Journey's End: Life
Orange energy exploded from the Doctor...when he suddenly turned and directed the energy into his hand in a jar underneath the console. It bubbled and glowed as the energy entered it, the hand within twitching and shaking from the sudden inflow of energy. The regeneration suddenly stopped and the Doctor stumbled backwards, gasping, still the same, as the trio of humans gaped at him.
"Doctor…" Angel breathed, managing to step out of a stunned Jack's arms, only to nearly fall to the floor had the Doctor not rushed forward and caught her.
He pulled her completely away from Jack, holding her close for a moment as she hugged him tightly, which wasn't quite so tight as she'd spent the last of her energy running to his side before. He closed his eyes a moment and buried his face in her hair, not wanting her to see the tears in them. She had been stupid just then, not that he would EVER call her stupid but just...what she'd done hadn't been good. She had barely been able to stand, to walk on her own and for her to force herself to run to him...he could only imagine how badly that had damaged her. He couldn't bear the thought of scanning her to find out just how little time she had left now after that. It shouldn't have been so bad, but...her body just couldn't handle that and if would revolt against the extra exertion.
And speaking of...
He pulled away a bit, gently moving her to sit on the captain's chair as he knelt before her, turning her hands over to see the scrapes on them from where she'd fallen to the pavement beside him. He gently ran his thumbs over her palms, allowing just a little of the left over regeneration energy flow into them, healing the cuts. He may not be able to heal her body, there was nothing physically wrong with her...she was just...shutting down...but he could heal her injuries at least. He placed her hands on her lap and let his own trail down her legs to her knees, resting on them, letting the energy pour into that as well, easing the bruises.
"Thank you," she whispered to him, her voice cracking at the dryness.
He nodded, getting up just enough to kiss her head, hiding a wince as he felt it now twice as warm as it had been, before he turned to the others, his arm resting on the back of the captain's chair to look at the group, "Now, then," he cleared his throat, knowing Angel would refuse to let him take care of her till the Earth was safe, "Where were we?"
~8~
Sarah Jane waited for the blow from the Daleks as they closed in, "Exterminate! Exterminate!"
When suddenly Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler appeared in flashes of blue light on either side of her car, well...Mickey appeared, Jackie seemed to be clinging to his arm. Mickey quickly fired his rather large gun at the Daleks, blowing them apart. Sarah Jane gasped and got out of the car shakily, "Mickey!" she shouted, rushing to hug him, noting he felt just a bit more muscular than the last time she'd seen him. It seemed travelling with the Doctor and Angel had done him some good.
"Us Smiths have got to stick together," he grinned at her, shooting her a wink as well.
"Jackie Tyler, Rose's Mum," Jackie cut in, crossing her arms with a frown on her face, "Now, where the hell is my daughter Mickey?!"
She hadn't meant to get pulled across the dimensions, not like this. Well, she was happy she had, she was NOT about to let her daughter face whatever was creating the darkness across the stars alone, not even if Mickey was going with her. No, SHE would be there for her daughter no matter what. Mickey had tried to stop her, but she'd grabbed onto his teleport thing a moment before he disappeared and been taken along for the ride. Mickey had been a bit cross because the teleport comms., the ones specifically linked between him and Rose, had gone down. Given the different dimensions, the teleports had been rigged with a sort of DNA connection, allowing his comm. to connect to Rose's and hers to his as long as they wore them and the scanners could pick up the DNA. When Jackie had grabbed him, the DNA had gotten muddled.
He really had no idea where Rose was at the moment, he could only pray that she was with the Doctor and Angel.
~8~
The Torchwood Team fired a never-ending round of bullets at the Daleks…when Ianto noticed something.
They stopped, creeping forward to see their bullets had stopped in midair, just hanging there, as the Daleks froze. Gwen reached out with one finger to touch one but couldn't, the air just rippling from her finger as though at an invisible wall, "...what the hell?" she breathed.
~8~
Jack just shook his head and moved to sit beside Angel, the Earth could wait for the moment, taking her hands in his, "Angie..." he whispered, swallowing hard as his own voice cracked but not from dryness, "Please. Please tell me you were lying about dying."
She could only offer him a sad smile, "Rule 2."
He closed his eyes, "The Angel doesn't lie," he shook his head, he just...how could this have happened? She had been ok at the end of that whole Year-That-Never-Was, she'd been fine! The TARDIS was fine, it had never been turned into a Paradox Machine, everything had gone back to the way it was, even Angel so why...
And then he realized, HE could remember that year, so could the Jones family, so could every person who had been on the bridge because they were the eye of the storm. They were the only ones who remembered. And, if their minds could remember...what if their bodies could too?
"Oh God..." he breathed, feeling sick.
He hadn't noticed and he should have. He should have done. But...with everything that had happened the last time he'd seen her, with Gray being on the loose and John being a bomb and Tosh and Owen nearly dying and the city nearly being destroyed...he just...hadn't.
"I'm so sorry Ang," he looked at her, tears in his eyes.
"It's ok Jack," she tried to reach out to him but she could barely lift her arm so he took her hand for her, "Everything," she swallowed, "Everything, all things, must die...even Time Lords."
He shook his head, "But not YOU," he took a breath, trying his hardest not to cry.
Angel seemed to sense that even without her abilities and tugged him. He leaned closer and pulled her into a tight hug...a bit too tight...she already had enough trouble just trying to breathe without her lungs being crushed as well, but Jack needed this. He needed some sort of comfort and she was NOT going to begrudge him that.
Jack closed his eyes tightly, here was his sister, his baby sister, dying and she was still trying to comfort HIM. But it didn't help because all he could think about was...what if this was it? What if this was the last hug he'd ever get from his baby sister, his little Angie, his angel. What if she really died and didn't come back or regenerate or anything? What would he do without her?
She wasn't just the Doctor's light in the dark.
But what's more...she was his family, she was his little sister...
And she was dying.
And there was nothing he could do to stop it.
He took a breath and pulled away, looking over at the others standing there, Rose with tears in her eyes, Donna with her arms crossed as though hugging herself, and the Doctor solemn, looking just as devastated as he felt. He nodded at the man in apology, he understood now how the Time Lord must have felt that entire year.
Angel, his MATE, was dying and, being a Doctor and there being nothing he could do to help her, it must have killed him.
The Doctor looked down, not wanting to say anything, he couldn't say anything because he'd completely break down if he did. This was too close, Angel was too close to the end and he couldn't bear that.
So, he did what he always did when things got to be too much...he looked for a distraction, for anything to change the topic and get everyone's mind off of what was happening...something he knew Angel would be thankful for. She hated tears almost as much as death.
And, as luck would have it, he spotted his hand in the jar, "There, now," he blew on it gently to calm it down before sitting next to it, the perfect distraction, just what he could ramble on about, "You see? Used the regeneration energy to heal myself, but as soon as that was done, I didn't need to change. I didn't want to, why would I?" he tweaked his tie, "Look at me! Angel thinks I look smashing," he winked at her as she smiled tiredly, "So, to stop the energy going all the way, I siphoned off the rest into a handy bio-matching receptacle, namely, my hand. My hand, there. My handy spare hand," he stood up and looked at Rose, "Remember? Christmas Day? Sycorax? Lost my hand in a sword fight? That's my hand!" Rose looked slowly from the hand to him, uncertain, "What do you think?"
"And...you're still you?" Rose asked, trying to catch up to his techno-babble.
"I'm still me," he nodded, before hugging her tightly.
"Don't forget me," Angel called.
Rose laughed and turned, kneeling before Angel and hugging her as well, tears pooling in her eyes as she screwed them shut, not wanting to think, as Jack had, that this might be the last time she hugged Angel. From what she could gather of the solemnity of the Doctor and Martha, Angel might not live past this death.
"You can hug me, if you want," Donna looked at Jack, making him laugh, "No, really, come on Jack-Jack, give your other sis a hug," she smiled a bit at him and he could see the tears in her eyes now, she really did need a hug.
He nodded and got up, moving right over to her, giving her a great big bear hug as Angel smiled, watching them.
Everything would be fine, she had to believe that, as long as her family had each other, as long as the Doctor had them...everything would be fine.
It had to be.
~8~
"It's a time-lock," Tosh explained as they stared at the Daleks, "The ultimate defense program. I've been working on it for a while now. The Hub's sealed in a time-bubble. Nothing can get in."
"But that means we can't get out," Owen realized.
"No. Not without unlocking that Dalek."
"So we're trapped inside," Gwen sighed.
"It's all up to Jack, now," Ianto murmured.
~8~
Four Daleks surrounded the TARDIS as it sat in the street, "Report: TARDIS has been located."
"Bring it here," the Supreme Dalek ordered over the comm., "Bring the Doctor and his Mate to me. Initiate temporal prison!"
The Daleks each turned to a corner of the TARDIS, surrounding it in a thin hoop of light, "Temporal prison initiated," a Dalek reported.
~8~
Angel let out a pained groan as the power in the TARDIS went out, curling in on herself. Rose's eyes widened as she grabbed Angel's hand, Donna quickly kneeling by the girl's head as she laid down on the chair, stroking her hair. The Doctor and Jack ran to the console to try and figure out what was wrong.
"They've got us," the Doctor frowned, "Power's gone...some kind of chronon loop!"
The TARDIS tilted dangerously to one side.
~8~
Sarah Jane, Jackie, and Mickey crept up behind a van, watching Daleks surround the TARDIS, "Transferring TARDIS to the Crucible!" a Dalek stated and the TARDIS was lifted skywards in a circle of blue light, headed towards the Dalek ship.
"That teleport thing...can we use it?" Sarah Jane asked Mickey, "If they've taken the Doctor and Angel to the Dalek spaceship, then that's where we need to be."
"It's not just a teleport, it's a Dimension Jump," Mickey corrected lightly, taking the device off his wrist, "Man, this thing rips a hole in the fabric of space."
He stared at the teleport activator solemnly, if the little yellow buttons hurt Angel as much as they had last time, he couldn't begin to imagine how badly these babies would affect her. He could only hope she'd forgive him, but he had to come back, it wasn't just Rose he'd come for, but Angel, he couldn't leave his Pilot alone not when something bad was coming.
"But can we use it?"
"Not yet," he shook his head out of his thoughts, "It burns up energy. Needs half an hour between jumps," he tossed it to Jackie to hold as he lifted his gun again.
"Then, put down your guns," Sarah Jane ordered gently.
"What?!"
"If you're carrying a gun, they'll shoot you dead," she stepped around from behind the van, her hands raised in surrender, "Daleks? I surrender."
The Daleks rounded on her, "All humans in this sector will be taken to the Crucible!"
"She's bloody brilliant," Mickey remarked, setting down his gun, but Jackie just stared at him like he'd gone mad, "If they've got the Doctor and Angel, then they've got Rose," he reminded her, holding out a hand to her.
Jackie sighed and nodded, stepping around the van with Mickey, "And us," she added, "We surrender!"
~8~
Martha adjusted her body pack before looking at her mother, "Now Jack's explained the base code, I know how this teleport works. I think. But you just stay indoors. There's no Daleks on this street, you should be alright. Just um...keep quiet."
"Where are you going?!" her mother frowned.
"I'm a member of UNIT and they gave me the Osterhagen Key, I've got to do my job," she said firmly. Her mother walked toward her but she held out a hand to stop her, "I'm sorry."
"Martha...what's an Osterhagen Key? Tell me. What does it do?"
Martha just looked at her tearfully, "Love you," she pulled the cords on the pack and disappeared, reappearing in a dark forest 60 miles outside Nuremburg Germany. She gasped in fright, hearing Daleks not too far away.
"Exterminieren!" one cried in German, "Exterminieren! Exterminieren!"
"Halt!" a second shouted, "Sonst werden wir Sie exterminieren! Sie sind jetzt ein Gefangener der Daleks!" Martha stood and peered through the trees to see the Daleks gliding ominously through the dark woods, "Exterminieren! Exterminieren!"
She turned and ran in the opposite direction.
~8~
"There's a massive Dalek ship at the center of the planets," Jack called from the monitor as the Doctor scanned Angel with the sonic, a grim look on his face, "They're calling it the Crucible. Guess that's our destination."
"You said these planets were like an engine," Donna looked at him, not wanting to ask about the results, the look on his face was enough, Angel was fading and fast, and whatever was happening with the TARDIS wasn't helping, "But what for?"
"Rose…" Angel wheezed, weakly squeezing Rose's hand that she was still holding.
"Yes!" the Doctor's eyes widened, turning to Rose, "You've been in a parallel world, that world's running ahead of this Universe, you've seen the future, what was it?"
"It's the darkness," she said.
"The stars were going out," Donna recalled.
"One by one. We looked up at the sky and they were just..." she swallowed, not wanting to use the word but knowing it was the only way to describe it, "Dying. Basically, we've been building this um...this travel machine, this...uh...Dimension Cannon, so I could...well, so I could..."
"What?" Angel panted, squeezing her hand again.
Rose looked down at her sadly and brushed a lock of hair from the ginger girl's face, "So I could warn you. So I could...so I could come back."
Angel swallowed hard, "I'm so glad...you're here."
Rose smiled softly at that, before shaking her head, not wanting to think about it, so she looked at the Doctor, "Suddenly, it started to work. And the dimensions started to collapse," she looked up at the Doctor, "Not just in our world, not just in yours, but the whole of reality, even the Void was dead. Something is...destroying everything."
"In that parallel world..." Donna hesitated, "You said something about me."
"The Dimension Cannon could measure timelines, and it's...it's weird, Donna, but they all seem to converge on you."
"But why me? I mean...what have I ever done? I'm a temp from Chiswick!"
"Supertemp," Angel reminded her lightly, smiling slightly up at her, "Remember?"
Donna smiled down at her, "I remember, Supergirl."
The computer bleeped and Jack stiffened, "The Dalek Crucible. All aboard…"
~8~
The TARDIS zoomed towards a huge planet-shaped crucible, landing with a crash, "The TARDIS is secured!" a Dalek called as the army gathered around the box.
"Doctor!" the Supreme Dalek shouted, "You and your Mate will step forth or die!"
~8~
"He's a bit late," Angel joked half-heartedly as they heard the Dalek's order.
"We'll have to go out," the Doctor sighed, "'Cos if we don't, they'll get in."
"You told me nothing could get through those doors!" Rose remarked.
"You've got extrapolator shielding," Jack nodded.
"Last time we fought the Daleks, they were scavengers and hybrids and mad," he told them, "But this is a fully fledged Dalek Empire...at the height of its power. Experts at fighting TARDISes, they can do anything," Jack and Rose's eyes widened in fear, "Right now, that wooden door...is just wood."
Donna glanced over at something she couldn't quite see...hearing a heart beating in her mind.
"What about your Dimension Jump?" Jack looked at Rose.
"It needs another twenty minutes, and anyway, I'm not leaving," Rose said fiercely, standing up to show just how firm she was in that.
"What about your teleport?" the Doctor looked at Jack.
"Went down with the power loss," he sighed.
"Right then. All of us together...yeah," he looked over at Donna, "Donna?"
Donna didn't react till Angel reached out and touched her arm, "Donna," she breathed.
"Yeah," Donna snapped back and looked at them.
"I'm sorry, there's nothing else we can do," the Doctor frowned.
"No, I know."
The Doctor sighed and knelt down beside Angel, Donna standing up as he helped Angel stand...only for her to stumble and slump forward, unable to support herself even with his help anymore.
"Surrender, Doctor, and face your Dalek masters!" the Supreme Dalek ordered.
"Crucible on maximum alert!" another Dalek stated.
Jack rushed forward to help the Doctor, the two of them gently laying Angel down at the base of the console, setting her up so she could sit back against it, "You can't come," the Doctor told her quietly as Jack stepped back, sensing they needed this moment, stroking the side of her face, "Your body…it's just so weak Angel and I…"
"I don't...want to leave you," she whispered, tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," he took her hand, kissing the back of it, "I'm so sorry, but I need to know you're safe. I can distract them, keep them from coming in. Please," she swallowed hard but nodded, knowing she would only be a liability, she was too weak, too slow, someone would get hurt because of her or she might become the prime target of an attack and she knew, if SHE got hurt, the others would get hurt as well in their distraction. He leaned forward, kissing her head, before kissing her mouth. He pulled back, resting his head on hers for a moment before standing and looking at them all, "It's been good, though, hasn't it? All of us...all of it...everything we did..." he looked at Donna, "You were brilliant," and then Jack, "And you were brilliant," and Rose, "And you were brilliant," and back to Angel, "And you were just…fantastic," he smiled at her as she returned one herself. He took a breath, "Blimey."
He turned and walked to the doors, resigned, as Rose and Jack followed, along with Donna. He hesitated a moment before opening the doors and stepping out with Rose and Jack.
"Daleks reign supreme!" the Supreme Dalek called, "All hail the Daleks!"
Donna walked slowly to the doors before pausing, hearing the heartbeat again.
"Daleks reign supreme!" the Daleks echoed, "All hail the Daleks! Daleks reign supreme! All hail the Daleks!" the Doctor, Rose, and Jack looked around to see themselves surrounded by an army, "Daleks reign supreme! All hail the Daleks! Daleks reign supreme! All hail the Daleks!"
"Behold, Doctor," the Supreme Dalek replied, "Behold the might of the true Dalek Race."
Donna turned around to look at the console, her brow furrowed.
"Donna?" Angel frowned, wondering what was wrong.
And then the doors slammed shut.
The Doctor spun around, hearing the doors, and dashed back to the TARDIS.
"Doctor?!" Donna banged on the doors, rattling the handle, "What've you done?"
"It wasn't me, I didn't do anything!" he shouted from the other side.
"Oi! Oi, I'm not staying behind!"
The Doctor spun to the Supreme Dalek, "What did you do?"
"This is not of Dalek origin," it replied.
"Doctor!" Donna banged.
"Stop it!" the Doctor spat angrily, "She's my friend. Now, open the door and let her out."
"This is Time Lord treachery!" it cried.
"Me?! The door just closed on its own!"
"Nevertheless...the TARDIS is a weapon and it will be destroyed," the Supreme Dalek ordered...
And then the TARDIS fell through a trapdoor just beneath it.
~8~
Donna stumbled around as the TARDIS fell, struggling to make her way to Angel as the girl was thrown to the side, landing beside the hand in the jar.
~8~
"What're you doing?!" the Doctor screamed in horror, "My Mate's in there! Bring her back!"
~8~
Donna grabbed onto the railing, pulling her way to Angel, "Angel!" she shouted, reaching for the woman.
~8~
"What've you done?!" the Doctor heaved, panicked, "Where's it going?"
"The Crucible has a heart of Z-Neutrino Energy," the Supreme Dalek stated, "The TARDIS will be deposited into the core."
"But you can't, you've taken the defenses down," the Doctor turned to it in horror, "It'll be torn apart! My Mate along with it!"
~8~
The TARDIS landed in a substance that resembled a burning white sun, a burning ball of fire.
~8~
The lights around the console shattered as Donna and Angel screamed, small fires springing up around the grilling, nearly burning them.
~8~
"But Angel and Donna are still in there!" Rose stepped forward, alarmed.
"Let them go!" Jack threatened, "You let my sisters go!"
~8~
Donna crouched down by the console, holding Angel to her as she tried to shield the girl from the small explosions and sparks and fire all around them.
~8~
"The female, the Time Lady, and the TARDIS will perish together!" the Supreme Dalek said, "Observe."
A holographic screen flickered on before them, above them, the Doctor stepping closer with dread, his hearts racing as he literally felt Angel's fear and pain while he watched the TARDIS bob in the energy.
"The last child of Gallifrey is powerless to save the true child of Time!"
The Doctor could on watch in horror, utterly powerless.
~8~
There was absolute chaos in the TARDIS as sparks flew, glass smashed, smoke from the fires started to choke them both. Donna grabbed the white scarf Angel was wearing and held it to the girl's mouth, trying to filter the air for her to help her weakened lungs.
~8~
"Please," the Doctor begged, "I'm begging you, I'll do anything! Put me in her place! Take me and not Angel, please!" Angel was already dying in her own body, she didn't need to burn to death as well, "You can do anything to me, torture me, kill me, I don't care, just get my Mate out of there!"
~8~
Donna looked down at Angel who blinked blearily at her, seeming to struggle to remain conscious, as they both coughed and panted. Donna looked over, spotting the hand, her head full of the heartbeat again. An orange glow started to emanate from the hand as she reached out to touch the jar.
Angel's eyes widened and she reached out weakly to try and stop Donna from touching it.
But it was too late, the orange regeneration energy slowly engulfed her.
Donna gasped, shaking, as Angel grabbed her arm, the jar smashing.
~8~
The Doctor watched with gritted teeth, breathing heavily, trembling.
"You are connected to the TARDIS and your Mate," the Supreme Dalek cried, "Now, feel them die!"
The Doctor broke out into a sweat, panting as he felt his bonds with Angel slowly start to block, her own doing with the last bit of strength she had left, something was happening she didn't want him to feel…
~8~
Donna sat up with a gasp, the destruction of the TARDIS still happening though she seemed calmed to it. She looked over at Angel, lying on the floor, panting, before scooping the girl into her arms and hugging her tightly, Angel barely able to move it hurt so much. She shouldn't have touched Donna, she shouldn't have it just...everything hurt so badly...the energy, once triggered, was too turbulent, too violent, too unstable to be a healing force for her. It was deadly. But...she couldn't let her sister touch the jar alone. She knew what it would mean for a human to touch that hand...and she couldn't bear that.
She was already dying.
It truly wouldn't matter if she died even faster now.
Donna bit her lip, hearing Angel whimper in pain...when she caught sight of the hand, out of the jar, lying on the grilling...
The fingers twitched.
The two watched as the energy spread outwards from the hand into a human shape, the Doctor...no not the Doctor, but close...sitting up, eyes wide, stark naked, as soon as it was fully formed.
"It's you..." Donna gasped, amazed.
"Oh, yes," the New Doctor said.
Donna glanced down at him and then up quickly, "You're naked!"
"Oh, yes," he repeated as the TARDIS smashed around them.
~8~
"Total TARDIS destruction in ten rels!" a Dalek cried.
Rose walked over to the motionless Doctor and put an arm around him, Jack stepping up on his other side, grabbing the man's shoulder.
"Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five!"
~8~
The New Doctor pressed a button on the console, pulling himself up with gritted teeth and wild eyes.
~8~
"Four! Three! Two! One!"
And the TARDIS faded out.
"The TARDIS has been destroyed," the Supreme Dalek stated, "Now, tell me, Doctor...what do you feel?" the Doctor just stared at the screen, a dark expression on his face, "Anger? Sorrow? Despair?"
"Yeah," he swallowed.
He should have felt death.
He should have died too.
But the Mating hadn't been completed, he could live on even if Angel died.
...he COULD...
But he knew he wouldn't.
Not for much longer.
Rose looked at him, tears and concern in her eyes, she could only imagine what he was feeling. She lost a sister and a friend. He lost a Mate and a home, everything he had of his planet.
"Then, if emotions are so important, surely we have enhanced you."
"Yeah?" Jack glared, "Feel this!" he turned and shot the Supreme Dalek with his revolver but the bullets bounced off ineffectually.
"Exterminate!" the Supreme Dalek cried, sending a laser at Jack.
He screamed in pain and fell, dead, to the floor.
"Jack!" Rose gasped, falling to her knees beside him, "Oh, my God. Oh, no…"
The Doctor looked over, "Rose...leave him."
"They killed him."
"I know," he said, looking back at the screen.
"Escort them to the Vault," the Supreme Dalek commanded, "They are the playthings of Davros, now."
A Dalek glided forward and led them from the room, the Doctor glancing back at Jack who just winked as he revived.
~8~
The TARDIS, intact and alive, flew away from the Crucible.
~8~
The New Doctor jumped down from the railings where he was repairing the door, now dressed in a blue suit and a red top, while Donna knelt beside Angel, who was laying on the floor, whimpering and shaking and sweating.
"All repaired!" he called, "Lovely. Shh! No one knows we're here. Gotta keep quiet. Silent running, like on submarines when they can't even drop a spanner. Don't drop a spanner. I like blue, what do you think?"
"You. Are. Bonkers!" Donna looked up at him, having no idea how he could be talking about spanners and submarines with Angel in her current state.
"Why?! What's wrong with blue?"
"Is that what Time Lords do? Lop a bit off, grow another one? You're like worms!"
"No, no, no, no, no, I'm unique. Never been another like me! Because all that regeneration energy went into the hand, look at my hand, I love that hand..." he waved his fingers, "But then you touched it, WHAM!" Donna gasped, "Shh...instantaneous biological metacrisis. I grew...out of you. Still, could be worse."
"Oi! Watch it, spaceman."
"Oi! Watch it, Earth-girl. Oh!" his eyes widened in shock as they stared at each other, their mouths open, "I sound like you! I sound all...all sort of...rough."
"Oi!"
"Oi!"
"Oi!"
"Stop…" Angel moaned, grabbing the side of her head as she nearly cried from the pain there.
The New Doctor rushed to her side, kneeling beside her and pulling out a stethoscope from his coat pocket to listen to her hearts as they pounded away, "Must've picked up a bit of your voice, that's all," he continued to mutter as he listened to it, "Is it? Did I? No. Oh!" and then he placed the scope on his own chest, "You are kidding me, no WAY. One heart..." he felt his chest, "I've got one heart! This body...has got only one heart!"
"What?" Donna gaped, reaching out to place a hand on his chest, "What, like you're...human?"
"Oh, that's disgusting."
"Oi!"
"Oi!"
"Please...stop," Angel pleaded.
Donna frowned and leaned over, brushing a few strands of hair away from Angel's face, taking her hand and squeezing it.
The New Doctor was silent a moment, "I'm...part Time Lord, part human..." he reasoned, "Well, isn't that wizard?"
"I kept hearing that noise..." Donna said softly, "That heartbeat."
"Oh, that was me. My single heart," he got up and went to the console, "'Cos I'm a…complicated event in time and space, must've rippled back. Converging on you."
"But why me?"
"Super...temp," Angel breathed weakly.
"Because you're special," the New Doctor nodded.
"Oh, I keep telling you," Donna shook her head, "I'm not."
"No, but you are, you…" he paused, working it out, "Oh...you really don't believe that, do you?" he blinked, staring at her, "I can see, Donna...what you're thinking. All that attitude, all that lip, 'cos all this time...you think you're not worth it."
"Stop it."
"Shouting at the world 'cos no one's listening. Well...why should they?"
"Doctor. Stop it."
"But look at what you did...no. It's more than that, it's like..." he searched his thoughts, a strange feeling bubbling inside him, "We were always heading for this," he trailed, following the feeling, "You came to the TARDIS…and you found us again. Your granddad. Your car! Donna, your car! You parked your car right where the TARDIS was gonna land, that's not coincidence at all! We've been blind! Something's been drawing us together for such a long time."
"But you're talking like...destiny. But there's no such thing...is there?"
"It's still not finished," he continued, frowning, "It's like...the pattern's not complete. The strands are still joining together. But heading for what?" and then his eyes widened and he looked at Angel, "I sound like you," he whispered as he walked over and knelt by her side again, gently stroking her hair, "Like when you would sense things. Like there's something at the edge of my thoughts and senses that I just...haven't quite grasped yet...is that what you felt?"
"Yeah," she breathed, blinking rapidly.
"I think you picked up a bit more than just me," Donna remarked softly as they looked down at the girl on the ground, struggling to keep her eyes open...
A/N: All I can say about the next chapter is that...a promise will be broken... :(
I know that I've had all my Time Ladies stay in the TARDIS (would NOT happen with TL4) but I really could NOT see the Doctor letting Angel out of the TARDIS in the state she was in. She really is too weak to even move and they wouldn't be able to protect her as well as the TARDIS could :(
Poor Angel, but...metacrisis Doctor now has a little bit more too him now doesn't he? :) And...if he got a bit of Angel...what does that mean for Donna?
And...doesn't really have anything to do with this story but...surprise! The Lunar Cycle is back up 1 day early :) Just like with the Academic Series I've posted Pond Life as a little prequel :) It will officially start tomorrow with Asylum of the Daleks :)
Some notes on reviews...
I have no idea why he talks so much lol. I think he's just slowly losing his mind because half of what he talks about are things he's already told me...three times... :)
It made sense, no worries :) And a very good twist, but not quite :) I sort of see regeneration energy as being very violent when actually regenerating and harmful to others. But when it's calm and an active choice on the Time Lord's part, can be used to heal :) Like here with healing Angel's cuts :) Pouring his regeneration energy into Angel would have probably killed her, Angel touching Donna when she touched the jar made everything even worse for her :( Poor Angel :(
Poor Jack is right :( I really wanted to show him being a little vulnerable. He was in tears trying to stop his brother from killing everyone and he only knocked the kid out. Here Angel's dying, he has no control over it, and he can't even help her...so much worse :(
Lol, I could see that. The only one Dean would be happy with/ loyal to/honest with...the Impala :)
