Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
I made the Cyberman speech italic and bold to differentiate between it and the italics of telepathic speech.
Closing Time – Part Five
The Time Lords watched in horror as the mask closed over Craig's blankly staring face. "Begin full conversion" ordered one of the Cybermen not holding them back. The lights, both in the ship and in the store, began to flicker. Alfie whimpered, and started crying. "Don't worry" soothed Val, "it's just a little light going out".
Down in the ship, Val and Alfie could be seen and heard on a monitor screen. "Unknown sound-wave detected" announced the second Cyberman. "It is the sound of fear. It is irrelevant. We will remove all fear" replied the first. The Doctor's hearts broke hearing the baby crying, and knowing he could do nothing about it. "Alfie, I'm so sorry!" he called even though he knew Alfie couldn't hear him, "Alfie, please, stop. I – we can't help him" he admitted hopelessly. There's always hope, Doctor Romana told him.
"Don't do this!" Flavia implored the Cyberman, but of course they ignored her. "Emotions eradicated. Conversion complete. Alert! Emotional subsystems rebooting. This is impossible!" cried the first Cyberman, and a flicker of hope did indeed burst to life within the Doctor. "He can hear him. He can hear Alfie! Oh, please, just give me this. Craig, you wanted a chance to prove you're a dad. You are never going to get better one than this!" he called out to Craig. "What is happening?" asked the Cyberman.
"What's happening, you metal moron?" the Doctor scoffed, "A baby is crying. And you'd better watch out, because guess what? Ha, ha! Daddy's coming home!" the Doctor cheered. "Yes! Craig, you can do it, come on!" encouraged Romana, as the helmet opened again and Craig began to struggle once more. "Alfie! Alfie, I'm here! I'm coming for you!" he cried, struggling harder than ever. "Ha! Go Craig!" cheered the Corsair. "Alfie!"
The Cybermen were confused, their grips on the four Time Lords weakening. First the Doctor, and then Flavia struggled free of their captors and hurried to help Craig get out of the conversion chamber. "We've got to get out of here soon!" the Corsair said as he prised himself free, and sonicked the Cyberman holding Romana. She ran straight to the Doctor, giving him a brief but tight hug. "Let's get you out of this Craig, Alfie needs you" he said determinedly.
"Emergency, emotional influx!" cried the lead Cyberman. The metal men began to jerk crazily, sparking. "You've triggered a feedback loop into their emotional inhibitors. All that stuff they cut out of themselves, now they're feeling it. Which means a very big explosion!" explained the Doctor as he and the Corsair prised apart the two halves of the Cybernetic suit. "Overload, overload, overload!" the Cybermen screamed. "Get it open! We need to get to Alfie!" shouted Craig.
At last they got Craig free, only to discover that they were trapped. "They've sealed the ship!" the Doctor said indignantly. "We've got to get out of here!" yelled Craig. "I know!" he yelled back. The Cybermens heads began to explode in showers of sparks. "Oh for Omega's sake!" Flavia cried in exasperation, aiming her sonic at the teleport controls. There was a bright flash of light, and the five of them found themselves squashed into the lift.
Romana and the Doctor fell backwards as the doors slid open, staggering out into the store. "How did you all get in there?" Val asked in bemusement, as Craig scrambled out of the lift and hurried up to her. "Alfie!" he said in relief, reaching out for the baby. "Here's your daddy" Val cooed to the baby, before handing him over. Alfie babbled happily. "That was another review. Ten out of ten" the Doctor informed him with a smile.
Craig smiled at Alfie, feeling pretty giddy. "The Cybermen. They blew up. I blew them up with love" he beamed. "No, that's impossible" the Doctor corrected, "And also grossly sentimental and over simplistic. You destroyed them because of the deeply ingrained hereditary human trait to protect one's own genes, which in turn triggered a, a, a…" he trailed off, realising that Romana was giving him 'the look'. "Yeah. Love. You blew them up with love" he agreed with a smile.
/
"The building should be totally safe structurally" the Doctor commented to the Corsair, much to the annoyance of Kelly who was trying to flirt with him, and wasn't happy with the interruption. "Yep, and of course the bonded disillium contained the explosion" he nodded in agreement. Kelly looked between them with a confused frown on her face. "Right…no idea what you're on about, but Cory, are you free next Friday?" she asked hopefully. "Ah, sorry, I'm leaving town tonight. Tell you what, though, if I'm ever in the area again I'll give you a call. So what's your number?" inquired the Corsair.
The Doctor walked away as Kelly hastened to take the Corsair's offered pen and paper, and scribble down a number. He remembered his first date with Romana; not Liz Ten's party, but a nice, romantic evening in Venice on the canals. Romana and Flavia were both off trying clothes on; he'd never understand what women saw in clothes, he was happy just wearing more or less the same outfit all the time – if it was fine, why change it? Craig was trying things on as well though, leaving Val with babysitting duty again. She didn't mind though, she was quite fond of Alfie.
Craig returned, holding a new shirt, and took Alfie from Val. As she rang up the money for his purchase, she commented "It suits you". Craig smiled at the compliment. "Thanks" he replied. Val looked over to wear Romana was walking over. "You look very nice in that" she smiled approvingly. The Doctor looked over and felt his jaw drop; Romana was wearing the medium length dress, in a shade of almost-TARDIS-blue no less, which he had said might look good on her. He'd imagined her in it last night, when they…she must have picked up on that image and figured out which dress it was.
"Thank you, Val. Doctor? What do you think?" she asked him. You know when we made love last night? He asked her. Romana blushed, and answered Yes?
Could you buy that dress right now and come back to the TARDIS with me?
I'd be happy to buy the dress, love, but don't you think we ought to help clean up the mess we made in Craig's house?
But-but you- you look sexy!
Romana shook her head in amusement, and turned to Val. "I'll be right back" she said, before walking back to the changing room. The Doctor continued to stare at the spot where she'd been standing. "You alright, mate?" asked Craig. The Doctor swallowed hard. "If any of you need me, I'll be taking a cold shower" he announced, before running off. Just after he'd left, Flavia walked up holding some clothes on hangars. "Where's the Doctor going?" she asked. When the Corsair told her, she rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Honestly. You'd think after all this time he'd handle it better…"
Craig decided to take his leave when Romana returned moments later, asking her to pass his regards on to the Doctor. When he and Alfie entered the living room, Craig looked around at the tidiness and asked rhetorically "Who's tidied all this up?" He went into the kitchen, to find all the chairs and the table repaired and the room looking more or less spotless. "See, I do come back" the Doctor smiled, his arm around Romana's shoulders. Craig stared at the Time Lords in disbelief. "How did you…?" he trailed off.
"Well, we do have a time machine. Of course, thanks to a certain little oversight none of us could fix your wooden furniture with our sonics, and getting identical furniture is tricky on any day, with or without a time machine" the Corsair explained. "You went back in time? That means you used up your hours. What about Exedor?" asked Craig. "What about you being in trouble with Sophie when she comes back? I couldn't let that happen" the Doctor replied. Craig was touched. "You used up your hours for me?" he asked in surprise.
"Course I did. You're my mate. I notice Stormageddon's very quiet and happy" the Doctor nodded to Alfie, and the baby gurgled. "Oh, he prefers the name Alfie now. And he's very proud of his dad" he smiled. Craig looked at his son with a wide smile. "He calls me dad?"
Romana chuckled. "No more 'not-mum'. See, Alfie, we told you he wasn't so bad" she smiled, tickling the baby's cheek. Alfie babbled. "He says you're not catching on quick enough. Yeah, he is a bit thick, isn't he?" agreed the Doctor. Craig laughed, and said "Oi, shut up, you two!" The Doctor smiled as well, but the humour in his eyes quickly faded when he remembered what was in store. Romana slipped her hand into his and squeezed it. "Well, now it's time. We have to go. I have to go" he told Craig quietly.
His friend's smile slipped away. "Doctor, I know that something's wrong. I can help you" he told the Time Lord. Craig couldn't fully remember what he'd heard when the conversion had begun to take effect, but he did recall the Doctor saying something about him dying… "Nobody can help me" the Doctor replied sadly, "I hope Sophie won't mind, I need these" he added, taking a bunch of TARDIS blue envelopes from a shelf. "Where are you going to go?" asked Craig.
"America" answered Flavia, before holding her hand out to shake, "and it was nice meeting you Craig". He smiled and nodded. "It was nice to meet you all too. Doctor, Sophie'll be home any second. Are you sure-?" he tried to ask, but the Doctor shook his head slightly. "I can't miss this appointment, Craig. Goodbye, mate" he smiled sadly. Something suddenly occurred to Craig, and he held up a finger. "Wait there, one second". He hurried away and came back holding a Stetson. "From Sean's stag" he explained with a grin, placing the hat on the Doctor's head.
The Doctor beamed, "Wow!" Craig placed the hat on his head and nodded. "You ride 'em, pardner" he smiled. "Oh, thanks!" said the Doctor, grinning at Romana and pointing at his new headgear. She gave him an amused smile and said "It suits you". Craig and the Doctor shared one more smile, and nod, before the Doctor and Romana walked away. "Bye" Craig said quietly. Just then there was a knock on the door. "Doctor, that will be Sophie arriv"- Craig looked back to see that the Time Lords had gone.
He silently wished them the best of luck and went to answer the door. Sophie smiled happily at him when he opened it. "Hello, hello, I forgot my keys" she explained sheepishly as she moved to hug him. "Oh, I've missed you so much" Craig told her. "I missed you, too. Both of you. Are you wearing a papoose?" she asked in surprise. Craig looked down at himself and nodded, "yes".
They went into the living room. "Oh, my God, the place is spotless. Has anything happened? You look different" Sophie commented. Craig pretended to not know what she was talking about. "Nothing happened. Nothing weird" he lied. Sophie smiled at him and Alfie. "Look at you two, thick as thieves. Who's Daddy's little boy then?" she cooed to Alfie. Much to their surprise, Alfie said his first word – "Doctor!"
Sophie's eyes widened. "What? Craig?" she asked. Craig swallowed, not sure how to explain… "It's a long story" he said weakly.
/
Three children were kicking a football around when they saw a tall man and a not so tall woman step into a police box together. They stopped and stared as another man, in a cowboy hat, and another woman walked up and stopped outside the box as well. "Well then, one last trip, eh?" the man said to the woman, who looked sad for some reason. Then he turned to the children, smiling. He walked over and told them, "Hey. I'm the Doctor. I was here to help. And you are very, very welcome". He tipped his Stetson to them, and walked into the box, followed by the woman.
Moments later, the box vanished with a weird, wheezing noise. The three kids looked at one another and knew that they'd never forget that moment as long as they lived. Many, many years later, a newly graduated Doctor River Song was reading through eyewitness accounts of what some called 'the Doctor's final day'. The one from the older blonde girl read 'It was funny. He seemed so happy, but so sad at the same time'. The one from the dark skinned boy read 'I was just a kid. I thought maybe he was a cowboy on his way to a gunfight'. The final one simply said 'I really liked his hat'.
River put the eyewitness accounts back into their folder and picked up her diary, flicking through it until she found a page with a circled date, time and place. '22/04/11 5:02pm Lake Silencio' was written there. "Tick tock, goes the clock, and what now shall we play? Tick tock, goes the clock, now summer's gone away" a creepy, eerily familiar voice sang. River peered into the shadows, seeing a woman with an eye-patch standing there, smirking at her. "Hello?" she asked cautiously.
"Such a lovely old song" the woman commented, "but is it about him?"
"You know about the Doctor?"
"So very well. Oh, don't try and remember me. We've been far too thorough with your dear little head" the woman told River as she stepped into the light, tapping her temple. River sensed something behind her and looked round to see aliens. She jumped and yelled in surprise. "Oh! What are they? What are those things?" she asked. Madame Kovarian reached out and picked up her diary. "Your owners" she replied dismissively. "My what?" asked River, spinning around, only to forget what she'd been looking at.
"So, they made you a Doctor today, did they? Doctor River Song" she said rather patronisingly, "How clever you are. You understand what this is, don't you?" she asked, pointing at the circled date, time and place. "According to some accounts, it's the day the Doctor dies" River answered. She knew she shouldn't really talk to creepy women who came to speak to her in the dead of night, but somehow she couldn't stop herself. "By Silencio Lake, on the Plain of Sighs, an Impossible Astronaut will rise from the deep and strike the Time Lord dead" Kovarian recited.
River sat down. "It's a story" she said confidently. Kovarian smirked, and grinned. "And this is where it begins" she told River, before two soldiers came in carrying an astronaut suit. Old, half-forgotten memories began to creep forward into River's head, and she stood up in alarm. "You never really escaped us, Melody Pond. We were always coming for you" Kovarian informed her. "How do you know who I am?!" demanded River, struggling as the soldiers grabbed her arms. "I made you what you are" Kovarian said in a sing-song voice, "the woman who kills the Doctor".
"No! No! NO!" River shouted, struggling desperately, as one of the soldiers plunged a syringe into her arm. She sank into the chair, gasping, fighting to stay awake. The last thing she saw was Kovarian holding out a photograph, of the Doctor and Romana smiling at one another. "Tick tock, goes the clock, and all the years they fly. Tick tock, and all too soon, her love", Kovarian tore the Doctor out of the photo, "will surely die".
When River woke up, she was trapped in the astronaut suit, just like she had been as a child. She couldn't move, and if she spoke no one would hear her scream, down in the water of Lake Silencio. I'm sorry, Doctor she thought sadly, I'm sorry Romana, Flavia, Corsair…I'm sorry.
"Tick tock, goes the clock, she was found and fought for…Tick tock, goes the clock, till River kills the Doctor".