Epilogue
Six Years Later
Noble ran through the dark, empty corridors of the TARDIS. Her lungs burned from the cold. But she found her voice. "DOCTOR!" her cries echoed throughout the police box.
Noble rounded the corner and through herself against one of the walls, gasping for breath. The gunshot wound in her leg was beginning to feel as if it were on fire. "Doctor." She half whispered, half begged. She pushed forward, rounding more corners, entering the dark alone, crying for the Doctor.
"Noble…"
Noble stopped dead and flattened her back against the nearest wall as her name echoed sing-song like. It was him. She was gasping. She closed her eyes and she felt two silent tears run down her face. He was going to kill her…but not before she found the Doctor. She pushed forward again, determined to find her Doctor, her best friend.
"Noble…" he said again, he was closer now.
"Oh, God, oh God…" she whispered, as she hurried through the darkness. And then she heard it, the sonic screwdriver. She followed the sound until she saw the Doctor, leaning against the wall.
She rushed towards him. He was clutching his side, which was bloody and he was sweating.
"Doctor," She whispered. "We have to go." She tried to pick him up, but he was too heavy. "Please, you have to try Doctor."
The Doctor brought a hand up and brushed the aqua blue highlight out of her face. "It's time for me to go Noble." He smiled sadly.
She shook her head. "No, there is still time, the Children of Time—"
"Aren't going to make it here soon enough." He said and cringed in pain.
Noble felt the tears fall down her eyes. "No. Please, Doctor. Please."
He nodded, as if in defeat, but not to her. He was not giving into her. "Get as far away as you can."
Noble shook her head, tears fell freely. "No, no, no."
"And don't look back." he pulled himself up straighter. "Don't look back Noble Tyler and don't try and save me."
She shook her head; her words were lost on her lips. He gave her a slight push. "Get him as close to me as possible and then get as far away as possible." He smiled. "This is going to be big."
He pushed her again and she stood. She started backing away. "I love you, Doctor." She said. "You're my best friend. You know that, don't you?"
He nodded. "I know. Go."
She turned and didn't look back as she walked quickly the way she came, until she was at the mouth of the short corridor where her Doctor was laying, dying. She knew why he didn't say it. Because it would hurt too much. She knew that the Doctor loved her, like he had loved Amy and Martha and Donna. Like he always loved. She heard her name called again, but this time it came from right behind her, she could hear him breathing.
"Hello there."
She slowly turned and faced her attacker, her eyes burning.
"Is the Doctor dead yet?" Asked the shadow, as he walked closer to her.
"Yes."
And when he walked into the light, Noble felt her stomach tighten in guilt and heartbreak. James had a sick grin on his face. He was dirty and sweaty. He still held the gun in his bloody hands. "Where is he?"
Noble shook her head. "Go to hell, James."
"I've been there." He said, laughing darkly. "Remember, that's where you left me for years."
"I told you; we tried. For the entire time, we never stopped looking for you."
He shook his head. "Having so much fun along the way. Those memories I saw, those were supposed to be ours. Face it, you gave up."
"I loved you."
He laughed again. "Yeah, so did I."
And then he brought the gun up again, pointing directly at her heart. Noble stepped back, honing her thoughts, connecting with the TARDIS, the way she had before. And then she disappeared into the wall, and into the next corridor.
She felt it before she saw it. It felt like electricity going through her. It was hot and cold. Then she saw it at the end of the hallway she had appeared in; the bright gold light. It rushed all about the small space. She fell to the ground, screaming. No, it was James screaming. He was burning and she could smell it. She listened to the screaming for what felt like hours and then suddenly, it just stopped. She laid there until the hot floor became cool. She could hear someone calling her name. It was her mother, joined by her father, and others. But there was one voice she responded to.
"Noble?"
She looked up to the new face with familiar eyes. His loose white shirt was stained with blood and it was too short for him in the arms. He reached down a hand and she took it. He pulled her up; he was taller than her, not much older. He smiled.
"It's over Noble, it's all over."
She looked into his eyes, the ones she knew and nodded. But it wasn't over. It was just beginning...
Two Days Earlier
"Doctor."
"I was thinking we should visit an old friend of mine, he lives in the Pearl Galaxy, lovely place, they have wonderful jewelry. All made of diamonds that you can actually eat."
"Doctor."
"Or maybe we should go see River for a few days, I'm sure something terrible has to be happening on earth."
"Doctor."
"Ooooh! Perhaps we should—"
"DOCTOR!"
The Doctor swung around and faced his companion, Noble Tyler. She was staring at the consul monitor. "What is it?"
"Something…Something is…What is this?" She pointed at the screen.
The Doctor moved around her to look over her shoulder. The screen looked the same as it always did, except for the large, black circle in the middle of the screen.
"I…I don't know."
Noble watched as he turned some knobs, pressed some buttons, and listened as the machine whirled, beeped, and screeched.
"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"
"You can't just turn the TARDISoff, Noble."
"Why?"
"Because then we fall."
"You can fall through space?" she wiggled her nose, a habit of hers since she had gotten a nose ring. "Won't we just sit here, or float around? Anyways, it won't take that long. My laptop turns back on in less than a minute."
"That's a laptop. This is a time machine."
Noble looked closer to the black dot. "What do you think it is?"
"A virus, perhaps.."
"Wait, you mean the TARDIS can get the common computer virus?"
"No, of course not, that's just silly. We might have picked it up when we were visiting Reggie when he got his appendix removied." He gave her a look that made it clear he thought she was an idiot. "We were in the universe's biggest hospital. You don't think that a virus could exist there can is an airborne computer virus?"
"So it's the common cold?" she said dubiously.
The Doctor stared the screen, trying to make sense of the random black dot. "But, the TARDIS should be protected from anything like that. I don't understand. What is it old girl?"
Noble rolled her eyes. Every time the Doctor started talking to the TARDIS, Noble felt like telling him to get a room. Because no one should call an inanimate object 'sexy', no matter how attractive the idea seems.
"Try turning it off and on again." Noble said again, leaning against the consul next to the Doctor.
"Well, I might as well—it moved!" the Doctor moved closer to the screen, his nose nearly touching it. He moved his head back and forth. "It's…It's following me."
Noble felt a vibe coming over her. "Doctor, what does it mean?"
"I think something's watching us."
Okay, I'm working on this again. Yes, I know it's been a while. But the hell? What do you guys think of Clara?
