A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for reading, posting reviews and favs, I appreciate it and I'm really happy you enjoyed this story. Without further ado, the last chapter!
The Doctor felt the TARDIS doors tremble as he pressed his back against them and took desperate deep breathes, but it didn't take him long to realize he was pinned to the doors by the force of gravity as the TARDIS flew through the air. Suddenly, he was thrown forward to the floor and landed on his stomach. The blue box must have hit something that stopped her uncontrolled flight.
As soon as he was able to move, he scrambled to hook an elbow around the handrail and hung on as the TARDIS tumbled down and rolled across the ground until she finally came to a rest on her doors. The Doctor lay on his back on the doors looking up through the console room and breathed a sigh of relief. Other than being tossed around like a toy, the old girl came through the blast unscathed.
He was about to sit up when the sound of rushing water reached his ears. He looked up, wide eyed, at the wall of water from the swimming pool rushing down on him. Wishing he'd taken a look at those internal stabilizers, he quickly rolled into a nook in the coral support beam and narrowly avoided getting pummeled with books and other items of his caught in the pool water.
The Doctor was instantly submerged in the water, but quickly reached the surface. It didn't take long for the water to settle and he swam for the floor grating. Curling his fingers through the holes in the grating and using the traction on his shoes, he pulled himself out of the water and climbed up to the console. Once he climbed to the side of the console that temporarily served as the top, the Doctor flipped a switch and pulled a lever. The TARDIS groaned in protest, but with a swift kick from the Doctor, the time ship jumped into the Time Vortex.
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Once the TARDIS was in the vortex, she righted herself. The pool water flowed out of the console room and disappeared somewhere in the expansive ship. The Doctor was not going to worry about the pool, or the mess it left behind, at the moment. He had more important concerns.
Even though the TARDIS disliked flying like a normal space ship, the Doctor flew the ship above the machine city. He stood in the doorway and looked out over the barren landscape that was Earth. Apparently that blast was far more powerful than he expected, and tossed the TARIDS much farther. However, he was satisfied at the sight of the large mushroom cloud that slowly rose out from where the Wire rested. Surely, that had to destroy the Wire once and for all, the Doctor hoped.
He returned to the console only to adjust course with the large brass steering levers. Once he was where he wanted to be, he stood in the doorway once again and stared down at a power plant. One by one, human beings woke from their sleep and sat up inside the pod, breathing real air and using their real eyes for the first time in their lives.
The Time Lord saw the fear and confusion on their faces, and realized how terrified they must be. They were, after all, just yanked out of a world they thought was real only to wake up in the real world that is, in its own right, hell. The Doctor frowned and remembered the words of the Wire. Maybe he did have something to do with this.
The TARDIS whined in protest of having to fly in normal space. The Doctor closed the door and instructed his beloved time ship to take him back to Zion.
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When he opened the TARDIS door, he was greeted with cheers and smiles from the people of Zion celebrating their victory and freedom of the Machines. He was soaked to the bone from the pool, but he didn't care. He wandered through the crowd in a sort of daze, his thoughts racing a million miles a second over the Wire's words.
He stopped when he came to a gathering with a different sense of purpose. They were mourners and they were mourning the death of Neo. The Doctor was stunned. Neo was dead. And yes, so was Trinity. He swallowed and felt a knot swell in his chest. He silently cursed the Wire for the anguish it brought the human race.
Then it hit him. He knew what he had to do and he was determined to do it, even if it broke one of his most important rules. He spun on his heel and marched back to the TARDIS to find Morpheus and Councilor Hamann waiting for him. The two men wore solemn expressions, but the councilor smiled at the Doctor as he approached.
"On behalf of Zion and the human race, thank you, Doctor," said the councilor as he took the Doctor's hand in his and gave it a friendly shake.
"We heard the explosion from down here," Morpheus spoke, "with the machines disabled, our scout ships reported on the crater. The Source must be dead." He looked at the Doctor expectantly.
The Doctor's expression had been hard and grim from his thoughts, but he relaxed a little at their words. He nodded slightly. "Yes, the Wire should be dead."
"The Wire?" Hamann asked with curiosity, "The alien behind the machines?"
"Yes," the Time Lord replied, "and someone I'd defeated before. Listen. I need to go and fix this." He brushed past them and opened the TARDIS door.
"Doctor," the councilor called, "where are you going?"
"I'm going to break the rules," he said with look of stern determination and stepped into the TARDIS. He paused and looked back to the confused faces of Morpheus and Hamann. "Don't worry, if it works, none of this will have ever existed."
"You're going back," said Morpheus, the realization clear in his eyes, "to change history."
The Doctor held Morpheus' gaze a moment, then shut the TARDIS door and strode over to the console with a purpose.
Morpheus held his gaze on the blue box as the light on its roof flashed and it slowly faded away with a grinding, whooshing sound. Silently, he wished the Doctor the best of luck before joining the mourners of Neo's death.
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His fingers flew over the keyboard as he sifted through points in time of his own time line that displayed in Gallifreyan on the monitor. Finally, he found what he was looking for and set the TARDIS for the date and time. He remembered that day. He was alone, like he is now, and he had just landed on Earth after suspecting something amiss when he learned of Adipose Industries. He had the sonic in his hand, and then set it down on the console as he dashed back to the kitchen for bananas.
Bananas. Funny how it all came back to his favorite fruit. The Doctor knew he'd have a total of six seconds to change the future of Earth. The TARDIS landed a block away where his past self would not be anywhere near. He double checked that the new sonic screwdriver was in his pocket and slipped out the door. He had to be quick, quiet and precise. He really didn't want to deal with a paradox after all he'd just been through.
Sneaking down an alley, he stopped at the corner and peaked around. The past TARDIS was there. He pulled out a pocket watch out and checked the time. He watched the second hand tick off the seconds, and then he dashed to the TARDIS and snapped his fingers. Thankfully, the door swung open. He brought a key just in case and was glad he didn't have to waste time using it.
As quiet as a mouse he crept into the past TARDIS and dashed to the console. He kept his eyes toward the back as he switched out the sonic screwdrivers. As soon as the deed was done, he slipped out the TARDIS as quickly as he came and dashed to the alley. He suddenly remembered how he came back to the console room with a banana in hand and thought he'd heard the door close. He had dismissed it as 'hearing things in his old age' and headed out to infiltrate Adipose Industries.
The Time Lord of the present frowned as he realized he could still remember that door shooting out sparks when he used the sonic to force unlock it, twice. With a frown, he wasted no time getting back to his TARDIS and left this point in time where it belonged, his past.
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The Doctor sat alone on a bench in the park overlooking the water and watched a beautiful sun fall behind the horizon with vibrant colors. Turned out that door sparking thing didn't have anything to do with the Wire transferring itself into the building's electronic systems. That was just the Wire trying to sound impressive. Finding the Wire in the sonic didn't take long at all. It hid in a setting he hardly used, glass tinting. After that, it was a simple matter of loading the Wire into a Betamax tape he had lying around and unceremoniously taping over it with his favorite episode of Star Trek.
He stretched out his legs and reclined lower into the bench. He planned on staying there a while to enjoy the twenty-second century Earth that was supposed to exist. And now it did, thanks to him, master of time. With a sigh, he spread his arms over the back of the bench, catching a glance back at the TARDIS. She looked absolutely beautiful parked next to a blooming Japanese maple tree. He smiled. It was a clear evening, and he looked forward to the twinkling stars.
A couple stood against the railing watching the sunset not too far from the Doctor, and when the sky turned a dark purple they walked away, passing in front of him. He started a moment in recognition. Neo and Trinity. Together, holding hands, madly in love. He wanted to jump up and give them both a great hug in his relief at seeing them alive, but he knew that would only confuse them. Maybe he'd even get arrested for acting like a madman. So, he contented himself by watching them meander down the path until they were out of sight.
He tried not to let his thoughts ponder over whether that alternate timeline was his fault, or the Wire's. Just this once, he didn't want to work out the minute details of timey whimey, wibbly wobbly stuff. Well at least not right this second. His mind wouldn't let it rest until he solved it, but it could wait. Besides, the first stars were twinkling and demanding his attention. He was about to indulge them when a woman in a cream colored overcoat walked up to a public telescope. She brushed back her dark wavy hair and dropped a coin into the machine.
The Doctor stood up and moved to the railing next to her. She didn't notice him there, so he lifted his eyes and gazed on the stars. "Beautiful, aren't they?" he said aloud. The woman yelped and held her hand over her mouth as she stared at him. He turned and smiled. "I'm terribly sorry," he laughed, "I didn't mean to scare you. I'm…" he paused and decided not to use his usual moniker, "John." He finished and held out a hand.
She smiled and shook his hand. "Claudia," she answered warmly, "Do you come here often and scare women?"
The Doctor laughed, "No, just to look at the stars. I travel in them all time, but to stop and just look at them takes my breath away every time."
Claudia was astonished, "I've only been to Moon City once. Space travel is expensive, but I dream every night of moving freely amongst the stars. You must have your own ship?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do," he gave her a charming smile, "I have a spot open if you would like to join me?"
End.
A/N: Claudia might show up in some other stories if I think of one where she would fit in. Anyway, please feel free to post a review at any time, I will be glad to read and respond to them. Thanks for reading!
