DOCTOR WHO:
MORTALITY'S SHADOW
WRITTEN BY ZARIUS
(Contains spoilers for 11x09 "It Takes You Away")
The Doctor was running out of time. She had to get through to Graham before it was too late for him.
Before he caved in and gave his all to the great deception.
This illusion had proven difficult to shatter for the father of the young girl called Hanne, Erik, he had not been truly listening to the child's concerns regarding the woman who claimed to be his wife, in reality a manifestation of Solictract energy, a sentient universe attempting to find solace with inhabitants of the dimension that was home to The Doctor and her friends.
Erik's wife was not who she claimed to be, that she was a falsehood, Hanne had already rejected the Solictract, who in turn expelled her, and as its control began to slip, the reality around The Doctor, Erik and Graham had begun to crumble. One further rejection would shatter the illusion completely.
Only Graham was proving difficult to budge on the matter, for the Solitract had taken the form of his lost love, his kind and spirited wife Grace, and she seemed to have him wrapped around her finger.
The Doctor, however, knew there was danger on the other side, there were treacherous and dangerous forces encircling her friends back in their own dimension. Ryan, Graham's step-grandson was struggling, he needed support.
Graham sat on the edge of the bed in the house, his head lowered, a barrage of conflicted emotion was affecting him, though he tried his best to look as neutral as he could, not wanting to anger The Doctor, not wanting to frustrate that which was posing as 'Grace', believing in his mind that she was still his just reward for keeping a level head and a brave heart throughout his adventures in time and space righting wrongs. He wished so hard to be right.
The Doctor wasn't having any of that, she knew what the stakes were, and she knelled down beside Graham and begged him to open his eyes in a figurative sense.
"Graham, listen to me, Hanne has shown us how to do this. She saw the temptation for what it was and had the will to resist because she knew it was putting a loved one in danger. Your loved ones Graham, that's what awaits you out there, and they need you. Your grandson, Ryan, is in danger, you have to reach him" she said, stroking the back of his trembling hands.
"Doc, I know what you're asking me to do, it's just...I can't, it's Grace, I don't just see her, I feel her, here, inside. How can I possibly switch that off?
The Doctor realised something about Graham that she hadn't grasped before.
"Grace, she sleeps in your mind doesn't she?" she asked.
"Every day" Graham replied.
"Just like how I am with my family" she realised.
"You don't talk much about them Doc, did you forget them? Is that what I'll be like later in life? Will Grace just lie there, dormant in my tired mind, never stirring?"
"No, no of course not" The Doctor replied, holding his hands tightly.
"I never forget where I come from, who I've loved and who's loved me, but I walk in eternity, and that means I have even more to remember. I have so much up here that it's little wonder the Solictract hasn't had the time to manifest anything from my past, it wouldn't know what, or who, to stir up first. It's like checking every article on Wikipedia, even the vandalised pages"
Graham let out a pained chuckle.
"Ah, a giggle, glad to know I'm making a break through" The Doctor said happily.
The room violently shook once again, yet another strong indicator time was of the essence,
"All that makes Grace insistent to your being, is what the Solitract is counting on, its' creeping into your thoughts and manifesting itself through those memories, full of every ideal word you've conjured up for her in your imagination, what you think she would say if you were to see you again, and it's manifested as such, but you have to realise Graham, this is not your wife. This is furniture with a pulse. She's a comfort, but not the reality. If you wish to be free of the Solitract's influence, you have to do as I do with my own thoughts of family, you have to lock down that memory, keep it close, but for your sake and mine, put some distance between you and it"
The Doctor cradled Graham as she saw a gentle tear run down his cheek, proof her advice had touched a strong nerve.
"There's so much more to remember darling, please, remember all you've become since losing Grace, remember what we've been through, and remember how much stronger you've become just by coping with your loss the way you have, by living in mortality's humble shadow"
Graham took a longing look at the creature manifesting as Grace, he looked back at The Doctor, and he gave her a solemn nod, and then turned to address the Solictract.
"Ryan" he said.
"What about him love?" 'Grace' said.
"Beyond that mirror, he's up to his neck in trouble, am I supposed to just abandon him?" he said.
"That's it Graham, ask the really difficult questions. They never know what to do with those" The Doctor said excitedly.
"He'll be fine, he's a smart lad" said 'Grace' as another jolt rocked the house.
"This reality's collapsing Graham, come on, join the dots" The Doctor urged.
"So close, you were so close. Grace would never let me leave Ryan in danger. You're a fake, I wish you weren't but you are" he said.
He glanced back at The Doctor; his eyes were reflective of a clear conscience and a renewed sense of priority.
"I love you Graham O'Brien"
The Doctor didn't quite know whether that had manifested as a thought or something she said
Remaining transfixed on Graham's calm and warmly amused expression was enough to keep her mind from drifting further into the exploration of either of those possibilities.
She stared longingly into his eyes, and basked in the knowledge that he, like so many durable humans before him, was taking the first gentle steps out of mortality's shadow and towards immortality's light.