One more chapter and just one to go for the big finale. Will the Doctor return to Martha or he'll be lost in the Void for ever?
don't forget to check on my blog for more stories!
click-n-read-demi-t-greca . blogspot . com
The door closed behind him and a yellow light filled the room.
Could it be? Was he back in his TARDIS?
"Sorry to disappoint you, my boy, but you are not in your beloved ship." Someone said.
The Doctor looked around as the light became dimmer and dimmer. He distinguished the dusty windows, the long hallway, and the seven doors.
He sighed; he was back in the Void.
"Who are you?" he yelled afraid that the prison was messing with his head again.
"Don't spoil all the effort you made in your trip, my son. No one is messing with you, come, follow my voice." He said again and the Doctor left the hallway and went to the dark room with the broken pipes and the cables. The humming he was hearing before going through the first door was now louder than ever. It was as if his ship was right next to him.
"Here." The voice was heard again and an old man appeared out of nowhere. He had white hair and beard and he was wearing a white cloak.
"Hello, there!" he yelled approaching the old man.
"Doctor, you've forgot your manners." The old man said.
"You are right, I'm sorry, it's just you know with all these going on, being in prison, not able to go back home, going through weird… stuff, it escaped me." He said.
The old man raised an eyebrow.
"All, right, I'm sorry, I'm the Doctor, I'm a Time Lord, who are you? And how come you are here? Did the Crack felt pity for me?" he said laughing but the old man did not follow.
"The Crack does its job the way it is designed." The old man said.
"Well…" the Doctor said but stopped facing the serious face of the old man.
"You are not a funny guy, got that. Well, will you tell me your name?" the Doctor said.
"You did not give me yours why should I give you mine?" the old man said.
The Doctor looked at him. He was right; he had not given him his name, only his title, which he already knew so it was a waste of time.
"You are a Time Lord aren't you? What are you another test, another illusion? Were you trapped in here as well a few eons ago?" the Doctor asked.
"I chose to be here." The old man said.
The Doctor looked at him and his eyes popped out. "You're the Architect!" he said grinning goofily.
"You are a brilliant young man." The Architect said.
"You built this terrible thing!" he added grinning.
"You are the first to say it with such a big smile on his face." The old man said looking at him weird.
"I know! It's just… I'm… I can't believe I finally got to meet you! You are supposed to be dead for thousands of years!" the Doctor said.
"We both know that millenniums are nothing towards infinity." The Architect said making the Doctor calm down.
"So, it is true, the rumor. You left your body and became a spiritual being." The Doctor said.
"Yes, I did." The Architect said.
"Why?" the Doctor asked.
"Why? Such a meaningful word, don't you agree?" the old man said and walked to the Wall of Symbols.
"My favorite." The Doctor answered watching him.
"It is the word that brings progress to the world, that keeps the universe going." The Architect said and the Doctor nodded in agreement.
"You ask why I left my mortal body behind and I ask you why not?" the Architect said.
The Doctor looked at him not able to answer. There were so many things coming to his thoughts about it. A million reasons why to do so and a million not to.
The old man laughed. "The Doctor is speechless? I think your wife would love me for achieving that." The Architect said.
"Well, she has that effect on me too." The Doctor said.
"And yet you left her, although you regretted it the moment you touched that control console, didn't you?" the old man asked and the Doctor nodded.
"It is nice in Earth, isn't it?" he asked him again.
"Oh, it's really nice." The Doctor answered.
"Our descendants could do nothing less." The old man said approached him again.
"Not exactly descendants…" the Doctor said.
"Let me know more than you do. You know, when I built this place it was not meant to become a prison."
"Well, it did not turn out good, then." The Doctor said.
"You are right. When I designed it, it was meant to be a place of training, somewhere to collect your thoughts and understand your mistakes, we could not have Time Lords with psychological problems traveling around the universe." The man said.
"You missed one." The Doctor said.
"Oh, you are harmless." The Architect said.
"I didn't mean me! I'm perfectly normal!" the Doctor whined.
"You were never normal and that's what makes you special. However, I think you are referring to the Master. Poor boy, he was a victim to the hunger of some for power." He said and the Doctor raised an eyebrow.
"There are things you don't have to know. Anyway, I understood very quickly that the Void was going to be misused after my death and I could not let that happened. It has so much power."
"So you decided to unite yourself with it." the Doctor realized.
"Some times there are sacrifices that have to be done." The old man said looking the Doctor in the eyes.
"That doesn't mean we have to like it." the Doctor replied understanding that the old man wasn't talking about himself anymore but about him.
"You saved the universe my boy, you saw what would have happened if you hadn't taken things into your own hands." The Architect said.
"Yes, I have and I understand that it was necessary but I did what I did. I destroyed my planet."
"We both know that's no totally true." The Architect said.
"But I did it, I'm the last one, my family is gone, my friends, everyone…" the Doctor said.
"But you found other people and you are not alone."
"This isn't about me!" he yelled.
"Exactly, it's not about you, why make it your own problem? You've saw enough to understand that you are not the problem you are just a part of the solution. Come." The Architect said and vanished through a mirror. The Doctor hesitated at first but he followed him.
They were in a garden, a beautiful one, with roses and tall trees.
"Mama!" a child shouted running with flowers in his hands. It was his child!
The one he had lost the one he thought he would never see.
His wife was sitting by a lake, brushing their daughter's hair. They were just like he remembered them if not prettier.
His son gave his mother the flowers and teased his sister ending up in a fight.
"Good lord, stop it!" his wife said splitting them up.
He smiled, they looked happy.
"They are happy, they may not be with you but they are happy and that's what matters, isn't it?" the Architect said and the doctor nodded.
"Don't worry, my friend, when the time comes you'll meet them again and they are not going to judge you." The Architect said and walked away from them walking.
They saw all many of his friends as well, laughing and playing games.
"You did your job well, you see, I just froze the time to spare them some happiness." He said and the two of them left the garden and walked by a river.
"Oh, shut up, you silly one!" a voice was heard from the riverside.
"Donna? What is she doing here?" the Doctor asked the Architect.
"She lives here." The Architect said casually.
"In the babble?" the Doctor asked.
"Don't be absurd! In London!" the Architect said.
"We came in London? I guess my senses are still a little rusty." The Doctor said.
The Architect did not comment on that.
"What is she doing with that man?" he wondered.
"What do you think?"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow.
"Your mind has become very wicked, young man. She's in pick nick with her husband."
The Architect said.
"Husband? She got married?" the Doctor said grinning.
"You may have erased her memory but the things she gained from her journey are still inside her. Self- confidence is very important." The Architect said and left the couple alone.
They reached the city and stopped by a cafeteria.
"Why did we stop?" the Doctor asked.
"I did not bring here to take a walk, my friend; there are things you need to see." The Architect said and pointed at a couple in the corner.
It was Rose and his human self.
"He took nothing from the redhead down the river. I was hopping to see you with ginger red hair." The Architect said.
The Doctor smiled. He thought he would be jealous seeing the two of them together, or betrayed like that day on the beach he had saw them last. He was afraid that it was not over inside him because there were times he was bringing Rose to his mind.
He was wrong. It was over. She was now a friend for him, someone that had changed his life and he was thankful for that.
She deserved to be happy.
"I guess this chapter of your life is over." The Architect said.
"Yes." The Doctor said and smiled.
They kept walking until night came.
They were in their neighborhood. He could see their house!
There was a girl in the window.
A blond girl.
The Doctor ran to her. It couldn't be, she was dead. Were they in an alternative universe?
He turned around and looked at the Architect but he dismissed his question. No, it was real.
She was real. Jenny! Jenny was alive!
"How can this be?" the Doctor wondered.
"She's a part of you, she is a Time Lady." The Architect said.
"So, she never really died? She regenerated? Why did it take her so long?"
"The universe works in mysterious ways." The Architect said.
The Doctor looked at his daughter one more time. He couldn't believe it.
Suddenly the girl hid herself in the bushes.
Martha's car had just stopped.
"Oh, no, it is that night." The Doctor said.
Martha looked at her watch.
"I am so tired, I really am in no mood to go to that party." She said and took her mail.
Full of bills.
"On the other hand, someone has to feed my boys. I just hope they are ready." She said and opened the door. The Doctor and the Architect followed her in.
"Mum!" she said but no one answered.
"That's strange, where did she go? I don't remember her telling me anything." She said leaving her coat and purse on the sofa.
"Doctor! Doctor!" she yelled but no one answered. She spotted the toys and the books on the table, still opened.
"Oh, don't tell me… Doctor!" she yelled worried ready to run upstairs but her boys appeared at the last minute.
"Here we are! Look Johnny, mum is home!" the Doctor said as he was walking down the stairs holding his son.
"Thank God, I called you but you didn't answer I was afraid that something had happened." Martha said.
"Like what?" the Doctor asked.
"I don't know, Daleks may had walked in and exterminate you, or Judoons, Sontarans."
"Martha, don't be ridiculous, Daleks don't exist anymore, thanks to my idiotic double." He said.
Martha gave him a sad smile. She took her son in her arms and ruffled his hair.
"I was trying to brush his hair for half an hour!" The Doctor whined.
"Actually, it took me like five." The Doctor told the Architect.
"And you did a pretty good job, but I like his hair to be like his daddy's." Martha said and smelled her son's hair.
"Doctor, did you wash his hair?" Martha asked him.
The Doctor bounced on his hills and looked at the ceiling.
"Well, yes, of course." He answered.
"Then why is it sweaty?" she asked him.
"Uhm…" he said before Martha put her hand under their baby's clothes.
"He's still wet!" she yelled.
"What? I'm sure I dried him very well." He said and approached and that's when Martha noticed his dumb hair.
"Your hair is dripping." She said.
"What?" he said and touched his hair. Still wet.
Martha took a good look at him. He was really sloppy.
His tie was wrong, his shirt out of his trousers, his waistcoat and jacket, a mess, his shoes… Converse!
"You are really sloppy." The Architect said.
"We took a shower and got dressed in like less than five minutes." The Doctor said.
"Converse? Really?" she said.
"What? We may need to run, it has happened before." He said.
"You forgot it, didn't you?" she sighed.
"No." he defended himself.
"I told you like a hundred times this week and the one thing I asked from you was to be ready when I get back." She said disappointed.
"I may have lost track of time." He apologized.
"You lost track of time? Doctor, you are a Time Lord! How can you lose track of time! I asked you one little thing and it's not even about me! It's for us, to get a stable job at the hospital so we can have our home and money." She said
"Relax, you're really nervous lately."
"Oh, I'm sorry, mister, but maybe if I didn't have to work twenty four- seven while you travel around the universe!" Martha yelled.
"Oh, like that's an easy job, you know how it is Martha." He yelled back.
"Yes, I do, but fighting aliens won't feed John or buy him clothes! Mum was right.' She sighed.
"Your mother! Is that what this is all about? From the moment we moved in…"
"Don't you dare say a word for my mum, she has supported us all this time and never asked a thing." Martha warned him.
"Except from my head on a plate!" he said.
"You are over reacting." Martha said.
"Am I? Do you live in another house?"
"I live in the hospital!"
"And the worst is that you agree with her!"
"I don't but she is right. I cannot handle this alone! I need your help." Martha said.
"What do you want? To leave my TARDIS? To leave the universe in its own luck and get a job?" the Doctor said.
"The universe can handle itself without you for one day!" she said.
"Rose would never ask me something like that.' He whispered but Martha caught his words.
"I'm sorry, I'm not your precious Rose, then, but we have a family here and we need your support!" She screamed making John cry.
"Martha!" he yelled, as she was getting upstairs.
The door of their bedroom was closed fiercely and he went to the backyard angry.
"That wasn't good." The Architect said.
"No, not at all." The Doctor realized.
"Fortunately, you are not the only one who realized it." the Architect said and pointed on Jenny outside the window.
She was holding a device and looked like she was typing something.
"She sent you to the Void." The Architect told him.
"Jenny? How? Why?" the Doctor asked.
"It seems you have a pretty good DNA, she's a good kid even though you barely met her and as you like to say was born for war. She found me, accidentally, that thing she has in her hands was supposed to have been destroyed, I was really upset when I discovered it still existed. It took her quite a long time to get out of the Crack and when she did, she came here, right away. She sent you to me to help you preserve your family. They were quite a few issues you had to solve." The Architect said.
"I guess I did." He replied.
Martha got down stairs and looked at the backyard through the window.
The TARDIS had already left.
She took a deep breath and left.
"Ok, you can go wherever you want but I won't be here when you return." She said but the Doctor saw a tear going down her cheek.
"I don't like it when Martha cries for me." The Doctor said.
"You have to do something about it then because it happens rather often." The Architect said and vanished.
The living room vanished and he was back in the Void.
"What happened?' he asked.
"We came back."
"I thought you would leave there." The Doctor said.
"That's a choice you have to make, not me. You saw for yourself, all the people you were worrying about are happy and you're the only one miserable." The Architect said.
"It's not easy, worrying about everything." He replied.
"You are a good man Doctor, you do more than you can do to preserve your world the way it is, and you deserve to be happy." The Architect said.
"I saw seven doors at the hallway, but went through five, what's in the last two?" the Doctor asked.
"Your future and your present. Go through one and you'll go back to the moment you left, go through the other and you can go wherever you want, but there is no turning back." The Architect said.
The Doctor nodded. "May I?" he said pointing to the hallway.
"Be my guest." The Architect said.
"I'm really glad I met you and thank you for everything." He said shaking the hand of the old man.
"My honour, Time Lord, consider this as your home." The Architect said.
The Doctor grinned and ran.
"Doctor!" The Architect called.
"Yeah?" the Doctor said leaning on the frame.
"You asked me why I left my mortal body behind and I think you deserve an answer. I had nothing to keep me. You are not alone, Doctor, I'm here to watch over the universe." The Architect said and the Doctor nodded before running towards the doors at the end of the hallway.
A door opened, a door closed and the humming sound disappeared.
