The familiar sound of the TARDIS droning into reality filled the outside of the Ponds' house. Brian turned immediately in the time machine's direction, relieved.
Without hesitation, he ran to the doors of the blue box, sending pots and trowels flying in his wake.
The doors opened before he got there.
"Brian…" the Doctor took a long pause, preparing himself for what he was about to do, "I want to show you something".
The graveyard was silent as the Doctor paced slowly towards the grave with two names on it, flowers had been laid beside it, a bunch of golden sunflowers basking serenely in the midday sun.
Everything was still. Both men didn't move for at least two minutes, and then, out of the blue, Brian broke down into tears, dropping onto his knees in front of the grave.
The Doctor thought it best to leave him alone, and retreated back to a bench some way down the allotment. He picked up his copy of "War of the Worlds" and started reading it from where he left off.
His reading was interrupted by Brian, towering over him, the veins in his temple trembling with rage.
"How could you, I trusted you Doctor, I trusted you with their safety and look what you've done!"
"I.. I'm sorry, it was their decision there was nothing I could d-"
"NOTHING YOU COULD DO, THIS IS WHAT YOU DO ISN'T IT, TAKE PEOPLE ON, LEAVE THEM TO THEIR OWN DEVICES AND THEN DROP THEM OFF LIKE LEECHES!"
"BRIAN PLEASE, THEY WERE MY FRIEN-"
"DON'T YOU EVER STOP TO THINK WHAT YOU'VE DONE, DON'T YOU EVER THINK TO STOP TAKING PEOPLE WITH YOU, IF EVERYTHING'S SO DANGEROUS THEN WHY DO Y-"
Brian stopped, he was so angry and devoted that he didn't realise that the Doctor had walked off into the TARDIS. He followed at a quickened pace, fully prepared to continue his scolding.
He just managed to keep up with the Doctor and burst into the room where the Doctor was standing. Brian was speechless.
The entire room was full of glass jars, each containing a single item. Each jar had a gold plaque underneath it, with varying numbers of names on it.
He examined one, it contained a single star badge, something someone would put on their lapel. The caption read, "Adric. You never know what you're going to miss until it's gone." Another next to it, this one looked like it had been made more recently, it contained a single Rose. The caption simply read, "Forever". Then Brian came across the last jar in the row, it contained the last couple of pages from a book. The caption read, "The Boy and Girl Who Waited, wait no more."
After reading the note, Brian simply nodded to the Doctor, who was stood in a corner trying to hold back tears and walked to the main console room. He knew he needed to give the Doctor some space.
The Doctor pulled himself together, but he knew he couldn't face Brian in the state that he was in, so he pulled out his copy of "War of the Worlds" from his jacket and continued to read it yet again.
He was on the last page.
