'We never know the worth of water till the well is dry' – We never know the worth of love till it is lost
Till the Well is Dry
"What will unit do with the ghosts?" Clara asked backing into the console
"Drag the cage into space, away from the Earth's magnetic field." The doctor replied "With nothing to sustain them, the ghosts will eventually fade away."
"Here's what I don't understand" Clara said crossing her arms and approaching the Doctor "You did change the future. You stopped the Fisher King from returning"
"The Fisher King had been dead for 150 years before we even got here. But once I went back I became part of events." He said walking around the console "But here's the thing. The messages my ghost gave weren't for you, they were for me." He grinned "That list. Everyone after you was random, but you being the next name, that's what made me confront the Fisher King. "
"And saying the chamber will open?"
"That was me telling me to get inside and when to set it for."
"Smart" Clara said looking impressed
"Except that's not why I said them."
"How do you mean?" Clara asked confused
"I programmed my ghost to say them because that's what my ghost had said. And the only reason I created my ghost-hologram in the first place was because I saw it here. I was reverse engineering the narrative"
"Okay, that's still pretty smart."
"You do not understand." The Doctor said slowly "When did I first have those ideas, Clara?"
"Well, it must have been…"
"Wow."
"Exactly." He grinned "Who composed Beethoven's 5th?" Clara looked confused at the random jump waiting for some sort of explanation. But the Doctor's mind was already buzzing as he realised something, something that didn't fit.
"Clara, maybe we should give them a lift up to the surface" he said
"I'm sure they would appreciate it, I doubt they would want to stay here" Clara smiled already moving towards the door not bothering to wait for the Doctor to follow her. However she paused at the door "Are you coming?" she asked raising her eyebrows. When the Doctor moved towards the door she pulled it open and exited the Tardis, the door swinging closed as she did. The Doctor fiddled with the console. He had something to do first, but before that to Vinvocci.
oOo
The Doctor grinned as he jumped out of the Tardis
"Where the hell did you go?" Clara demanded, obviously furious but the Doctor didn't care. He ran over to Bennett
"Don't you think its odd" he asked gleefully
"What is odd?" Bennett asked
"O'Donnell's ghost" the Doctor pushed like they were idiots, Bennett looked devastated at the mention
"Doctor" Clara hissed
"Think about it" the Doctor continued spinning around so he could address them all "Why didn't her ghost appear when Prentis' did?"
"Because she wasn't dead yet" Bennet snarled
"But she was, in their time at least, we know why my ghost didn't appear from the beginning but why didn't O'Donnell's?"
"What are you saying? She died I saw her die. Her ghost is in the cage"
"Did you?" the Doctor pushed "Think about it, Prentis' death was screaming, agony but O'Donnell didn't scream once"
"O'Donnell was strong" Lunn interjected
"Ripping your soul from your body, that's would be exceedingly painful. But she didn't scream"
"We didn't even see the Fisher King with her" Bennett realised "Are you saying there is a chance…"
"More than a chance" the Doctor said gleefully approaching the door to the Faraday cage, the group looked stunned as they spotted O'Donnell in the window. The Doctor didn't waste time opening the door allowing the ghostly form to exit the cage
"Doctor what are you doing?" Clara asked confusion and a little fear evident, but he didn't reply instead pulling the watch from under the sleeve of the ghost's jacket
"Alice" Bennett managed to choke out as O'Donnell's ghost shimmered from view and in its place she stood, clearly human
"Hello" she said grinning shyly to the man
"Wh-Why- How?" Bennett spluttered
"I don't know, the Doctor just appeared and gave me some… liquidy thing" O'Donnell said causing the group to look at the man
"Got it from a nice man called Gaius from Camelot, he'd made it before something about a troll" the Doctor explained
"Thank you" Bennett said his voice thick with emotions "About what I said"
"Don't apologise, we both know you were somewhat right" the Doctor said causing Bennett to nod and the rest to look confused
"I think you owe us an explanation" Lunn said voicing Cass' demand
"Well…"
'The Doctor approached almost silently, knowing that there were already two other versions of himself around ensured his care, after all reapers were not needed. He listened as the Fisher King walked through the corridor, past where he knew his previous self and Bennet were, getting closer to O'Donnell's hiding place. He hoped he was correct about this, waiting as the footsteps got nearer and nearer. He held his breath waiting, he let out a ragged breath. Knowing the monster would have zeroed in on it, he moved his hiding place listening as the monster carried on walking clearly looking for him, but the Doctor carefully manouvered around the monster returning to where he knew O'Donnell was hiding. When he arrived, the Fisher King's footsteps finally stopping, he watched O'Donnell back away from her hiding place, clearly (idiotically) thinking she was safe. He walked forward, his shadow falling over her. O'Donnell turned around clearly scared, she chuckled nervously when she realised it was only him
"Where's Bennett?" she asked realising he was not there
"We don't have time" The Doctor said handing a vial from his pocket over "Drink this" he demanded
"What is it?" she asked suspiciously
"You need to die, well pretend at least" he revealed "I need you to trust me" he said grabbing her arms so he could look into her eyes almost desperately
O'Donnell froze at the look in his eyes, she took a deep breath "Okay"
The Doctor looked stunned at her agreeing so easily "Drink that, pretend to die. You cannot allow anyone to think you survived" he said helping her to lie down, both flinched as they heard the enraged roar of the Fisher King, having failed to find any new becons
"Drink it now" the Doctor demanded, already hearing the other's approaching. O'Donnell did as she was told handing the vial back to the Doctor who disappeared hiding from himself. Watching the performance. As Bennett ran into the room O'Donnell began moaning in pain. Bennett runs to her and grabs her hand as she reaches out for him. Lifting her up so she is in his arms.
"Why did you come? You shouldn't have come. You never listen, it drives me mad." He babbled
O'Donnell grimaced "To keep an eye on you, idiot. So don't die." She squeezed her eyes shut in pain, her breathe becoming ragged as she collapsed. The potion taking effect finally.
"Who's next on the list?" Bennett asked his hand still gripping O'Donnell's. He laid her down gently, pulling his glasses off before speaking again "That list your ghost was saying, that's the order in which people are going to die, isn't it? I mean, I've only just figured it out. But you knew that all along, didn't you? Moran, Pritchard, Prentis, O'Donnell."
"I thought perhaps, because her ghost wasn't there in the future, like Prentis' was, I thought maybe…" the doctor shook his head slightly "… Maybe it wouldn't happen, maybe she stood a chance."
"Yeah, but you didn't try very hard to stop her, though, did you?" Bennett said getting into the Doctor's face "It was almost like you wanted to test your theory. So who's next?"
"Clara."
"Yeah. Except now you're going to do something about it, aren't you? Yeah, because it's getting closer to you. You're going to change history to save yourself but not to save O'Donnell. You wouldn't save her."
"This isn't about saving me. I'm a dead man walking. I'm changing history to save Clara." Bennett stalked away leaving the Doctor to sigh, before following after the man.
The Doctor stepped from his hiding place as his counterpart left the room. He slid towards O'Donnell's prone body pulling a second vial from his coat, he uncorked it. Before allowing several drops to fall into her mouth. He waited for her breathing to return before helping her to sit up.
"Explain now" she demanded "There were two of you"
"Actually three" the Doctor replied "It doesn't matter, I realised with everything else being a lie that maybe your own death was. If I could save you I needed to"
O'Donnell smiled up at him, truthfully she was glad she wasn't dead "What now?"
"Now we go to the Tardis" he replied helping her up, the longer they remained the more difficult it would be "And then, you play ghost" O'Donnell looked to him confused as he pulled out a wristwatch "Put that on" he said as he led her to where he had hidden the Tardis "That is a Shimmer, it will allow you to take the form of a ghost, or at least it will when I have recalibrated it"
"Why do I need to take the form of a ghost?"
"We can't use the hologram, not at the same time as my own." He said pulling the Tardis doors open "However with that it shouldn't be too hard to convince the others you are a ghost"
"But won't the other ghosts try to kill me" O'Donnell objected
"Don't worry" he grinned pushing his sonic glasses on her face "I'll erase the memory of it, you'll be fine. They'll examine you then simply ignore you, that's what they did with Lunn"
"So I just need to study what I did as a ghost" she said looking to the grinning Doctor
"Exactly."
oOo
O'Donnell listened as her friends spoke, she couldn't bear to look at Bennett's broken face so as Prentis and Moran approached the door she turned her back on it "What will happen to them?" Bennett asked
"UNIT will cut out the Faraday Cage with them inside and take it away. Then the space-hearse will be destroyed, so the writing doesn't infect anyone else." The Doctor told Bennett
"What do I do now?" he asked eyes not leaving the small round window
"I don't understand" The Doctor said looking lost
"I do" Clara said walking forward, stopping so that she was next to Bennett watching the ghosts through the window too "You keep going. You have to. Take it from me, there is a whole world out there, a galaxy, a life. What would O'Donnell have wanted?" she asked, as the ghost of O'Donnell turned to face them. She couldn't help but look at him in that moment
"I need to erase that message from your mind, but its fine, I'll do it later." The Doctor said walking away
"Lunn. Will you translate something to Cass for me?" Bennett asked
"Of course" Lunn said tapping Cass' wrist so she would turn around
"Tell her you're in love with her and that you always have been."
"What?"
"Tell her there is no point wasting time because things happen and then it's too late." Lunn smiled "Tell her I wish someone had given me that advice." O'Donnell heart squeezed but she knew she couldn't reveal herself, not yet. But how she wanted to, how she wanted to tell Bennett it wasn't too late, that they could still have a chance.
Cass signalled clearly wanting to know what Bennett had said, her eyes not leaving Lunn. Lunn looked hard at Bennett before he worked up the courage to do just as the other man had said.
They all watched as Lunn began to panic at Cass' taken back look. She looked to Bennett confused
"Oh god" Lunn said "I was just passing on what he said, please don't feel…" Lunn spoke whilst signing. But Cass just pulled him in for a kiss. O'Donnell still waited, knowing it wouldn't be long until her cue. She just had to wait, wait for the Doctor that saved her to return'
oOo
"I'm proud of you" Clara said as the entered the Tardis leaving two waving couples behind
"Who wrote Beethoven's 5th?" The Doctor asked
"What?"
"So there's this man. He has a time machine. Up and down history he goes, zip zip zip zip zip, getting into scrapes"
The End