Disclaimer: I'm in mourning, leave me alone.
Ch. 28:
Tap tap tap tap.
Lily and the Doctor broke apart, horrified realization on both their faces.
Tap tap tap tap
They turned as Wilf knocked again.
He waved weakly.
"They've gone then?" he asked them. "Yeah, good-o. If you could, er, let me out."
Lily held up her hand and a few gold sparks appeared before disappearing. She looked up at the Doctor in horror.
The Doctor nodded sadly.
"Yeah." He said softly.
"I mean, this thing seems to be making a bit of noise." Wilf said anxiously.
"The Master left the nuclear bolt running." The Doctor told him hesitantly. "It's gone into overload."
"And that's bad, is it?" Wilf asked.
"No." the Doctor replied lightly. "'Cause all the excess radiation gets vented inside there."
He nodded to the glass booth.
"Vinvocci glass contains it." He continued. "All 500,000 rads about to flood that thing."
"Oh." Wilf replied. "Well, you'd better let me out then."
"Except it's gone critical." The Doctor said.
Wilf's face fell.
He stood up and Lily wrapped her arms herself, rocking slightly.
"Touch one control and it floods." The Doctor said, taking out the sonic screwdriver. "Even this would set it off and Lily's too weak after all that to run a toaster, much less get you out."
"I'm sorry." Wilf said helplessly. "Look, just leave me."
"Okay, right then, I will." The Doctor told him, smiling bitterly. "'Cause you had to go in there, didn't you? You had to go and get stuck, oh yes! 'Cause that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always this. Waiting for me, all this time."
"No, really, just leave me." Wilf told him. "I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time."
"Well, exactly, look at you." The Doctor raged. "Not remotely important! But me? I could do so much more! So much more! But this is what I get. My reward. And it's not fair!"
He shoves papers off the desk as he began to cry, gasping for breath.
He shook his head and sighed.
"Oh…" he said softly. "Live too long."
"No." Wilf told him. "No, no, please! Please don't. No! Don't! Don't! Please. Don't. Please."
The Doctor slowly crossed the floor and placed his hand on the silver handle, gazing at Wilf.
"Wilfred, it's my honor." He told the man. "Better be quick! Three, two…"
He opened the door and stepped inside, pressing the button to release Wilf.
"One." He finished.
Wilf rushed out as the booth holding the Doctor was bathed in red.
He groaned and his jaw clenched in pain as he fell to his knees.
There was a feral yell and Lily threw herself at the door, slamming her fists into the glass uselessly. She hit and clawed at the door separating her from her mate as he covered his head with his hands trying to ward off the pain.
He convulsed with ever breath as Lily fell to the ground, her body wrenching with every sob.
Finally, the light went off and the power died.
The Doctor remained motionless and the only sound was Lily's heart wrenching sobs.
Then…his fingers moved, reaching for the floor.
"Oh!" Wilf exclaimed.
Lily followed her mate's progress, pulling herself up as he did.
"What?" Wilf asked. "Hello."
"Hi." The Doctor replied hoarsely.
"Still with us?" Wilf asked.
"System's dead." The Doctor replied. "I absorbed it all. Whole thing's kaput."
He pressed the door and it opened.
"Oh!" he said in aggravation. "Now it opens, yeah!"
"Well, there we are then." Wilf said, relieved. "Safe and sound. Mind you, you're in a hell of a state. You've got some battle scars there."
The Doctor covered his face with his hands before removing them to reveal unblemished skin.
A sob escaped Lily and she buried her face in his chest and he held her tight.
"But they've…Your face!" Wilf said. "How did you do that?"
"It's started." The Doctor replied softly.
Wilf began to cry as the Doctor helplessly held Lily.
Wilf stepped out of the TARDIS followed by a subdued Donna. A second later, the Doctor and Lily walked out hand in hand.
"Oh." The Doctor said, spotting Sylvia. "She's smiling. As if today wasn't bad enough…"
"Oh." Wilf said, half laughing.
"Anyway…" the Doctor said lightly. "Don't go thinking this is goodbye, Wilf. I'll see you again. One more time."
"What do you mean?" Wilf asked. "When's that?"
"Just…keep looking." The Doctor told him. "I'll be there."
"Where're you going?" Wilf asked.
The Doctor glanced at Lily, who had tears running down her cheeks.
"To get my reward." He replied.
"I'll call you…after." Lily told Donna softly.
She and the Doctor walked back inside the TARDIS.
They walked back out in Cardiff.
"I need to do this on my own." The Doctor told Lily softly.
She nodded and stepped away.
"I'll be right here." she told him.
He nodded and stepped back inside, leaving her.
A gun shot sparks at a figure in black who was running across a stretch of open ground.
Martha crossed a stretch of dirt and threw herself behind a concrete block, joining Mickey, who was reloading his gun.
"I told you to stay behind!" he told her.
"Well, you looked like you needed help." She shot back, making him scoff. "Besides, you and Lily were the ones who persuaded me to go freelance."
"Yeah, but…we're being fired at by a Sontaran." Mickey scoffed. "A dumpling with a gun! And this is no place for a married woman!"
"Well then…" Martha said, laughing. "You shouldn't have married me!"
They grinned at each other, unaware of the Sontaran watching them from above.
He raised his gun and aimed.
There was a metallic 'wang', and he dropped.
The Doctor stood behind him, holding the mallet from the TARDIS with a look of satisfaction on his face.
Still unaware, Mickey and Martha were looking at a map.
"If we go in here, and down the factory floor, and down past that corridor," Mickey said, " then it won't know we're here."
Meanwhile Martha looked up towards the Sontaran had been.
"Mickey." She said faintly. "Mickey!"
He glanced at her before following her gaze to the Doctor.
He stood watching them, one hand holding the mallet and the other in his pocket.
"Hey!" Mickey said happily.
They started towards him, but the Doctor simply nodded before turning and walking away.
They watched him go and Mickey pulled Martha into his arms as they heard the TARDIS. Martha closed her eyes and Mickey pressed a kiss to her head.
Luke was walking down the street, talking on the phone.
"That was the maddest Christmas ever, Clyde!" he said. "Mum still doesn't know what happened! She got Mr. Smith to put out this story saying that WiFi went mad all across the world, giving everyone hallucinations. I mean, how else are you going to explain it? Everyone with a different face…"
He began to cross the road, only to be dragged back by the Doctor as a car came barreling past.
Luke caught his breath and stared at the Doctor as he frowned at him.
"It's you!" he said, shocked.
The Doctor nodded.
"You're…"
The Doctor walked away, looking tired and unhappy.
"Mum." Luke called. "Mum!"
"What?" Sarah Jane asked. "What is it?"
"It's him!" he replied, gesturing to him. "It's the Doctor!"
Sarah Jane stared at him as he walked back to the TARDIS. He paused at the threshold to wave at her before disappearing inside.
Jack sat in a bar full of aliens, drowning his sorrow and guilt.
The Bartender walked over.
"From the man over there." He said, pointing as he handed him a note.
He moved and Jack saw the Doctor standing at the end of the bar. He nodded at the note and Jack opened it.
'Your sister needs you' it said.
Jack looked up, confused, and the Doctor motioned for him to turn it over.
'His name is Alonzo' was all it said.
He looked back up and the Doctor nodded to the man who had just sat down next to Jack.
The Doctor saluted him, which Jack returned, before wandering away.
Jack glanced at the man.
"So, Alonzo…" he said.
The man stared at him.
"Goin' my way?" Jack asked.
"How d'you know my name?" Alonzo asked.
Jack smiled.
"I'm kinda psychic." He told him.
"Really?" Alonzo asked as Jack laughed. "And what am I'm thinking now?"
Jack nodded, smiling.
"Oh, yeah!" he replied.
Alonzo nodded, a slow smile forming on his face.
Jack laughed and drained his glass.
Verity was sitting at a table in a bookstore, signing copies of her book.
"No, it's not just a story, no." she told a man. "Every word of it's true. I found my great-grandmother's diary in the loft. And she was a nurse in 1913 and she fell in love with this man called John Smith. Except he was a visitor from another world. She fell in love with a man from the stars. And she…wrote it all down."
She closed the copy of A Journal of Impossible Things and passed it to him.
"Thank you." He said, moving off.
"And who's it for?" she asked, taking the next person's book.
"The Doctor." He replied.
"'To the Doctor'." She said as she signed. "Funny, that's the name he used."
She froze before finally looking up at him.
"Was she happy?" the Doctor asked her. "In the end?"
"Yes." She replied after a moment. "Yes, she was."
She stared at him for a moment.
"Were you?" she asked.
He smiled sadly.
"Yeah." He said softly.
He picked up the book and walked away.
Church bells rang as Donna and Shawn came out, arm in arm, and Donna held up her hand to show off her new ring.
Wilf kissed her cheek and then, laughing, kissed Shawn's cheek, making everyone else laugh.
"Everybody, three cheers!" he called. "Hip hip…"
"Hooray!" everyone cheered. "Hooray! Hooray!"
Donna began pulling everyone together for pictures.
"Right then, come on then, you lot!" she ordered. "Get in! This photo is just with friends! Come on and I want all of you in it. Come on, that's it! Well, friends-and Nerys!"
She grinned at the miserable looking woman.
"Oh, I'm only joking." She told her. "Oh, look at her!"
"Well, you made me wear peach!" Neyrs protested.
"That's 'cause you are a peach!" Donna told her. "Furry skin, stone inside, going off!"
"Okay, smile!" the photographer called.
Everyone laughed and threw confetti.
Minnie turned to Wilf.
"How about it, Wilfred?" she asked.
"Eh?" he said.
"Well, it's never too late!" she told him, sprinkling confetti in his hair.
"Will you behave, Minnie?" he demanded. "Honestly!"
"I'm going to catch that bouquet!" she told him.
"Dear, dear." Wilf said, chuckling.
Sylvia turned away and spotted the Doctor standing in front of the TARDIS on the other side of the gate.
"Dad." She whispered.
Wilf led her over to the Doctor.
"Eh, here you are, hey?" Wilf asked. "Same old face. Didn't I tell you you'd be alright? Oh, they've arrested Mr. Naismith. It was on the new. Crimes undisclosed. And his daughter. Both of 'em locked up. Yep…but…I keep thinking, Doctor, there's one thing you never told me. That woman-who was she?"
The Doctor just swallowed hard.
"I just wanted to give you this." He said, reaching into his pocket. "Wedding present. Thing is, I never carry money, so I just popped back in time. Borrowed a quid off a really lovely man. Geoffrey Noble, his name was."
Sylvia's eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth.
"Have it, he said." He told her. "Have that on me."
Wilf comforted her, mouthing 'thank you' at the Doctor.
They walked away and handed the envelope to Donna.
"Oh, don't tell me, it's a bill!" she said, taking it. "Just what I need right now!"
She opened it.
"A lottery ticket?" she asked.
Wilf and Sylvia stared at each other in shock.
"What a cheap present!" she told them. "Still, you never know! It's triple rollover this week. I might get lucky!"
She shoved it down the front of her dress.
"Oi, Shawn!" she yelled. "Come on, we're on a tight schedule. I was told soup at 2:30."
The Doctor watched as Wilf and Sylvia turned and looked at him.
Sylvia smiled sadly and Wilf saluted him.
The Doctor turned away and never saw the maid of honor watch him walk away with tears in her grey eyes. As he enter the TARDIS, she blew a kiss at him and the wind blew her blonde hair in her face, obscuring her view as the TARDIS disappeared.
Jackie and Rose Tyler walked through the snow towards their flat.
"Too late now, I've missed it." Rose told her mother. "Midnight. Mickey's going to be calling me every minute. This is your fault!"
"No, it is not!" Jackie protested. "Jimbo! He said he was gonna give us a lift and then he said his axle's broke! I can't help it!"
"Get rid of him, Mum!" Rose told her. "He's useless!"
"Listen to you!" Jackie shot back. "With a mechanic! Be fair though. In my time of life, I'm not gonna do much better."
"Don't be like that." Rose said, wrapping her arm around her. "Never know, there could be someone out there."
"Maybe." Jackie replied, looking up at the sky. "One day."
She smiled at her daughter.
"Happy New Year!" she told her.
"Happy New Year!" Rose replied.
They embraced warmly.
"Don't stay out all night!" Rose said, pointing at Jackie.
"Try and stop me!" she replied, hurrying away.
Rose strode through the snow, passed where the Doctor was standing watching her.
He suddenly grimaced and Rose turned.
"You all right, mate?" she asked.
"Yeah." He replied, trying to sound normal.
"Too much to drink?" she asked.
"Something like that." He replied.
"Maybe it's time you went home." She told him.
"Yeah." He answered.
"Anyway, Happy New Year!" she told him cheerfully.
"And you!" he replied.
She turned away.
"What year is this?" he called.
"Blimey, how much have you had?" she asked.
The Doctor shrugged.
"2005." Rose told him. "January the first."
"2005." He repeated thoughtfully. "Tell you what. I bet you're gonna have a really great year!"
"Yeah?" she asked, amused.
He smiled.
"See ya!" she said.
She ran through the snow and he watched her go.
The Doctor stood outside a Cardiff restaurant, and inside he could see himself, Jack, and Lily as she used to be, eating a meal, talking and laughing.
He groaned and grabbed his head.
He looked at Lily, her black hair shaking as she laughed.
"I love you." He whispered.
He froze as she looked out the window and straight at him.
She smiled softly before turning back to the men she was with.
"I'm sorry." He murmured.
He turned and saw Ood Sigma standing in the street.
"We will sing to you, Doctor." He told him. "The Universe will sing you to your sleep. This song is ending, but the story never ends."
Lily sat on a bench with a slightly pregnant Gwen, waiting for the Doctor. Finally, she heard the engines and got to her feet.
The TARDIS appeared and the Doctor stepped out, but he made no move towards her.
She walked forward and watched as he dropped something before stepping back inside.
"No." she said.
She took off running as the TARDIS began to disappear.
"NO!"
She made it to the door the moment they disappeared fully and she fell to the ground in the place where the time ship had been.
"No!" she screamed.
Gwen moved to her side and wrapped her arms around the young woman as she cried.
Finally, she pulled away and picked up what he had dropped.
It was an envelope addressed to her.
My dearest Lily-
The Doctor moved up the ramp, supporting himself on the rails.
These last few years have meant more to me than I ever thought possible. If I hadn't found you…if you hadn't found me…
He removed his duster and threw it over a beam.
You save me and I will never be able to repay that debt.
He looked at his hand, which was glowing.
I wish I didn't have to leave you. I wish I didn't have to be the cause of the pain I'm sure I'm leaving, but I will not risk it. I will not risk you.
He stared at his hand, his eyes filling with tears.
This regeneration, if I survive, will be violent at best, and deadly at worst. And when do things ever go our way?
He moved around the console for the last time.
I swear to you. I swear I will come back to you. I swear it.
He stared up at the central column.
I'm so proud of you, my beautiful Phoenix. Just, promise me you will be brilliant. For me. And promise you will keep yourself safe, no matter what happens.
I love you so much.
Forever,
"I don't wanna go." He whispered.
Your Doctor…
His body burst into gold light as he threw back his head. The force of the energy shot flames through the TARDIS breaking it and burning it.
He closed his eyes only to open new ones with a scream.
In his place stood a new man.
A massive explosion brought him back to reality.
He grabbed his left leg and pulled it up to kiss it.
"Legs!" he exclaimed. "I've still got legs!"
He patted his chest.
"Good." He said. "Arms! Hands! Ooh, fingers! Lots of fingers!"
He grabbed his head and began to feel his face.
"Ears!" he continued. "Yes, eyes, two. Nose. Ooh, I've had worse. Chin! Blimey! Hair!"
He felt his longer hair.
"I'm a girl!" he squeaked, before feeling his Adam's apple. "No! I'm not a girl!'
He pulled a forelock down so he could see it.
"Oh, and still not ginger!" he complained.
He began to look around.
"Something else-there was something else!" he said. "Something-important I'm-I'm-I'm-"
An explosion shook the TARDIS and the Doctor looked up with a delighted grin.
"Ha-ha!" he yelled. "Crashing!"
As the TARDIS hurtled through space towards Earth, the Doctor ran wildly around.
"Ha-ha!" he rejoiced. "Wa-hoo! Woo hoo hoo! Ha! Geronimo!"
A/N: Review.
Abbey.
*curls into a ball*
