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The Day of the Doctor – Part Four
Osgood snuck back into the Under Gallery, looking for McGillop to see if he might have escaped. She felt terrible for running off the way she did, but she'd just been so scared…she heard moaning coming from beneath a dust sheet, and spotted a shoe poking out from underneath it. Osgood pulled the sheet away to find her boss trapped under red suckers. "Kate? Oh goodness, you're not actually dead. Oh, that's tremendous news. Those creatures, they turn themselves into copies. And they need to keep the original alive, refresh the image so to speak" she worked out as she pulled Kate free.
"Where, where did they go?" Kate gasped as she struggled out of the binds. "I don't know" said Osgood, but then she remembered, "Oh, hang on, yes, I do. The Tower" she told Kate, who looked extremely worried. "If those creatures have got access to the Black Archive, we may just have lost control of the planet" she realised. At first she made to leave the Under Gallery, but Osgood quickly told her, "McGillop should be here as well somewhere, help me find him!"
/
Meanwhile, the Queen had led the Time Lords – and Clara – to another area of the dungeons, this one filled with obviously alien technology. "The Zygons lost their own world" she explained, "It burnt in the first days of the Time War. A new home is required".
"So they want this one" Clara deduced, and the Queen replied, "Not yet. It's far too primitive. Zygons are used to a certain level of comfort" she informed Clara. Another Zygon, this one not in disguise, approached them and questioned, "Commander, why are these creatures here?" The Queen regarded it coolly and answered, "Because I say they should be. It is time you too were translated. Observe this" she said to the others, "I believe you will find it fascinating".
The Zygon soldier placed its hand on a glass cube with dented corners, and moments later, he'd vanished, reappearing in one of the paintings from the Under Gallery. "That's him! That's the Zygon in the picture now" Clara said in wonder. The Warrior corrected her, "It's not a picture, it's a stasis cube. Time Lord art. Frozen instants in time, bigger on the inside, but could be deployed as"-
"Suspended animation" Ten interjected, "Oh, that's very good. The Zygons all pop inside the pictures, wait a few centuries till the planet's a bit more interesting, and then out they come".
"You see, Clara, they're stored in the paintings in the Under Gallery, like cup-a-soups. Except you add time, if you can picture that. Nobody could picture that. Forget I said cup-a-soups" Eleven rambled. Unfazed, Clara deduced, "And now the world is worth conquering. So the Zygons are invading the future from the past".
"Exactly".
Ten turned to the Queen and told her, "And do you know why I know that you're a fake? Because you're such a bad copy. It's not just the smell, or the unconvincing hair, or the atrocious teeth, or the eyes just a bit too close together, or the breath that could stun a horse. It's because my Elizabeth, the real Elizabeth, would never be stupid enough to reveal her own plan. Honestly, why would you do that?" he asked her sceptically.
The Queen glowered at him and replied firmly, "Because it's not my plan, and I am the real Elizabeth".
"…Okay. So, backtracking a moment just to lend context to my earlier remarks…" Ten hedged, trying to save face after that embarrassing mistake. The Corsair sniggered, and then Flavia unceremoniously elbowed him in the side. The Warrior tried to reconcile the ponytailed, trouser wearing, exasperated eye-rolling Flavia with the High Council member he dimly remembered, and couldn't. "My twin is dead in the forest. I am accustomed to taking precautions" Elizabeth explained, pulling a dagger from her garter.
"These Zygon creatures never even considered that it was me who survived rather than their own commander. The arrogance that typifies their kind" she said dismissively. "Zygons?" asked Clara, and Elizabeth scoffed, "Men".
"And you actually killed one of them?"
"I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but at the time, so did the Zygon" Elizabeth pointed out, before turning to Ten. "The future of my kingdom is imperilled. Doctor, can I rely on your service?" she asked him. Ten replied, "Well, I'm going to need my TARDIS".
"It has been procured already".
"Ah".
"But first, my love, you have a promise to keep" Elizabeth smiled, and Ten shifted uncomfortably. "Right, um…about that…" he said awkwardly. How could he get out of marrying the Queen of England without offending her? "What promise?" Clara inquired curiously, and Eleven grinned in amusement. "The gallant Doctor asked for my hand in marriage earlier, and I accepted" Elizabeth revealed. Romana turned to Ten, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "You did what?"
"I – it was my plan! I thought she was a Zygon" Ten explained hurriedly, and then Elizabeth raised her eyebrow. "You mean to tell me that your proposal was faked? Hmm, I suppose I should have realised this was so once you accused me of being a shape-shifting alien immediately afterwards. You know, you are fortunate that falsely proposing to the Queen of England is not a crime punishable by beheading" she told Ten witheringly. He gulped. "Go and save my kingdom, Doctor, and then I never want to see you here again" she added.
Well, at least now I know why she was so unhappy to see me back when Martha and I met Shakespeare. That's two Queens I've been banished by now Ten thought glumly as they left the Tower and got into his TARDIS. "Right then, back to the future" he announced as he fired the time machine up. The others piled in, the Time Lords moving from sheer habit to help fly the ship. Six proper pilots – this is absolutely molto bene brilliant! Ten thought gleefully.
The Warrior looked about in mild distaste. "You've let this place go a bit" he commented, much to Ten's irritation. "Ah, it's his grunge phase. He grows out of it" Eleven assured the Warrior. Ten patted the console sympathetically. "Don't you listen to them" he murmured to his beloved time machine. An alarm went off, and he winced as the console shocked him slightly. "Ow! The desktop is glitching" he realised.
"Hey, look" Eleven said, "the round things".
"I love the round things".
"What are the round things?"
"No idea".
"They're supposed to be wiring and storage compartments" explained Romana, as she used the friction contrafibulator to stabilise the console room. It shifted one more time into the form her Doctor was using currently. Ten looked about and channelled his second incarnation. "Oh, you've redecorated. I don't like it".
Eleven frowned at him. "Oh. Oh yeah? Oh, you never do. Corsair, you're nearest, put in the co-ordinates for the National Gallery" he instructed. The Corsair leaned on the console and replied, "First off, I don't take orders from you, and second, the Zygons have gone to the Black Archive". All three Doctor's stared at the others, and Clara awkwardly said, "Okay, so you've heard of that place, then".
/
"The equipment here is phenomenal" Zygon-McGillop informed his leader, "The humans don't realise what half this stuff does. We could conquer their world in a day" he announced. The undisguised Zygon stated, "We were fortunate, then, in our choice of duplicate".
"If I were human, I'd say it was Christmas" Zygon-McGillop replied, but then the real McGillop, along with Osgood and Kate entered the Archive. "No, I'm afraid you wouldn't. We're not armed. You may relax" Kate informed the Zygons. The one who had been her duplicate answered scathingly, "We are armed. You may not".
Kate turned to Osgood and ordered, "Lock the door. I'm afraid we can't be interrupted. You don't mind if I get comfortable?" she asked the Zygon, walking past the alien to sit down at a table. "You don't mind if I do?" the Zygon asked in turn, transforming into a double of Kate and sitting down opposite her. "You'll realise there are protocols protecting this place. Osgood?" Kate looked over at the scientist, who replied, "In the event of any alien incursion, the contents of this room are deemed so dangerous, it will self-destruct in"-
"Five minutes" finished Kate; an alarm sounded, and a countdown appeared on a machine nearby. "There's a nuclear warhead twenty feet beneath us. Are you sitting comfortably?" she asked her duplicate. Zygon-Kate's eyes narrowed. "You would destroy London?" she asked cynically. Kate didn't even bat an eyelid. "To save the world, yes, I would".
"You're bluffing".
"You really think so? Somewhere in your memory is a man called Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart. I am his daughter".
"Science leads, Kate. Is this what you meant? Is this what your father meant?" Eleven's voice rang through the air, much to the surprise of humans and Zygons alike. "Doctor?" Kate asked in confusion. "Space-Time Telegraph, Kate. A gift from me to your father, hotline straight to the TARDIS" he explained from within the console room of his past-self's TARDIS. "I know about the Black Archive and I know about the security protocol. Kate, please, please tell me you are not about to do something unbelievably stupid".
"I'm sorry, Doctor. Switch it off".
"Not as sorry as you will be. This is not a decision you will ever be able to live with" Ten insisted desperately. "I said, switch it off"
"No, Kate, please. Just listen to me!" Eleven cried, but the line went dead. They tried to land the TARDIS, but to no avail. "The Tower of London, totally TARDIS-proof" Ten grumbled as the TARDIS shook with the strain of trying to materialise. "How can they do that?" asked Clara, and Eleven sighed. "Alien technology plus human stupidity; trust me, it's unbeatable".
The Warrior looked at the stasis cube they'd taken from the Tower of London, and had an idea. "We don't need to land" he announced, much to the other's confusion. "Yeah, we do. A tiny bit. Try and keep up" Ten prompted, wondering if the older man had lost it or was going senile or something. The Warrior shook his head. "No, we don't. We don't. There is another way" he said, holding up the stasis cube, "Cup-a-soup….What is cup-a-soup?"
The other Time Lords looked at one another. "That could actually work" said Romana, impressed, "but we'll need a painting to send ourselves into".
"Yeah, but the Zygons are in every painting, more or less" the Corsair pointed out. Emily held her hand up, like she was answering questions in class. "Um…there is one painting the Zygons won't have gone into" she pointed out. Romana and Eleven looked at one another. "It'll be dangerous" she said. He nodded and answered, "I think we can put the whole TARDIS in the painting, that ought to be a bit safer".
Romana and the other Time Lords set to work on making that possible, whilst Eleven phoned McGillop. "McGillop" he said when he picked up. "Take a look at your phone and confirm who you're talking to" Eleven said firmly.
"But that's not possible. I was just"-
"You were just talking to me. I know. I'm a time traveller, figure it out. I need you to send the Gallifrey Falls painting to the Black Archive. Understood?"
"Understood, sir. But why would I take it there?"
"No time to explain, just do it straightaway".
/
Back in the Black Archive, the countdown had reached 2:59 and counting. "One word from you would cancel the countdown" stated Zygon-Kate, and the real Kate nodded. "Quite so" she replied.
"It's keyed to your voice print".
"And mine alone".
"Cancel the detonation!"
"Countermanded"
"Cancel the detonation"
"Countermanded"
"We only have to agree to live".
"Sadly, we can only agree to die".
Osgood, the real Osgood, put her hands together and prayed, "Please, Doctor, Time Lords, save us. Please save us, please save us, please save us" she whispered. Then she got the shock of her life when an exploded Dalek and then the TARDIS crashed out of the painting of Gallifrey Falls. Three versions of the same Time Lord emerged from the blue box. "Hello" greeted the Warrior. "I'm the Doctor" Ten continued. "Sorry about the Dalek" Eleven finished.
"Also the showing off" Clara added as she and the others stepped out of the TARDIS. Eleven walked up to the desk and demanded, "Kate Lethbridge Stewart, what in the name of sanity are you doing?"
"The countdown can only be halted at my personal command. There's nothing you can do" Kate insisted, but the Doctors were unfazed. "Except make you both agree to halt it" replied Ten, but Kate shook her head resolutely. "Not even three of you".
"You're about to murder millions of people" the Warrior reminded her, but Kate stood her ground stubbornly. "To save billions. How many times have you made that calculation?" she asked the Doctors, as the countdown moved down to 1:36. "Once" Eleven stated, "Turned me into the man I am now. I'm not even sure who that is any more".
"You tell yourself it's justified, but it's a lie" Ten insisted, "Because what I did that day was wrong. Just wrong".
"And, because I got it wrong, I'm going to make you get it right".
"How?" asked Kate. Ten and Eleven pulled up chairs and sat down, crossing their feet up on the table. "Any second now, you're going to stop that countdown. Both of you, together" Ten informed the two Kates. "Then you're going to negotiate the most perfect treaty of all time" added Eleven.
"Safeguards all round, completely fair on both sides".
"And the key to perfect negotiation?"
"Not knowing what side you're on".
"So, for the next few hours, until we decide to let you out"-
"No one in this room will be able to remember if they're human"-
"Or Zygon" finished Eleven, jumping up on the table and aiming his sonic at the memory filter in the ceiling, "Whoops a daisy!"
The humans and disguised Zygons looked befuddled for a moment, before they realised what was going on. "Cancel the detonation!" both Kates cried simultaneously. The countdown stopped at five seconds, and everyone breathed a sigh in relief. "Peace in our time" Eleven smiled, jumping off the table and winding his arm around Romana, giving her a kiss.
/
Whilst the two Kates discussed the treaty, the two Osgood's talked to each other as well. "It's funny, isn't it" said one of them, "If I'm a Zygon, then my clothes must be Zygon, too. So, what happens if I lose a shoe or something?" she wondered. The other Osgood nearly laughed, but ended up coughing instead. Her eyes widened when her double held out her inhaler, putting a finger to her lips. Osgood nodded to the Zygon-her and took the inhaler back with a grateful smile.
Meanwhile, Emily was showing Clara the pictures of the Doctor's past companions, and naming them all. Then they went over to the Warrior, who was sitting in a red wing backed chair. He gave Emily a tentative smile; she returned it happily and climbed into his lap, resting her head on his chest. She was so fearless and trusting of him, it was…mind boggling. "Hello" Clara said gently, hanging back a bit. The Warrior smiled up at her. "Hello" he replied, absently stroking Emily's blonde locks. She had Romana's hair, he realised, and his fourth self's eyes.
"I'm Clara. We haven't really met yet".
"I look forward to it. Is there a problem?"
"The Doctor, I mean, Emily's dad – he didn't talk about it before now. The day he did it, I mean. The day he wiped out the Time Lords to stop the war".
"Well…he's moved on".
"Um, he hasn't really" said Emily, sitting up, "he was upset when he told me, when I was sixteen. But we all forgive him and I think that helps a lot" she added. Clara then said, "But you wouldn't talk about it, because you haven't done it yet. It's still in your future".
"You're very sure of yourself".
"He regrets it. I see it in his eyes every day. He'd do anything to change it".
"Including saving all these people" the Warrior replied, "How many worlds has his regret saved, do you think? Look over there; Humans and Zygons working together in peace. How did you know?" he asked Clara. "Your eyes, you're so much younger" she replied. The Warrior sighed. "Then, all things considered, it's time I grew up. I've seen all I needed. The moment has come" he murmured, looking up at Fred as he gently nudged Emily off of his lap and stood up. "I'm ready" he told her. "I know you are" she replied, holding a hand out to him.
"Who's there, who're you talking to?" asked Clara, as the Warrior reached out to grasp Fred's hand…and then promptly vanished.
/
He stood in front of the Moment, the device itself, with its ruby like button standing on a stalk. "You did wonder why there wasn't a big red button" Fred pointed out, "once you've pressed that, it's all over. No more Time Lords, or Daleks. Are you sure?"
"I was sure when I came in here. There is no other way" the Warrior replied, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than her. "You've seen the men you will become" she reminded him, and he smiled slightly. "Those men…extraordinary".
"They were you".
"No, they are the Doctor".
"You're the Doctor as well".
"No. Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame, whatever the cost" the Warrior replied, his hand hovering over the button as he recalled children laughing and playing in the fields of Gallifrey, back before it all fell apart. "The sound the TARDIS makes when it lands" Fred said out of the blue, "it's a sound that brings hope wherever it goes".
"Yes. Yes, I like to think it does" the Warrior agreed, but Fred wasn't finished. "Wherever it goes, to whoever hears it, it brings hope…even to you" she smiled as the familiar wheezing sound filled the barn. Two TARDISes materialised; Eleven, Romana, Emily and Clara stepped out of one, whilst Ten, the Corsair and Flavia stepped out of the other. "I told you, he hasn't done it yet" Clara told the Doctors.
"Go away now, all of you. This is for me" the Warrior insisted without looking around. How can they let Emily see this? "These events should be time-locked" said Ten, "We shouldn't even be here".
"Let's not look gift horses in the mouth, Doctor" the Corsair suggested, and the Warrior tried once more to get them to leave. "You've given me hope, and I can never repay you for that. Go back to your lives. Go and be the Doctor that I could never be. Make it worthwhile". His future selves walked around on either side of him. The others stood back, watching.
"All those years, burying you in my memory" Ten began, and Eleven continued, "Pretending you didn't exist. Keeping you a secret, even from myself".
"Pretending you weren't the Doctor, when you were the Doctor more than anybody else".
"You were the Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right".
"But this time" said Ten, as he placed his hand over the Warrior's atop the button – "You don't have to do it alone" Eleven finished, putting his hand atop both of theirs. Tears filled the Warrior's eyes. "Thank you" he murmured. All three Doctor's took a deep breath. "What we do today is not out of fear or hatred. It is done because there is no other way".
"And it is done in the name of the many lives we are failing to save". Eleven looked over to Romana, and Emily. I'm sorry he told them, and then his eyes slid over to Clara. She shook her head slightly. "What? What is it? What?" he asked her.
"Nothing"
"No, it's something. Tell me" he insisted, walking up to her and putting his hands on her shoulders. "You told me you wiped out your own people. I just… I never pictured you doing it, that's all" she explained. The room went dark all of a sudden. "What's happening?" Clara asked nervously, but Romana reassured her, "It's just a projection, Clara". A heart-breaking projection, of Gallifrey at war…Clara looked at the fleeing civilians and fighting soldiers in dismay. "These are the people you're going to burn?"
"There was nothing he could have done" Romana defended her husbands. Eleven gave her a grateful glance and continued, "There isn't another way. There never was. Either I destroy my own people or let the universe burn" he said helplessly. Clara just couldn't accept it though. "Look at you, the three of you; the warrior, the hero, and you" she looked at Eleven, who looked back at her and questioned, "And what am I?"
Romana answered, "My husband".
Emily smiled and said, "My dad!"
The Corsair smirked and added, "A little bit crazy".
Flavia finished, "and a good man".
"Romana told me that the name you chose was like a promise" said Clara, "what was the promise?" she asked the Doctors. The projection changed, from night, to daytime when there was a lull in the battle. "Never cruel or cowardly" Ten murmured, as they saw people emerging from the wreckage they'd been hiding from the Daleks in, blinking in the sunlight. "Never give up, never give in" the Warrior added, as the projection vanished.
The Doctor's looked at one another. Ten recognised the look on his future-self's face; it was the look they always got when they had a brilliant, insane idea. "You're not actually suggesting that we change our own personal history?" he asked warily. Eleven replied, "We change history all the time. I'm suggesting far worse".
"What, exactly?" inquired the Warrior. Eleven looked over at his wife and daughter, and then back to his past-selves. "Gentlemen, I have had four hundred years to think about this. I've changed my mind" he announced, pointing his sonic at the Moment and shutting it off. "There's still a billion, billion Daleks up there, attacking" the Warrior reminded him. Eleven grinned. "Yeah, there is, there is" he agreed, and Ten added, "But there's something those billion, billion Daleks don't know".
"Because if they did, they'd probably send for reinforcements" Eleven said confidently. "What are you talking about?" asked Flavia, and the Doctor grinned at her. "This time, there's six Time Lords" he replied. The Warrior's eyes widened. "Oh! Oh, yes, that is good. That is brilliant!" he cheered, and then Ten exclaimed, "Oh, oh, oh, I'm getting that too! That is brilliant!"
"Ha, ha, ha! I've been thinking about it for centuries" Eleven grinned. The Warrior was smiling widely. "She didn't just show me any old future, she showed me exactly the future I needed to see" he realised, and Fred replied, "You're welcome".
"Wait, who showed you what?" the Corsair asked in bewilderment, but the Warrior ignored him. "Oh, Fred, I could kiss you" he announced, and Romana stared at him in surprise. "What did you say?" she asked; he looked at her, and then both their eyes widened as they realised...
Clara asked, "So what are we doing? What's the plan?" The Warrior turned to her and explained, "The Dalek fleets are surrounding Gallifrey, firing on it constantly".
"The Sky Trench is holding, but what if the whole planet just disappeared?" Ten asked, and Clara looked sceptical. "Tiny bit of an ask" she said uncertainly. Ten elucidated, "The Daleks would be firing on each other. They'd destroy themselves in their own crossfire".
"Gallifrey would be gone, the Daleks would be destroyed, and it would look to the rest of the universe as if they'd annihilated each other" the Warrior continued. The other Time Lords, even Emily, realised what they were planning, but Clara was still a bit lost. "But where would Gallifrey be?" she asked, and the three Doctors replied, "Frozen. Frozen in an instant of time, safe and hidden away" –
"Exactly"-
"Like a painting".