Chapter 1 - The Fall Of The Eleventh
The sounds of battle echoed off the stone walls of the church. Periodically a stray laser blast clipped the structure, sending dust and debris onto the occupants of the room. Everyone present knew that the town of Christmas had been lost to the Dalek fleet. The siege of Trenzalore had been going on for several centuries and despite the best efforts of the planet's defender, the end was near and it was the Daleks that were close to victory. Standing over the bed of a frail looking old man was Clara Oswald. Once upon a time she had jumped into the timestream to save the life of her best friend. Now all she could do was sit by his bedside and watch as he slowly slipped away.
The old man in question was someone known simply as The Doctor, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. Ironically time was the one thing that was running out for the Time Lord. He was now over two thousand years old and at the end of his regeneration cycle. Even though he called himself the Eleventh Doctor, technically he was the thirteenth incarnation. The version of him that had fought in the Time War didn't take the name of The Doctor and the aborted regeneration of his previous incarnation had counted. Part of him hoped that it would be overlooked but there was no tricking his own biology. This body had been so frail for so long, more worn out than when he changed for the first time, that if regeneration was possible then it would've begun by now.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Clara asked, more in desperation than anything.
The Doctor shook his head, "I'm sorry Clara but all good things must come to an end". He coughed deeply a couple of time as he tried to sit up, "It's funny, the Daleks have tried to kill me numerous times over the centuries", he snorted, "turns out if you want something done right". His voice trailed off as he left the phrase incomplete.
"Doctor I'm not giving up on you", Clara said defiantly and walked out towards the balcony.
"Oh Clara", The Doctor sighed, "my impossible girl, still trying to do the impossible".
Clara stepped out onto the balcony and surveyed the scene below. The Daleks were rapidly closing in on the church, the final building in the town that hasn't been captured. The brunette looked up to the night sky and saw a golden crack appearing. Only it wasn't a natural phenomenon, it was a crack in the fabric of space and time. From what The Doctor had explained it was the Time Lords who were responsible for the tear in reality. By uttering his true name, The Doctor could release Gallifrey back into the universe. The whole war had been an attempt by his enemies to prevent this from happening. Now it appeared that The Doctor was going to take his final secret to the grave.
"I know you lot are listening", Clara called out in the direction of the crack, "but if The Doctor dies today then there's no chance of you freeing yourselves". She paused for a few moments but there didn't appear to be any response from the Time Lords, "I know you can do something to help", she pleaded, "so please, help him". The silence from the Time Lords continued, punctuated by the occasional blast from a Dalek weapon.
For a brief moment it looked like something was happening as the crack appeared to expand but just as quickly as this occurred, the crack slammed shut. "No", Clara whispered with tears in her eyes, "no you can't just leave him to die", she screamed into the night sky, "please, The Doctor can't die". The tears that had been threatening to fall slowly rolled down her cheeks, dropping against the wooden floor.
Clara stood there for a few moments, her hands clenched tightly against the wooden railing. The Doctor had never been too complimentary of the Time Lords but she never believed that they would be so callous. Without The Doctor it was highly likely that the Dalek fleet would set their sights on the rest of the system. Who knows where they would head after that, "Clara", The Doctor called out from the other room, "Clara it's time".
Taking a few deep breaths, Clara walked slowly back into the other room. She wiped her eye with the end of her sleeve and knelt by his bedside, "It was worth a try Clara", The Doctor sighed, "but the Time Lords were very strict about the regeneration limit. It appears that being stuck in a pocket dimension has done nothing to change their minds".
"But you mentioned others that had been granted new lives in exceptional circumstances", Clara shook her head, "surely this counts as exceptional?"
"My death has always been a fixed point in time", The Doctor began, "one that not even the Time Lords want to break". Silence once again descended between the pair as the Time Lord tried to make himself more comfortable, "Promise me one thing Clara Oswald", he gasped.
"Anything Doctor", Clara replied.
"Continue with your life and don't forget, never stop running", he grasped Clara's hand for a brief moment before his eyes began to close, "run my impossible girl and remember me", and with those words, The Doctor took his final breath and peacefully slipped away.
Clara lowered her head and more tears began to fall. She grasped The Doctor hand and mentally willed him to come back to life but after a few moments, she had to accept that he was gone. Once again she wiped her eyes and thought about what to do next. The Doctor wouldn't want his body to fall into the hands of the Daleks, who knows what they do with his remains.
"The one known as The Doctor has expired", the mechanical voice of a Dalek screeched from down below, "confirm, confirm".
Clara didn't know who the Dalek was talking to but she got her answer moments later, "Yes, The Doctor is dead", the voice of Tasha Lem replied to the Dalek.
"I need to get out of here", Clara muttered to herself. Her silent prayer was answered when she heard the familiar sound of the TARDIS moving from its position outside. The craft materialised around her and The Doctor until she was standing in the console room of the TARDIS. The lights were dim inside the ship, almost like she was in mourning for her pilot.
The school teacher decided that The Doctor needed a better resting place than the floor. She reached under his arms and slowly dragged him towards her bedroom. It wasn't the most dignified way to move his body but it wasn't like Clara had much choice. Eventually she reached her destination and to her surprise, there was a wooden pallet on the floor surrounded by a pile of wood. The TARDIS and Clara had a difficult relationship but the ship had never left something like this in her room before. The brunette rolled The Doctor's body onto the pallet and called out to the ship, "Is there a reason for this?" she asked, "is it a weird Time Lord funeral thing that I don't know about?"
The TARDIS mentally reassured the brunette that this wasn't undignified or disrespectful to The Doctor and promptly asked her to return to the console room. On her return Clara was confronted with an image of The Doctor, not the aged old man that she had left in her bedroom but his youthful looks had been restored. Clara's initial reaction was to run up and throw her arms around the man but as she approached, The Doctor flickered. This wasn't the man himself, it was a hologram, "Hello Clara", The Doctor began, "if you're seeing this then sadly I didn't make it".
Clara circled the hologram a couple of times but it showed no signs of recognising her presence, "I'm afraid I'm going have to ask something impossible of you", The Doctor's image continued.
"Don't you always", Clara half smiled.
"A Time Lord's body is a miracle", The hologram began, "and it can't be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. I have given some co-ordinates to the TARDIS, somewhere quiet where you can cremate my remains".
"That explains the wood", Clara commented to herself.
"Once you've done this, the TARDIS will return you to Earth", The Doctor continued, "don't worry about the old girl, she'll find somewhere safe to live out the rest of her days". There was a pause in the recorded message before The Doctor finished, "Don't worry Clara, this is just the beginning of my next great adventure", he snorted in laughter, "quoting Albus Dumbledore, I must be going senile". Clara had to laugh at that comment, even if it did release a couple more tears, "Thank you Clara, thank you for travelling with me and thank you for being my friend", the image sighed, "I just wish that all my other companions would hear me say this but goodbye universe and goodbye Clara Oswald".
The image disappeared and once again Clara was alone inside the TARDIS. Not for the first time that day, she had to dry her tears before she could do anything else. She approached the console and flipped the switch, commencing The Doctor's final journey. As she was waiting to arrive, she thought back to The Doctor's words about his companions. It seemed a little unfair that she got to say goodbye but none of them would get that chance.
She pulled one of the viewing screens around and began typing something into the console, "Hey TARDIS", Clara began, "did The Doctor keep a record of all of his companions?" Answering the brunette's question a list appeared on the screen. Some of the names were crossed through in red which Clara assumed meant they were dead or not accessible for some reason. Some were on different worlds and in different time periods so that removed them from consideration. The rest though were still alive in 2014 and surprisingly, they were all in the United Kingdom. "Don't worry Doctor", Clara whispered, "I won't be the only one who gets to remember you". The rest of the journey continued in silence as a plan began to form in Clara's head.
The Doctor might be gone but the legacy that he left behind wouldn't be forgotten in a hurry. Clara Oswald would make sure of that.
A/N – This is my first attempt at a Doctor Who story...and I start by killing off the title character. Probably not something that's going to endear me to everyone but I do have a plan. This is effectively an alternate Series 8 based on the premise that the Time Lord didn't grant The Doctor a new set of regenerations. Surely The Doctor, a man who went to great lengths to avoid death at the hands of the astronaut, would have some kind of plan in case his life was threatened again.
I have more idea for further stories, effectively turn it into a full series, whether I upload them will depend on the response to this story. So consider this a pilot story for the adventure of an alternative Twelfth Doctor.