Author's Note:
Hello again, folks! Thanks so much to the following people who reviewed since the last chapter was published: GuesssWho, PushToShove, readthisshit, MayFairy, tardislover1, MountainLord-92, Vincenth, aBlue Gillespian, Catelly, Ahsilaa, Queen Martha Pond, AnnieAnonym, Rox Malone, and Aietradaea (x 2).
Glad everyone seemed happy with Lord Oakdown's fate ;)
And there are probably many episodes where the Doctor's accuracy with teleports is referenced, but the one I was particularly referring to was "Asylum of the Daleks". So congrats and cookies to all who guessed that right!
- Chapter 35 -
"There in the starless dark, the poise, the hover,
There with vast wings across the cancelled skies,
There in the sudden blackness the black pall
Of nothing, nothing, nothing — nothing at all."
- Archibald MacLeish, "The End of the World".
At first, all Tejana could see was a shimmer of white. Not knowing what had happened, she fell helplessly to her knees, blinded by the incandescent glow, both her hearts pounding. Then, her vision swam into focus, and the whiteness resolved into plain walls, indented at regular intervals by circular roundels. A strong hand caught her under the elbow, supporting her, and she tilted her head back to see the young, worried face of Koschei Oakdown.
"Kat! Are you all right?"
One of her hands crept protectively over her stomach, cradling the fragile new life that nestled there; the other found Koschei's and held on tightly.
"We're alive," she breathed in disbelief, unconsciously echoing Theta's own recent words. "Oh stars, we're really alive! You did it!"
She turned her head and saw her young father standing at the TARDIS console, his hands frozen on the teleport controls. His blonde hair was rumpled and standing on end, and he had dark circles of anxiety under his eyes. He was staring at her as if he couldn't believe she was real.
"You stole a TARDIS together, just as history says." There was a kind of wonder in her voice, even though this had been her plan in the first place. It was one thing to know the course of events in her head, as related to her by the Doctor... but quite another to see those same events unfolding. Tears of exhaustion and grateful relief shimmered in her eyes. "And you saved us, you clever boys. Oh, you clever, clever boys!"
"Well... we kind of had some help," Theta replied awkwardly.
Tejana's body tensed warily, and her gaze flicked back to Koschei. "Help? What kind of help?"
Mutely, he nodded over to the right side of the console room, and she turned slightly to look. Standing there, flickering in the light, was the familiar black-dressed figure, his whiskey-brown eyes fixed on her with his usual possessive hunger.
"Amin mekhil!" The cry was torn from her hearts. "Oh gods! I thought I'd lost you!"
Drawing strength from his younger self's support, she dragged herself to her feet. Her tears were flowing freely now, as she pulled away from Koschei and took a stumbling step towards him.
"Ana..." His own voice was hoarse and gravelled. "My beautiful Ana."
His arms reached out, as if to hold her, but his insubstantial hands passed right through her body. His jaw clenched at his own ineptitude, the expression lost and bleak.
"It's the TARDIS voice interface," he explained. "I've annexed it, so that I can communicate with you." There was a long pause, as his arms dropped uselessly back to his sides. "I... I'm sorry, Ana. I thought... I thought you'd be safe here on Gallifrey. You and our son. I was wrong."
Completely oblivious now to the two watching boys, Tejana stared up into the Master's face, shocked at the self-doubt she saw there. In all their time together, she had never once heard him apologise for anything, much less admit he'd made a mistake. His belief in his own judgement had never wavered, even when things had been at their very worst.
Trembling, she raised her own hand, shaping it to caress the stubbled cheek that wasn't really there, aching to comfort him. There was nothing solid beneath her fingers, but she felt a strange, intense tingle, as if he was writing himself into the story of the universe through sheer will alone. A personality so strong and forceful, a mind so formidable, that even death could not constrain it. And not for the first time, she marvelled at the complexity of the man she had chosen to spend her life with.
"I love you, Koschei Oakdown," she murmured. "And nothing will ever change that."
Silver tears slid down the hologram's translucent face. "I love you too, my Ana. Now and forever more." His ghostly fingers stroked through her hair and came to rest on the golden oak tree medallion that rested on her breast, grief for all the might-have-beens shining in his eyes. "Now, let's go home."
"Yes," she agreed huskily. "Let's go home. Together."
It began with a slight vibration, rippling through the floor, but before long the entire museum was shuddering, as if a giant beast was stirring deep down inside the foundations.
The Chaos-Master raised his arms in mad exultation, the ermine robes of King Henry VIII swirling around him, the pasteboard crown askew on his head. All around him, his waxwork courtiers were tumbling to the ground under the force of the shaking, still smiling asininely as their limbs snapped and their bodies fell to pieces.
Crouching beside the steaming puddle of melted plastic that had once been Rory Williams, Amy didn't even look up. But the Doctor took a step forward, standing face-to-face with his enemy.
"Enough of these games!" the Chaos-Master snarled. "The hour grows late! It's time for the main event! You know this bit, Doctor... the fun bit where I get to watch you die!"
"We're all going to die shortly!" The Doctor gestured around him, fighting to maintain his balance, as several of the glass exhibit cases toppled over with a spectacular crash, shards of glass tinkling across the floor. "The universe is folding in on itself. But there's still a chance we can stop it!"
The sneer on the Chaos-Master's face deepened. "No, there really, really isn't, you idiot. And yeah, maybe I'm going to die. But at least I get the pleasure of knowing you died first!"
Raising his hand, he snapped his fingers in the Doctor's face. Behind the Time Lord's back, Amy stiffened, and her head raised, her expression curiously blank.
"Listen to me!" the Doctor tried again. "If you'd just listen..."
Noiselessly, moving like an automaton, Amy got to her feet. From inside her jacket, she drew Hart's sharp, long-bladed knife, holding it firmly by the hardwood hilt. Step by silent step, she drew closer and closer to the Doctor's defenceless back.
"Oh no, Doctor," the Chaos-Master hissed triumphantly, glancing over the other Time Lord's shoulder towards the approaching girl. "We're done listening to you. Aren't we, Amelia Pond?"
Abruptly, the Doctor whirled, just as Amy drove home the knife. Smoothly, powerfully, it thrust deep into his chest, lodging between his hearts. With a strangled gasp, he sank to his knees, clutching at the protruding hilt, blood staining his shirt scarlet. In the background, the Chaos-Master was laughing manically.
Amy took a step back, her hands hanging loosely by her sides. All at once, her eyes lost their faraway look and seemed to return to the present. She stared at the Doctor, hunched over in his own blood, and her face contorted in horror.
"Doctor! Oh God, Doctor! What have I done?"
Falling down beside him, she threw her arm around his shoulders, trying to hold him up. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" she gabbled hysterically. "I couldn't stop myself... I couldn't stop!"
"It's... all right... Pond," the Doctor wheezed. He looked down at his hands. Already they were beginning to glow with golden artron energy, as every cell in his body fought to heal the mortal wound. "Not... your fault. Mine. I... put you... in the Pandorica... with him. Two thousand years... more than enough time... for him to plant a hypnotic suggestion... into your mind."
The Chaos-Master gave a gleeful snicker. "Now he gets it! Killed by your own companion, Doctor. Your own little human pet! Go on, you have to admit... it's beautifully ironic! Oh, and don't think you're going to get out of it by regenerating. Because I'll just have her kill you again!"
"But you knew!" Amy cried. "Downstairs... your future self whispered in your ear and told you what was going to happen. You knew what I was going to do! Why didn't you stop me?"
The Doctor's body convulsed in agony and blood bubbled from between the his lips, but somehow he managed a smile for the red-headed girl. "Master's... still... bone-dead stupid. After all these years... you'd think he'd learn. This was... the way it had to be."
A snarl stretched the Chaos-Master's face, and he stopped capering for a moment, to glare down at them from the dais. "What's that supposed to mean? The way it had to be?"
The Doctor's pain-wracked gaze drifted past him, fixing on the wide, blank wall beyond, even as another tremor vibrated through the room.
"You'll see."
While Tejana and the Master were talking, the time rotor had stopped oscillating, and had sunk quietly back into the hexagonal console. Rapidly, Theta checked the navigational computer, and confirmed to his satisfaction that they were now in orbit around the Medusa Cascade.
"We've arrived." His voice was tentative, almost embarrassed. The moment between Kat and the future version of his best friend was so fragile and intimate, it felt wrong to interrupt. But this was the place Kat had been so determined to reach, the place that she said was the only way back to her own locus point in the causal nexus. He figured that she'd want to know. "We've made it to the Medusa Cascade."
Koschei himself was standing nearby, his arms folded, his expression like a thundercloud as he stared fixedly at the console, refusing to raise his gaze. If anyone had asked Theta before all this had happened, he would have scoffed at the idea that anyone could be jealous of their future self. Now, looking at his friend's resentful expression, he knew better. Every time he thought this situation couldn't get any crazier, somehow it did.
As soon as he spoke, Kat turned towards him, open relief lighting her eyes. "Thank the gods the temporal decay hasn't reached this far yet!" she said fervently. "Open the doors, Theta."
Making sure the air shield was extended beyond the outer plasmic shell, he operated the door controls, and slowly and ponderously, they swung inward. The view outside was mind-blowingly spectacular. A stunning, kaleidoscopic swirl of cold fire, glimmering alone and tremendous in the darkness of space, flecked with liquid lightning.
As Theta stared out at the magnificent sight, he felt something take hold of his hearts and wrench at them painfully. This was what he wanted. This. To travel throughout the universe, to discover each and every wonder, just to see it all... not to remain stuck on Gallifrey for the remainder of his regenerations, thousands of years spent in a tedious job, and trapped in a marriage he didn't want.
"There it is," Kat whispered, pointing. "Look. The Rift."
Sure enough, as the TARDIS drifted further in her orbit, Theta was able to see it clearly. The great white crack, shaped like a jaggedly-grinning mouth, bisecting the full length of the mighty nebula. In just a few minutes, they would be hovering right over it. Theta swallowed hard, trying to imagine what it would be like, free-falling through those turbulent billows of luminescent gas, surrounded by clashing oceans of scarlet, turquoise and green, until at last you were swallowed by the pure, devastating white light of the rift. The very idea of it made him feel cold inside.
Koschei's thoughts apparently paralleled his own, because he reached out and grabbed Kat's arm, turning her fiercely to look up into her face. "I can't let you do this. There has to be some other way."
"There's not," she replied gravely. "And you must."
"NO!" The word was an anguished shout. "If you jump in there, I'll forget you. I'll have to wait centuries to find you again! I'll have to wait until I'm him!"
He gestured furiously towards the hologram of the Master, who was watching with narrowed hazel eyes. Kat's gaze slid past, to settle briefly on Theta, before returning to Koschei's face. "You'll see me again soon. Within a hundred years, I promise. Just... not like this. We have a long road to travel, you and I, until we can be together. But that's the way it has to be."
His grip tightened like a vice, until she winced with pain. "Why should I believe that? Why should I listen to anything you say? Why shouldn't I just take what I want, right now?"
The hologram of the Master stepped towards them, his translucent body bristling with rage, but Kat held a small hand up to stay him. Watching the incorporeal Time Lord stop reluctantly in his tracks, Theta wondered what he had been planning to do if she hadn't done so – but then, studying the menacing expression on the other man's gaunt face, he decided they were all better off not knowing.
"Because every word I've said is true," Kat continued. "And because... " She paused and took a weary breath. "Because if you don't let me go, you're no better than your father."
It was a low blow. Koschei recoiled as if he had been stung, his hand instantly dropping away from her arm. "Don't..." he choked out. "Don't ever say that!"
Her fingers rose to gently stroke his cheek, the emotion in her green gaze spilling over into tears. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I have to leave you. I'm so sorry that I can't change what will happen. But I promise you, we will always find each other, no matter what. Always, Koschei." Loosening the golden chain that held the medallion she wore, she reached up and fastened it around his neck. "Take this. So that you'll carry something of me with you, even when you forget that any of this happened."
He shook his head. "No. You're the rightful Lady of Oakdown. That medallion is yours to wear, Kat."
"And will be again, one day." She gave him a strained smile. "There will come a time, high in the mountains of Gallifrey, in a terraced garden at the head of a rocky valley, when you will give it to me as an Otherstide gift. Until then... keep it safe for me."
Shakily, he covered her small, fragile hand with his much larger one, and held it to his cheek. With a visible effort, he managed to return her smile. "So... I'll give it to you... so that you can give it to me? Circles within circles."
"And that's what we are, Koschei," she assured him softly. "Our lives... forever linked. Circles within circles."
There was a flicker of movement, as the hologram of the Master shifted to stand beside her. "Ana, if we're going to go, it has to be now. The TARDIS is nearly directly over the Rift."
"I know." She looked up into the face of her lifemate's younger self for the last time, clearly steeling herself for the final farewell. "Goodbye, Koschei."
"Goodbye, Kat," he responded, still using the only name he knew to call her. And suddenly, dipping his head, he took her lips in a fierce passionate kiss, his fingers raking through her hair, before breaking apart from her so abruptly, he left her breathless. With a quick step back, he released her and glared challengingly at the Master. "Take care of her."
The black-clad hologram nodded, his expression grim, his acknowledgement of Koschei's words clipped and curt. "I will."
And still Theta stood there, watching his friend say goodbye, unable to move. He felt heavy, as if his body had been stuffed with cotton, like a child's toy. Memories of Kat flickered across his inner eye, his mind still fighting to piece together the truth about her, to make sense of all the unanswered questions and the things that just didn't add up.
At last, she turned to him, crossing the console room until she stood directly in front of him. "Thank you, Theta," she whispered, taking his hand and squeezing it. "Thank you... for everything."
He stared unhappily down at her. So much had happened, since he first saw her lingering there in the Great Hall of the Academy, gazing out towards Mount Cadon, that wistful, hungry look on her face. And now it was nearly over. In just a few moments, she would jump. The rift would swallow her and he would remember her no more. She would disappear from his life and he would never even know she was missing.
"I don't like endings," he muttered.
A small smile tilted her lips. "No, you never did."
There it was again. That tacit acknowledgement that she knew him in the future. The sense that they were inextricably linked. Circles within circles. A premonitory shiver ran up his spine.
"This isn't an ending, though. It's a beginning. Yours... and Koschei's."
"Kat," he began, unable to suppress his questions any longer. "In the future, you're Koschei's wife... but... what are you to me?"
She bit her lip, her expression troubled and defensive. "Don't, Theta. Please don't ask me that."
"I was drawn to you from the first moment we met. It's not just that you're my best friend's lifemate. It's more than that, I know it is."
She opened her mouth, her lips worked, but no words came out. Her eyes were open pools of pain. Theta felt a stab of apprehension through both his hearts. What could be so bad that she couldn't even say it? What had he done to put that look in her eyes?
"Please, Kat. You said it yourself, neither Koschei nor I will remember any of this, once you jump into that crack. Nothing we say or do here can harm the causal nexus. And I need to know." His tone was urgent and insistent. "Who are we to each other in the future?"
There was a long, deep pause, then she said quietly, "My real name is Tejanakaturadilena. My mother was Melanakaturadilena of the House of Firestone. You... you're my father, Theta."
The shock was so great that Theta nearly stumbled. Despite all his speculation, this was one scenario that had never even occurred to him. Somewhere behind him, he heard Koschei swear aloud, but he didn't turn his head. He couldn't drag his eyes away from the delicately-featured face in front of him. His daughter.
All the things she had confided to him about her father came rushing back, in an overwhelming tsunami of bitterness and reproach. My father was always very good at telling me what he didn't want for me. But he never really managed to say what it was he did want... I love my father so much, but a lot of things have come between us lately, and I regret that more than I can ever say...
And the child... when they'd been talking about her son... Congratulations? Well, thank you, Theta Sigma. Such a pity my father can't share your enlightened point-of-view...
Horror rose inside him, as he finally understood that she'd been talking about him all along.
"Kat..." he cried, automatically reaching for her, wanting to fix it, wanting to somehow change the future. Wanting to take it all back, all the things she'd told him, to make it right between them.
But she was already backing away from him towards the door, shaking her head. "No. I can't, Theta. I can't."
"Wait, please... you have to wait!"
She was framed in the doorway now, her slender figure silhouetted against the glorious swirling colours of the Medusa Cascade, her tumbled hair glowing like fire. Ginger... she said he'd always called it ginger... At the memory, his hearts felt like they were being torn from his body.
"It's too late, Doctor," she said softly, tears trickling down her marble-pale face. "It's always too late, for us."
Determinedly, she glanced up at the rippling black-clad figure that appeared beside her. "Are you ready?"
The Master nodded. "You jump... I jump."
It was a promise, an affirmation. This time, she would not be facing the crack on her own.
"You jump, I jump," she echoed huskily, her hand moving to merge with the illusory image of his.
Standing side-by-side with the Master, she took a deep steadying breath, and her gaze returned to Theta.
"Numi avánie, Adonai," she said lovingly. "Goodbye, Father."
"Wait!" he bellowed, charging forward, desperate for just one minute more, just one more chance to say all that he needed to say... "TEJANA!"
But the TARDIS was directly over the rift and his time had run out. Arching her back, her body curved gracefully, she dove backwards out into the mist before he could reach her. At the same moment, the Master's hologram winked out, and he too was gone. Arriving in the doorway a split second too late, Theta clung to the edge, panting harshly as he watched the small black dot free-falling rapidly away from the ship.
And then the blinding white light enveloped her and the rift in the Medusa Cascade snapped shut.