"Don't just stand there, move! God, you're rubbish as a human! Come on!"
The Doctor grabs my hand and we chase after Martha.
We run all the way back to the school, breathless. The Doctor closes the heavy wooden main door behind us. Once inside the school's front hall, he immediately begins ringing a bell.
"What're you doing?" I demand, covering my ears
"Maybe one man can't fight them, but this school teaches us to stand together. Take arms! Take arms!" He yells
"You can't do that!" Martha protests
"You want me to fight, don't you? Take arms! Take arms!"
Boys begin rushing down the stairs.
"I say sir, what's the matter?" asks one of them
"Enemy at the door, Hutchinson. Enemy at the door. Take arms!" He orders and the boy runs off.
It makes me sick to see these boys going off to war against the Doctor's enemy. The real Doctor would have died before letting any of these boys fight his battle.
The boys are loading machine guns and other weapons, as the Doctor walks down the line of boys, followed frantically by Martha and I.
"You can't do this, Doctor. Mr Smith!" Martha begs
"Maintain position over the stable yard." He orders the boys
"They're just boys! You can't ask them to fight!" I protest
"Faster now! That's it." Urges the Doctor
"They don't stand a chance!" I wail
"They're cadets, Rose. They are trained to defend the King and all his properties." Snarls the Doctor and I am taken aback at how harshly he used my name.
The Headmaster enters the room.
"What in thunder's name is this? Before I devise an excellent and endless series of punishments for each and every one of you, could someone explain very simply and immediately exactly what is going on?" He roars
"Headmaster, I have to report the school is under attack." The Doctor responds
"Really? Is that so? Perhaps you and I should have a word in private." Growls the headmaster
"I promise you, sir. I was in the village with my wife. It's Baines, sir. Jeremy Baines and Mr. Clarke from Oakham Farm. They've gone mad, sir. They've got guns. They've already murdered people in the village. I saw it happen." He explains
"Is that so?" the headmaster asks me
"I'm afraid it's true, sir." I nod
"Murder on our own soil?"
"I saw it, yes."
"Perhaps you did well then, Mr. Smith. What makes you thing the danger's coming here?" questions the headmaster
"Well, sir, they said, um..." The Doctor trails off
"Baines threatened Mr. Smith, sir. Um, said he'd follow him. We don't know why." I jump in quickly
"Very well. You boys, remain on guard. Mr. Snell, telephone the police. Mr. Philips, with me. We shall investigate." Announces the Headmaster starting to walk off, but Martha stands in front of the Headmaster to stop him.
"No, it's not safe out there." Warns Martha
"Mr. Smith, it seems your favorite servant is giving me advice. You will control her, sir." Sniffs the headmaster before he leaves
"We've got to find the watch." Martha Whispers to me
"I know, but I can't help you right now."
"Why not?"
"Those boys are going to fight. I might not be a doctor, but I'm still their nurse. They need me."
She nods "Of course." She pauses before adding "And so does he."
I nod, and she gives me a half smile before running off. I hurry to the nurses office and change into my spare uniform, before heading back to the Doctor, where he's talking to a pair of boys, preparing for battle.
"You're with Armitage and Thwaites. They know the drill." He catches sight of me
"Rose, it's not safe." He warns
"I'm doing my duty, just as much as you." I answer back, my heart breaking as all I want is to joke with My Doctor, the Doctor with whom I've lived without for months "Fine evening we've had together." I joke
"Not quite as planned." He answers back, and I smile slightly
I suddenly come up with an idea to help him remember who he is.
"Tell me about Nottingham." I order
"Sorry?"
"That's where you were brought up. Tell me about it." I urge
"Well, it lies on the River Leen, its southern boundary following the course of the River Trent which flows from Stoke to the Humber." He answers
"That sounds like an encyclopaedia. Where did you live?" I press
"Broadmoor Street, adjacent to Hotley Terrace in the district of Radford Parade."
"But more than facts. When you were a child, where did you play? All those secret little places... dens and hideaways that only a child knows? Tell me, John. Please tell me." I urge
"How can you think that I'm not real? When I kissed you, was that a lie?" He snarls, suddenly angry again
"No, it wasn't. No." I answer back, calmly
"But this Doctor sounds like some... some romantic lost prince. Would you rather that? Am I not enough?"
"No, John. I love you dearly" I respond, knowing that if I was to tell him who I really was he would abandon me when he needs me most.
"I've got to go." He sighs
"John Smith wouldn't want them to fight, never mind the Doctor. The John Smith I am married to, he knows it's wrong, doesn't he?" I ask, desperately
"What choice do I have?" He whispers, giving me a soft kiss, and then running off.
Tears stream down my face as I hear the headmaster shouting orders before one word lingers in the air, loudly, and then followed by a rainstorm of gunfire
"Fire!"
I press my hands to my face as I listen to the battle, before recovering and collecting my medical kit.
The gunfire stops, and I freeze.
I wait, in the silence.
One shot goes off, sounding like the gunshot of the alien weapons.
I take off, running through the halls before I burst out the door
"I'll not see this happen. Not anymore." Yells the Doctor in the silence, to the boys "You will retreat... in an orderly fashion back through the school. Hutchinson, lead the way."
"But sir..." protests Hutchinson
"I said, lead the way!"
Baines fires his gun in the air, and the boys run back towards the school, followed by Martha and the Doctor. I lead them to the back passage through the stables.
"Let's go! Quick as you can!" He orders
"Don't go to the village! It's not safe!" Warns Martha
"And you, ladies!" the Doctor urges us
"Not until we get the boys out." I respond, stubbornly
"Now, I insist. The pair of you just go. If there are any more boys inside, I'll find them." He opens the door to be greeted by a wall of scarecrows.
"I think... retreat."
We race through the stable and out into the cold winter air.
"Doctor! Doctor! Martha, Rose!" Sing songs a voice and we turn to see Clark standing in front of the Tardis.
"Come back, Doctor. Come home. Come and claim your prize."
"Out you come, Doctor! There's a good boy. Come to the Family." Teases Baines
"Time to end it now!" Jenny agrees
"You recognize it, don't you?" Martha whispers
"Come out, Doctor! Come to us!" teases Jenny
"I've never seen it in my life." Hisses The Doctor
"Do you remember its name?" Urges Martha
"I'm sorry, John, but you wrote about it. The blue box. You dreamt of a blue box." I say
"I'm not... I'm John Smith. That's all I want to be. John Smith, with his life... and his job... and his love." He looks at me, tears in his eyes. "Why can't I be John Smith? Isn't he a good man?"
"Yes. Yes, he is." I nod
"Why can't I stay?"
"But we need the Doctor." Martha responds
"So what am I then, nothing? I'm just a story." The Doctor runs off leaving Martha and I to trail him
"This way. I think I know somewhere we can hide." I urge
"We've got to keep going." Pants the Doctor
"Just listen to me for once, John. Follow me." I order
Martha and the Doctor silently follow me down a smaller path until we arrive at a dark house
"Here we are. It should be empty. Oh, it's a long time since I've run that far." I groan
"But who lives here?" Martha asks
"If I'm right, no one." We walk slowly to the front door and I enter first. It is a simple cottage kitchen with tea set on the table.
"Hello? No one home. We should be safe here."
"Whose house is it, though?"
"Um, the Cartwrights. That little girl at the school... she's Lucy Cartwright, or she's taken Lucy Cartwright's form. If she came home this afternoon and if the parents tried to stop their little girl, then they were vanished." I wince
I put my hand to the tea pot "Stone cold."
The Doctor sits on one of the chairs at the table and looks as if he's carrying the weight of the world.
"I must go to them before anyone else dies." He murmurs
"Not without the watch." Disagrees Martha
"You're this Doctor's companion! Can't you help? What exactly do you do for him? Why does he need you?" Shrieks the Doctor at her
Martha opens and shuts her mouth.
"And that's what you want me to become?" He howls.
There's a knock on the door and we all turn to face it.
"What if it's them?" I whisper
"I'm not an expert, but I don't think scarecrows knock." Martha walks to the door and opens it to reveal Timothy Latimer.
"I brought you this." He holds out watch.
"The watch!" gasps Martha, taking it from him. She turns to the Doctor
"Hold it." She urges
"I won't."
"Please, just hold it." Martha repeats
"It told me to find you. It wants to be held."
"You've had this watch all this time? Why didn't you return it?" I demand
"Because it was waiting. And because I was scared of the Doctor." He answers
"Why?" demands the Doctor
"Because... I've seen him. He's... like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun."
"Stop it." Groans the Doctor
"He's ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the universe." Continues Timothy
"Stop! I said stop it." Yells the Doctor
"And he's wonderful." Finishes Timothy.
I remember I stashed his journal in my purse. I reach in and pull it out.
"I've still got this. The journal."
"Those are just stories." Denies the Doctor
"Now we know that's not true. Perhaps there's something in here."
There is an explosion outside and we all gasp.
"What the hell?" Martha demands and we look out the window to see what could pass for meteorites falling to the ground.
"They're destroying the village." I sigh
"Watch." Whispers the Doctor and he picks it up.
"Can you hear it?" Timothy asks
"I think he's asleep. Waiting to awaken." Answers the Doctor
"Why did he speak to me?" asks Timothy
"Oh, low-level telepathic field. You were born with it. Just an extra synaptic engram causing..." He babbles, before stopping and inhales deeply "Is that how he talks?" He asks Martha
"That's him! All you have to do is open it and he's back." Grins Martha while I fight back tears after hearing my Doctor.
"And now you expect me to die?" He demands as explosions continue outside.
"It was always going to end, though! The Doctor said the Family's got a limited lifespan. That's why they need to consume a Time Lord."
"So your job was to execute me." Demands the Doctor
"People are dying out there! They need him and I need him. 'Cause you've got no idea of what he's like. I've only just met him. It wasn't even that long ago, but he is everything... he's just everything to me, the best friends I've ever had, and I don't even know if he thinks of me as I friend but I don't care... 'cause I love him to bits." Martha yells, and I smile. She truly is a great friend, and has done so much for the two of us.
The house rocks with the explosions.
"It's getting closer." Warns Timothy
"I should have thought of it before... I can give them this. Just the watch. Then they can leave and I can stay as I am!" The Doctor grins, and I bite the inside of my cheek
"You can't do that!" protests Martha
"If they want the Doctor, they can have him." Announces the Doctor
"He'll never let you do it." Martha disagrees
"If they get what they want, then... then..."
"Then it all ends in destruction. I never read to the end but those creatures would live forever to breed and conquer. War across the stars... for every child." I respond
The Doctor looks at me as if just seeing me again and is on the verge of tears. He looks betrayed at Martha. "You knew this all along and yet you watched while Rose and I..." He trails off.
"Martha, Timothy, would you leave us alone, please?" I ask and they hurry from the room.
The Doctor breaks down in sobs as soon as they do and I hold him close to me.
"John." I whisper and he turns to me. "If I could do this instead of you, then I would."
"But what if he doesn't love you?"
I smile "There's a reason that I always was in your dreams and its not because I'm your wife."
He stares at me, not understanding.
"I was your Love here." I look around slightly, "and here." I touch the watch in his hand.
As it touches both of us, the watch displays a series of flashbacks. The day we met, our first kiss before he regenerated, meeting Wolfe, Christmas with Wolfe, losing Wolfe, Meeting Donna, Meeting Martha, his breakfast in bed, multiple kisses, our date. We snap back to present.
"Do you see?" I ask him
He looks at me in silence "Do you love me?"
"Yes, because you are still a part of him." I whisper "and I love you both."
"Why didn't you tell me for so long? I knew I was the Doctor and you still didn't say anything."
"You needed me to be your rock. The one thing that would ground you as your world ripped apart."
"You know me well." He murmurs and I nod.
There is a long pause.
"The Doctor loves you? He'll take care of you?" he breaks the silence.
"He always does." I nod
"What about the girl. The Doctor's Daughter? What happened to her?"
"She sacrificed herself to save the world." I answer, "Because she loved the Doctor and I."
He pauses for a second, staring at the watch.
Looking up at me, he presses a kiss to my lips.
"Goodbye, Love." He whispers, and clicks the watch open.