The Doctor looked out from his TARDIS door and sighed, his eyes stung with small amounts of tears. Far below him, there was a planet that could not be seen. It could only be glimpsed between the whizzing Dalek saucers and Battle TARDISs vworping in and out of existence. The Time War was being waged heavily on the planet beneath him, and, from his unique position as an observer, he could see all of it. His TARDIS in temporal orbit looped to the start of the fight, around ten minutes ago. It was unfolding differently now, he noticed. There were more saucers, equipped with different weapons, but the TARDIS were also different. That was the problem with a Time War- it didn't just happen only once. With races that could change the past, it could just happen again and again. And with the Daleks and the Time Lords, possibly the most time adept races in the universe, fighting each other across history, it could last for infinity, from the Big Bang to the end of the universe. It probably would. Nowhere would be safe…
"What's happening?" He turned back towards Ace. He smiled a small, insincere smile and tries to explain. "You know the Daleks? Evil blobs with death rays?"
"Yes. They were after the Hand of Omega? Is that what this is about?"
"Kind of, Ace. They've declared war on the Time Lords because of… me, mostly. They want them dead, so they can rule over time. And they're destroying that planet over there because they think that the Time Lords had a base there. They didn't, but that hasn't stopped them from trying to massacre the planet. It has such a future though. A peaceful empire across three star systems, turning into one of the greatest civilisations the universe would ever know, crossing half a galaxy, and it could be gone because of a bunch of tin pots with big ideas, and a civilisation that always leave it too late to interfere."
He stared at Ace. She'd probably have been another casualty of this horrible war if it wasn't for him. He'd been scanning space in the aftermath of a battle, looking for survivors when he'd come across a DNA signature he recognised. He'd materialised his TARDIS around it, and found Ace, riding on a vortex scooter.
"More to the point, Professor, why aren't you stopping it?"
He stopped his flashbacks and turned to look at his companion, who was giving him an accusational look. "What do you mean, Ace? What can I do?" He started talking quickly, panicking. He didn't want to think about this, but Ace was forcing him to.
"Simple. I know you. You'll have some plan that will beat the Daleks and stop the war!"
"Ace…" He sighed, understanding the confusion. "That was the old me. You've known me for about two weeks now. That's not how I work. And I couldn't have a plan to take care of this. It's too complex."
"Can't you think of anything? Not one plan?" She was looking at him, with hope in her face now, but it was masking a real face of doubt. He knew what she was thinking- why wasn't he helping?
"There's only one thing I could do, but…"
"Then why don't you do it?"
"Because it's dangerous, and it's against all my principles. It would involve genocide- mass genocide- against the Daleks!"
"But, if they're this dangerous, why don't you do it? You were talking about how many people have died- would you let them all die just to protect your precious morals!" She was shouting at him, not understanding why he would just sit back and let the war rage on.
He sighed, and looked down at his feet. "Ace…" He turned away and looked over to the doors and opened them. There was now nothing out there, but a few burning, wheeling Battle TARDIS's, and a few small, floating rocks. It was gone. But… they had lost. They were meant to protect the planet.
He closed the door, and turned back to Ace. He strode towards the console and starting putting his Time Machine into motion. That was enough.
"Professor… what are you doing?"
"Ace, you're right. I'm being a coward by not doing this. And I'm never cruel or cowardly. Now, I just have to know? Are you with me?"
"Yes. All the way!" She hugged him, and he hugged her back.
He looked at her, and smiled another sad smile. "I'm sorry, but that can't work." He stopped the TARDIS as Ace stood there, bewildered. "I'm sorry, but it's too dangerous. I'd give my own life to stop this war, but not yours. That's where I draw the line. Too many of my friends have died travelling with me, people who mean a lot to me. I don't want you being one of them."
He flicked a large switch on his console, and the doors popped open. She could see a café out of them, and a street with people. She hadn't seen those for months. "I won't die for you. I don't plan on dying at all. But there's one thing that's definitely going to happen- I'm going with you. I'm not leaving you to get killed, Professor. And you will be if I'm not there." She stood with her hands on her hips. He knew that she was dangerous- he had seen her take on a Dalek before. And he knew she was right. If she wasn't there, he'd probably die. That had happened last time…
"Fine. You can stay. I just have to make one more call…"
So, for anyone who cares, this is an origin story for my own parallel universe Doctor so I can write stories for him. He's based off the Rowan Atkinson Doctor from The Curse of Fatal Death, which you need to watch if you haven't already, because it's brilliant, but at a much earlier point in his timeline. But first, I need to take care of the Eighth Doctor, which is a shame, him being my favorite. I'm still learning to write for him, though, so it may seem a bit off, so sorry for that. And Ace is here, based on a future for her from the books, I believe. Go check out the Wiki for more information- basically, she becomes a Time Agent on a Space Motorcycle. Yes, it's awesome, but it means I'll have to make some decisions where to take canon from. This is going to be confusing. More on that soon. As always, review and tell your friends!