YOU DO REALISE THAT THIS IS HIGHLY IRREGULAR IN MY LINE OF BUSINESS?
The voice rang hollow in the spacious room, quickly taken over by whirring and groaning of machinery. The voice rose up again.
YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD. AGAIN.
The man ignored the empty voice and continued dashing around the console, occasionally flipping a switch or pushing a button.
DON'T FORGET THAT YOU'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. YOU CAN ONLY AFFORD YOURSELF TWO MORE MISTAKES, DOCTOR.
The man stopped and turned his head slowly to the speaker.
"I know," he said slowly. "Thirteen lives. Thirteen Doctors. Grumpy, quirky, poshy, loony, sporty, hefty, smarty, dreamy, angry, jolly... me. And the other two, I don't know them yet." He ran a hand through his floppy fringe and stared at the figure stood before him.
YOU SHOULD, BY NOW, it commented. YOU SHOULD HAVE LOST ANOTHER LIFE IN THE PANDORICA INCIDENT. YOU SLIPPED THROUGH THE CRACKS, AS IT WERE.
"That's me all over," the Doctor smiled. "Getting away when I shouldn't. Slipping through the cracks."
BUT FOR HOW LONG?
The silent tranquillity of the asteroid was broken by the grating sound of a landing TARDIS. The door creaked open and the Doctor emerged, followed by the cloaked figure. The Doctor pulled the door gently shut, patting the side of the TARDIS as he did so, before leaning against it and gazing out at the stars.
"I'm out there, somewhere," he noted, glancing back at the figure. "Dead. It's got to happen some time, and I've been to enough times to have passed it." He shivered slightly.
I PREFERRED YOUR FELLOW TIME LORDS. THEY WERE MUCH EASIER TO DEAL WITH. THEY DIDN'T TEND TO TRAVEL UNTIL THE TIME WAR. BEYOND A FEW ROGUE ELEMENTS, OF COURSE.
"Well, we're always the ones to watch out for, aren't we?" the Doctor chuckled. "You can never keep a good rogue down. Or a bad one, come to that. Or Daleks, they never go away, no matter how many times they-" He cut himself off and took a calming breath.
"Have you seen me?" he asked. His companion made no response, but he had the air of someone surprised.
WE HAVE... CROSSED PATHS.
"You know what I mean. Have you seen me die, properly die? The final Doctor gone from the universe?" He folded his arms, almost defiantly, watching and waiting for his response. Silence boomed around the pair, deafening them both.
I DO NOT THINK THE DOCTOR WILL EVER BE GONE FROM THE UNIVERSE, was the eventual response. YOU HAVE TRAVELLED SO FAR, SO MANY TIMES. YOU ARE EVERYWHERE, EVERY TIME, AND YOU ALWAYS SHALL BE. FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW, YOU WILL DIE SOME DAY, BUT TO THE REST OF CREATION YOU ARE ETERNAL. YOU WERE AT EVENT ONE AND YOU WERE AT THE END OF EXISTENCE. WHENEVER THERE IS HISTORY, YOU HAVE BEEN THERE. YOU HAVE BROUGHT DOWN EMPIRES, ENDED WARS, CRUSHED CIVILISATIONS. AND YOU HAVE SAVED SO MANY. YOU WILL NEVER TRULY BE GONE.
The Doctor watched the cloaked figure with a smile as it began to walk away from him.
"Touché," he replied. He raised a hand in farewell and slunk back inside the police box, before quickly vanishing, leaving the asteroid as cold and dark as it was before.