The pair ran back to the observation gallery, and the Doctor growled at her: "Care to tell me what's going on?"
"It's spoilers, I can't tell you." Teresa told him and he snapped: "Oh, you and your spoilers! If you're not going to be useful, why have foreknowledge at all?"
"You know we can't tell people about future events without consequences." Teresa pointed out and he muttered under his breath. She couldn't hear what he said but it definitely did not sound flattering.
She ignored that and she told him: "I can only give hints, and here's one: the last human."
He frowned at her, but they'd arrived and the pair walked into the gallery just as Jabe was saying: "The metal machine confirms. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One."
Cassandra demanded: "How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturise me, moisturise me."
The Doctor grabbed the metal spider from Jabe's hand, moving to sonic it as Moxx ordered: "Summon the Steward."
"I'm afraid the Steward is dead." Jabe replied and the whole room filled with gasps and terrified murmurs.
Moxx cried: "Who killed him?"
Cassandra accused: "This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe. He invited us." Boe shook his head as Cassandra cried: "Talk to the Face. Talk to the Face."
"Leave him alone, Cassandra!" Teresa snapped and Cassandra's eyes narrowed at the blonde girl angrily.
But the Doctor interrupted: "Easy way of finding out."
He held up the spider and commented: "Someone bought their little pet on board. Let's send him back to master."
He placed the spider on the ground, and its eye lit up again. It scuttled off across the floor, stopping briefly before Cassandra. The Doctor's eyes narrowed as he put this together with Teresa's words, but he stayed silent, just watching as the spider scuttled away and stopped before the black robed Memes.
"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse!" Cassandra cried as the crowd all began to whisper again, but the Doctor said loudly as he walked over to the Memes: "That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it-" the Meme tried to hit him, but the Doctor grabbed the arm and then pulled it off.
Teresa flinched, shuddering as the metal arm wriggled before dying and the Meme stopped moving. The Doctor continued: "A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea."
He snapped a wire from the arm, causing the Meme all collapse. The crowd gasped and murmured as the Doctor tossed the arm down and explained: "Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo."
He nudged the spider with his foot. "Go home."
It scuttled off again and stopped before Cassandra for real this time. Some people gasped again, while Cassandra snapped at the Doctor petulantly: "I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed."
Oh, the irony of that statement later. Teresa thought wryly.
"At arms!" Cassandra ordered and her attendants raised their sprays, making the Doctor ask with fake fear: "What are you going to do, moisturise me?"
"With acid." Cassandra said flatly. She then smiled as she added triumphantly: "Oh, you're too late, anyway."
The Doctor's eyes narrowed as Cassandra explained: "My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face."
She cooed, and the Doctor pointed out: "Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?"
"It gets stupider." Teresa muttered, making him glance at her while Cassandra explained: "I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous."
She almost sighed in regret while the Doctor said disgustedly: "Five billion years and it still comes down to money."
He nodded at Teresa and muttered: "You're right, it is stupider."
Cassandra snapped: "Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am the last human, Doctor. Me. Not that freaky little kid of yours." She scorned.
Teresa snapped at her: "Rose's more human than you'll ever be, Cassandra."
"Oh, poo-poo to you." Cassandra sneered and Teresa narrowed her eyes angrily.
Moxx ordered: "Arrest her, the infidel."
"Oh, shut it, pixie." Cassandra snapped, and continued over Moxx's protests: "I've still got my final option."
"Earth Death in three minutes." The computer called, and Cassandra crowed: "And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead."
Jabe's eyes narrowed angrily as Cassandra taunted: "My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? 'Burn, baby, burn'."
She sneered and Jabe retorted sharply: "Then you'll burn with us."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Cassandra said in a fake apologetic tone. "I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but I'm such a naughty thing."
The Doctor's face darkened, but Cassandra called: "Spiders, activate."
The whole platform shook as there was a series of explosions all over the ship, and they all looked around in fright as alarms began to blare.
Cassandra said delightedly: "Forcefields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband. Oh, shame on me."
"Safety systems failing." The computer called, and Cassandra called: "Bye, bye, darlings. Bye, bye, my darlings."
She beamed away as the computer called: "Heat levels rising."
"Reset the computer." Moxx suggested, but Jabe pointed out: "Only the Steward would know how."
"No." The Doctor argued. "We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, come on." He ordered.
Jabe followed him, Teresa coming up behind as the Doctor yelled at the others in the room: "You lot, just chill."
"Heat rising." The computer warned, and as they ran for the engine room, the Doctor spotted Teresa.
"Not you." He groaned, but she snapped: "Yes, me."
She was hoping to save Jabe, not wanting this brave woman to have to die as she did in the show.
Of course, the Doctor didn't know that and he growled at her: "I have enough on my plate without looking after you or your silly friend!"
"Well then, focus on your plate and I'll take care of myself!" Teresa retorted. He glared at her but she just gestured for him to keep running.
"Come on!" He turned away grudgingly and they ran through the maintenance duct as the computer called: "Earth Death in two minutes. Heat levels critical."
They ran into the engine room, stopping on the catwalk before the rotating fans.
"Oh." The Doctor muttered sarcastically. "And guess where the switch is."
"No time, just go!" Teresa argued as she grabbed the breaker lever on the wall. It slowed the fans down a little and she ordered: "Doctor, go. Jabe, you need to go back to the gallery, you'll be safer there."
"Who gave you permission to give out orders?" The Doctor demanded and she retorted: "Nobody ever gives you permission but you do it anyway."
He started to argue but she cut in sharply: "Doctor, she'll die here, the heat'll kill her!"
He stared at her, realizing this was why she had been so adamant about following them. Jabe replied firmly: "No, I'll help you with the lever, or the switch."
The computer called: "External temperature five thousand degrees."
The Doctor quickly warned Jabe: "You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place."
Jabe hesitated, and Teresa urged: "Jabe, go! We've got this, just keep yourself safe."
The woman hesitated a moment longer but nodded and ran off. The Doctor turned to the catwalk as the computer called: "Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising."
He slowly made his way down past the fans, heading down the catwalk slowly, and Teresa called: "Yeah, care to hurry up a little?"
He glared at her, but quickly moved past the fans. The heat was starting to burn, and Teresa struggled to maintain her grip on the lever as the Doctor paused again.
"Doctor, any time now would be good!" She yelled, just as the computer called: "Planet explodes in ten, nine,"
"Doctor!" Teresa yelled, and he slipped past the next fan.
"Eight, seven, six, five," the Doctor ran to the switch and pulled it as the computer called: "Four."
"Raise shields!" He yelled as the computer finished: "One."
Teresa breathed in relief as the shields turned back online, and she almost sagged against the lever but held onto it so that the Doctor could come back through. He returned, and she let go of the lever in relief as he stopped beside her.
"You should've stopped Jabe sooner if you knew." He told her, and she shrugged as she replied: "She probably wouldn't have listened and would've followed anyway. She needed to see and hear for herself, and for you to tell her to go before she would leave."
He shrugged back, and they slowly made their way back to the observation gallery. But they stopped, Teresa's eyes widening in horror as she saw a smoking pile of ash a little further down the maintenance corridor.
"Oh, no." She breathed as the Doctor walked forward and bent by the ashen remains.
Teresa took a step closer to look at the pile, bits of Jabe's dress lying around the still smoking pile, and she whispered: "Oh no, Jabe."
The Doctor whirled on her and he snarled: "What was that? 'She needed to see and hear for herself'? Who do you think you are, acting so high and mighty?"
"I…" Teresa started, feeling at a complete loss but the Time Lord was furious as he yelled at her: "You could've stopped this! You could've told me about Cassandra and her plan before this, but no! You had to try and act like God, just watching down the end of your nose!"
Teresa's eyes welled with tears and she whispered: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but I couldn't tell you, you know-"
"I don't know it!" He exploded at her and she flinched as the Oncoming Storm raged: "I don't have to either! You know what I do know? You're a monster for letting this happen! For sitting back and just watching as innocent people died!"
Teresa swallowed hard as the Doctor turned on his heel and stormed off. She glanced down at Jabe's remains, and her eyes trickled down her cheek as she whispered: "Jabe, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Forgive me."
She followed the Doctor into the observation gallery, stopping at the door as she saw the empty chair Moxx of Balhoon had been sitting in. People were mourning over the smoking chair, the alien having been fried by the sun's glare. There weren't even any remains left to bury or return to his family… if he had a family.
Rose stood at the side of the room, and she watched the Doctor headed over to the other trees to give them the news about Jabe while Teresa stood by the door with tears running down her face. Rose walked over and placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder, asking in concern: "Are you all right?"
"She's fine." The Doctor snapped as he walked back to them, and Teresa hung her head while Rose winced. The Doctor spat contemptuously: "Of course she's fine, she knew everything that was going to happen. And now all she has to do is teleport away to some other place to watch people die without doing anything to stop it."
"Stop it." Rose scolded him but Teresa didn't say anything.
The Doctor turned away angrily as he went on furiously: "Me, though, I won't. And I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby."
He moved to smash the ostrich egg, when the light appeared around Teresa. Her eyes widened in alarm as the Doctor glared at her and snarled: "Oh, time to go? Well, get going then. Get going and get lost. Don't come back." He spat.
"Doctor!" Rose scolded again, looking furious, but Teresa just swallowed and whispered: "Sorry. Bye Rose."
"Terry!" Rose shouted, but the girl disappeared before anything else could be said.
Teresa began to cry as she disappeared, and by the time she reappeared, she was sobbing. Poor Jabe; the Doctor was right she should've just persuaded the tree-woman to stay. And because of her interference, not only had Jabe still died but she'd died without honour. No saving the Doctor, no facing her death brave and proud.
Teresa crouched down, hugging her knees as she cried, flinching when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Terry?"
She finally realized someone had been calling her concernedly and looked up, blinking away the tears to see Ten staring at her with concerned brown eyes. Seeing him only made the tears flow heavily once more and she lowered her head again in shame, sobbing onto her knees.
The Doctor stared at the girl in concern, wondering what had happened to make her so distraught. Rose asked from behind him worriedly: "Is she all right? Is she hurt?"
"I don't know." He replied truthfully, and to be honest quite anxiously.
He tried to get the girl to lift her head again as he asked gently: "Terry? Terry, what's wrong?"
She just wailed and he was starting to feel alarmed as he gripped her shoulders and pulled her towards him, although he stopped quickly when she flinched and cringed away.
"What's wrong with her?" Mickey asked from beside Rose as Jackie questioned: "Who is that? How'd she get in our living room?"
Rose explained to Jackie quietly as the Doctor asked gently: "Terry, what happened? Where were you before this?"
She shook her head before apologizing between sobs: "Sorry, sorry, sorry-"
"Terry, tell me, what happened?" The Doctor ordered and she cried brokenly: "Jabe."
He froze immediately, and he felt Rose stiffen behind him.
Teresa was still crying as she apologized: "I'm sorry I didn't save her, I'm sorry I didn't say something earlier, and now she and Moxx and, and the Steward and, and-"
"Oh, Terry." The Doctor sighed, pulling her into his arms despite her weak protests as she struggled to breath as the sobs racked through her body. He held her close as Rose drew in as well, and he murmured: "None of that was your fault."
"Yes it was." She wailed, but he rubbed her back as he said softly: "No, it wasn't. And I'm sorry I took my sorrow out on you, and blamed you when you did the best you could. I was just so disappointed in myself, and I lashed out. You just had the misfortune of being there."
"No, they had the misfortune of me being there." Teresa sobbed. "If I'd just stopped it earlier, they could've all lived and no-one would've gotten hurt, but I was stupid and, and-"
"No, you weren't. I was stupid." The Doctor corrected.
Wrong thing to say because Teresa began to cry harder at that, her breathing coming in gasps as her tears flowed thickly and clogged her throat. Rose hurried over, reaching to soothe her friend as she wept, throwing the Doctor reproachful looks. He ignored Rose as he quickly shushed Teresa, and after a while her sobs began to die down and he pulled back to look at her face. She kept it lowered but he coaxed it up, placing a finger under her chin.
When her clouded grey eyes met his, the Doctor said seriously: "Trust me, Terry, you did the right thing."
Teresa murmured sadly: "But you were right. I didn't have to just stand there and watch, I could've tried harder to save everyone-"
"You did, didn't you?" He countered. "You were already there trying to save the Steward when I arrived, and you tried your hardest to save Jabe, and then you saved Rose."
"But if I'd just told you about Cassandra earlier-" Teresa began, not really ready to let it go, but the Doctor interrupted firmly: "Then it might've ended up killing everyone on that platform. She had her attendants wired up to bombs apparently, ready to kill everyone just so she could escape."
Teresa blinked and he smiled.
"See?" The Doctor murmured. "You didn't know that. And because you didn't mess with the timeline, it turned out all right."
"It didn't for Jabe." Teresa replied moodily and the Doctor said seriously: "It might've been her fate to die that day. There are just some things that are meant to happen and will happen no matter how hard we try not to let them come true."
Teresa nodded sadly and he hugged her again.
"And I meant to say: 'Sorry'." He murmured and she looked at him as she wiped her eyes.
"For what?" She asked thickly and he elaborated: "For losing my temper at you when you didn't deserve it. Just know, I didn't mean it."
"Sure you didn't." Teresa said glumly but Rose chimed in quietly: "He doesn't. Lord knows how many times he yelled at me about something. He shouted at me after the whole Cassandra thing, blaming me for you leaving, can you believe that? I think he was just feeling guilty."
Teresa blinked in surprise, before turning to the Doctor and asking sharply, making her voice crack: "You what?!"
He shifted sheepishly as he mumbled: "I said I was sorry."
"Don't tell that to me, say that to her!" Teresa ordered and he frowned while Rose smiled.
"Terry, he did. He apologized later. That's my point- he has, or had, anger issues, and he said things he doesn't mean when he's angry. But he really didn't mean it, and he apologized every time. You know that, or will know that." Rose explained.
Teresa sighed, shaking her head, but said quietly: "Okay, I sort of understand."
They nodded and she cracked a small smile as she told them sincerely: "Thanks for making me feel better. And for apologizing I suppose."
He nodded as Rose grinned, and Teresa finally looked around.
"Where, and when, am I anyway?" She asked, noticing the Christmas decorations in what she recognized as Rose and Jackie's flat.
The Doctor replied lightly: "Oh, I just had a fight with the Sycorax."
She stared at him and asked: "You've just finished recovering from your regeneration?"
"Yup." He nodded and she immediately apologized, feeling horribly guilty: "Oh, I'm sorry. You should be resting, not having to deal with me over something that happened ages ago for you."
"But it happened recently for you. And it's fine, I needed to apologize properly anyway." He replied, and Teresa argued: "It wasn't that important, your health comes first-"
"Now you listen here, Terry Storm." He interrupted and she stopped talking, blinking at him in surprise.
"You are very important, and I don't want to hear you say anything to the contrary, do you hear me?" He ordered and she stared at him.
"Well?" He asked impatiently, and Rose interjected kindly: "Terry, you're a close friend, and friends don't let friends cry alone. Especially when they were the cause of it." She added, looking at the Doctor pointedly.
He rolled his eyes but grinned at Teresa, and she found herself giving a small smile in return.
"Yeah." She breathed and they beamed.
"Great, so how about you join us for Christmas dinner?" Rose asked and Teresa nodded.
"I'd like that." She said softly, and Rose smiled as she tugged her friend up.
"Oh," Rose added, "and we've got to get you to open a cracker. You need to wear a crown too."
She pointed unnecessarily to the paper crown on her head to emphasize her point and Teresa smiled. The Doctor followed them as Rose introduced Teresa to her mother and they all sat down to enjoy Christmas dinner together.
*A/N Dum dum dum... Also, really sorry but updates might be a bit slower from now on as I'm moving into finals week and then summer vacation. I'll try to keep posting regularly, but no promises!