Ten took on an expression of "oh, really?…"
In the courtyard of the castle…
Doctor Ten and Queen Elizabeth stood together before a clergyman who stood in front of an alter with candle holders and a book sitting on a mount on the altar outside a red and white striped tent.
Nine, Eleven and the Warrior stood off to the side a few feet away on Ten's right, while Clara stood a few feet to Elizabeth's left.
'I now pronounce you man and wife' said the clergyman and Clara then made a "woo hoo!" sound.
It was before the clergyman said 'you may kiss the bride' that Ten briefly, for no more than a second, had a face that seemed or would seem to the observant and perceptive eye like he was thinking oh blimey, you've done it now Doctor, look what you've got yourself into…married, AGAIN though it went barely noticed and he quickly looked at Elizabeth with a smile.
When the clergyman finished his words Elizabeth put her arms around Ten, one hand on his upper back below his neck and the other on his neck as she lunged at him in a prolonged and passionate kiss while Clara tossed some flower petals over them.
The kiss went on went for at least a few more seconds, a bit too long for the moment and for everyone's liking and comfort as Clara's expression sank a bit, as did Nine's like he was thinking um…really?...you could probably stop now you two as Elizabeth held Ten close while she continued to kiss him.
Ten opened his eyes and looked around as one would when a kiss has gone on for a few seconds too long and things are starting to get awkward.
Off to the side the Warrior noted the prolonged-ness of Ten and Elizabeth's kiss and turned his head to Eleven 'is there a lot of this in the future?' he asked to which Eleven replied 'it does start to happen yeah' before he turned to look at his youngest self who nodded acknowledgingly.
Nine didn't find Eleven's words about what he'd be in for in the future very appealing 'great, 900 years of time and space and now I have to contend with being snogged' said Nine.
Eleven looked at his past self with a bit of a grin 'it's not far down the road for you mate, you learn to just go through with it and enjoy it, YOU will anyway' he said.
Nine looked from Ten and Elizabeth to Eleven, then back at Ten and Elizabeth with a not-very-impressed expression.
Seconds later, Ten and Elizabeth ended their long, drawn out and passionate kiss 'god speed my love' Elizabeth said before Ten responded 'I will be right back' and with his TARDIS nearby just several feet away Ten ran its doors with his hand in his pocket to retrieve the TARDIS key.
Inside, the Doctor went to the console and started revving up and getting the TARDIS systems going and operating the controls.
Outside, Clara, Nine, Eleven and the Warrior went to Ten's TARDIS and stepped inside it 'right then, back to the future' Eleven said.
'And about time too' said Nine.
Inside Ten's TARDIS, the Warrior took in the dome-like interior with its coral supports and make up, the steel ramp leading up to the control console with a steel floor 'you've let this place go a bit' the Warrior said.
Nine gave him a second-long glance before he said 'yeah? Well compared to yours I'd say it's an improvement' Nine said to poke at his past self a bit as he stepped up the ramp.
'Ah it's his grunge phase, he grows out of it' Eleven said to join in with the Warrior.
Nine looked at Eleven questioningly 'you can talk, I'd be interested to see what you've done with your desktop' said Nine.
'Yeah? Well it's a lot tidier than this' Eleven responded giving himself a cheeky "whatcha gonna do about it" look.
Ten continued to busy himself with the controls as he gave the time rotor a bit of a pat and said 'don't you listen to them'.
The Warrior turned to Nine 'coming from the one who used to use it' he said in response to Nine's words to poke back.
Nine then turned and met the Warrior's gaze 'yeah, it breathes life into the place, it doesn't look back, it's called "change"' he retorted with a cheeky smile.
Then, without warning as Ten went to adjust a switch, which sparked a bit, the interior of his TARDIS changed to that of the Warrior's TARDIS which made them all jump a bit, with Eleven's arms raised while Nine and Clara put theirs out as if to steady themselves while the Warrior just shifted a bit at the sudden change.
'Ow!' Ten cried out as he stepped back having just received a mild electric shock 'desktop is glitching'.
The Warrior already knew what was happening 'four of us from different time zones, it's trying to compensate' he said.
Nine took a quick dismissive glance around 'hmm it's not changed much' he commented in yet another cheeky tone, one that possibly had a hint of ill-respect to it.
Eleven dashed around the console and pointed at the roundals excitedly 'hey look, the round things' said Eleven.
'I love the round things' Ten responded.
'What are the round things?' Eleven queried still with a grin on his face.
'No idea' Ten replied.
In that moment a beeping began to sound from the console 'oh dear the friction contrafibulator' Eleven said in response to it as he dashed back to where he had been standing before and flicked a switch.
With a flash and a spark the interior once again changed, this time to that of Eleven's TARDIS 'ha! There stabilised' he said.
en looked around Eleven's TARDIS as he commented 'oh you've redecorated' he said, Eleven looked up from what he was doing at the controls with a hopeful look on his face before Nine commented 'it's a bit radical' and Ten continued with a contorted face 'I don't like it' he said, echoing the exact same words they had once said to an old friend years ago, centuries ago for the Doctor.
Eleven's face then turned to that of deflated disappointed 'oh, oh yeah? Oh you never do' Eleven responded while Ten took on a bit of a grumpy frown and an inverted smile at the drastically different interior of Eleven's TARDIS, Clara just smiled in amusement.
'Listen, we're going to the National Gallery, the Zygons are underneath it' Eleven continued, that was when Clara chimed in 'no, UNIT HQ, they followed us there in the Black Archive' she said.
All four Doctors then turned their heads to look at her as if they each shared the same thought "what? Did you say the Black Archive?...' familiar knowingness in the looks they were giving her.
Clara just looked back at them in mild surprise 'ok, so you've heard of that then'.
Tower of London...
'The equipment here is phenomenal' Zygon-McGillop said 'the human's don't realise what half this stuff does, we could conquer their world in a day' walking past the Zygon commander who said 'we were fortunate then in our choice of duplicate'.
Zygon-McGillop picked up and held up a gadget, or it may have been a part for something, before he continued 'if I were human, I'd say it was Christmas'.
At that moment the door to the black archive opened, the real and original McGillop holding it open while Kate entered through it followed by Osgood 'no, I'm afraid you wouldn't, we're not armed you may relax' Kate said.
'We are armed, you may not' the Zygon commander said in slightly snarling tone.
'Lock the door, I'm afraid we can't be interrupted' Kate said as a hollow clicking sound was heard as McGillop locked the door.
'You don't mind if I get comfortable?' Kate said as she gestured to a chair at the desk table in the middle of the room.
'You don't mind if I do?' said the Zygon commander as he stepped toward to the other chair and, at the same time, changed form into a duplicate of Kate before sitting in the chair opposite her, McGillop and Osgood joining her on either side behind her while Zygon's McGillop and Osgood stood behind Zygon-Kate on either side behind.
'You'll realise there are protocols protecting this place, Osgood?' Kate said, prompting to Osgood to explain the protocols who did so accordingly.
'In the event of alien incursion the contents of this room are deemed so dangerous it will self-destruct in- ' Osgood said before the last of her words were intercepted by Kate ' –five minutes'.
Kate then immediately raised a remote to the control panel several feet away and pressed a button which triggered a countdown of five minutes which began to count down as Kate continued 'there's a nuclear warhead twenty feet beneath us, are you sitting comfortably?' Kate said in a bit of a passive-aggressive tone, McGillop and Osgood briefly exchanged nervous glances for a second.
'You would destroy London?' Zygon-Kate questioned.
'To save the world? Yes I would' Kate responded.
'You're bluffing' said Zygon-Kate.
'You really think so?' Kate said in a "you sure about that?" tone 'somewhere in your memory is a man called Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, I am his daughter' she said.
It was in that moment then that static was briefly heard before the (Eleventh) Doctor's voice was heard science leads Kate, is that what you meant? Is that what your father meant? Eleven said through the control panel, this had them all turning to the control panel in surprise.
'Doctor?' Kate responded.
Eleven continued Space-Time telegraph Kate, a gift from me to your father, hotline straight to the TARDIS...
Simultaneously in the TARDIS...
'I KNOW about the Black Archive and I KNOW about the security protocol, Kate please, please tell me you're not about to do something unbelievably STUPID' said Eleven.
Kate's voice was then heard over the TARDIS comms system 'I'm sorry Doctor, switch it off' she said.
Ten leaned over the console 'not as sorry as you will be, this is not a decision you will ever be able to live with!' he said.
Eleven gave him a look that seemed to lightly question Ten's tone.
Then, the TARDIS started to shudder and shake and the engines began to stutter a bit 'well that doesn't sound good' Nine remarked.
'Kate we're trying to bring the TARDIS in, why can't we land?' Eleven queried.
Back in the Black Archive, Kate reiterated 'I said switch it off' she said again.
'No, Kate, please just listen to me' Eleven pleaded as he threw his hands up desperately before they all heard the line go dead, a mild look of "dammit" on his face.
'Well, that went well, what now?' Nine said as he leaned back against the railing with his arms crossed.
Ten raised his head a bit in acknowledgement of what had just happened before he gazed off in consideration inhaling and exhaling at the same time 'the Tower of London, totally TARDIS proof' Ten remarked.
'How can they do that?' Clara questioned.
'Alien technology plus human stupidity, trust me it's unbeatable' Eleven answered.
It was as they all considered the situation that the Warrior had started eyeing up the stasis cube on the console, now he spoke up 'we don't need to land' the Warrior said.
Nine looked at him questioningly '...what?' he said.
'Yeah we do, tiny bit, try and keep up' Ten said, but the Warrior insisted his idea 'no we don't, we don't' he said before he stepped around the console to where Clara and Eleven stood. 'There is another way' the Warrior continued as he kept looking at the stasis cube, picked it up and quietly said 'cup-a-soup' thoughtfully.
Eleven's face slowly began to change to realisation of what his past self was suggesting, Ten stepping around and stopping behind Eleven, realisation already crossing his face as he then looked at his older self with a look of "oh hey, that's something".
Nine stood beside Clara as he too realised, with an "oh my god…" look, what their youngest self was getting at.
Eleven had an expression of "hey, yeah, that might just work".
The Warrior then looked at Eleven and queried 'what is cup-a-soup?'
Nine replied to the Warrior's question with 'no idea, ask him' as he looked to Eleven as well who's expression became "oh, well, um..."
Earlier in the National Gallery...
...The Doctor looked to Kate 'what happened?' he asked.
'Easier to show you' Kate replied.
As the Doctor and Clara followed Kate to the under gallery McGillop's phone rang and he answered it 'McGillop'.
Back in the TARDIS, The Doctor stood at the TARDIS doors with the phone from the external compartment 'take a look at your phone and confirm who you're talking to' he said.
In the gallery, McGillop took his phone away from his ear and looked at the screen which read "07700900461" the number he recognised as the Doctor's 'but, that's not possible I was just- ' McGillop said before the Doctor interrupted him 'you were just talking to me, I know, I'm a time traveller figure it out' the Doctor responded 'I need you to send the "Gallifrey Falls" painting to the Black Archive, understood?' said the Doctor.
'Understood sir, but, why would I take it there?' McGillop replied, and questioned.
Back in the Black Archive...
"02:59" the timer read as it continued to count down 'one word from you would cancel the countdown' said Zygon-Kate.
'Quite so' said Kate.
'It's keyed to your voice print' Zygon-Kate went on, as did Kate 'and mine alone' she said. Zygon-Kate smirked as she said 'not anymore, cancel the detonation!' looking to the console as she did so.
'Countermanded!' Kate quickly said as she rose from her seat.
Their verbal duel continued as both Kate and her Zygon duplicate argued and verbally fought for control 'cancel the detonation!' Zygon-Kate immediately said.
'Countermanded!' Kate said just as quickly.
'We only have to agree to live' said Zygon-Kate.
'Sadly we can only agree to die' said Kate.
Off to the side Osgood began quietly uttering pleas to the Doctor to save them 'please Doctor, please save us, please save us, please save us...' while behind her something was different about the "Gallifrey Falls" painting, something so very, VERY subtle...
Inside the painting, somewhere in the city of Arcadia on Gallifrey, standing amongst the fighting on the battlefield was the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors as well as the War Doctor.
They stood with their backs to all the fighting and destruction and a partly exploded Dalek as everything stood still as if frozen in time.
Then, everything began to move and the four Doctor's turned on the spot as a Dalek approached them ready to fire its weapon 'exterminate!' it said, but then all four Doctor's pointed their sonic screwdrivers at the Dalek and soniced at it just as it fired at them, causing it's weapon fire to be nullified and forcing it back as it screamed.
In the Black Archive the Dalek could be seen being forced straight back as if the "Gallifrey Falls/No More" painting was a window to the reality and war on Gallifrey and it smashed through the glass casing and into the Black Archive surprising everyone as both Kate and Zygon-Kate stood up in surprise as sparks and glass went almost everywhere around the Dalek as it was destroyed during the impact.
Meanwhile, inside the painting the four Doctor's each put away their sonic screwdrivers and went towards the spot where the Dalek had gone through into the present….and into the Black Archive where they climbed out of the painting and stepped, side-by-side, towards everyone at the desk, Clara not far behind them as she too emerged from the painting, and stopped.
The Warrior was the first to speak 'hello' he said.
'I'm the Doctor' Ten said next.
Then Nine 'don't mind if I drop in'.
Then Eleven 'sorry about the Dalek'.
The wrecked and destroyed Dalek then sparked a bit right after Eleven spoke making all four Doctors look over their shoulders at it.
Behind them Clara stood just outside the painting 'also the showing off'.
The four Doctors looked back at the group before them and Eleven stepped towards Kate, or one of them 'Kate Lethbridge-Stewart' he said in such a way as to enunciate each word in her name as if to scorn her 'what in the name of sanity are you doing?'.
That was when the real actual Kate spoke up 'the countdown can only be halted at my personal command, there's nothing you can do' said Kate.
Now Ten stepped forward 'except make you both agree to halt it' he said.
'Not even for four of you' Kate said in protest.
Then the Warrior stepped forward 'you're about to murder millions of people' he said.
'And for what cause?' Nine said critically as he stepped around the table towards Kate who responded 'to save billions'.
Now the timer was reading 1.36, and counting.
'How many times have you made that calculation?' Kate asked in a bit of a challenging way. 'Once' Eleven immediately responded 'turned me into the man I am now, I'm not even sure who that is anymore' he said as almost all eyes were on him.
Nine spoke up again 'can't say I'm proud of it, I still wonder how I live with myself after what I did' he said 'so, seriously, take a moment, a very quick moment to consider EXACTLY' Nine said as he made to touch his thumb and index finger together as if to pinch the air to gesture 'what you're about to do just to keep all these gizmo's from this lot, DESTRUCTION and DEATH on a MASSIVE scale…no matter who you are, who and what you represent NO ONE should have the right to end the lives of others, including yourself and those around you, in the way and to the degree that you're about to for the sake of national or even global security, not when there are alternatives'.
'You tell yourself it's justified, but it's a lie because what I did that day was wrong, just wrong' said Ten.
In that moment the Warrior looked to where the Moment had just appeared and now stood, though to Clara it looked as if he was looking at her which made her wonder a bit.
'And, because I got it wrong, I'm going to make you get it right' Eleven said as he and Ten brought chairs with them to sit at the head of the table closest to the countdown screen while Nine and the Warrior just stood on either side of the table.
'How?' Kate questioned.
Both Ten and Eleven simultaneously brought their feet up onto the table to rest and folded their arms 'any second now you're going to stop that countdown, both of you together' said Ten.
'And then you're going to negotiate the most perfect treaty of all time' Eleven said as Kate put her hands to her sides and looked at them in a critical and questioning way, the Warrior just looking at them with a bit of an impressed and admiring smile, Nine with a firm look on Kate to silently back up their words.
'Safeguards all around, completely fair on both sides' Ten said to himself as he looked at Eleven who said 'and the key to perfect negotiation?' in a prompting way to which Ten continued 'not knowing what side you're on' he said.
Both Doctors then pushed away from the table, rising from their chairs in the process while letting their chairs roll away 'so, for the next few hours, until we decide to let you out' Eleven said as he and Ten brought out their sonic screwdrivers, as did the Warrior and Nine discretely.
'No one in this room will be able to remember if they're human' said Ten.
'Or Zygon' Eleven said concluding Ten's words.
They both then stepped up onto the table, Ten first followed by Eleven 'whoops-a-daisy' Eleven said as he did, and they both soniced the memory filter in the ceiling, as did the Warrior and Nine, the former with a grin on his face while Nine had blank yet serious look as he too soniced the memory filter which sparked a bit before it emitted a bright flash of light.
Almost everyone in the room was dazed, except for the four Doctors and Clara, and both Kates took a couple of seconds to regain their senses 'seconds left you two, make the call' Nine said firmly and assertively before both Kates quickly remembered the situation and simultaneously shouted 'cancel the detonation!' with just 5 seconds to spare.
'Peace in our time' Eleven said as he and each of his three past selves lowered their sonic screwdrivers.
'And that's how it's done' Nine said with a smug look as he put away his sonic screwdriver.
Both Kates returned to the table and sat down opposite each other again as both McGillops and Osgoods joined them at their sides just behind them.
It was as they began to talk in the background that Osgood…orrrr her Zygon copy stood off to the side as she watched things happen, standing opposite her was the other Osgood 'it's funny isn't it, if I'm a Zygon, then my clothes must be Zygon too, what happens if I lose a shoe or something?'.
The first Osgood began to nod but stopped as she began to cough a bit 'oh' the second Osgood uttered as she reached into her lab coat pocket and brought the inhaler and held it out while she got a questioning look "what are you- ? Oh" Osgood 2 just put a finger to her lips in obvious suggestion while Osgood took the inhaler and used it.
At the pin up board Clara looked over documents and images of every single one of the Doctor's known companions and assistants that he had ever brought along with him in his adventures and travels in the TARDIS since his UNIT days.
The Ninth Doctor then joined her at the board 'so many years, so many people I've met' he said.
'And you've travelled with each and every one of them?' Clara asked.
The Doctor nodded 'mmhmm, well that is to say that they've each been at my side wherever I've gone throughout my lives, there was a point in one of my earlier lives when I was grounded for some time here on earth during the 70's' he said.
Clara kept her gaze on him 'what happens to them, us, in the end? Those that travel with you?' she asked, the Doctor shifted his gaze from the board to Clara 'well, the trouble with being a Time Lord is that is that you can't keep and stay with the same person forever, they either leave and go back to their own lives, you outlive them or…things, don't quite go as intended or planned, not that that's a common occurrence' he said.
'And you just keep going without them, without us?' Clara asked with a slight underlying questioning tone in her words in regards to what she was asking about 'yeah, I have to, being a Time Lord you have to do so, that's the curse of the Time Lords' the Doctor said as he continued to look at the images of each and every one of his companions, past, present and future.
Clara's gaze still didn't falter as she waited for him to continue to which the Doctor looked at her again and continued 'and to answer your question, I never forget those I travel with' he said. 'Right' Clara said in response before she turned back to the photos on the board.
The Warrior sat off to the side away from everything as he seemed to be deep in thought while sipping a cup of tea. Clara approached him 'hello' she said to him.
'Hello' the Warrior replied as he looked up after being yanked back to reality by Clara's greeting.
'I'm Clara' Clara said as she sat down in front of him 'we haven't really met yet'.
'I look forward to it' said the Warrior, Clara kept looking at him as if waiting for something from him, or for him to say something.
Acknowledging her deliberate silence the Warrior spoke 'is there a problem?' he asked.
'The Doctor' she began before she corrected herself out of respect for this version of the Doctor 'my…my Doctor… he's always talking about the day he did it, the day he wiped out the Time Lords to stop the war' said Clara.
'One would' said the Warrior.
What Clara said next took him by surprise a bit 'you wouldn't…because you haven't done it yet, it's still in your future' she said.
The Warrior returned his eyes to her in slight surprise 'you're very sure of yourself' he said.
'He regrets it, I see it in his eyes every day, he'd do anything to change it' Clara continued.
'Including saving all these people?' the Warrior questioned 'how many worlds has his regret saved do you think? Look over there, Human's and Zygon's working together in peace'
'How did you know?' the Warrior asked as he squinted questioningly at Clara who responded 'your eye's, they're so much younger' she said with a small smile, this made the Warrior's eyes widen in surprise while he realised there and then the silence moments ago as Clara had looked at him almost expectantly had been that she had been reading him.
'Then all thing's considered, it's time I grew up' the Warrior said, Clara just looking at him in thought of what he had just said.
Behind her the Moment stood looking at him patiently 'I've seen all I needed, the moment has come' the Warrior said to himself. Looking over at the moment the Warrior made one last statement 'I'm ready' he said seemingly to no one in particular.
'I know you are' came the hollow sounding words of the Interface.
Clara looked over her shoulder to where the Warrior was looking…but saw nothing and no one nearby 'who's there?' she asked, then when she looked back at him 'who are you talking to?' she said almost cutting herself off when she saw his seat empty, with the Warrior nowhere in sight.
Clara hurried back to the Doctors who were hanging about in their corner of the Black Archive subtly watching and keeping an eye on Kate, Osgood, McGillop and their Zygon duplicates 'Doctor! He's gone!' she said.
All three Doctors looked at her as she went to them and as they heard and acknowledged what she'd just said. Eleven got up from the seat he had been in while he'd had his feet propped up 'what? Who do you me-…' he said before he cut himself off in realisation of who Clara meant.
Ten also caught on simultaneously 'oh…yep' he said, popping the "p".
Followed by Nine 'who else' who had been leaning back against a shelf, and still was.
'Where did he go?' Eleven asked.
'I don't know, he just sort of disappear- ' she replied before Eleven cut her off 'wait, sorry I don't actually need to ask that' he said before he looked at Ten, who raised his brows in agreement yep, then Nine who did the same while nodding in such a way that seemed to say "yeah, we all know the answer to that".
Noting this Clara questioned them 'what? What is it? Where's he gone?' she asked.
'Well, he is me and I was him, so if I- ' Eleven said before he cut himself off and restated what he, Nine and Ten were thinking 'we remember right, then I've gone- ' he continued before Ten intercepted his words 'back to the- ' said Ten before his words were in turn intercepted and concluded by Nine 'barn on Gallifrey' he said in matter-of-fact tone.
Eleven snapped his fingers 'exactly' he said, now Clara spoke again 'he said something about a moment, THE moment, "the moment has come" he said'.
The Doctor made an expression like he was remembering something important 'oh right, yes I remember, he's finally going to do it, I'm about to use the most destructive weapon ever created to commit double genocide' he said in a bit of gloomy and disgusted way.
'Should we go after him?' Clara asked.
Nine stepped forward from the shelf 'we can't, the Time War is time locked' he said.
Ten exhaled 'our TARDIS's couldn't get through even if we tried, it's impossible' he said. Eleven thought for a moment 'I say we try anyway' he then said which took both Nine and Ten by surprise as they both looked at him 'what?' Ten said as he looked at his older self questioningly, as did Nine who said 'seriously? Try the impossible? Break through the time lock? You KNOW that our chances of being able to do that are microscopic in size if anything, IF ANYTHING'.
Eleven turned to them both 'I know, but call it a hunch, or whatever takes your fancy, but something tells me we're going to be able to get through' he said.
Ten maintained his furrow-browed questioning look 'ok, seriously, how can you possibly be sure of that? You realise we would've tried by now yeah?' said Ten.
Nine stepped toward and approached Eleven with crossed arms 'what makes you think we'd be able to anyway? Why in this particular case?' Nine questioned critically.
Eleven stood his ground 'I know, I know, I realise, I'm well aware, but you two are just going to have to trust me, trust yourself, you'll both come to realise in due time' he said as he looked at both of his selves with a firm look 'we either do this now and at least try or forever wonder if we MAYBE could have POSSIBLY done so despite our doubts and the fact that a time lock is a time lock, and therefore impossible to break…or is meant to be' he said.
Silence followed as Nine and Ten looked at their oldest self questioningly before exchanging looks with each other then back at Eleven considering what he had just said and proposed 'well, if anything, just how would we going to go about doing it?' Ten asked.
'What exactly are you proposing? We'd need some sort of trace to follow, IF anything' Nine said, a hard look on his face.
A small grin spread across Eleven's face 'yes we would, and we do, for our younger self to be taken out from this point in my time stream and back to Gallifrey to his time in the Time War will have taken a tremendous amount of temporal energy' he said as he watched grins begin to cross the features of each of his former selves as they realised, or began to realise what Eleven was saying.
'We can use that to trace our way to Gallifrey to his exact point in time during the Time War' he said.
Nine and Ten began to exchange mild looks of "hey, that could work, it might JUST work".
Back in the barn on Gallifrey…
The Warrior stood in front of the "Moment" box looking down on it, not a word nor a twitch, as he stared at and considered the big red button that glistened and glowed a bit just half an arm's reach from him.
'Now you wanted a big red button, one big bang, no more Time Lords, no more Daleks' said the Interface 'are you sure?' it asked.
'I was sure when I came in here' the Warrior replied in an almost deflated tone, his gaze unwavering from the big red button 'there is no other way' he said. The Interface maintained its gaze on him as it spoke 'you've seen the men you will become' it said which brought the Warrior's stare up to look at her.
'Those men, extraordinary' he said as he looked off to the side while shaking his head a bit.
'They were you' the Interface said.
'No' the Warrior said in disagreement as he shook his just a little bit again 'they are the Doctor' he said.
'You're the Doctor too' the Interface said encouragingly.
The Warrior shook his head once more 'no' he said refusing for even a second to believe it's words, despite how much he wanted to and missed going by the name "Doctor" with all the principles, ideals and values that came with the title.
But the Warrior had, with a VERY heavy heart, walked away from it, the title "Doctor", a long time ago.
After all that had happened and that he'd been through and done throughout this terrible war, all the terrible and unspeakable acts he had committed, he was FAR from worthy of the title "Doctor". His days of being the "Doctor" were, or may as well be well and truly gone and behind him, despite what he'd recently seen and experienced in his future, which pained him incredibly more than he could say and express.
If for some reason he didn't live to see the galaxy and universe, all of time and space freed from the burning and scorching touch and horrors of the Time War, if something happened to him…then rightfully so, even if the future did still need him.
The war had made and left its permanent mark on him 'great men are forged in fire' he said as he looked down on the big red button, then back up at the Interface 'it is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame…whatever the cost' sighing a bit as he spoke the last few words and looked down again.
As his partially open hand hovered just over the big red button he saw in his mind a group of Gallifreyan children playing and dancing around a pole with ribbons flowing around and from it which made him hesitate again and gulp a bit as he attempted to brace himself to push his hand down on the button and for what would then come as a result of doing so. Unleashing armageddon.
Seeing him hesitate, the Interface opened its mouth to say something 'you know the sound the TARDIS makes' it said which brought the Warrior's eyes back up to her 'that wheezing, groaning' it continued to say.
The Warrior closed his hand and withdrew it away from the big red button 'that sound brings hope wherever it goes' said the Interface.
'Yes' said the Warrior 'yes I like to think it does'.
'To anyone who hears it Doctor, anyone' the Interface continued just a moment before a brief ringing sound began to echo through the barn immediately followed by the wheezing and groaning sound of the TARDIS and its Time Rotor that typically came with TARDIS materialisation 'however lost…even you' the Interface said as it smiled a big smile.
By now the wheezing and groaning was more audible and the Warrior turned to see three TARDIS's gradually appear and park themselves on the other side of the barn behind him.
A moment later all three TARDIS's opened from the inside and out stepped the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors with Clara right behind Eleven 'unbelievable…this shouldn't have been possible' Nine said as he stepped forward with his other two selves and Clara while looking about the barn and taking in where they now found themselves.
'I told you he hasn't done it yet' Clara said to Eleven.
The Warrior has just stood there as his older selves had emerged from their respective TARDIS's and stepped toward him 'go away now all of you, this is for me' he said as he turned back to the Moment box.
The three newly arrived Doctors looked around the barn knowing all too well where they were and they each had expressions like they were having a hard time believing that they had even been able to land their TARDIS's where they were now on Gallifrey 'these events should be time locked, we shouldn't even be here' Ten said as he looked at Nine and Eleven and like he hadn't heard what the former had said.
'Exactly, I'm still having a hard time believing we managed to do it' Nine said as he continued to take in the place as he keept his gaze forward.
'So something let us through' Eleven said as he looked at both his younger selves, Nine and Ten.
Unknown to them the Interface smiled and quietly said 'you clever boys'.
With his back to them all and without looking around the Warrior spoke again 'go back, go back to your lives, go and be the Doctor that I could never be…make it worthwhile' he said before he looked back down on the Moment box and the big red button on its metal stalk and put his hand on it.
Nine directed and focused his gaze on his younger self 'what, and leave you to go through this on your own' he said before he shook his head a bit 'not this time…despite how much I've disagreed with it, and have had to live with it' Nine said as his gaze wandered downwards in glum thought of his actions that ended the war, from his perspective.
The Warrior put his hand back on the big red button to ready himself again to push it.
'All those years burying you in my memory' said Ten.
'Pretending you didn't exist, keeping you a secret, even from myself' said Eleven.
This had the Warrior look up and look straight ahead as he listened to the seemingly scornful words of his older selves, a pained almost seemingly hurt expression in his features and his eyes that's…fair enough… he thought with heavy and sinking hearts I see and understand now why you're all so ashamed of me, and rightfully so…
But then what his older selves said next took him by surprise, yet gave him the uplifting encouragement he didn't know nor realise he needed.
'Pretending you weren't the Doctor when you were the Doctor more than anybody else' Ten said.
'More than anyone could have, or would have been, given the situation and circumstances' said Nine.
'You were the Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right' Eleven said as he, Nine and Ten joined their past self, the Warrior, at the big red button of the Moment box.
'But this time' said Ten.
'For once' Nine said.
'You don't have to do it alone' said Eleven.
The Warrior had looked forwards with a look of surprise as he had heard their words, and now as they each then put their hands on his hand on the big red button together, each of them with their gaze on him the Warrior felt almost overwhelmed with emotion at their kindness and decency to go through with him what they had ALREADY endured and been through, what he was about to do committing double genocide on a grand scale.
It took every single fibre of his being to hold back the tears of gratitude that he felt coming in his eyes.
Even though, as they'd just said, they'd had to live with the emotional burden of his actions, their actions, ever since as far as they were concerned. He was almost at a loss for words, yet managed to say 'thank you' in a quiet voice that was trying to keep itself together above all the emotion flooding through him.
'What we do today is not out of fear or hatred, it is done because there is no other way' said Ten.
'And it is done in the name of the many lives we are failing to save' said Eleven.
'For the sake of all the men, women and children here on Gallifrey as well as all others affected by this war throughout time and space' said Nine.
All three Doctors now showing the same emotion as what the Warrior was showing and experiencing as a result of the climactic action all four of them were about to take.
Nine, Ten and Eleven each looked at one another in silent agreement and readiness of what they were about to do and nodded slightly at one another before Eleven noticed Clara's expression out of the corner of his eye.
Her eyes were glazed over with tears welling up in them and she shook her head just a little bit.
'What?' Eleven said as he acknowledged her 'what is it? What?' he calmly questioned.
Clara appeared about ready to say something, possibly in protest for a split second before she responded 'nothing' she said, but Eleven, interested in what she was going to say and had to say, was tapped 'no' he immediately said 'it's something, tell me' he gently insisted.
Clara hesitated for a second before she said 'it's just, you told me you wiped out your own people, I just...never pictured you doing it, that's all'.
'Take a closer look' the Interface said, the inside of the barn darkened and all around them was the ruined landscape of the surface of Gallifrey and its population running for their lives.
'What's happening?' Clara asked.
'Nothing, it's a projection' the Warrior responded while a little girl ran through them between the Warrior and Ten who watched the little girl run along before turning back to look at the devastation before them.
'It's a reality around you' said the Moment.
Clara turned back to Eleven and his other selves 'these are the people you're going to burn?' Clara asked questioningly as a couple of tears fell from her face.
The four Doctors just stood where they were and watched all the destruction and fighting go on, pained expressions in their eyes and their features 'there isn't anything we can do' said Ten.
'There never was' said Nine
'He's right, I wish it weren't true but there isn't another way, there never was, either I destroy my own people or let the universe burn' said Eleven.
'Look at you, the four of you, the warrior, the survivor, the hero…and you' Clara said looking at her Doctor, Eleven, as she spoke the last two words. Eleven stepped toward and approached her 'and what am I?' he questioned.
'Have you really forgotten?' said Clara.
'Yes, maybe yes' Eleven replied, Clara looked at him for a second with a tear just below the bottom lid of her eye ready to fall down her cheek 'we've got enough warriors, any old idiot can be a hero, and sometimes it doesn't take much to survive' she said.
Eleven's eyes darted from Clara and off to the side immediately left of her then back again multiple times in one second 'then what do I do?' he calmly questioned.
Clara considered for a couple of seconds, closing her eyes as she did so in thought 'what you've always done, be a Doctor' she replied as she looked Eleven in the eye, who looked at her attentively in consideration, while the last of her tears finally fell down her face and to the ground.
'You told me the name you chose was a promise, what was the promise?' Clara asked.
Nine, Ten and the Warrior stood in thought and consideration as they continued to watch the projection of Gallifrey around them 'never cruel nor cowardly' said Ten.
'Never give up, never give in' the Warrior said, continuing the words.
'No matter how dire or desperate things get' Nine said concluding the words that made up their vow as the "Doctor".
The projection then subsided and light returned to the interior of the barn. Eleven was now looking at each of his past selves curiously, all three of them noticing him doing so and starting to realise why, Nine with his head turned to and looking at Eleven with a squinty-eyed questioning look 'are you thinking what I think you're thinking?'.
Ten turned to Eleven also with a squinty-eyed questioning look 'you're not actually suggesting that we change our own personal history?' he questioned.
'We change history all the time, I'm suggesting something far worse' Eleven said as he stared off into space for a moment.
'What exactly?' the Warrior enquired.
Eleven stood looking at his three younger selves for a second, then said 'gentleman' he began 'I have had four hundred years to think about this'. Nine, Ten and the Warrior both maintained their attentive gazes, but in an expectant "…go on…" way 'I've changed my mind' Eleven said as he brought out his sonic screwdriver and soniced the Moment box closed.
The metal stalk with the big red button on top of it withdrawing back into the inner mechanism of the moment box.
The three other Doctors turning back to it and watching it do so as their oldest self soniced it away.
The Warrior stood in thought as he wondered exactly what they were going to do now 'there's still a billion, billion Daleks up there attacking' he said.
Eleven pointed at him as he walked past him with an excited look on his face as did Clara 'yeah, there is, there is' he said.
'But, there's something those billion, billion Daleks don't know' said Ten.
'Something they would NEVER anticipate' said Nine.
'Because if they did they would probably send for reinforcements' Eleven said as he pointed at everyone this time.
Clara stepped forward with a question on her lips 'what? What don't they know?' she questioned curiously, Nine turned to her 'more like "who"' he said.
Eleven turned back to them after pacing a few steps back towards their three TARDIS's parked several feet away 'this time, there's four of us'.
The Warrior started suddenly as he immediately realised what his oldest self was saying and meaning 'oh! Ohhhh yes that is good, that is brilliant!' he said as Eleven did a bit of a jig on the spot in happy excitement.
Ten had begun to realise what was going on and what they were getting at at the same time as the Warrior had caught on 'oh, oh, oh I'm getting that too!' he said.
Then finally Nine caught on 'Oh! Oh yes! FanTAStic!' he said loudly with a big smile.
'That is brilliant!' Ten said as he began to step near their TARDIS'es, then leapt towards and lightly pounded on the side of his one at their new found breakthrough solution.
All four Doctors were now grinning, smiling or laughing 'I've been thinking about it for centuries!' Eleven said excitedly, now the Warrior chimed up again 'she didn't just show me any old future, she told me exactly the future I needed to see!' he said.
Off to the side the Interface sat on a covered crate 'now you're getting it' it said with a big smile.
Eleven now looked at the Warrior in mild curiosity at what he'd just said, part of what he'd just said to be exact 'eh? Who did?' he questioned.
'Oh Bad Wolf girl I could kiss you' the Warrior said happily as he put his hands to his mouth and kissed the air around him, his whole predicament with using the moment to commit MASS genocide on a global scale having been turned around for the better.
The Interface took on a "you think?" look and said 'yeah that's going to happen' while Nine and Ten took on looks of surprise and bewilderment 'what did you just say?' Nine questioned with a seriously curious look as he looked right at his younger self with alerted interest.
Ten stood unknowingly next to the Interface, with its exclusively perceived form of Rose Tyler, with his sticky-uppy hair ruffled and a bit out of shape 'sorry, did you just say Bad Wolf?' he questioned.
All three Doctors looked at their youngest self with the same questioning "eh?" expressions. Clara spoke up as she asked 'so what are we doing? What's the plan?' she said as she stepped forward, all four Doctors diverted their attention to her 'the Dalek fleets are surrounding Gallifrey, firing on it constantly' the Warrior said, his expression turned to that of seriousness and mild worry as had his tone.
Now Ten stepped closer to Clara 'the sky trench is holding, but, what if the whole planet just disappeared?' he explained, Clara still didn't quite get the idea, not really 'tiny bit of an ask' she said.
The four of them now stood around her looking at her intently 'the Daleks would be firing on each other, they'd destroy themselves in their own crossfire' Ten said as he made an according gesture with his hands and fingers before the Warrior chipped in again 'Gallifrey would be gone, the Daleks would be destroyed and it would look to the rest of the universe as if they'd annihilated each other'.
Clara kept up her questioning 'but where would Gallifrey be?' she asked.
'Frozen, frozen in an instant of time, safe and hidden away' Ten replied holding her gaze, Clara turned to look at Nine as he started saying 'Everyone and everything on the planet safe and out of harm's way' Nine said before Eleven and the Warrior voiced their agreement 'exactly' said Eleven.
'Like a painting' the Warrior said, almost whispering, all four of them still grinning, smiling or laughing a bit.
The Eye of Orion…
Nine, Ten, Eleven and the Warrior stood apart from one another in a field with patches of bare ground about the place as they each enjoyed the calming atmosphere that was characteristic of where they were in their own ways and own spaces as they waited while Clara and Rose Tyler stood with their Doctors.
Ten and Eleven had felt their stomachs lurch when Nine showed up with Rose, having briefly turned to look at Nine's TARDIS for a moment as it materialised then looking away before they were met with surprise at the sight of Rose when she had emerged behind Nine and joined them.
The Warrior had been taken by complete surprise when Rose, whose physical appearance the interface of the Moment had taken, had joined them '…bad wolf girl' he had murmured. Hearing this Nine had looked at the Warrior curiously 'sorry? What was that?' he had questioned to which the Warrior had looked at him with a seemingly innocent look 'what?' he said.
Nine looked at him slightly questioningly 'you said something just now, it sounded like "Bad Wolf"' he said before maintaining a prompting gaze with the Warrior who gave him a querying "are you sure?" look 'did I?' he said before he dropped it 'sorry…it's just, your companion…Rose Tyler is it?' the Warrior had started to say before looking to Rose as he queried her name.
The Warrior's question to her caused Rose to go slightly wide-eyed 'uh, yeah, that would be me' she responded with a slight smile as she said 'it's nice to meet you'.
The Warrior took on a big smile 'oh yes, likewise' he had said before giving a slight bow of his head.
Even though Nine had informed Rose of what was going on and brought her up to speed with the situation she still asked the question 'so…you're…also the Doctor? Another version?' Rose had queried.
The Warrior had hesitated at the question after being referred to as "the Doctor", one of them that is '…yes…yes I am…his younger self to be precise' he said as he looked at Nine.
This brought about a questioning look from Rose 'younger? But you look-…' Rose said before she stopped realising she was about to say something she probably shouldn't 'sorry'. The Warrior just smiled as he was well aware of how old he must look, even though he hadn't looked in a mirror for such a long time 'it's alright, I understand, I look far from young compared to my older selves' he said as he nodded at Nine 'but, he is just that little older than me, as are the two young looking men over there who are years older, centuries even' he said before he returned to enjoying the relaxing atmosphere.
This left Rose looking at him with surprise as she said 'o..k..' before she looked to her Doctor, Nine, who said 'it's a bit to get your head around, I know, but you get used to it'.
The Warrior stood almost slightly apart from his older selves it's been so long since I was last here on the Eye of Orion, this place does me good, even in the intense, bitter and scorching heat of war. I've been too busy fighting in this damn war to come here and let my hair down…once this war is over I must come here more often…that girl Rose Tyler… he thought, his mind beginning to wander in wonder as his future companion, Rose, entered his thoughts.
Ten and Eleven stood in such a way as if they were uneasy about Rose's presence after she had stepped out of Nine's TARDIS with him after he had gone back for her after being dropped back at his TARDIS outside the Powell Estate back in 2005.
They had both watched the Warrior's interaction with Rose and couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy as they did.
Multiple times they had subtly turned their heads to look her at her before they both stopped after finding it a bit too unsettling to do so, Ten sighing quite heavily and Eleven's features twitching and he shifted uncomfortably as they both tried to think about something else, finding it easier to just think about their plan in their minds and how they were going to put the plan forward to their younger selves.
Clara noticed and acknowledged the uncomfortable and shifty look on Eleven's face 'hey, you ok?' she asked.
The Doctor suddenly looked at her and responded 'hm? Oh yes, fine, perfectly fine yes' he replied.
'Well, it's blatantly obvious that you aren't' she said.
The Doctor looked at her in mild surprise 'it is? Well I have got a lot on my mind' he said. Clara looked at him expectantly 'such as?...' she said pryingly.
The Doctor hesitated for a moment 'well, this impending meeting with my other younger selves and how I'm going to convince them to help us…me, my selves and us to pull this off' he said before he crossed his arms 'what we're doing, going to do, it well and truly goes against the first and second Laws of Time, in fact this more than does so'.
Clara had a look of interest on her face 'what are the first and second Laws of Time?'
The Doctor looked at her again, then back off into the distance 'an individual such as myself must never, under any circumstances, go back on and cross his or her own time stream, even meeting and interacting with their past self…a Time Lord, such as myself, more so' he said, pausing briefly before he continued while giving Clara a firm look 'interfering in a major point in history, or even one's own history, is prohibited, especially if it's a fixed point in time'.
While Rose and Clara sneaked subtle looks of curiosity at each other every now and then when either of them weren't aware of the other doing so, Ten and Eleven were doing their best to keep to themselves and stay mentally occupied instead while they waited for their other selves to arrive.
Having met Nine's younger self Rose looked at Ten and Eleven as well as Clara 'so Doctor, those two are you as well? Your older selves?' she queried.
Nine, with his arms crossed, looked at her then at his older selves and Eleven's companion, Clara, and answered 'yeah they're me, they're my future' he said.
Rose looked at him questioningly 'but they look nothing like you, that man I just spoke to, he looks older than you, and those other two, they're younger looking' she said.
Nine just smiled 'heh thanks for noticing, I looked younger than that when I initially had that face' he said as he looked at and subtly gestured to the Warrior before he redirected his gaze to his older selves 'as for those two…well, the trouble with change is that you never quite know what you're going to get' he said.
Rose then looked at Clara 'and whose she?' to which Nine then looked at his future companion 'well, she's a friend from my future, she travels with me, with the one in the purple coat with bow tie with the side flop of hair…or will travel with me at some point in my future after I meet her, from what I've gathered anyway…I'm not sure I agree with the bowtie'.
Rose looked back at him with a certain questioning expression that made Nine a little uneasy oh god, please don't start asking awkward questions Rose, they're my future those two and the girl, none of it has happened for me yet he thought, and fair enough as questions began to bubble to the surface in Rose's mind about the Doctor's past and future selves as well as Eleven's companion, as he referred to them as.
"Who are these other men?", "Are they really actually the Doctor's other selves?...but they look nothing like him", "if they are, who's that girl with the man with the chin?" were among the questioning thoughts that came to Rose's mind.
Looking back at Ten and Eleven, Rose stepped away from Nine and cautiously made her way towards them both until she was almost directly behind them.
Both Doctors sensed her presence and heard her hesitant footsteps which caused them both to turn to her.
Slightly surprised by this Rose became wide-eyed and hesitated a second longer.
For Ten and Eleven the sight of Rose just a few feet behind them made them stiffen and become wide-eyed, their stomachs clenched and both their hearts skipped beats.
'Um, hi…sorry I didn't mean to startle you both' Rose said as she looked at them both.
Both Doctors looked at each other then back at Rose 'that's alright, hello Rose' said Eleven. Rose took a breath 'I take it we still know each other in your times' she said with a hopeful look before she realised she hadn't spoken right 'I mean, that is I still- ' but the two Doctors knew what she had meant 'well, that is a bit of a tricky question to answer' Eleven said as he cut her off to answer her question.
Eleven took a breath before he continued 'we still know each other yes, in a sense' he said, Rose looked at him curiously with a hint of concern in her eyes 'what do you mean?' she questioned.
Eleven took another breath but then exhaled this time as her big brown eyes bore into him 'well…' he said before he looked to Ten to continue who had a slight look of sorrow 'you travelled with me for a time, but then…' Ten said before he hesitated as he felt both his hearts burn and ache as the memory of losing Rose at the Battle of Canary Wharf in London in 2006 once again, for what might have been the sixth time…give or take, bubbled to mind.
Rose looked at him expectantly 'but what?' she questioned.
Ten exhaled a bit 'I lost you' he said, the pained look returning to his eyes.
Rose took a second to acknowledge this, Ten's words, her heart beginning to sink as she did 'you lost me? How?' she asked, Ten looked at her for a moment as he considered his next words to her without giving away too much.
Acknowledging Ten's difficulty with finding the right words to begin to answer while contending with his emotions, Eleven looked at his younger self for a second, then at Rose and piped in 'there was a battle' he simply said to start things off and keep things moving. Rose's gaze shifted to Eleven 'a battle? What kind of battle?' she questioned.
Ten answered again this time 'a deadly and dangerous battle' he said which brought her big brown eyes back on him which sent a ripple through his hearts.
'Between who?' she questioned.
Time to put a cap on it Doctor Ten thought as he sighed 'I'm sorry, I can't say any more than that, not even where it happened…but we saved lives, so many lives…we saved London, and the world as we do' he said.
Rose looked from one Doctor to the other with a look that said "really?" in such a way that seemed to suggest she was thinking "but, tha- that's not fair…" as well as if knowing that her days with the Doctor, the amazing, brilliant and fantastic man she had such strong feelings for, were limited was something she almost couldn't bear to consider.
'But, if you tell me I can avoid it' said Rose.
Both of Ten's hearts burned with longing oh how I wish that had been possible he thought 'it's not that simple' he said.
The look that Rose gave him with her big brown eyes melted his hearts and brought a sensation to his eyes like they were going to well up.
'Why not? All you have to do is tell me' she persisted.
It took all of Ten's strength of character not to falter and waver to her words 'I can't, I'm sorry Rose I just can't' he said with a sad look.
'WHY NOT?' Rose said almost demandingly.
'Rose' Ten said suddenly to stop her before she could say anymore 'there's not a day that goes by when I don't wish, maybe even wonder if it could've been avoided, I wish we still could have been travelling together in the TARDIS, but it was inevitable, and I knew it, it was like I could almost see it coming…I just didn't want to accept it at the time' he said.
Rose looked at Ten with a mildly questioning look 'at the time?' she questioned 'if you knew it was coming and going to happen, that you'd lose me, why didn't you try to prevent it…like, send me away somewhere else or something?'.
This time Ten was able to meet her gaze, but only just 'because there are rules' he began.
'Rules? What do you mean "rules"?' Rose questioned.
'Laws of time' Ten stated 'rules and laws of time surrounding certain specific points and events in time that MUST be observed no matter what' he said, taking a breath before he continued 'unfortunately, the events that lead to me losing you had to adhere to those rules…it pains me to say this, I REALLY do hate to say it, but it had to happen…fixed point in time, losing you and being separated from you'.
Ten was now having a really hard time keeping his emotions at bay, but he had a feeling his eyes were betraying him as he could feel them start to well up 'plus anyway, I did try to send you away for your own sake and safety, someplace else…but, you absolutely refused to leave my side'.
To Rose, the sad and sorrowful look that Ten was giving her was enough to quell her persistent questioning, he meant what he said which both made her heart sink a bit, yet at the same time relieved and assured, and quelled the growing worried ache that had begun to eat away at her that Ten was just simply saying all that he had said to cover up the fact that there was another less honest reason for them not being together in his time.
At everything Ten had just said and disclosed Eleven subtly made a sound as if to clear his throat, but in a suggestive way.
Acknowledging this Ten shook his head 'I've said too much already, but like I said' Ten said as he looked at his older self for a second to refer to him 'we still do know each other…you're still with me, in a sense…you'll realise and see what I mean in due time, otherwise, I REALLY honestly can't say any more than that, I'm sorry'.
Eleven had been looking at his younger self as he and Rose listened to Ten, and now he dropped his gaze as he took on a weak smile which he then gave to Rose before his gaze dropped again as did his smile.
Ten's words seem to gratify and assure Rose as her face lit up a bit which brought smiles back to both Doctors 'it's good to see you again Rose' Eleven said with a weak smile.
'There's not a day that goes when we're not thinking of you' Ten said as he and Eleven continued to smile.
Rose's eyes began to well up at their words, a smile creeped onto her features and she embraced Ten, who welcomed it warmly before Rose moved onto and hugged Eleven as well who looked at Ten as she did, raised his brows at him to which Ten nodded in return.
Rose had a warm feeling inside that was strengthened from embracing both Doctors in knowledge that the Doctor still cared for her despite her absence in Ten's and Eleven's times.
Their waiting seemed to stretch on tediously, but came to an end to their relief as the sound of multiple instances of the time rotor of the TARDIS echoed through the air.
A few of the same "blue box" TARDIS materialised one by one while other versions of it materialised simultaneously in sync with one another.
Eight TARDIS's in the shape of a blue police box materialised a short distance from them, and from each TARDIS emerged each of the four Doctors younger selves.
The combed back silvery haired gentleman, the dwarf-like clown, the thick haired frilly dandy, the ridiculously long scarf, the charming young cricket enthusiast, the multi-colored funky coat, the question marked umbrella and the Edwardian gentleman.
The First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth incarnations of the Doctor.
Four stepped out of his TARDIS and said 'Well aren't they looking very expecting standing there the four of me' he said with Romana close behind.
'Well, you always were quite the prideful one Doctor' she said.
Four looked at her for a second before bringing his gaze back to his future selves in front of them 'me? Prideful?...how does that even come into it?'.
Though Clara was already, in a sense, familiar with the Doctor's former incarnations, Rose looked from each incarnation of the Doctor, One to Eight, as they emerged from their TARDIS's with a puzzled look 'ok…so I take it these newcomers are also you? Past versions of you' she said with Nine responding with a simple 'yep'.
The First Doctor looked around at each of his older selves, who were stepping out of their TARDIS's, after acknowledging his oldest selves Nine, Ten, Eleven and the Warrior several feet away 'good god, there's twelve of me now' he said as he stepped forward with all his fellow incarnations as well as Ian and Barbara.
'Twelve of you? What on earth are you talking about Doctor? Who are these people?' Ian asked.
The First Doctor responded to Ian's question the same way he usually did, or some of the time, when Ian and Barbara asked what he considered to be silly questions 'who are they? Why they are me of course Chesterman, do please keep up young man' he said.
Barbara shared Ian's puzzlement 'they're you? But…what are you saying Doctor? How can they be you? They look nothing like you' she questioned, now it was her turn to get the same "MUST I explain the obvious?" look that Ian got 'It's simply a rather unique capability exclusive to those of where I come from' the First Doctor responded to her as they gathered with everyone and all the Doctor's older selves.
All eight of the newly arrived incarnations of the Doctor stopped several feet away from Nine, Ten, Eleven and the Warrior 'now I do hope I have a very good reason for summoning us all here like this, I very much trust you are aware of the risks and dangers of us all meeting, the anomalies this could incur' the First Doctor said.
Ten was the first to respond to their youngest self 'oh we're aware, VERY much aware' he said.
Eleven looked at his youngest self and spoke up in defence of the situation 'which is why we're being very careful about it' he said.
The First Doctor raised a hand 'wait, wait, wait just a moment now, before you go into your reason for summoning all of me here I need to know which of me is which regeneration-wise' he said.
'First' said Two.
'Second' said Three.
'Third' said Fourth.
'Fourth' said Five.
'Fifth' said Six.
'Sixth' said Seven.
'Seventh' said Eight.
'Eighth' said the Warrior.
'Ninth' the Ninth Doctor said almost hesitantly in the subtlest way.
'Tenth' said Ten 'although technically…Eleventh as well….' he stated.
'What?' all the other Doctors said in unison, except Eleven.
Eleven made a sound to clear his throat 'he's…um…well, it's true, incarnation-wise I'm the "Eleventh", but technically…I'm the "Twelfth" regeneration-wise" he said.
The First Doctor looked at him questioningly 'what on earth are you talking about young man? Do explain won't you, I do hope you haven't been squandering regenerations now' he said.
This brought about an atmosphere of slight unease amongst them all and Ten exhaled as he and Eleven quickly wondered where to start.
However, the moment was broken and interrupted and the air cleared by Nine who loudly said 'anyway' at the top of his voice.
The First Doctor inhaled then exhaled slowly 'otherwise, you're the latest model eh?' he said to Eleven.
Nine made an expression "hmm shall we get on with it" 'so, meanwhile our planet is at war, we need your help' he said as gestured at himself, the Warrior, Ten and Eleven 'all of you'. The Warrior then took over the talking 'Gallifrey is under attack, heavy attack from the Daleks, a massive Dalek fleet is firing upon and bombarding the planet surface killing everyone and destroying everything, men, women and children-alike' he said.
Nine spoke up again 'but, we have a plan…well, that is to say an idea for a plan' he said.
'We're going to freeze Gallifrey in a single moment in time' said Ten.
In response to this all the other Doctors, One through to Eight, exchanged looks and glances with one another, their companions also posing questions to them. Words were whispered and muttered amongst them along the lines of 'did I just hear myself right?'
'Did I just say…'
'Am I…actually seriously suggesting?'
'Oh boy I didn't expect this coming from me in the future…' they each said to each other quietly.
But then some quietly uttered responses which were or seemed optimistic 'oh well it could well be possible'
'Though they are vast, the necessary calculations could be pulled of'
'It would take great coordination and precision, but it would be feasible'
'I don't see the bother and trouble in their plan' a few of them said.
'Freeze your home planet? Really?' Turlough said questioningly to his Doctor, Five.
Tegan posing hers as well 'is that even possible Doc, the way they mean?' she said to which Five replied 'it would seem so, yes'.
Once they had all uttered and stated their thoughts, doubts and supporting opinions, Five posed the relevant question 'how exactly do you plan on doing that?' he asked.
Nine, Ten, Eleven and the Warrior looked at one another before Eleven said 'we'd each have our TARDIS's positioned at equi-distant intervals around the planet with each of us in possession of a stasis cube' he said before he did a double take at his words and looked at each of his younger selves, from the Warrior to Ten who were looking at him as well now 'so grown up that word' Eleven said both to himself and to them with Ten just raising his brows in seeming agreement.
'Anyway, you were saying…' Nine said to dissolve the moment.
All eight of their younger selves, One to Eight, had taken on a slight questioning squint as they had listened to Eleven's words, but Three's look became more obvious as he squinted his eyes further 'I see, but then even if such a thing were possible, executing a dimensional shift, the calculations of doing what you're suggesting would take- ' Three said before Eight intercepted his statement 'centuries upon centuries, upon centuries, which is why you need us, all of us, every single one version of us' he said.
Eight's companion Charlie had an expression of considered thought for a second 'you make it sound like a lot of complicated calculations for such an extremely long length of time' she said.
Ten nodded a bit as he started to say 'exactly, but by pooling together on this we'll have a reasonably good chance at making this work' he said.
Two's perky nature emerged as he voiced his agreement to help 'well, I don't see why not, I love a good challenge' Two said with a grin.
At the optimistic words of their second self, Nine addressed all Eight Doctors again 'so what do you say then? Help us, help each other, our selves, to save Gallifrey, our home planet' he said.
Ten chimed in to back himself up 'because if we don't, Gallifrey will burn along with everyone and everything on the planet' he said.
Nine's gaze went to and from every single one of his of his younger selves, with the exception of the Warrior and his older selves of course, as he said 'trust me, it's not something either of you are EVER going to want to see happen' Nine said as he laid his gaze heavily on each and every one of his selves standing before them.
All eight initial incarnations of the Doctor received his gaze for a second each and met it with that of surprised wonder and acknowledgement for a few seconds of what was in the eyes of their older self.
Six broke the silence 'that's putting a cherry on top of it' he said.
'You do well at making this plan of yours seem appealing' Seven said who stood next to his younger self, Six.
The First Doctor stood with his hands on his gentleman's attire jacket and waistcoat in thought as he considered all that had just been said, then 'alright young man, you have our cooperation, providing and trusting this plan of yours will work and that we will have the resources, knowledge and necessary calculations to pull this off' he said.
Eleven took on a confident grin before he concluded things with 'trust me, if we all do our part in this and do what we each have to do, it will work' he said.
In the War Room in Arcadia on Gallifrey…
As the Dalek fleet surrounding Gallifrey kept up its relentless fire on the planet surface Androgar strode back into the War Room with the General who was only a couple of steps behind him 'another one' said Androgar.
As the other Time Lords and Time Ladies surrounded the table-like battlefield panel with all its live hologram displays showing and representing the action occurring live on the actual battlefield beyond the walls of the War Room, a holo image of the words "Gallifrey Stands" hovered in the middle.
'Are you sure the message is from him?' the General asked which Androgar immediately replied to with absolute sureness 'oh yes'.
The General strode part way around the battlefield panel, with Androgar on his heel, to get a better look at the holo image 'why would he do that? What's the mad fool talking about now?' he questioned out loud to no one in particular.
Everyone in the room was caught by surprise, a great big surprise when a voice spoke to them from nowhere 'hello, hello, Gallifrey High Command, this is the Doctor speaking' the voice said and they all turned to see a live holo display of the Doctor, the Eleventh Doctor, appear above them.
This was followed by a second holo-feed of another one of the Doctor, the Tenth Doctor, appear 'hello, also the Doctor can you hear me?'
Then another of the Ninth Doctor 'and another, joining the party' all three Doctors said one after the other in the order they appeared.
Finally, a fourth holo display appeared of the version of the Doctor they were most familiar with, the bearded, grey-haired, worn and creased faced of the War Doctor 'also the Doctor, standing ready' he said.
The General looked up at and acknowledged all four incarnations of the Doctor 'dear god four of them, all my worst nightmares at once.
All four Doctors ignored his comment 'General, we have a plan' said Ten.
'We should point out at this moment it is a fairly terrible plan' Eleven said as he stood at the controls in his TARDIS and looked at the camera on his scanner screen.
'And almost certainly won't work' Ten said through the holo feed in the War Room.
Eleven, in his holo display, seeming to look to his right at the holo display of Ten past Nine and the Warrior who was looking left and right as Ten and Eleven responded to one another 'I was happy with fairly terrible' said Eleven.
'Sorry, just thinking out loud' said Ten.
Nine flicked and pressed a few buttons and switches on the console in his TARDIS as he said 'enough yabbering you two let's get to the point'.
In the War Room the General, Androgar and the other Time Lords and Time Ladies watched the four Doctors interacting with bemusement.
'Right, of course' Eleven said before he looked at everyone in the War Room and continued 'we're flying our three TARDIS's into your lower atmosphere' he said.
At this point Nine, Ten and Eleven were beginning to fly close to the planet while the Warrior was yet to arrive in his TARDIS.
'We're positioned at equidistant intervals around the globe' Ten said, echoing Eleven's words from back on the Eye of Orion as he tended to the controls in his TARDIS before he considered for a moment what exactly he'd just said 'equidistant, so grown up' responding as if to question his own use of words, like Eleven did.
'And with that will come the final phase of our plan' Nine said through the holo display in the War Room.
The Warrior's TARDIS began to emerge from the Time Vortex.
Inside it, he manipulated the controls on his console and guided the flight of his TARDIS to Gallifrey 'we're just about ready to do it' said the Warrior.
'Ready to do what?' he heard the General say from the War Room through the coms panel.
'We're going to freeze Gallifrey' said Eleven.
'I'm sorry, what?' the General questioned, looking at them in a "you can't be serious" way.
'Using our TARDIS's, we're going to freeze Gallifrey in a single moment in time' said Ten.
'You know, like those stasis cubes? A single moment in time, held in a parallel pocket universe' the Warrior said, speaking up for the first time since he had appeared via live holo display in the War Room.
'Except we're going to do it to a whole planet' Eleven said as he raised his hands in gesture to, in a general yet vague way, refer to Gallifrey.
'And all the people on it' Ten said, finishing the explanation.
The General responded as if he were trying to get his head around it 'what? Even if that were possible, which it isn't, why would you do such a thing? The General asked.
'Because the alternative is burning' Eleven bluntly stated.
'And I've seen that' said Ten.
'And I never want to see it again' Eleven said firmly looking at everyone in the war room through his scanner screen camera.
'And I really don't think you want to see that either' said Nine.
The General took his time, sort of, getting his words out as he responded while wrapping his mind around the concept of the Doctor's plan 'we'd be…lost in another universe…frozen in a single moment…we'd have nothing' he said.
Eleven gestured now to emphasis his words 'you would have HOPE, and right now that is EXACTLY what you DON'T have' he said.
'Something NO ONE in this war has' Nine said as he kept his gaze down a bit below the camera in his scanner screen before looking back up into the camera at everyone in the War Room through the holo display as if to say "trust me, you're going to WANT to do this".
'It's delusional…the calculations alone would take hundreds of years' the General said as if what the four Doctors were proposing was just so preposterous, understandably.
In each of the Doctors TARDIS's was a stasis cube resting on the console.
'Oh hundreds and hundreds' said Eleven.
'But don't worry, I started a very long time ago' said Ten.
As the massive Dalek fleet surrounding Gallifrey continued to fire on the planet surface a fifth blue box spun its way to the planet.
Inside it, the First Doctor stood at the console and worked the controls while Barbara and Ian stood off to the side and watched the Doctor do so.
'Doctor, are you sure there's nothing we can do to help? Its sounds like a very complicated procedure what you're planning to do with your other selves' Barbara said as she and Ian felt useless just standing there watching.
'Yes, yes very much so thank you and yes it is, VERY complicated, oh yes, which is why it's better if I do it myself' the Doctor replied as he moved around the console as fast as his feet would take him as he concentrated on what he was doing.
'Well let us know if there's anything we can do to help, pressing buttons or pulling levers, we just feel a bit useless standing here watching you do all the work' said Ian.
The Doctor didn't look up from what he was doing, but answered 'oh I will Chesterden, I will, don't worry young man it's quite alright at the moment, I've everything well under control, but please do let me concentrate' the Doctor responded.
Ian and Barbara exchanged looks as the Doctor spoke into the coms panel on the console 'calling the War Council of Gallifrey, this is the Doctor'.
The General, Androgar and the other Time Lords and Ladies looked at and acknowledged the holo display of the First Doctor as it appeared.
'You might say I've been doing this all my lives' Eleven said as seven more blue boxes spun through space towards Gallifrey.
In the War Room the holo-monitors displayed the Doctors incarnations, the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors, each of them speaking one after the other as they appeared.
'Good luck' said Two.
'Standing by' said Three.
'Ready' said Four.
'Commencing calculations' said Eight.
'Soon be there' said Five.
'Across the boundaries that divide one universe from another' said Seven.
'Just got to lock onto these coordinates' said Six.
'Jamie, watch the power levels and keep the engines engaged, Zoe keep the fluid links stable' the Doctor said hurriedly to Jamie and Zoe as he hastily manipulated the controls on his side of the console 'the power levels are holding and are optimal Doctor' Jamie said as he kept his gaze on the monitor with power level readings and his fingers near some switches for the engines.
Zoe watched some lights that indicated the state of the fluids while slowly and gradually adjusting some sliding switches back and forth as the lights changed a bit according to the state of the fluid links 'the fluid links are fine Doctor, they're stable' she said.
'Doctor, tell me how I can help' Sarah Jane said as she stood at the console a quarter of the way around from where the Third Doctor stood at the console who looked up from what he was doing and replied 'you can push that lever forward, we're going to need every ounce of power for this, but slowly and steady, we don't want to bleed our way through it' he said as he looked over everything on the console, his eyes rapidly darting to every part of it.
A portion of the console sparked a bit and the Doctor immediately went to it to tend to it and stop it doing so.
The Fourth Doctor rapidly circled the console bit by bit as he made sure that everything was functioning, and as they should be while the central column rose and fell repeatedly with the grating and groaning of the time engines before he looked over to Romana who stood off to the side with her arms crossed watching and observing the Doctor.
'Observation is really quite limiting when learning how something is done, handle these controls will you and watch this feed here and let me know if anything starts to become critical' the Doctor said.
Romana stepped to the spot where the Doctor had indicated and took up the controls 'you realise that being a Time Lady I do know the basic procedure of TARDIS piloting' she said as she did so.
The Doctor looked up from what he was doing briefly 'you'll have no problem with those controls then, but precision in this case is crucial, we're about to make a very daring dimensional shift with our home planet' he said as he returned his eyes to the controls all around the console.
'Tegan' the Fifth Doctor said as he paused to look up from what he was doing on the console 'I need you to regulate the Thermobuffer there on the console'.
Tegan stepped forward as she said 'what do I do?'.
The Doctor hurriedly stepped around the console and showed her exactly what she needed to do 'make sure nothing goes critical, if anything goes near the red tell me straight away'. Turning to Turlough the Doctor went to another part of the console and put his hand on the panel containing the Zeiton Crystals 'Turlough, watch these' and told him exactly what to watch out for 'if the TARDIS falls out of formation with those of my other selves, even by a bit, this whole plan of mine may not work' he said before he dashed back to his area of the console leaving Turlough to get his head around exactly what he'd been told to do.
'alright' he said as started to focus on his sector of the controls.
'Doctor I want to help, tell me what I can do' Peri said as she watched the Sixth Doctor work intensively away at the console.
'Just a MOMENT Peri, give me a second…or two, or three' the Doctor said as if she was getting on his nerves, he took a few seconds to quickly make his way around the console before he stopped almost right beside Peri and looked up at her suddenly as if he were acknowledging her for the first time.
'You want to help?' he said as if he hadn't quite heard her the first time.
'Yes' she simply said.
'Oh well why didn't you say so, alright then, let's see…that's working…that's up to speed…' the Doctor said as he took a second to quickly look over the console and what he had just done and tried to find something that Peri could help with.
'I did before, but…' she said trailing off.
The Doctor just continued to think out loud 'that's in place…you're locked in…ah…I'll show you what you can do Peri' he said.
Taking her around the console to a lever and some switches, the Doctor placed her hand on them 'watch this feed here' he said quickly gesturing to a small oblong-sized monitor 'and regulate the energy feed from the stasis cube, making sure it stays within the green between the blue and yellow'.
Peri eyed the lever and switches 'what does the lever and the switches do?' she asked, the Doctor resumed his work, again without looking up, as he replied 'they'll help to regulate the energy generated from the cube as I said, but never mind that just let me know if and when the indicator goes into the blue or yellow and I'll instruct you accordingly' he said.
'Whatever happens Ace keep that Thermobuffer regulated and the fluid links stable, it's imperative we pull this off without the slightest hitch' the Seventh Doctor said as he stepped around the console without stopping for even a second.
'Don't worry professor, I've got it' Ace said as she kept a grip on the controls the Doctor had stationed her at.
The Doctor went to the scanner screen and checked everything 'alright I think we've got everything…oh wait no, the Zeiton Crystals' he said before he dashed to where the Zeiton crystals were on the console and adjusted their controls and exhaled for a moment 'that could've put a right stake in the works, the wrong formation with my other selves might've dashed things entirely' the Doctor said before he darted to a section of the console that had begun to spark.
'Doctor….Doctor!' Charlie said with a raised voice over the goaning and grinding sound of the engines as she tried to get the Eighth Doctor's attention.
'Hm? What?' the Doctor said as he looked up from some controls he had been focussed intently on 'I asked you a question' Charlie said.
The Doctor looked at her blankly 'you did? When?' he questioned.
Charlie put her hands on her sides 'no more than half a minute ago' she answered.
The Doctor looked back down on what he had been doing and going over in his mind as he had looked at the console 'right…yes you did, of course you did, I heard you say something…sorry I'm just trying to make sure I- we get this right, it's a VERY complicated thing I'm pulling off with my selves' he said as he ran around the console double checking everything and adjusting controls bit by bit when he deemed certain controls needed it. Charlie gave him a puzzled look 'your other sel-? Oh, right…those other men on that planet we left earlier, your "other faces"' she said.
The Doctor looked up and responded as if he'd just been interrupted, again 'hm?...oh yes, uh my younger and older selves' he said before went to staring at her for a second.
'What?' said Charlie.
The Doctor then quickly looked at some controls that regulated the power levels and the activity of the time engines, then back at Charlie 'Charlie could you watch those readings and controls, this REALLY is a VERY complicated procedure we're undertaking' he said.
Charlie wasted no time and immediately went to the controls 'of course, but what exactly do I do?' she asked.
The Doctor took a few seconds to respond 'ok, so far so good, that's up to speed, nothing wrong there...oh uh yes ok, I'll show you what you need to do quickly' he said, initially thinking out loud quietly to himself before he acknowledged Charlie's words and went to instruct her.
Seconds later the console gave off a hum for a few seconds that lowered in pitch as it did 'oh no you don't, come on now, behave old girl you can do it' the Doctor said before he firmly thumped the console and the humming rose in pitch again before fading and the TARDIS systems resumed what it was doing.
In Nine's and Eleven's TARDIS's, Rose and Clara asked the Doctor if and how they could help, with the two Doctors assigning them some controls on the console to monitor and regulate accordingly after sufficient instruction and direction.
Rose continuously working a pump on the console to keep the fluid links clear and flowing optimally to keep the engines cool while watching some read outs close by.
Clara did the same but while regulating engine operation and synchronisation.
Ten, being alone with just himself in his TARDIS, handled, monitored and regulated everything on his own singlehandedly.
The General, Androgar and the other Time Lords and Ladies stood looking from one holo-monitor to another as each and every incarnation of the Doctor appeared on each display.
'I didn't know when I was well off, all twelve of them' said the General.
Unknown to him though was another, thirteenth TARDIS amongst all the others 'no sir' Androgar said before jumping as the room suddenly shook 'all thirteen!' he said as he recovered.
Thirteen TARDIS's, thirteen Doctors, converged on and surged towards Gallifrey.
Inside the thirteenth TARDIS the Twelfth Doctor stood at the controls, pulled a lever down and looked very intently at the display on the scanner screen.
Meanwhile the room continued to shake, but seemingly more violently as the MASSIVE Dalek armada grew increasingly more aggressive 'sir, the Daleks know that something is happening, they're increasing their firepower!' Androgra said over the crashing and shaking of everything.
As everyone recovered the General looked up at all thirteen Doctors before the holo-screens refocused on the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and War Doctors.
'And there you are General, now for the final phase of our plan, I hope you're ready' Nine said as he looked into the camera on his scanner screen.
'Do it Doctor, just do it' the General said, realising and knowing as well as the four Doctors on-screen and their other selves that there was little to no other option.
Inside each TARDIS: Nine's, Ten's, Eleven's and the Warrior's, they each heard the General say 'do it!'
Eleven slowly looked at the camera again for a second before he responded 'ok' then through the com systems in the TARDIS's of Nine, Ten and the Warrior 'Gentlemen, we're ready' he said as they readied themselves to pull off and make the final climactic move to save Gallifrey.
Eleven straightened his bowtie, pushed a lever forward, brought his head back so that he looked upwards and cried 'Geronimo!'
In Ten's TARDIS, Ten flicked the same lever on his console forward while saying 'Allons-y!' while in Nine's TARDIS, Nine rolled his eyes and said 'oh, really you two, get on with it' before he too flicked the SAME lever, as did the Warrior in his TARDIS 'oh for god's sake, Gallifrey stands!'
Simultaneously, in the TARDIS's of the other Doctors, the Twelfth included, the Doctor again flicked the exact same lever while their companions watched with curious anticipation. All thirteen TARDIS's then rushed towards and surrounded the planet before an explosion, or the sound of one was heard as the planet was engulfed in a bright white light before just vanishing, just like that.
In the seconds following this all twelve Doctors exchanged concluding and parting words over the unified com channel
Two: Oh my word! We did it!
Eleven: Gentlemen, I think we've done it.
Two: Your plan worked!
Warrior, Nine, Ten and Eleven: OUR plan you mean.
Eight: Fingers crossed it actually did work after all that.
Three: We had all the necessary calculations in place, so there's a good chance it did.
Seven: To be perfectly honest I don't think anyone else could or would have been up it or even dared to.
Nine: It must have, there's no way it wouldn't have and we had all the necessary measures and requisites in place as I said.
Four: He's right, it was a colossal undertaking, but I think we have a good firm victory with this one.
Ten: Yeeeah, you know what, how about we just let ourselves have this win, for our sake…after all most of us aren't going to remember this after we all part ways again.
Six: I agree, but then this only just the start, I still have to find and restore Gallifrey, our oldest self that is.
Warrior: One can only be optimistic.
Eleven: Don't worry everyone it's at the top of my list of things to do.
One: Meanwhile, we'd all best be getting back to our own times, we've more than overstepped the mark with the Laws of Time going this far, goodbye everyone and no dillydallying.
Five: All the best of luck finding it, for the sake of the future, otherwise, until we all meet again, if and when we do so. Goodbye Doctors.
Two: Be safe now.
Three: No getting into anything you can't handle.
Seven: When has that ever stopped us? Take care everyone.
Four: What a marvellous party it's been, we should do this again sometime *laughs* goodbye.
Six: Quite the cheery one when it comes to these social gatherings isn't he, until next time Doctors.
Eight: At least I'll have something to be optimistic about in the days of war to come, even if I won't know it, it's been an honour everyone, working with myself, safe travels.
The sound of the line being cut from their younger selves sounds from the consoles of Nine's, Ten's, Eleven's and the Warrior's TARDIS's.
Eleven: What say we go back to the under gallery for a cup of tea, there's something I have to show you three.
Nine: Oh all right but make it quick, places to be people to see.
Ten: Yeah why not, I think we've earned it.
Warrior: Be right there.
In the National Gallery…
'I don't suppose we'll know if we actually succeeded' the War Doctor said as he sipped his tea 'but at worst, we failed in doing the right thing as opposed to succeeding in doing the wrong'.
Clara and Rose looked at him questionably 'life and soul you are' Clara commented.
'Well, you did pull it off without a hitch, that's got to be cause for hope' said Rose.
Ten and Eleven stood in front of the painting of "Gallifrey Falls/No More" with their "brainy specs" on, both with a cup of tea in hand while Nine stood off to the side with his gaze shifting from the painting to his older selves every several seconds as he scrutinized their wearing of glasses 'I suppose we'll find out in due time…do you two really have to wear those things?' he said in a lightly criticizing way.
Both Ten and Eleven looked at him 'what? These?' Eleven said as he pointed at his circular eyeglasses that had once belonged to his former friend and companion, Amelia Pond.
'What's wrong with them?' Ten said as he furrowed his brows.
'Seriously?' Nine said as maintained his questioning look as did Ten and Eleven at him before Nine shook his head as he momentarily looked off to the side then back at both his older selves 'what am I thinking at your age? It's like I'm trying to be professor-like' said Nine.
Ten and Eleven looked at each other then back at him, Ten momentarily raised his brow for a second.
'Oh boy aren't I getting hypocritical in my old age' Eleven said before Ten simply responded 'yep'.
Nine just looked at them both with a raised brow.
Ten just ignored himself and turned back to the painting 'what is it actually called?' he queried as he stepped closer to the painting.
Eleven took a couple of steps closer to it as well so that he was standing next to Ten 'well there's some debate' he answered 'either "No more"…or "Gallifrey Falls"' he said.
'Not very encouraging' the Warrior said behind them.
'How did it get here?' Ten asked.
'No idea' Eleven said after looking back at their youngest self as he had spoken.
Ten inhaled a bit 'there's always something we don't know isn't there' he said as he looked at his older self and sipped his tea.
'One should certainly hope so' the Warrior commented.
Nine stepped forward from leaning back against his TARDIS 'well, we may be the Doctor, but we can't know everything can we, where's the fun in that?' he said as he sipped his tea before putting his cup down and joining his older selves.
The Warrior began to put his tea cup down as well as he stood 'well gentlemen, it has been an honour, and a privilege' he said as he stepped towards his older selves.
Ten nodded in acknowledgement 'likewise' he said.
Eleven leaned forward a bit as he said 'Doctor' in a respectful tone, obviously considering his younger self redeemed and well worthy of the title again.
Nine casually saluted their youngest self with his middle and index fingers with a smile.
The Warrior nodded in acknowledgement of the words of his older selves, particularly Eleven's 'and if I grow to be half the man that you are…' he said before he turned on the spot to look back at Clara 'Clara Oswald'.
Clara looked at them attentively at her name being said, Nine, Ten and Eleven just exchanging looks with each other at this.
'I shall be happy indeed' the Warrior said.
Clara began to stand 'that's right aim high' she said as she giggled a bit before the Warrior kissed her lightly on her cheek.
Rose made an expression that seemed to say "…wow" in a slightly amused yet "ooook" sort of way while grinning before she looked at her Doctor, Nine '…what?' he said when he saw her looking at him the way she was.
The Warrior then stood on the spot with an expression like a sudden thought had crossed his mind '…I won't remember this, will I?' he said with a slight down buzz in his voice.
'The time streams are out of sync, you can't retain it, no' Eleven said with a very slight shaking of his head.
The Warrior continued to stare into space in thought as he acknowledged the inevitable mind set he would take on after they parted ways 'so I won't remember that I tried to save Gallifrey rather than burn it…' he said.
A second or two of silence followed as all four Doctors acknowledged the way things would be, would continue to be, particularly for Nine and Ten despite all their COMBINED efforts and participation, with a silent disappointing down buzz.
'I'll have to live with that' he said with a somewhat reluctant acknowledgement 'but for now, for this moment, I am the Doctor again' the War Doctor said happily with a smile 'thank you'. The other three Doctors smiled back, Nine and Eleven giving him slight nods.
The Warrior looked to each of their TARDIS's with a slightly lost look 'which one is mine?' he asked before his older selves looked at the TARDIS that looked as if it had seen better days, battered and marked a bit 'ah' the Warrior said with a smile before he went to it, opened the door and stepped inside, the other Doctors and Clara watching him go as the TARDIS dematerialised.
Inside his TARDIS, the War Doctor's hands began to glow as wisps of yellow regenerative energy began to slink over them 'oh yes' he said as he saw this happen 'of course, it makes sense' the Doctor said as he immediately acknowledged and understood what was happening and made a "…here we go" expression 'wearing a bit thin' he said just before yellow energy began to stream from his head and he brought his gaze up.
'I hope the ears are a bit less conspicuous this time' he concluded before the yellow regenerative energy began to pour forth from his hands and head in a rushing torrent.
As the Doctor stood on the spot and waited for the change to happen his features began to shift, the shape of his head, his jawline, his ears, his eyes…
Ten and Eleven shifted from where they stood while Nine stayed put with a grim and gloomy look 'and then he was me…and so it begins for him, what we did to save Gallifrey instead of condemning it…it won't count as far as we're concerned' he said as he looked at his succeeding self, Ten, who took off his brainy specs.
'Quite the gloomy one aren't you' Rose said as she lightly nudged Nine who looked at her for no longer than a split second before looking back at Ten and Eleven.
'He's right, we won't remember either, so you might as well tell us' said Ten.
Eleven put his hands behind his back and stepped towards them both 'tell you what?' Eleven questioned.
Ten looked at him as if Eleven should know what he meant, Nine had snapped out his brief melancholic state and was looking at them both.
'Where it is we're going that you don't want to talk about' said Ten.
This had Nine now alert and attentive 'eh? What's this?' said Nine.
Ten turned his head a bit to him and answered 'somewhere we're yet to go that he's been to and doesn't want to talk about.
Eleven looked at both of his selves for a second before he looked off to the side briefly then back at them both 'I saw Trenzalore, where we're buried…we die in a battle among millions' he said as he brought his gaze down to the floor.
Nine closed his mouth as it had been ajar by just a centimetre and he raised a brow 'how ironic, not exactly how I wanted my life to end' he said.
Ten furrowed his brows as he said 'that's not how it's supposed to be'.
Eleven responded in a quietened voice 'that's how the story ends, nothing we can do about it, Trenzalore is where you're both going' he said as he looked at both Nine and Ten.
The former widened his eyes a bit for a second 'lovely, ignorance is bliss' Nine said as he looked away while Ten held Eleven's gaze for a couple of seconds 'oh never say nothing' he then said to which Eleven smiled.
'Anyway, good to know my future is in safe hands' Ten continued while taking the hand of his older self in his and shaking it before he went to the bench Clara sat on and put his tea cup down 'keep a tight hold on it Clara' he said as he did so.
Clara put her tea cup down and made a rough saluting gesture 'on it' she said.
Ten stepped to her and took her hand which she held out and lay a kiss on its upside.
Nine rolled his eyes a bit as this happened before Ten turned his eyes on Rose 'it was good to see you again Rose, keep him clear of trouble eh' he said with a grin-like smile as he met her gaze for the last time.
'Will do, I guess we'll meet again soon' she said as she looked back at Nine for a moment before turning back to Ten who responded 'yeah, we will, in due time' while looking at his younger self, Nine, as he did.
Nine acknowledged this 'yeah alright, off you go' he said as he gestured at Ten's TARDIS for him to take his leave.
Ten grinned at this before he said 'until then, back to the TARDIS' put his hand in his pants pocket and went to his TARDIS, but not before he gave Eleven and Nine a quick raising of his brows along with a bit of a grin which Eleven received also with a slight grin, watching himself go past as he did while Nine had a slightly amused look while shaking his head a bit as he too watched his succeeding self go.
'Trenzalore' Ten began to say 'we need a new destination, because…' he said as he hesitated, looking off to the side as he did in consideration, before he concluded his words with 'I don't want to go' before he stepped into his TARDIS and it dematerialised.
Nine had come to be standing behind Eleven and Clara as they had watched Ten go 'is he always like that?' Nine questioned.
Eleven gave a slight dismissive tilt of his head 'yeah, he always says that' he replied.
Nine made an expression that said "oh boy" 'fantastic, and he's my future' he said.
Eleven turned to him with a grin 'you're still in for a good ride though when those days come for you' he said, Nine rolled his eyes at this 'yeah, I bet am, especially with all the snogging' he said, which got a him curious and questioning look from Rose.
Eleven just giggled a bit silently to himself 'again, you just go with it' he said.
Nine made a "I suppose so" expression which he then echoed verbally 'I suppose so, one can only hope, anyway, be careful out there yeah' he said before he turned to Clara 'Don't let him get into any trouble he can't handle' he said to her.
Clara smiled before responding 'sure, not while I'm travelling with him' she said, Rose then stepped forward towards Clara 'it was nice to meet you' she said to which Clara replied enthusiastically 'yeah, same with you'.
Rose then looked at Eleven 'and you too Doctor' she said with a smile which Eleven returned 'the pleasure was all mine Rose Tyler'.
Nine stopped at the double doors of his TARDIS for a second before he looked back at his older self 'am I always going to be cheeky like that?' he said as he pointed at the space where Ten's TARDIS has been a couple of minutes ago.
Eleven made a funny expression as he looked where his younger self was pointing 'at the best times yeah, but it'll all be in good nature…' he replied.
Nine made an "oh…ok" expression 'good times ahead' he commented.
'You know it' Eleven said as he winked and grinned at himself.
Nine and Rose then stepped inside their TARDIS and it dematerialised.
As the Doctor and Clara watched it do so Clara made a comment about the Ninth Doctor 'quite the hard one ain't he' she said which brought a grin to the Doctor's face 'it never really did suit me in the end' he said.
Stepping towards the painting the Doctor stopped a few feet before it and looked at it. Acknowledging this and what was going through the Doctor's mind, Clara said 'need a moment alone with your painting?' a question which she already knew the answer to.
A big grin crossed the Doctor's features and he turned back to her 'how did you know?' he said, though it occurred to him that it might be a silly question and that it would've been easy enough for Clara to pick up on.
Clara knew the Doctor, which was made obvious through what she said next 'those big sad eyes'.
'Ah' the Doctor said as he turned back to the painting.
Clara went to join him for a second before she put her hand to the Doctor's face, kissed him on the side of it and brushed his cheek a bit with her thumb.
'I always know' she said before she went to the TARDIS, though she stopped short when she remembered something 'oh, by the way there was an old man looking for you, I think it was the Curator' she said before she stepped inside the TARDIS as the Doctor acknowledged what she'd just said with a double thumbs up, both hands.
Going to the flat-seat bench several feet from the painting, the Doctor sat down on it and began to consider the idea of being the Curator of the National Museum himself 'I could be a Curator, I'd be great at Curating, I'd be the "Great Curator"' he said with a bit of a laugh 'I could retire and do that…I could retire and be the Curator of this place' the Doctor said as he imagined himself as the Curator in his mind.
He was just starting to mentally imagine himself as the Curator when he heard a VERY familiar voice say to him 'you know I really think you might'.
It took the Doctor several seconds to respond, during this time the Doctor looked off to the side at the elderly man with white curly hair and a walking cane in his hand to whom he stepped towards with a look of familiarity. This was perfectly understandable as the elderly man had a face that had a striking resemblance to one the Doctor had had before, the face he had during his third regeneration, but older looking, lined and a bit creased.
'I never forget a face' the Doctor said.
'I know you don't' the Curator said 'and in years to come you might find yourself revisiting a few, but just the old favourites eh'.
The Doctor grinned a bit and winked.
The Curator gestured to the painting "Gallifrey Falls/No More" 'you were curious about this painting I think, I acquired it under remarkable circumstances' he said 'what do you make of the title?' turning his eyes back to the Doctor who replied 'which title? There's two, "No More" or "Gallifrey Falls"'.
The Curator shook his head a bit 'oh, you see that's where everybody's wrong, it's all one title, "Gallifrey Falls No More"' he said iterating the now apparently singular title with a firm tone.
The Doctor now had a look about him like he was unsure what to think and looked off to the side a bit 'now, what would you think that means eh' the Curator continued as he looked at the Doctor with expecting intent.
Acknowledging and considering what the Curator had just said the Doctor looked at him thoughtfully 'that Gallifrey didn't fall, it worked, it's still out there' the Doctor said as his face lit up.
The Curator shook his head again 'I'm only a humble curator I'm sure I wouldn't know' he said before he turned to leave, but the Doctor kept him as he said 'then where is it?' to which the Curator turned back to him 'where is it indeed, lost, shhh' he said, putting a finger to his lips as he spoke.
'Perhaps, things do get lost you know, and now you must excuse me…ohhh you have a lot to do'.
The Doctor, his face still alive with interest, didn't let up 'do I?' he said, the Curator just grunted in confirmation 'mmm'.
The Doctor made no effort to contain his enthusiasm 'is that what I'm supposed to do now? Go looking for Gallifrey?' he enquired excitedly.
'Well it's entirely up to you, your choice, I can only tell you what I'd do, if I were you' the Curator said, pausing before he continued after making a subtle reference to his likeness, to a face from the Doctor's past 'oh if I were you' smiling as he spoke and laughing a bit 'or perhaps I was you of course, or perhaps YOU are ME' he and the Doctor both laughed a playfully as the Curator's words, a smile on both of their faces.
'Congratulations' the Curator continued before he shook the Doctor's hand who said 'thank you very much' in response.
The Curator then briefly raised his hand so that his palm was facing the Doctor before he said 'or perhaps it doesn't matter either way' he and the Doctor holding each other's gaze 'who knows…who, knows' the Curator concluded as he touched a finger to his nose for a second before he stepped away.
The Doctor stood in thought as he watched the Curator go before turning back to the painting with his arms crossed and a new look of purpose.
The Doctor stepped through the TARDIS around the console.
Clara sometimes asks me if I dream 'of course I dream' I tell her 'everybody dreams'.
Coming to the interior double doors the Doctor pulled them open.
'But what do you dream about' she'll ask, 'the same thing everybody dreams about' I tell her 'I dream about where I'm going'.
Stepping through the double doors, the Doctor stepped out onto a cloudy surface with the starry galaxy all around.
'But you're not going anywhere, you're just wandering about'.
All twelve versions of the Doctor stood waiting for him with their backs to him before Nine and Ten as well as the War Doctor turn to see him coming.
The Third, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth and Tenth Doctors on the left with the Second, Fourth, Sixth, Eighth and War Doctors on the right.
Eleven joined them right in the middle between the Warrior and Ten with the First Doctor standing just a few feet behind them, the other Doctors Two to Eight turned and looked at Eleven with the four of them nodding, smiling and grinning as did the other Doctors, Three to Seven.
Eleven acknowledged and smiled at each of his younger selves then looked back at his very first and original face which smiled at him cheerfully and warmly, and nodded to whom Eleven returned the same expression and gesture.
That's not true, not anymore, I have a new destination, my journey is the same as yours, the same as anyone's.
It's taken me so many years, so many lifetimes, but at last I know where I'm going, where I've always been going.
Home, the long way round.
All twelve Doctors stood where they were, some of them with grins big and small or big smiles, some with expressions of content, or admiration and appreciation. All the while looking up at a golden planet floating above and before them in space.
The end
