CHAPTER 10

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A BRAND NEW PAST

"So we're going to see Rory next then? Will I actually get to bring him with us for good this time?" Amy asked the Doctor in a hopeful and yet still somewhat uncertain tone.

"Listen, Amy, I . . ." The Doctor said in a hesitant voice as he stood at the console of the TARDIS.

Christina couldn't help but smile because she could tell that he didn't want to be the one to crush the little girl's hopes. It had been obvious to her for a long time ago now that he loved children and didn't like to be the cause of any distress for them whatsoever.

"Amy, we aren't going to be bringing him along with us. We're just letting you see him one last time so that you can say good bye," Christina said in a firm but kind voice.

"What? Why not?" Amy protested as she began to quickly become upset.

"He has a family of his own that wants to have him in their lives just as much as you do, Amy. Do you really want to take him away from them?" Christina asked in as gentle a tone as possible.

Amy sighed as she said in a thick Scottish accent, "No."

"I didn't think so. Now do you understand, sweetheart," Christina said.

Amy nodded as she said, "Yeah. I like Rory's dad. He's a very nice man and I wouldn't want to do that to him."

Then she started to silently cry as she said in a mournful tone, "I don't want to leave him. I want to stay with him."

Christina began to tear up as well now because it wasn't until this moment that she finally realized exactly how much that this boy meant to Amy. He was already her whole world even at such a young age.

How could she take him away from her? Who was she to do that?

Then again didn't she deserve to have some happiness too? If she took Amy back to the 1990s to grow up normally then that meant that she would probably never see the Doctor again. No matter what choice she made it seemed that she still lost.

"Christina, if you wanted to go back and let Amy have a normal childhood, you could if you wanted," The Doctor said in a tone that clearly suggested that he didn't want her to but would go along with her if that was what she really wanted.

"I . . . don't know," Christina said in an emotional voice as she felt as if her heart was being torn apart with indecision.

"You don't have to decide now, Christina. Take a little time and think about it, okay? We won't be going anywhere for a few hours once we finally arrive at our destination. Will we?" Penelope said in an understanding tone as she gave the Doctor a pointed look.

"No. We'll stay in Leadworth for a while and let Amy have plenty of time to say good bye . . . if that's what you want," The Doctor said to Christina.

"And what do you want, Doctor?" Christina asked in a plaintive tone.

The Doctor took a deep breath before he said in a sad voice, "I don't want you to go."

Christina smiled as she said through her tears, "Good because I don't really want to go either."

The Doctor became very solemn now as he said, "You're going to have to make a very important decision soon, Christina. It's one that will decide the course of the rest of your life and Amy's. I can never give either of you a normal life no matter how much I might want to. I won't be able to grow old with you, Christina. We'll never have anything close to approaching the kind of relationship that you truly deserve."

"So what are you saying exactly?" Christina said in a hurt tone.

"Doctor, don't," Rose said as she realized that he was making a similar speech to the one that he had once given to her.

How many times was he going to walk away from a chance at true happiness this way? Even if it wasn't forever for him didn't it still mean something that someone would want to give their forever to him? Couldn't he understand the true meaning of that and just how special that that was?

John squeezed her hand and gave her a look that spoke volumes as he read her thoughts from the look on her face. Rose couldn't help but smile back at him as she was reminded that the Doctor gave up one of his lives for her just so that she could have the life that he thought that she deserved to have.

He definitely understood how to love and the nature of self-sacrifice for that love. What he didn't seem to understand though was how to love himself. He never seemed to give himself a chance at real happiness because of his guilt over the Time War.

Rose knew him and knew that he would have only destroyed his own people if he had no other choice. She knew that it wasn't right for him to keep blaming himself for what she knew had to have been an impossible choice forever.

How long was he going to keep doing that to himself?

The Doctor suddenly began speaking once again now as he said while looking at Rose with clear regret in his eyes, "That having been said however this time I want to make it work. I threw away a chance at something truly special once and I don't ever want to make that mistake again. I really don't want you to go, Christina. This time for once I want to spend the rest of someone's life with them. That is if that's what you really want."

Christina sighed in relief as she said with a smirk, "And here I thought that I was going to have to kill you for a minute there. That is what I want, Doctor. It really is."

"What about Amy though?" The Doctor asked.

Christina hesitated now as what she wanted in her heart fought once more with what she knew was best for the child that she had grown to love more than anything.

"Mum, if this is what you really want I'll do it. You took me in and showed me love when no one else ever had and I just want you to be happy," Amy said in a voice filled with sudden resolve.

Christina could detect more than a trace of regret hidden underneath that resolve however. She never wanted that regret to turn into resentment against her one day. She'd never be able to forgive herself if that happened.

Then she began to smile while a sudden burst of inspiration hit her as she said, "Doctor, you visit the same time period all of the time, correct?"

"The early Twenty First Century, yeah. It's one of my favorites. That's when so much changes. I like lots of changes," The Doctor said with a warm smile.

"So if you can visit one particular time period a lot then why can't you return to another one a lot as well? Is there anything preventing you from doing that?" Christina asked.

The Doctor stretched out the first word in his next sentence as he said, "Welll, I'd have to be a bit careful with my trips to the 1990s so that I don't accidentally run into one of my past selves there. Mr. Romantic really liked to frequent that era. It's where he was born after all when Umbrella Man was shot in San Francisco. I could do it though if that's what you want. I can keep bringing you back to the 1990s so that Amy could have a somewhat normal childhood in-between our trips through time and space together. Of course you'd have to be careful to avoid your past self as well but that shouldn't be too hard if you're going to be living in Leadworth. I hardly think that a thief of your reputation would ever even think about going to a place like that. There's nothing big worth stealing there after all."

"I think I'd remember if I ever went to Leadworth, Doctor. Trust me. I never did," Christina said.

"Time can always be rewritten though and often is especially once you start traveling through it a lot. Trust me on that," The Doctor said.

Christina smiled and kissed him as she said, "We'll be careful then. At least I'm not wanted for anything in that time period anyway so that's one thing that we'll have going for us."

"Oh, that? You won't have to worry about that anymore anyway no matter which time zone that you travel to, Christina," The Doctor said with an enigmatic smile.

"Okay. What are you up to?" Christina said in amusement even as she dared to let herself hope that it might actually be true.

"It seems that all of the charges against you were dropped recently. There simply wasn't enough evidence to make them stick especially since they never actually found the Cup of Athelstan on you. Oh, and the fact that it recently mysteriously reappeared back in the museum out of nowhere. That went a long way to ending the whole matter too I should think," The Doctor said with a huge grin.

"What? You destroyed it though in order to save everyone on that bus," Christina said in confusion.

"Yes, but it still exists in the past, doesn't it? I simply borrowed it from there for a while," The Doctor said.

"Can you really get away with that though? Won't that cause a paradox or something?" Christina asked.

"I'll put it back eventually. As long as I bring it back a second after I took it no one will even know that it was gone anyway. It could stay in the present for centuries until then and it won't make a bit of difference, will it?" The Doctor said in a nonchalant voice.

"I suppose not. You'd know about that sort of thing far better than I would after all," Christina said with a chuckle.

The Doctor grinned from ear to ear now as he said, "So you don't have that to worry about anymore anyway thanks to me."

"Let me show you exactly how grateful that I am for that too," Christina said as she gave him a passionate kiss.

She looked a bit uncertain though as she pulled away from the kiss as she said, "Wait a minute though. I can't very well call myself Christina de Souza in the 90s though can I? How am I going to establish a life there without disrupting my own past?"

"If you want, I can help you with that too. I've already thought about it in fact because I knew that you might decide to stay there. I already have a new identity set up for you there thanks to a friend of mine who pulled a few strings," The Doctor said.

"Would that friend happen to be Jack, Doctor?" Rose asked with a knowing smile.

The Doctor nodded as he said, "Yep. He was a bit surprised to see that version of me there I think but he went along with it anyway especially when I told him just how important that it was to me."

Christina kissed him once again as she said, "You really did think of everything didn't you? What exactly is this new identity of mine supposed to be out of curiosity?"

"Remember. You don't have to do this. It's only if you want it. If you do though, everyone there will know you by the name of Christina Pond, Amy's long lost cousin from Glasgow. Jack's created a full background for you and everything including an official adoption record that names Amy as your child. He's also given you the title to a newly vacated home that's right next to where Rory lives. The previous owners of that house recently won the lottery oddly enough," The Doctor said with a grin.

Christina returned his smile as she said, "How are we going to make that work though exactly? Surely Amy's aunt will recognize me if I'm staying in Leadworth won't she? She'll know that I'm not a real family member. Oh, and me being Scottish? I'd do a terrible Scottish accent, Doctor."

"Don't worry about Amy's aunt. She just moved away from Leadworth after she mysteriously won the lottery too. From what I could tell, she was more than glad to go. Even if she hadn't, she wouldn't even have had a chance of recognizing you anyway. Not while you're wearing this shimmer. This will keep anyone from recognizing you as Christina de Souza and asking too many questions," The Doctor said as he put a specially made necklace around Christina's neck.

Her appearance instantly changed and she now had long flowing red hair and a face that looked very similar to Amy's. She instantly gasped in surprise as she looked at herself in the mirror in the Wardrobe Room.

"I see what you mean now, Doctor. I'd never even recognize myself with this thing on. That still doesn't explain how you expect me to sound Scottish though. I'll never be able to pull that off convincingly. You should have made it French instead. Now that I can do," Christina said.

"Come here," The Doctor said as he gestured for her to move towards him.

She did so without question and then watched him with intense interest as he put his hands on the sides of her head. Within moments, she gasped in shock as she felt something change within her mind.

"Can I . . . ? I can! I can sound Scottish now. It sounds perfect and it comes so naturally to me that it's like I've been speaking like this my whole life," Christina said in an accent that sounded exactly like Amy's.

"Finally! That's much more like it. I can actually understand you now, Mum. I couldn't always make you out sometimes before," Amy said with a giggle as she teased her.

"Don't get too used to it. I can still switch back to my normal accent too when I want. How did you do that, Doctor?" Christina said in her original accent.

"I just telepathically placed a full instinctive knowledge of how to speak with a Scottish accent in your mind. I learned how to do that myself without the TARDIS' help by the way. I once traveled with a Highlander for years after all so I was bound to pick it up sooner or later. I've grown especially fond of that particular accent in this incarnation for some reason," The Doctor said happily.

"I can't believe it. I think we might actually be able to make this work somehow. Thank you, Doctor!" Christina said as she gave the Doctor an appreciative kiss that quickly became an intensely passionate one.

The Doctor gave Christina a large almost goofy looking grin afterwards that instantly made Rose laugh as he said, "I really should do things to make you that grateful more often."

"That sounds good to me, Spaceman. That would really be a win-win situation for both of us wouldn't it?" Christina said with a chuckle.

"Oi! Spaceman's my name for him. Don't even think about taking it," Donna said as she entered the Console Room with a grin.

"How did you even know who I am with this shimmer on?" Christina asked in surprise before switching it off.

"Who else would be kissing him? You two have done nothing but snog ever since he told you how he really feels about you. It doesn't exactly take Sherlock Holmes to work that one out, does it?" Donna said with a warm smile.

"I guess you have a bit of a point there. So how's it going? Are you enjoying being back again?" Christina admitted as she returned Donna's smile.

Donna nodded enthusiastically as she said, "It's just like I never left. My old room's even still there with all of my things in it. Just couldn't bear to get rid of them could you, Spaceman?"

"No, I couldn't," The Doctor admitted in a sad tone as he looked away from her.

Donna instantly felt regret as she said in a far more serious tone, "Look. I didn't mean to bring up any painful memories or anything, Doctor. I'm actually quite touched that you kept them."

"He kept your old things too, Mum. I just saw them," Astra said to Rose as she entered the room along with Jenny and Wilf.

The three of them had just been guided by Susan through the twisting maze of corridors that lay inside the old ship as they explored the TARDIS together in an attempt to get used to their new home. Apparently along the way they had found one particular place that the Doctor had never wanted anyone especially Rose to know even still existed: Rose's old room.

"Really? So my room's still there is it?" Rose said as she looked at the Doctor in amusement.

The Doctor turned red with embarrassment as Astra said with an evil smile, "Yeah, your room looks like you just left it too. It's almost as if it was kept as a shrine to you or something."

"Is that what you did after Donna and I left, Doctor? You kept our rooms just like they were?" Rose asked.

"Well, I, uh . . ." The Doctor sputtered as he struggled to say something.

"I think that was very sweet of you," Rose said meaning it as she kissed his cheek in appreciation.

The Doctor blushed even more now as Christina loudly cleared her throat behind him.

"Don't worry, Christina. I definitely know better than to cross you, yeah?" Rose said with a wide grin.

"It's alright. I'll let you get away with it. This time," Christina joked.

"So are we going back to Leadworth now, Doctor? I can't wait to tell Rory the good news," Amy asked in an excited voice.

"Don't worry. We're headed straight there. We should be there at any moment now," The Doctor reassured her.

"Don't count on it. Knowing him we'll probably stop off on Skaro first," Donna said with a snort.

"Don't be cheeky, Donna. That was yesterday," Christina joked.

"I still can't believe how big that this ship really is, Dad. When you said that it was bigger on the inside you definitely weren't kidding," Jenny said in an amazed tone.

The Doctor immediately looked at her with gratitude for changing the subject as he said, "Oh, yes. Even I probably haven't seen everything yet. So did you find a room that you wanted?"

"Yeah, I did. It's weird. It's almost as if it was made for me too. It looks exactly like I'd design a room. Even the colors in it are my favorites," Jenny admitted.

"That's the TARDIS. She gets inside your head and gives you exactly what you want in a room. Then she slowly mentally pushes you towards it without your even being aware of it," The Doctor explained.

"I'm not sure if I like her being in my head or not," Jenny said with a troubled look.

"I was exactly the same way at first, yeah? You get used to it though. The TARDIS won't go mucking about where she's not wanted, Jen. Trust me," Rose said in a reassuring tone.

Even as the Doctor and John both smiled at Rose bonding with Astra's new sister, Wilf took Penelope aside with a worried look as he asked, "So, do you actually think that the Master will keep his word? Can we really trust him not to try to steal the ship again?"

"Yes, I believe so. I trust him completely, Wilf, and you should too. He really is turning over a new leaf now. I know that in my hearts. Is that where Susan is right now? Is she still following him throughout the ship?" Penelope asked with a frown.

"Yes, I'm afraid so, darling. She's been watching him like a hawk ever since we came back. She definitely doesn't trust him," Wilf admitted.

Then he smiled as he added, "I trust you though. If you say that he's really changed, then I believe it, alright?"

"Thank you, Wilf. That means a lot to me especially when it's you saying it. You know that I truly do love you, right?" Penelope asked.

"Yes, of course I do, darling. What's brought this on?" Wilf said in surprise.

"Your daughter thinks that I'll eventually grow tired of you and leave you behind one day. She thinks that I'll just wind up breaking your heart. I overheard her saying that to Donna," Penelope said in an upset voice.

"She shouldn't have said that," Wilf said in an angry voice.

"It's not true, Wilf. I love you. I truly love you and I'm not going anywhere. I promise," Penelope said in a heartfelt tone.

"I know that, sweetheart. I never doubted it for a moment," Wilf reassured her.

"For the record, neither did I. I think that the two of you are meant for one another personally. Don't listen to what my mother says, Penny. She has been known to be wrong from time to time," Donna said with a warm smile as she approached them.

"Penny?" Penelope said in amusement as she looked at her with gratitude.

"I was just trying it out," Donna said with a shrug.

"Don't you worry about anything, alright, Penelope? I know how you really feel about me, and I know how I feel about you. That's all that matters, okay?" Wilf said.

Penelope nodded as her sadness faded and said, "I really don't care if you only have a few years left by the way. Some people can live more in a few years than others do in an entire lifetime after all."

"Did you teach Grandfather that? He used to say something like that to me," Susan said as she finally entered the room at last.

"I taught him a lot of things, Susan, including the importance of trusting in my judgment. I thought that was something that you had learned too but apparently I was wrong," Penelope said in a clearly disappointed tone.

"Don't be too hard on her now. Everyone else feels the same way about him even if they won't admit it," Wilf whispered to her.

Penelope silently nodded as she said in an apologetic voice, "Sorry, Susan. I know that you're just trying to look out for the rest of us. Just . . . trust me, alright?"

"I do trust you. It's him that I don't trust," Susan admitted even as she gave Wilf a quick look of gratitude for sticking up for her.

He was already good for her it seemed she realized with satisfaction.

"What is he doing now that's so suspicious anyway?" Penelope asked.

"He's sleeping from what I can tell. He's been doing it all day," Susan said.

"Yes, he'll really cause a great deal of trouble doing that," Penelope said with a sarcastic tone that she instantly regretted.

As she gave Susan an apologetic look, the Doctor said, "Actually I wouldn't put it past the Master to even cause trouble in his dreams somehow. If there was a way to do it, I'm sure that he'd find it."

"Et tu, Doctor?" Penelope said with a groan.

"I think I have more than a right to be suspicious of him, Mother. He's only been trying to kill me for most of my life now after all," The Doctor said.

"He's not the one that you have to worry about, Dad," Astra suddenly said out of the blue.

"What? What do you mean?" The Doctor asked in surprise.

Then he looked at her in shock as he realized that her eyes were glowing once more. She immediately smiled at him with a reassuring grin even as he did so.

"Yep, they're back alright. It looks like I'm not out of the Bad Wolf business after all. It's a good thing too because you were about to head right into a trap. At any moment now the TARDIS is going to land, and we're going to be instantly under attack. I've already seen it happening."

"I'm never going to get to see Rory," Amy sulked.

"I'll just redirect us to somewhere else then," The Doctor said ignoring her as he immediately started flipping switches on the console.

"That won't do you any good. They'll just be wherever else you end up too. They're following you, Dad. They have been since we left the hospital," Astra said.

"Who has? What are you talking about, Astra?" The Doctor demanded.

"The Daleks. One of their ships somehow survived your last battle against them. They've been trying to track you down for some time now and have finally found you. They're going to try to trick you into helping them open some old piece of Dalek technology called the Progenitor that they've found that can create Daleks with pure Dalek DNA. You can't let them do it or you'll never get rid of them," Astra warned.

"Don't worry. I'm not about to do the Daleks any favors especially after what they made me almost lose the last time that I came across them," The Doctor said as he briefly looked at Donna.

"How exactly are we going to keep from being found by them then, Spaceman? It's not like there's anywhere that we can go that they won't be able to eventually track us down is there?" Donna asked even as she gave him a reassuring look that said that she was perfectly alright now.

"There is somewhere actually that just might work . . . I hope," The Doctor said as he started to quickly enter in coordinates.

"You always fill me with such confidence whenever you talk like that, Doctor. Where is this magical place that we're going to then?" Christina asked.

"Somewhere outside of time and space entirely, Christina. A place where they'd hopefully never even think of looking for us until I can come up with a plan to stop them," The Doctor said.

"Blimey! Doctor, please tell me that we're not going to . . ." Rose started to say in disbelief.

"That's right, Rose. The idiot's taking us into the Void," John said with a sigh.

"It's only for a little while. We'll be fine there as long as we don't stay inside for too long. The TARDIS' shields should be able to protect us until we can throw the Daleks off of our trail," The Doctor said.

"I love how you stress the word should in that sentence, Doctor," Christina said.

"Trust me, Christina," The Doctor said as he flashed a large smile.

"Always," Christina said as she kissed him.

"Uh, actually you might want to rethink that, Christina," Astra said as her eyes began to glow once more.

"What? Why?" Christina asked.

That was when the entire ship began to shake as if it was coming apart at the seams.

"I don't understand. The Void shouldn't be affecting us like this yet," The Doctor said in alarm.

"Why can't you ever just admit that you screwed up, Spaceman?" Donna said with a frown.

To everyone's alarm, laughter then suddenly reverberated throughout the TARDIS in that moment. The unseen observer that had been watching the movements of both the Doctor and the Daleks for some time now was enjoying himself immensely as he made a massive assault on the TARDIS' defenses.

They had finally come at last just as he had foreseen it. Soon now very soon the TARDIS would finally be his and then at long last he would be freed once again.

Free to claim his rightful mastery over all of Time.

Next: Our unseen enemy continues to attack the TARDIS in an attempt to free himself from the Void even as things grow even worse for our intrepid little crew. I'm not even talking about the Daleks managing to find them either. Oh, no. This is something else entirely. Or someone else I should say. Trouble comes in threes for the Doctor next time it seems.