In the year of 2046, on early Summer afternoon, a young looking woman by the name of Sadie Elizabeth Ivanhoe stood at the single window in her sterile room.
As she gazed out at the park across the street from the concrete parking lot,
she saw quite a number of people there, all smiling and having a good time.
The children there played among themselves, happy and running about, as some of the families began to have a picnic lunch. Although the window didn't open, she could imagine the smells and sounds that must have been happening.
She sighed, wishing that she could join them. Wishing that she could be anywhere but where she was. Instead of being able to lose herself in surveying the scene, like on most days, she began to feel quite sad. Sadie had spent nearly her entire life in this room, and others like it. Locked away like a prisoner.
Sadie's life consisted of few things. She spent much of her time in the small, sterile room. And when she wasn't locked away inside that room, she was usually being paraded by a nurse and a security guard to another room for some kind of medical business. Often, it was another test to be done, or prep for a surgical procedure that she would be undergoing shortly.
While nobody there seemed to like her very much at all, they couldn't seem to learn enough about her.
Certainly, she had a number of qualities about her that differed from other people, but she couldn't understand why that would cause anyone to keep her like this.
To prod, question, cut open and repeatedly test on for so many years.
Not that anyone seemed to care how miserable she was. Occasionally, she recieved the odd visitor from some research facility, and once or twice a government official had come to meet her. Not that anyone else ever visited.
Not that they would have been allowed past the triage desk, let alone all the way to her room. She had no family that anyone was aware of, and of course she had no friends. She'd never been granted the opportunity of making any.
She sighed, and stepped away from the window. She sat on her bed, staring down at the highly polished laminate flooring. An ugly off-white colour that she'd never liked. No matter how much it was washed, it would always look slightly dirty.
She let her mind wander wherever it would, and soon, her dream from last night began to come back to her. The same dream that she'd been having off and on for the past fortnight. A dream about a blue police box, and a strange man that lived inside it. Sadie could never recall the bulk of her dream, but she knew that it had been the same dream each time. One of the few luxuries that she'd been granted was literature. She could never have more than one book at a time, but that was all right with her. She always had a book under her pillow, and went through them very quickly.
She had always liked the idea of scrutinising her dreams, trying to interpret them, and had read more than a few books on the subject. But she couldn't figure out what sort of meaning such a dream might have. In her dreams, the police box was smaller on the outside. Much smaller. Sadie supposed that could sigify that she was missing quite alot in her life. Not that she wasn't aware of that already. The rest, however, could mean anything. She closed her eyes, and lay down on her side, a hand between her kneecaps. The sunbeams warmed her beautifully, and she began to fall into a light sleep.
She awoke five hours later, as the sun began to set, when a knock came at her door. Nobody ever knocked to enter her room, and she was a little startled by it.
"Erm... Come in?" She half asked, the confusion in her voice coming through clearly. The door swung open, and a slender woman doctor with curly blonde hair wheeled the dinner trolley in. Sadie's meals had always been brought by the same cantankerous old nurse for the past ten years. She wondered why a doctor would be sent to do the chore and not a spare hand from the kitchen. The doctor brought the bedside table over, and set the evening meal down carefully onto it. Sadie hadn't seen this particular doctor before. Another strange thing. She'd had the same set of doctors and nurses for the majority of her stay here, with the odd exception. She noted the name on the swing tag. 'Melody Song, M.D.'
Doctor Song noticed Sadie reading the tag. "That's right, I didn't introduce myself." She smiled. "That was rude of me, wasn't it?" Sadie blushed and stayed quiet. She wasn't too sure of how to respond to that. "Shy, huh?" Doctor Song asked. "Well, I best be going. It was nice to meet you at last, Sadie Ivanhoe."
And with that, the woman left Sadie to her meal. As the door was locked shut, Sadie noticed as the doctor looked at her once more, through the safety glass window in the door. She looked sad, somehow. Sadie wasn't used to such friendliness, especially from a doctor.
They were usually worse than the nurses, and they were pretty intolerant.
She watched the setting sun, as she ate her dinner. The potatoes were already cold, and the salty gravy had already begun to congeal. She ate quickly, so as not to taste the typically terrible food. Afterwards, she lay down and read until the lights were turned out.
Not long after Sadie closed her tired eyes, she began to dream. Slowly, distinct figures began to take shape. At first, her surroundings were much the same as always. Her simple room, dark in the early morning. But, then she heard it. The blue box. The blue police box coming to take her far away, with the strange man and his affinity for bow ties. And, as it began to appear in her room, she felt the same awe she always did when she saw it in her dreams. She felt the same excitement, even though she'd seen it happen a number of times already.
And the blue box's door swung open, golden light falling onto the ugly off-white floor. She could see the impossibly huge inside, and the smiling man walking into her room.
Then suddenly, she awoke with a start. Sadie noticed someone standing in front of the window, simply staring outside. She glanced around the room, half expecting the blue box from her dream. Of course, there wasn't one. She felt stupid for even looking. She didn't feel any sort of menace from the figure at the window, and sort of danger. And her instincts were very strong in that arena. She sat up slowly, and very quietly made her way to her feet. It was most definitely a man in her room, a tall one. In the dim light, he didn't seem to be wearing a lab coat. He was dressed rather darkly, blending in with the night.
She readied herself in case she was wrong about him being dangerous. She took a deep breath in. If the man had heard her wake or get out of bed, he hadn't reacted to it. "If you don't mind my asking, who the hell are you and why are you in my room?" She asked as boldly as she could, while trying to sound non-threatening. The man straightened slightly, and turned to look at her.
She couldn't see his face, but she knew that he could see her perfectly. There was a light right outside her window that illuminated much of the room. "I," He began, "Am a friend." He answered simply. Sadie raised an eyebrow. "A friend?" She asked in a steady tone. "What sort of friend creeps into people's rooms in the middle of the night?" She swallowed any feeling of uneasiness, keeping her mind focused and clear. She doubted that anyone would have granted this stranger access to her room in the middle of the night.
She noticed that the door was open just a crack. That never happened. The door was always locked closed if someone wasn't using it. The man stepped closer to her, and she stepped backwards towards the door. "Look," He said quietly, "There isn't a whole lot of time to explain, but you need to get out of here. And I can help." The man stayed where he was, letting that sink in.
Sadie blinked a few times. As numerous questions swirled in her mind, her instincts told her that she could trust him. She couldn't see any rational reason for believing a word he said, but her insticts had never failed her. He sighed. "There really isn't much time." He said, running a hand through his hair, sounding genuinely concerned. "You need to come with me, and I'm sorry, but that's whether or not you want to." Sadie gave a slightly nervous bark of a laugh. "Is that a threat?" She asked, her knees getting a tad wobbly. "No." He told her gently. "It's a promise. I'm not going to hurt you." He took a couple of slow steps toward her, and she stayed where she was. Sadie wasn't terribly afraid, but she could feel that something big was about to happen. And she couldn't tell if that would be a good or bad thing.
The stranger could tell that she was still considering making a break for it. And that could end up being very dangerous for them both.
"Those dreams." He started. "About the blue police box?" He said.
Sadie's eyes widened. There was no way he could have known about her dreams. Nobody else knew about them. "How the hell di-" She started, but was interrupted by a very loud crashing sound in the hallway. He rushed towards her, closing the gap between them in an instant, just before excruciatingly bright light flooded into the entire hospital.
And in that instant, thanks to the man's wrist device, they were transported from immediate danger to the heart of that blue box. To the incredibly big inside of that impossible box.
She recognized the inside immediately, and not surprisingly, there stood the man that went with the scene, wearing a black bow tie.
Sadie began to laugh. And laugh, and laugh. She couldn't stop, and before she knew it, she was crying. She knew that once more, it was a dream. But for a moment, she had believed it all. That someone cared enough to rescue her, that her dream had come true, the she was free at last.
Yet, she could feel it when the stranger from her room helped her to sit down on the floor, felt it when he put a warm hand on her back. But, how could any of this be real? The man with the bow tie walked carefully over, and crouched down in front of her. His eyes looked so sad. "It's all right, I promise." He told her gently, reassuringly. He wiped a tear from her cheek. She felt his gentle finger brush across her cheek. She closed her eyes, muttering to herself that it was all just a dream. Because, she knew that if she let herself believe, that when she woke up, her hearts would break as they always did when reality shattered her happy dreams.
"But, it's not." The strange man stated softly. Sadie was a mess of mixed emotions. This wasn't like any sort of dream that she'd ever had before. It felt... Real. Truly real, not like other dreams.
But, these were impossible things.
Sadie's tears slowed, and she decided to take things as they came, and stop dwelling on whether or not it was real. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and got to her feet. The bow tied man offered her a chair, as the stranger from her room watched a short distance away, frowning.
"Sadie." He said strangely, as though she were a dear friend whom he had long gone without seeing. There was something distinctly different about him, something that she could sense that they shared. But, she couldn't quite put her finger on. As he looked at her in that odd way, he finally introduced himself. "I'm The Doctor." He smiled, "And that," He gestured towards the other man, who waved and grinned, "Is Captain Jack Harkness. I asked him to bring you here." The Doctor reached into his jacket pocket, and brought out a white paper bag. "Jelly baby?" He offered. Sadie politely accepted, and pulled a blue jelly baby out of the bag.
She sniffed it. Black current. She popped it into her mouth, chewing slowly. It was actually quite good. The Doctor smiled. "Another?" He offered. Sadie shook her head. "No, thank you." She told him, and he put the bag away.
As The Doctor began to speak again, someone walked noisily into the room. A curly haired blonde someone. The doctor from the hospital. Sadie's brows knitted in confusion.
"Hello, again!" Doctor Song called to her. Sadie managed a small hello back.
Things were getting stranger by the minute. The room began to spin, and she felt a little nauseous. The Doctor noted the sudden paling of her skin, as she began to swoon. "I think that it's time we let you rest." He stated firmly. "Jack, would you take Sadie to her room, please?" He asked in quiet tones. Jack nodded, and swiftly made his way over, picking her up gently in his strong arms.
Sadie felt strangely comforted by being carried like this. She felt warm and safe, like for the first time, everything would actually be okay. She was fully asleep by the time Harkness had set her on the bed. He brushed her long blonde bangs out of her eyes, pulled the soft comforter over her body, and closed the door halfway. The Doctor had told him that she was quite powerful, but right now, she seemed to be nearly the most vulnerable creature he'd ever laid eyes upon.
He made his way back down to The Doctor and River Song. "She's out like a light." He told them. "Good." The Doctor said. "She needs all the rest she can get."
River pulled her hair into a ponytail. "How are we going to tell her who she is?" She asked, looking into The Doctor's eyes, frowning. He kissed her forehead. "I don't know." He answered. "We'll know when the time comes." Jack, realising that he should probably give the couple some space, took this as his cue to head to his room aboard the TARDIS. There was so much to say, but no need for words. They just held each other, knowing each other's thoughts. River yawned, exhausted. "I think that it's time for bed." The Doctor told her, and they headed up to their bedroom that looked out into universe.
Roughly nine hours later, Sadie awoke. She was startled to find that she was in a room that was not her own, back in the hospital. Perhaps this really was real, after all. She smiled to herself, feeling content as she stretched out on the incredibly comfortable king sized bed. A faint, glowing orange light filled the room through the sheer white curtains covering the large window. She looked around the room, noting that the walls had the same scheme as the first room. She wasn't quite sure how she got to the bedroom, or how to get back to the original room. But, she was well rested and rather hungry, so she opened the door the rest of the way, and began to follow a hallway. She heard people talking, and followed the voices.
Soon, she found her way to the control room, where the group from last night was discussing something or other. The Doctor noticed Sadie coming down the stairs, and everyone stopped talking.
Sadie suddenly felt self-concious. "I'll bet you're hungry, aren't you?" The Doctor asked.
She nodded. "Well, what would you like to eat?" He asked. "I don't have anything on hand, so we'll have to pop out." He gazed at her warmly, as he held River's hand.
"Er... I don't know." She said. "I've never actually been asked what I'd like for breakfast." She thought for a moment. "How about... Scrambled eggs on toast?" She asked.
"Brilliant!" The Doctor told her. "I know just the place." And suddenly, he began to fiddle with knobs and levers on the console. Sadie felt everything move, and held onto a nearby pole.
"What's happening?" She cried. But, it was over nearly as soon as it began.
"That's right, I haven't exactly explained things, have I?" He asked, more to himself than anyone in particular. "Well, you already know that the TARDIS is bigger on the inside." He started.
Sadie blinked. "That's what you call this, then? A TARDIS?" She asked levelly.
"Yep." He confirmed. "Stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. We can literally travel anywhere at all. Anywhere in time and space." He bit his lip as Sadie took the information in.
"Right." She said. "So, you've got a blue police box that's actually a flying time machine."
She shook her head, and chuckled lightly. "Okay, then." She said, actually fine with the concept. The Doctor smiled and opened the door.
Outside, across the street, was a lovely little restaurant with wrought metal tables and chairs on the patio. It was obviously a very expensive eatery, and even the waiters looked as though they were upper class. They all stepped outside, and The Doctor closed the door behind them.
They made their way over to the restaurant, and were soon seated.
As the waiter handed her a menu, and told the table what the specials were, she realised that what she was hearing was French. And somehow, she understood every word. She opened the menu. More French. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. River, who was sitting beside her put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?" She asked with a concerned look on her face. Sadie opened her eyes, and looked at the menu again. "Tell me, what language is this?" She asked, trying not to sound insane. "It's French." River answered, frowning briefly. Then, she understood. "It's the TARDIS. It gives you the ability to understand any language there is." She explained. Sadie felt relief wash over her. "Thank goodness, for a moment there I thought that I was losing it." She admitted.
A waiter returned with their orders. Sadie immediately tucked in, savouring the egg on toast as though it was the finest dish in the world. She had never tasted anything so delicious! Most of the food she'd eaten in her life was bland, pasty and half cold. This was fresh, flavourful and wonderfully warm.
After the meal was finished, Sadie was feeling tired again. So, it was back to the TARDIS.
River led her to her room so that she could rest.
Upon returning to the control room, River found her husband and Jack reminiscing about Jack's old Chula ship. It had been destroyed long ago, but apparently it had been something special. "I think we need to tell her." River told her them when they had finished. "The sooner the better. She needs to know." She crossed her arms and had a firm look on her beautiful face.
Jack could never maintain eye contact with her for long when she was like this. River was a fierce sort of person, the kind you wouldn't want to piss off. And considering that he disagreed with her, he kept his mouth shut. His opinions didn't matter on this subject, anyway. It barely involved him.
"If we tell her right away, and she doesn't believe us, then I could lose her forever." The Doctor said very seriously, thumbs behind his suspender straps. "And, I'm not going to allow that to happen." River maintained her stern look. "Just don't make her wait too long. She deserves to know the truth." And with that, she took off upstairs. The Doctor sighed. "I know, I know. She's right." He half smiled at Jack, who shrugged. "It's nothing to do with me." He said. "I'm keeping out of it." The Doctor nodded. "The situation has very little to do with River, either. But, she's not going to keep out of things." He pointed out. Jack held up a finger. "Ah, but she is your wife." He shot back. "So, it involves her more than me." There was silence for a few moments.
"However, she does need to know the truth." He said, "And yes, it might hurt her. But, after that, she'll be happy that you told her. She needs to know who she is, where she came from."
He let out a slow breath. The Doctor nodded slowly. "Yes, you're absolutely right. But, how do I know when it's the right time to tell her?" He asked. "I mean, you can't just all of a sudden go telling someone who thought they were an orphan 'Oh, hey, about your parents' and then tell them." He finished. Jack pulled out a package of cinnamon gum, offering a stick to The Doctor, who accepted. "No, you can't." Jack agreed. "But, you'll figure it out. Give her a few days, test the waters. You've got some time here. Just don't let it run out." He offered with a reassuring smile.
Over the next week, they travelled to the Boeshane Peninsula, the Mnemosyne Cincture and the Cliffs of Oblivion. Sadie adored it. Seeing such new sights, meeting such strange and wonderful beings and feeling so wonderfully free was utter bliss for her.
After visiting the Cliffs of Oblivion, and having a lunch of fish fingers and custard, a favourite of The Doctor's, they all piled back into the TARDIS and headed to Earth, 2046, the time Sadie had grown up in. It was time for her to learn who she was.
The Doctor took her on a walk through Central Park, a place that Sadie had read about and had always wanted to visit. Jack and River went a seperate way, leaving them on their own.
As they walked slowly across a stretch of grass, through crispy Autumn leaves, the sound of the crunching leaves filled their ears. "Sadie?" He started cautiously. "Mm-Hmm?" She intoned. "What were you told about... Well, about your family? How you came to be at the hospital?" He asked, unsure of how to steer this particular conversation.
Sadie frowned. "The only thing I was ever told was that I was born to a woman prisoner who didn't want me." She shrugged. "That's all I was ever told. Nothing more, nothing less. Why?" Sadie asked. The Doctor gestured to a nearby bench. "How about we rest for a bit, eh?" He suggested. Sadie followed him over, and they say down. There was nobody around, the park was pretty quiet in this area. The only other creatures directly nearby were a few obese pigeons and a duck.
"What you were told, Sadie, was a lie." He looked into her eyes, gauging her response to this. "At least in part. Your mother did want you, more than just about anything. You should know that." He sighed. "Would you like me to tell you the whole truth?" He asked carefully. Sadie swallowed hard. "Yes, I do." She answered.
The Doctor nodded. "All right." He told her. "Keep in mind that this might sound very strange to you, but I promise you, that every word of it is true." He pressed his lips into a thin line, and was quiet for a moment before beginning his tale.
"Right, then..." The Doctor began. Sadie paid attention quite intently, not even noticing the large, dry leaf that had fallen onto her shoulder from the maple tree towering above them. "Fourty-three years back from 2046, the Earth was taken over by an old enemy of mine, called The Master. He had taken a human wife, Lucy Saxon. For a full year, the Earth was destroyed more and more, little by little."
He glanced down at the ground momentarily, not exactly sure how to get to the point. This sort of thing was not something he'd ever had to do in the past. He took a deep breath, and blew it out, as Sadie grew a little impatient with the pause. He continued. "And at the end of that year, The Master was killed by his wife, and the Earth was restored. Lucy Saxon spent the rest of her life in prison." He paused once more. "And?" She prompted, trying not to sound callous, but eager for him to get to the point. A sad look appeared on The Doctor's face. "And, you were born eight months after the Earth had been restored to it's former glory, to that same woman." He finished, watching her closely. Sadie was very quiet, and wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel.
"You and I, Sadie, are the last of our kind." He said seriously. "We are the last Time Lords." Sadie stood up, and began to walk back the way they had come, back to the TARDIS. "Sadie?" The Doctor called, catching up to her. "Are you okay?" He asked. Sadie smiled sadly. "I don't know." She admitted. "I mean, what am I supposed to be feeling, thinking?" She asked throwing her hands in the air. "Things have been strange enough, and then you drop this bombshell in my lap!" She laughed unhappily. She stopped suddenly, turning to face him. "What am I to do with this information, why did you tell me when it makes no difference?" She asked him as calmly as she could manage.
The Doctor looked sad. "Because you needed to know the truth." He said, regretting that he'd caused her to become upset.
"Your father was very powerful, as you are. But, with one difference." He continued. Sadie listened. "There was a prophecy written millenia ago about a Time Lord that shares the same history as you. It didn't give explictly precise dates or names, but it's a very close match. And, considering that you and I are the only ones left, and it certainly isn't about me, that makes you the most powerful Time Lord that ever was or ever will be." He finally told her. "And, that's why there are certain rather evil individuals out there in the universe that would very much like to get their hands on you."
Sadie was utterly overwhelmed. "Back at the hospital, I really was in danger wasn't I?" She asked.
The Doctor nodded. "It was lucky that Jack got there in time." He told her. Sadie's eyes began to well up.
"I am so confused." She held herself, feeling rather cold and unsettled. The Doctor took his green coat off, and put it around her shoulders. "But, you'll get cold." She said, feeling dumb for stating the obvious. He smiled. "It's a short walk, and I'm warm enough." He assured her. "Now, I think we should be heading back, don't you?"
Sadie tried to smile, but couldn't. On the walk to the TARDIS, she couldn't keep her thoughts straight. Her mind screamed at her, as everything The Doctor said danced through her mind, trying to make sense of it all.
A little more than halfway there, Sadie collapsed, unable to take any more. The Doctor picked her up carefully, and carried her back. As he opened the door, River and Jack watched in shock as he walked in, carrying Sadie's limp form. "What happened?" River asked, jogging over, immediately checking her vital stats. "I told her." The Doctor said grimly. "Everything?" River asked.
The Doctor nodded. River closed her eyes. "You didn't have to tell her all at once, you know." She half chided. "The poor thing... No wonder she blacked out." The Doctor took Sadie to her room, River following behind. After closing the door behind them, he turned to River. "Now you tell me?" He grimaced. River looked exasperated. "I thought that you could use your own judgement." She huffed. The Doctor put a hand to his head. "Well, it's too late now." He said. "What's done is done." River put an arm around him. "How did she take it?" She asked. He sighed. "Considering, I think she took it rather well." He answered. "But, she's hurting. And that's my fault, in part." He told her. River frowned. "No, it's not." She said stubbornly. "Why would you even think that?" She asked. The Doctor shook his head. "River, you don't understand." He said. "I could've stopped Lucy Saxon from killing him. I could've saved them both." He began to tear up. "Things would have been very different, she would've had a family." River embraced him. "He wouldn't have changed, my love." She said softly.
He leaned into her. "You don't know that." He said. She stroked his hair. "And you don't know, either." She whispered.
"But, it's over. And you know more than most that nothing will come of dwelling on it."
They headed back downstairs where Jack was. "How is she?" He asked. The Doctor and his wife exchanged looks.
"I think she'll be all right with a little time." The Doctor answered. "That bad, huh?" Jack asked flatly. River bit her lip.
"Sorry." He apologised. The Doctor shook his head. "No, that's all right." He mumbled, as he headed over to check something on the blinking console screen. His eyes widened in surprise, before he began to hurriedly pull levers and twist buttons.
"What is it?" River shouted over the engine noises, knowing that it couldn't be anything good. The Doctor didn't answer, focusing all of his energy on getting them far away from Earth in 2046.
After they were a safe distance, he answered. "When we arrived on our little Earth excursion, nothing was out of the ordinary. Nothing to be concerned about whatsoever." He began. "However, at some point during our short stay, 19,000 Chula warships began to collect ranks directly above the TARDIS. And, I get the distinct feeling that it has to do with Sadie." Jack frowned. "But, if that's the case, then why would they choose now to try and get to her? They had 43 years to make a go of it." He asked. The Doctor nodded. "Ah, yes. Good point. Actually, the reason for that would likely be that without me,
Sadie would likely be unable to further any skills that she has that would be any use to them." He stated. "And I know how to assist her in not only furthering those skills, but learn about many others that she never even dreamed of."
Jack nodded. "So, they don't need just her." He said. "They need you." The Doctor pointed at him. "Exactly." He confirmed. "However, it would seem that out of those that know about Sadie, very few realise that without me, she would be of little use to them. In which case, if they got their hands on her, they would likely end up killing her out of frustration."
River swallowed. "If that happened the prophecy would be broken, and..." Her sentence drifted into silence.
The Doctor looked intensely solemn. "Everything would die." He finished. Jack's eyes widened. He had known that the situation regarding Sadie was very serious, but he had never imagined something quite like this. He had originally planned on assisting The Doctor on attaining Sadie, hanging around for a couple of weeks, then going back to work for Torchwood. He decided there needed to be a change of plans. "Right." He said. "Then, I guess I'll be sticking around for a while longer. You know, in case you need a little extra back-up." He said firmly. The Doctor smiled. "Are you sure?" He asked. Jack smiled back. "You don't really think I'd pass up an opportunity like this do you? This could be the most important thing I ever do." He sighed. "Besides, if the situation becomes deadly, then I'm the perfect man for the job, aren't I?" He asked, slightly bitter.
The Doctor pressed his lips together tightly. "I would never ask you for your help with something like this." He told Jack, "But, as long as you're sure you know what you're getting into..." After a moment of manly sentimental eye contact, they both nodded.
"If there's anything that I've learned from travelling with you, Doctor, it's that you never walk away from something this important." Jack said proudly.