A distant sound filled the morgue, a grinding, echoing call that was like no other. It stopped abruptly, a buzzing was left in the air to fade into silence once more. The Tardis door opened, and out leapt the Doctor, one hand holding onto the edge. He took a deep breath, murmuring the word 'Earth' before proudly straightening his bowtie.
He stilled for a moment and then slowly looked up from the papers he was looking over as the Tardis' sound reached through the glass. Seeing the Doctor step around the slabs coming towards the office, he sighed, pushing the papers away and leaning back. Half of him was glad to see the Time Lord, desperate for any distraction; and the other half wanted no reminder of his immortality.
Hello," the Doctor stated simply, putting on a smile. "What do you think of Egyptian culture?"
He paused for a moment, balancing between his instinctive reaction to learn more and his current mood to order the Doctor away, and then cautiously bid the Doctor welcome. "...I believe that there is still very much left to discover about their culture.
The Doctor stepped forward, folding his hands together to hold them relatively still, "There is a planet with that's both Grecian and Egyptian..."
The side that wished to mope and pity itself grew quieter, and he leaned forward. "In architecture and culture? Or do two distinct parts exist together?"
His hands separated again. "They all sort of mix together into a distinct...thing." He shrugged. "Sort of like Pompeii and Akhenatan together."
He hesitated for a moment more; and then shook his head and gave in, shrugging out of his white coat. "Very well – but is it too much to ask that the resemblance to Pompeii be kept merely to architecture and culture?" He stepped around his desk to fetch his scarf and overcoat, waving the Doctor out ahead of him.
"Pompeii was a fixed point in time!" The Doctor retorted, looking somewhat hurt.
"Precisely my point – if we must visit fixed points, perhaps we may visit one that is not life-threatening for once? If not for my sake, then yours – eventually, even you will run out of luck and regenerations."
"We are both doctors, and helping people is what we do." The Doctor sobered, turning towards the TARDIS with a distant expression.
He sighed and his answer was quiet. "Yes, but not today. You may save them another day - I would rather not die for them."
"Why not?" The Doctor looked disheartened. He quickly slid the façade into place, plastering on a false smile. "Have you never dreamed of what it was like?"
He stilled for a moment. "Dying?"
The Doctor tossed his arms out, "Egyptian culture, living in that time! Of course I wouldn't ask If you've considered dying - that is a rubbish question!" He blurred his sentence together in a jungle of quickly spoken words.
He relaxed, letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, shaking his head as he stepped towards the Tardis. "Yes, I have dreamt of it." He shuddered slightly, remembering the nightmare that came from that time and seemed to bring all the other nightmares with him. Perhaps he exagerrated, but he still slept better knowing the being was locked within his own body for the meantime - long enough to protect his son at least. He waited by the ship's door. "There is much unknown about that time - living through it would be...educational."
The Doctor opened the door and began walking backwards into the Tardis, rambling about time travel and Egypt and other planets.
Henry followed him within the ship, glancing around at the changing 'desktop'. It never seemed to be the same way twice - something was always different.
"May I know the name of our destination?" He loosened his scarf somewhat.
"Noi'tacifimmum, in the Sleydor galexy!" He grinned and started punching buttons, moving around to stare at a small screen for a few seconds
He stepped up to the console and ran a hand lightly over the glowing buttons and switches. "I wonder if you make those names up merely for the fun of watching others attempt to pronounce them."
The Doctor feigned offense, and Henry smothered a smile.
He straightened up, shedding his coat and scarf over the railing as he pointedly set aside his life.
The Time Lord grinned seemingly-carelessly, putting on hand on a lever and the other on the panel before him. "Ready?"
He quickly reached out to grip the console. "Of course... Although perhaps you could fly this ship properly?"
The Doctor pulled the lever; and with a cry of 'Geronimo', the Tardis began to fade from the morgue, traveling through space and time
He stood still until the shaking of the Tardis stopped and then carefully unlocked his fingers from the console. "And the weather? Should I wear my coat again?"
"Ah - don't do that!" The Doctor rushed towards the door, bouncing lightly beside it while waiting for Henry to catch up
He took a deep breath and then strode after the Doctor, putting his hands in his pockets as he stood by the door. "Very well then."
The Doctor opened the door. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, stepping out into the sun. His shoes sank into the sand - he took a moment to straighten his jacket and bowtie
He looked up, squinting at the sun for a moment before his sight adjusted, and then dropped his gaze to the new world around him. It was a warm colour, reds and oranges seeming to tint even the coldest of colours. He lowered his gaze to look around the place they stood in, just without the gates leading into the market. Scents of spices and foods wafted out on the air, and the noise of business reached over the walls. Following the Doctor as he made his way through the market, he studied the vendors, learning all he could about the society here.
The Doctor was rambling as he lead the way, explaining how the cultures on different planets could be nearly identical to the ones on Earth.
He listened to the Doctor out of one ear as he took in the tunics and stoles everyone wore around them, the dyes and silks that decorated the garments. They were beautiful; and soft, as he reached out to touch the cloth in a vendor's stall. Perhaps before they left, the Doctor would take him to the place the cloth was made.
He blinked at the sudden change of location and topic, and directed his complete attention to the words. Information about shells and berries and threads entered along with the bustle of the city's inhabitants. It was peaceful, even while it was distracting - a distant memory of youth and innocence, in a way. Slowly, he relaxed fully.
The Doctor was glad it seemed to be working - his whole purpose had been to try and cheer the man up, after all. Although, perhaps a tiny sliver of it was for his own loneliness
He looked around at the buildings and walls as they walked further into the city. "How old is this culture?"
"I..." The Doctor paused, looking almost offended as he spoke - "I don't know." He brightened considerably. There were rare things he didn't know. The alien shook his head and kept walking.
He smiled slightly at the Doctor's initial affrontation, and shook his head as he followed. "Have you been here often before?"
"No. In fact, I just found it! Do you like it?"
"Indeed?" He looked around with new eyes. "Then you have not averted the planet's inevitable disaster?" His smile was wry.
"Inevitable disaster, why would you think there was one?" The Doctor didn't spare a glance in Henry's direction, only started muttering - "sometimes I do just go to planets for a friendly visit."
He shrugged. "If you say so - but you cannot deny that every time I have accompanied you we end in an attack against someone or something. Let us hope this is the amicable visit for once - and that it will remain so."
The Doctor nodded sharply and squared his shoulders. "Is there anything specific you want to see here? Anything, anytime." He began getting excited once more, the air about him seeming to shift - becoming alive
He hesitated, looking around him. Anywhere, anytime - a temptation to be sure did he not know better. "You mentioned Egyptian culture - do they still practice mummifcation here?"
"Yes."
"Would it be too much to ask to observe the process - how it actually was carried out? If it will be no trouble with the culture here."
"Of course!" The Doctor grinned.
Henry followed him through the streets, trusting the Doctor to know the path.
The Doctor led the way, turning through the winding streets. He was stopped short when he turned and was met by a gathering crowd, all murmuring and muttering in disgust. They were forming a large circle around something, or someone, and trying to stay as far away as possible.
Henry stumbled into his guide, being absorbed in the decorations atop a building's roof. Confused, he looked to the Time Lord, and then through the crowd's head. Seeing that they circled around something, he pushed forward through them.
The Doctor stared for a moment - and a moment was too long. "Henry!" he exclaimed, stepping quickly forward to try to catch the Immortal. He had an idea of what was ahead... And if Henry got in the center of the gathered group, then his prior words of 'amicable visit' would be a lie. Again.
Henry studied the bundle of dark rags on the street for a moment and then gasped in indignation and stepped forward as he realised what it was - as he realised that what these people were circling with discust instead of helping was a person. He knelt beside her and reached beneath the rags to find the person's wrist, checking the pulse. Not finding it, he carefully rolled the body over, steadying...her head and settling her down as he pressed his fingers to her neck beneath the veil to check the pulse that was faintly there.
The Doctor burst through the line just seconds after Henry, and skidded to a halt. He muttered 'oh dear' several times in a sing-song manor, looking around at the horrified faces. He was already trying to come up with a way out - they could just go to the Tardis, perhaps even bring the girl... Before he could finish his line of thought, the soldiers roughly shoved through the front of the line.
Henry could hear the Doctor muttering something, but his attention was focused on the girl before him. He had felt the sores, and knew she had leprousy, and he hesitated to think of how she would die. Hearing a commotion beside him, he glanced up just in time to see a group of soldiers push the Doctor out of the way as they stepped into the ring; staying away from the two people in the centre of it. Curious, he glanced towards the Doctor, only to be distracted when two of the soldier dragged him up and away from the girl and quickly wrapped twine around his wrists.
"Wait!" The Doctor exclaimed, running towards them despite the protests of the other soldiers. He stopped before Henry and the two men binding his hands. "There's been a misunderstanding, you see..." His explanation was cut short as a soldier spoke,
"He has touched the leper girl."
Henry twisted his hands slightly, trying to loosen to bindings or at least make them marginally more comfortable. "Leprousy isn't contagious by touch - I am not contaminated." He tried to step forward into the conversation, but the guard pulled him back, careful to only grasp his shirt.
Behind the Doctor, the crowd parted, pulling the Time Lord out of the way with them as several other veiled lepers stepped forward to lift their fallen member.
Henry watched them carefully lift her up and shuffle back through the crowd towards the gates of the city, and he frowned again seeing how the inhabitants sneered at the cringing lepers.
"Take him to the Priest," a large man commanded, stepping out of the way and motioning for the people to make way.
Henry stumbled as the guards cautiously pushed him up the street, but quickly regained balance. He glanced back to see if the Doctor was coming as well, and sighed as he was directed toward a 'priest' somewhere. Perhaps it was all a misunderstanding and would be easily solved...
Henry paused in the centre of the temple, before a raised table – an altar of sorts. He was tired, and glad to stand still after climbing the steps to the temple. The building was simple, and yet still so ornate with its bronze and obsidian covering the walls. It was Grecian in its pillared decor and vines winding around the roof; but the angular lettering on the walls, and the statues and alters throughout the building betrayed the planet's similarities to Egypt. He heard the Doctor step forward, and he turned his attention back to the soldiers moving to the front of the room.
The Time Lord tapped his sonic screwdriver against his palm, assessing in the situation. The soldiers began explaining to the priest of what had happened...
He frowned as he listened to the men describe the encountre - painting the girl as some villain. He sighed, stepping forward.
The Priest nodded to the soldier and then turned to Henry: "The Priest will preform mummification - the disease will not keep your soul from the afterlife."
He froze as the words sunk in. "I beg your pardon?"
Henry closed his eyes with a sigh. Traditions...They always seemed to be a hindrance when the Doctor came in contact with them, and this time seemed to be no exception. And he could understand how leprousy was a curse of some sort, and how a religion could twist things around with their explanations. "Doctor, please assure me that they will let the disease run its course before mummifying me..."
"The Priest will begin when he is ready," Said the deeper-voiced man, answering for The Doctor.
"Of course he would." His shoulders slumped.
The Doctor stepped forward again, inserting himself into the conversation. The soldiers tensed until they say he kept far enough away from the M.E. "Wait! Don't start yet -" The Doctor paused, "I'm a friend of the family – his priest promised to oversee his passage into the...afterlife." He put up his hands and started moving backwards, then spun around, racing out of the building. "Just, wait for him."
Henry watched him go, and then dropped his head too. At least he would come back to life when this was over.
He stood outside the door for a moment. It had taken him nearly a year to find the man he was looking for - looking for a man that could literally die to escape a situation and was paranoid to the point of insanity at times was frustrating. He had looked for him in the last place he had met him, at the hospital in the country; but Charles had been gone for nearly fifty years. Having a time machine helped, but it wasn't like it was a search machine.
He had no idea what was wrong with the Immortal - only that he was injured and that a specialist had been called in to look at him, due to his psychic paper labeling him as some medical specialist coming for 'Lewis Farber'. Opening the door, he hoped that Farber wasn't the immortal; because Henry wouldn't have saved him, and if the Immortal were injured he would be much more likely to kill himself than languish in a hospital.
He sighed when he opened the door and saw the immortal lying on the bed. He shut the door behind him and stepped over to the bed, hovering over machines and flipping through the chart. "Ætius..."
The man didn't move.
He tilted his head, frowning slightly. "I need a number or a letter or something to find you..." His eyes drifted to the tubes covering the Immortal. He reached out and disconnected the respirator from the tube. "I am sorry, but I will see you at the strait."
Adam burst through the surface of the water with a gasp, collapsing to the floor as the Tardis materialised around him and the Doctor threw him a blanket.
"My name...is not...Ætius."
"Of course it isn't -" The Doctor, already moving onto the next topic - "Are you familiar with mummification?"
He stared at the Doctor for a moment and wrapped the blanket fully around himself as he stood up. "Yes – or at least I was. I am certain that I remember enough to assist you." He pulled the blanket tighter and shivered. "Dare I ask why the sudden interest in a topic that you would go so far as to kill me to recieve an answer?"
"Henry... - Morgan. I was taking him to a planet for a friendly trip, you understand, and he stopped to touch a leper girl..." The Doctor jumped into a story, sometimes going back and adding more detail to something previously mentioned.
Adam watched him silently, taking in the story and reorganising the facts as the Doctor backtracked and corrected or added to it. He had stilled when he heard the man's name mentioned, but had made no other sign as to recognising it. When the Doctor finished, he merely said: "I shall make the assumption that you have not deleted your wardrobe – I would appreciate access to it."
The Doctor paused for a minute, staring at him as though he hadn't answered. Then he shook himself out of the state and nodded, "Yes!"
Adam waited a moment and then gestured towards the doors exiting the control room. "I may be nearly as old as you, but I am not telepathically linked to the vehicle - please direct me?"
"Yes, this way." The Gallifreyen led the way back to the Tardis.
He let him get a few steps ahead before following him down the stairs and through the doors leading to the labyrinthine corridors of the Tardis. After much hsorter time than he remembered it being before, the Doctor stepped aside and motioned him forward towards the doors of the Tardis' wardrobe room.
He shut the doors of the wardrobe behind him, looking around the immense room and shaking his head slightly in fond amusement as he caught sight of a few incredibly outrageous outfits buried amongst the racks. Stepping forward into the room, he reached out as he passed to shove an incredibly garish sleeve back beneath the more soothing, comfortable coloured suits around it. Ticking off racks as he passed them, he stoped before the twenty-third rack, reaching beneath the clothes to pull out a plain wooden chest. The suit within was simply cut, and older fashioned; but he pulled it out with a smile of remembrance. At least the Doctor hadn't deleted his spare garments as well.
Once he was dried and dressed, his hair smoothed with the comb buried within the chest, he made his way back through the wardrobe. The doors opened silently, and he quickly returned through the corriders and climbed the steps up to the console.
"One question: what possessed you to take Henry to a world where he could not touch the hurting?" He frowned and turned a dial before turning his attention fully to the Time Lord. "He is little better than you at bending the Hippocratic Oath."
"It was supposed to be a thing to let him rest – to get out of his life for a little while..." The Doctor pulled a face, then waved his hand dismissively, not wanting to recap.
He shook his head slightly, knowing exactly how quickly the Doctor's plans deteriorated.. "And you wish for me to perform the mummification upon a yet living Henry without truly performing it." He paused a moment. "May I ask why you would assume that I would do so?"
"You know pain and death as well as I, and Henry. Maybe better. Would you let this happen to him if you know just how it feels - to awaken after something like that, as if it was just a dream, a dream that no one would know about, nor acknowledges? That no living being could possibly comprehend, or believe, and yet you have to learn to survive, Ætius?"
He narrowed his eyes. "Dreams can be more real than life." He smiled slightly for a moment and relaxed. "But perhaps you should ask Henry sometime about myself – I am sure that he would be willing to accept my assistance." He stared at the Doctor for a moment before bowing his head in acquiesance. "You will have my assistance if you will trust me come what may. Mistakes may not be forgotten without recompence made first..."
"I know."
he nodded slowly, and then turned his attention to the console. "Very well – what other practices of this planet should I be forewarned of before I venture within? You will not find me glad to be mummified alongside him should I make an uninformed mistake as well... "
The Doctor turned, frowning for a second before putting on a fake smile. "Nothing. Are you ready?"
The Immortal shook his head slightly at the Doctor's smile and shrugged. "I am ready, yes." He stepped over to a computer console as the Doctor readied to dematerialse the ship and began typing into the system.
The Tardis began groaning, the sound growing louder. It shook, nearly sending the Doctor from the controls.
Adam widened his stance and gripped the console tighter, reaching over and slapping a switch down to moderately stabilise the journey; never taking his eyes away from the screen. "I would prefer minimal internal bruises, please."
The Doctor grinned as though he'd told a joke.
There was a faint smile pulling at the Immortal's lips, but his eyes were perfectly unamused when he finally looked away from the screen to look at the childish Time Lord. "Or perhaps you would rather I practise my abilities to perform a convincing mummification after so long? Perhaps my skills have become rusty..." He felt the Tardis settle back into reality around him, and subconsciously relaxed although he hadn't been worried.
"Well, I hope not," The Doctor paused, "What do you need for this?"
"I need your word that you will not interfere no matter what may happen, and a word with the Tardis if I may." He looked back to the screen. "I will need her to create an illusion from my mind over Henry to effect the mummification. I will also need one of your dream...things."
"You have my word." The Doctor had sobered, and nodded briskly, leaving the main room.
He let him leave, working briskly on the ship's controls; convincing her to allow him access.
The Immortal glanced toward the door the Time Lord had stepped out of, closing his eyes as he slipped his hands into the telepathic circuits of the Tardis. The symbols above the console spun slowly, and the lights blinked as the ship established the link. For a moment, there was a sense in the air as if all was balanced upon a cliff edge, but then the spinning stopped and the lights brightened as Adam stepped away, and the tension evaporated.
He shook his hands out and closed out the dialogue box on the screen, crossing the platform to pull open the door the Doctor had gone through. "Are you quite certain that we are in the correct place? None will be grateful if this journey has been for naught..."
"Yes yes, I am certain!" The Doctor exclaimed impatiently
"Very well - he stepped aside to allow the Doctor past, taking the patch as the Time Lord passed. "Shall we then?"
The Doctor all but bounced outside again, a spring in his step that he had convinced himself wasn't false. He started leading Adam through the streets, not bothering to look back at the Immortal.
Adam shook his head, following at a more sedate pace through the streets, taking in the familiar sonds and smells around him as they passed through the markets and streets of the alien city. It never ceased to fascinate him how that so much across the universe was the same.
They made it to the temple, and The Doctor led the way inside. "Where is he?" The Doctor demanded to the first person he saw.
Adam carefully folded his hands before him, standing still behind the Time Lord. He tilted his head to the side, watching the servant stop in his path and think, turning aside to answer the demand.
The Doctor hurried past the servant, hoping they hadn't ignored his request to wait.
Henry looked up at the sound of footsteps crossing the temple floor. The servant that had guarded him - safely distanced of course - had stepped away out of sight, and he pulled himself up using the edge of the altar as leverage. "Doctor?"
He sighed in relief to see Henry whole and alive. "I have a plan, but you won't like it."
"Doctor, you inspire little confidence in your plans already..."
The Doctor looked over his shoulder at Adam.
Henry watched the Time Lord glance back, leaning a little to the side to see behind him to see the man standing in the centre of the temple, his hands loosely hanging at his sides as he stared back.
"Hello, Henry." He bowed slightly forward in greeting.
He pulled his attention back to the doctor. "You let him free? Doctor, what have you done?"
The Doctor's grin faded. "If you want to survive your Immortal life without being mummified, you have to trust him. Just today. You can hate him again tomorrow, if you fancy doing so."
"Doctor, you don't understand – it is not what I feel, but what he feels. What have you that he will not allow me to be mummified? He is not forgiving and I have not offered friendship and forgiveness for his wrongs!" He glanced back to glare at the Immortal, gritting his teeth when the elder only smiled and stepped forward slowly.
"But we are the same, you and I – it would show poor loyalty were I to abandon you when we are the only two." He let mockery seep into his tone, knowing how Henry would take it. He might be intent upon helping the man – but he had been locked within his own body by him: small vengeance was allowed. Hearing footsteps, he turned as the High Priest entered the temple, summoned by the guards. He bowed slightly, and the Priest bowed in return. "Greetings. I have come at this man's behest to send him unto his family. May I request the task of preserving him fromsuch a solitary end? Long have I know this child – I ask you allow me to do this."
The Priest frowned in contemplation, watching his every move. "It is permitted."
Adam bowed again. "My thanks be unto you, and blessings upon this place and all within." He straightened and gestured towards the younger Immortal, stepping forward after to push the Doctor towards the edges of the Temple room. "Please – this young man has always had a fear of death, a sense of unworthiness. He fears that he will be cast out though I know it will not be so. Would you lend me the aid of your servants perhaps? Some to assist him in accepting the drink?" He hesitated, and then bowed his head again in apology. "I fear that I was fetched in all haste – I have left my tools behind. I pray that you will lend me yours to save him?"
Henry stood still, horrified by what was about to happen as the Priest bowed in permission and summoned the guards and the servants. He could see no escape, for the guards were determined to keep him alive for this torture; and he had no doubt that the other Immortal found joy in overseeing this.
And yet, as he watched the man walk softly through the room beside the Priest, carrying himself in much the same way, he was surprised that the monster could appear so meek and human. That he could portray himself as someone that made mistakes, and ask another's permission for anything. Certainly, he did so as the psychiatrist – but that was only for his amusement, was it not?
The Doctor nearly called the Immortal by his name, but it stopped at the tip of his tongue. Instead, he asked, "Is there any way I can assist you?" He wasn't used to being the one uselessly waiting around as others took charge to be the hero. Though, he supposed that was twisted - calling him hero - like a story of Life and Death, or light and black, at which some point they loose their color to mingle into a mutual grey, or the haze between the afterlife and reality as all know it.
He glanced up, his gaze at once distant and piercing as he looked the Time Lord over. He bowed his head slightly in apology. "You are a friend of his then – my apologies. But you will see him again some day. I will spare you the pain of assisting – even a gift can be a torment – but you may mix this." He took the cup of dark liquid from the platter the servant carried in and fished a vial out of his pocket, handing them both to the Doctor. "It is a blessing you are doing – remember that."
Henry was oddly fascinated by the elder's actions. He treated the Time Lord as a stranger – as if he was merely a bystander, having to kill a good friend. He was being merciful – even as he prepared to torment this 'family friend' or whatever he had claimed to be.
The Doctor began mixing the liquid - although he watched Henry and 'Adam'. With one hand he absent-mindedly repositioned his bow tie, but it didn't help with his appearance - he looked too old to be trapped in a body too young to have tasted of such pain and war.
Adam turned back as several strongmen entered the room, their skin completely covered to avoid infection. Behind them walked several young boys, bearing the urns and the utensils necessary. Beside him, he saw Henry begin trembling, and he would have reached out a hand to steady him would that not endangered him.
The Doctor handed the vile back to Adam, and met Henry's eyes.
Henry tried to wordlessly ask the Doctor to do something to stop this, shaking his head as the strongmen took his arms and held him still as Adam came forward and carefully gave him the liquid. He considered struggling and dooming the other Immortal to share his fate, but couldn't bring himself to do it.
Adam stepped away as Henry finally swallowed the last of the thick liquid. With an imperceptible grimace, he slipped the vial back into his pocket, wiping his fingers off with a handkerchief. The younger man slumped down in the strongmen's arms and they unbound him. He was immobile, but not unconscious as they lifted and laid him out upon the alter; backing away with a bow.
The Doctor stood by, and it seemed that the guards did the same. He watched Adam, and watched his hands - faking mummification wouldn't be easy.
Henry watched as Adam picked up a knife from the tray the servant held, stepping forward and resting a hand upon his forehead. The elder lightly closed his eyes, but he struggled to open them again. He could hear the Time Lord shifting beside him, and he opened his eyes just in time to see the loops of his entrails being pulled out of the incision in his stomach, and he squeezed his eyes shut.
Distantly, he wondered why he felt nothing whatsoever; but in the moment he was more concerned with not throwing up at the image burned into his mind.
Adam sighed as Henry gagged, thankfully for the strong concoction they had given him that immobilised all his muscles. Depositing the slimy intestines, he was also thankful for alien cultures that had perfectd a process to mummify a person in one day rather than in the seventy common the earth. He glanced across at the Time Lord as he reached through the incision to cut loose another organ, keeping his face blank.
This would certainly be an interesting conversation when he was done.
He sealed the last of the stone jars, setting it aside as the wrapped body was lowered carefully into the gilded casket. He rubbed pulled the tunic he had been given off, dropping the blood-stained garment to the floor and bowing the the Priest that had come out to oversee the sealing of the casket.
"Blessings to thee for the favour – he is at peace and his family will rejoice. Your quick action shall be remembered!"
The Priest bowed in return as the gold was hammered together around Henry.
"But please – a little thing more. His mother hath no other son, and her husband fell and is lost. Let me bring her only boy home to her? To lie beside her?"
He straightened up sternly. "It is an honour to be interred within these walls!"
"Yes – but let us be generous. Give his spot to another. It is an honour greater still to guard one's mother, is it not?"
The Priest grudingly agreed, giving them permission to take the body.
Activating the anti-gravity settings on the casket, he turned to the Doctor, gesturing him towards the door. "Shall we?"
The Doctor took the lead, now ignoring the people standing around them as they took the casket. He straightened his jacket and lifted his chin.
Adam followed behind, a calm figure. The casket floated behind them as they trekked back through the city to the Tardis on the far side of the town, drawn to the marker in Adam's pocket.
The Doctor stopped in front of the Tardis, briefly turning to look at Adam. He ran a hand through his hair then opened the doors.
Adam directed the casket within, lowering it to the floor of the Tardis and begin to pry off the seals.
The Doctor stepped past him, quickly stepping up the stairs to the console. The doors swung shut as the ship began whirring around them, preparing to dematerialise; and he clung to the casket as the Tardis shook.
The Doctor came back down the stairs, handing him the mallet from his console.
Shaking his head slightly, he accepted it. With a few hard blows, the seals fell off, and the two men lifted the lid from the casket.
The Doctor immediately bent to pull the wrappings off from around Henry's face as the elder Immortal stood to fetch something from the console just as the Time Lord lay a too-pale Henry back down.
"The counter-agent?"
He lifted a second vial, synthesised by the Tardis; kneeling and pouring it into Henry's mouth, carefully rubbing his throat until he swallowed it.
Slowly, colour because to return to the younger's skin, and they worked on unwrapping the rest of him. Suddenly, Henry gasped, struggling upright, his hands immediately reaching to apply pressure to the incision on his side.
Adam sat back and stood up, withdrawing to stand above them by the console.
The Doctor reached to add pressure to the incision as well, stilling and then pulling his hands away when he realised that there was no incision.
Henry carefully probed his side, letting out a sigh of relief when he felt nothing. Letting the Time Lord help him up, he turned to Adam, opening his mouth to thank him.
The elder Immortal waved him away dismissively, directing his attention instead to the Doctor. "I have done your favour. Let me return now."
The Doctor sighed, running up the steps and pressing buttons on the console. "...anywhere else before?"
"I rather think not. I have come to pull Henry out – but who will come for me, hm?" He shook his head. "Good bye."
The Tardis materialised, and Adam walked down the steps to the door, ignoring Henry.
Once the doors were shut again, the younger Immortal turned to the Time Lord: "Are you quite certain that was Adam?"
The Doctor considered for a moment. "It's a long story..."
AN: The result of discussing the practical application of research... Co-written with Samsquatch67 because the Doctor refused to cooperate with me again and I was unable to rewatch any of his episodes to reorientate myself to his character. I wrote the immortals, and she was immense help with the rest. This does not really fit in with the rest of my Doctor Who/Forever crossovers and headcanons, because I basically refuse to accept that Adam didn't kill himself at the conclusion of the finale. 11-28-2015