Journey's End
"Exterminate!" both the Daleks cried.
There was suddenly a flash of blue light and Mickey Smith and Jackie Tyler appeared on either side of the car. They were each carrying large guns, which they used to blow the Daleks to pieces.
"Aunt Jackie!" Clara cried, jumping out of the car, embracing the blonde woman. Clara was nearly in hysterics, hugging Jackie.
"Mickey...!" Sarah Jane exclaimed.
"Us Smiths have got to stick together," Mickey said.
"Mickey!" Clara sobbed, hugging him as well. "Oh, I missed you two so much!"
"We missed you, too, sweetheart," Jackie said, rubbing her niece's back. She then introduced herself to Sarah Jane. "Jackie Tyler, Rose's Mum and Clara's aunt. Now, where the hell is my daughter?"
"You mean Rose is here?" Clara asked, confused. "We haven't seen her, but I'll bet she's on her way to find the Doctor."
"Which is where?" Mickey asked.
"We were actually on our way there," Clara said. The four of them made it to the area where Mr. Smith said the TARDIS was and snuck behind a van, watching the Daleks.
"Transferring TARDIS to the Crucible!" a Dalek said.
The TARDIS was lifted away into the sky by a blue circle of light. Clara watched it until it was out of sight.
"Those teleport things...can we use them?" Sarah Jane asked Jackie and Mickey. "If they've taken the Doctor to the Dalek spaceship, then that's where we need to be."
"It's not just a teleport, it's a Dimension Jump," Mickey said, pulling it out of his pocket. "Man, this thing rips a hole in the fabric of space."
"You shouldn't be using that!" Clara said. "You know what the Doctor would say about it."
"But can we use it?" Sarah Jane asked impatiently.
"Not yet, it burns up energy," Mickey said, putting it away. "Needs half an hour between jumps."
"Then, put down your guns," Sarah Jane said.
"What!?" Mickey exclaimed.
"Just do it," Clara said.
"If you're carrying a gun, they'll shoot you dead," Sarah Jane said, before stepping out from behind the van. "Daleks? I surrender."
Clara followed after her, hands in the air.
"All humans in this sector will be taken to the Crucible!" the Dalek said.
"And us," Jackie said, following Clara and Sarah Jane. "We surrender!"
They were herded with other humans, before being teleported up to the Dalek ship, the Crucible.
"One step closer to the Doctor," Sarah Jane said.
"And possible death," Clara said.
They were taken to a large room that was made of metal and stone.
"Prisoners will stand in the designated area," a Dalek said. "Move! Move!"
The room was full of Daleks, on the ground and in the air. One woman fell to the ground and Jackie went to help her.
"You will stand!" the Dalek said, rounding on the woman.
"I can't," said the woman in a scared voice.
"You will stand!" the Dalek said.
Sarah Jane noticed a door with a small round window in it and elbowed Clara. The two of them made a dash for it, unnoticed.
Sarah Jane had what seemed like lipstick, but it was sonic. She used it to open the door and then called to Mickey as loudly as she could.
"Mickey! Mickey!" she waved him over.
Mickey followed the to the door, but Jackie couldn't leave unnoticed. Sarah Jane, Clara, and Mickey couldn't do anything but watch through the window.
"We can't just leave her," Mickey said shakily. He went to open the door, but Sarah Jane stopped him.
"Wait!" she said.
She stopped him just in time as a Dalek glided in front of the door, blocking it. There was something above everyone in the room that started glowing with a white light.
"What can we do?!" Clara exclaimed, worried about her aunt. Mickey started pacing back and forth and stopped when he heard a beeping.
"Thirty minutes...it's recharged!" Mickey said. He ran to the window and held the device up in the window, showing it to Jackie. "It's recharged! It's recharged! Use it!"
One moment, Jackie was standing outside, the next minute she was in the room with them.
"Aunt Jackie!" Clara said, hugging her.
The light in the room outside increased, and Clara, Jackie, Mickey, and Sarah Jane could do nothing but watch in helplessness. The prisoners were dissolved into atoms. Clara had slight memories of being Bad Wolf and this reminded her of when she dissolved the Daleks.
They were still looking out the window when there was a noise behind them. Jack had tumbled out of an air vent.
"Jack!" Clara cried, running at him, hugging him.
"Heya," Jack said. "Just my luck. I climb through two miles of ventilation shafts, chasing life signs o this thing and who do I find? Mickey Mouse!"
"You can talk, Captain Cheesecake," Mickey said.
The two of them laugh and hugged.
"Good to see ya!" Jack said. "And that's 'Beefcake'."
"And that's enough hugging," Mickey said.
"We meet at last, Ms. Smith," Jack said.
"Is the Doctor alright?" Clara asked.
"Yeah, and so is Rose," Jack said.
"What about Donna?" Clara asked.
Jack had a sad look on his face and just shook his head.
"No," Clara gasped, crying. "So, there's nothing we can do?"
"There is something we can do," Sarah Jane said. "You've got to understand—I have a son down there on Earth. He's only fourteen years old. I brought this."
Sarah Jane pulled out what looked like a diamond necklace out of her pocket. It was shining with unusual brightness.
"It was given to me by a Verron Soothsayer," Sarah Jane said. "He said...'this is for the end of days'."
She gave it to Jack, who took it with his mouth slightly open and said, "Is that a Warp Star?"
Sarah Jane nodded.
"Gonna tell us what a Warp Star is?" Mickey asked.
"A warpfold conjugation trapped in a carbonized shell," Jack said, not taking his eyes off of it. "It's an explosion, Mickey. An explosion waiting to happen."
"The Doctor wouldn't approve, but we have to try something," Clara said.
Jack nodded and wired the Warp Star into the Crucible. He then used his vortex manipulator to contact the Daleks.
"Captain Jack Harkness calling all Dalek boys and girls!" he said, while Clara grinned. "Are you receiving me? Don't send in your goons or I'll set this thing off."
"Rose!" Clara cried, happy to see her cousin.
"He's still alive!" Rose said, looking at Jack. "Oh, my gosh, that's—that's Clara and my mum!"
"And Mickey," the Doctor said. "Captain, what are you doing?"
"I've got a Warp Star wired into the mainframe," Jack said. "I break the shell...the entire Crucible goes up."
"You can't! Where did you get a Warp Star?!" the Doctor asked.
"From me," Sarah Jane said. "We had no choice, we saw what happened to the prisoners."
"And we can't let that happen to anyone else," Clara said.
"Impossible," Davros said, seeing Sarah Jane. "That face...after all these years."
"Davros," Sarah Jane whispered, then said coldly and furiously. "That's been quite a while. Sarah Jane Smith. Remember?"
"Oh, this is meant to be," Davros said. "The Circle of Time is closing. You were there on Skaro at the very beginning of my creation."
"And I've learned how to fight since then," Sarah Jane said. "You let the Doctor go or this Warp Star—it gets opened."
"And then you can say goodbye to your little army," Clara said, arms over her chest.
"I'll do it," Jack said. "Don't imagine I wouldn't."
"Now, that's what I call a ransom," Rose said, laughing. "Doctor?"
"And the prophesy unfolds," Davros said.
"The Doctor's soul is revealed!" a voice cackled. "See him! See the heart of him!"
"The man who abhors violence, never carrying a gun," Davros said. "But this is the truth, Doctor: you take ordinary people and you fashion THEM into weapons. Behold your Children of Time transformed into murderers. I made the Daleks, Doctor. You made this."
"They're trying to help," the Doctor said.
"Already, I have seen them sacrifice today for their beloved Doctor," Davros said. "The Earth woman who fell opening the subwave network."
"Who was that?" the Doctor asked.
"Harriet Jones," Rose said. "She gave her life to get you here."
"How many more?" Davros asked. "Just think. How many more have died in your name? The Doctor...the man who keeps running, never looking back, because he dare not, out of shame. This is my final victory, Doctor. I have shown you...yourself."
There was a bright flash of light and Jack, Clara, Sarah Jane, Mickey, and Jackie were transported to the room what the Doctor was in.
Clara was on the floor and jumped up, ready for anything.
"Martha!" Jack called, helping her up. "I've got you, it's all right-"
"Don't move!" the Doctor shouted. "All of you! Stay still!"
Clara froze.
"Guard them!" Davros said. "On your knees, all of you. Surrender!"
"Do as he says," the Doctor said.
Clara was the first to obey as a Dalek glided around them, and then after a moment, the others followed suit.
"Mum, I told you not to!" Rose said.
"Yeah, but I couldn't leave you," Jackie said.
"The final prophecy is in place," Davros said. Clara looked at the Doctor, eyes trying to apologize. "The Doctor and his children all gathered as witnesses. Supreme Dalek...the time has come! Now...Detonate the Reality Bomb!"
"No," Clara whispered in horror.
"Activate planetary alignment field!" Supreme Dalek said. "Universal reality detonation in two hundred rels!"
"You can't, Davros!" the Doctor said desperately. "Just listen to me! Just STOP!"
"Nothing can stop the detonation!" Davros cackled. "Nothing! And no one!"
"What the-?" Clara said, as the TARDIS started to materialize in the room.
"But that's..." the Doctor said, and Dalek Caan started to giggle.
"Impossible," Davros said.
The TARDIS materialized fully and the Doctor stepped out.
"How-?" Clara said, looking between the Doctor that was trapped and the one standing in front of the TARDIS.
"Brilliant," Jack said, looking highly impressed.
Davros rolled backwards, like he was afraid, and the other Doctor ran towards him, a device in hand.
"Don't!" the Doctor in panic, but it was too late. Davros pointed his finger at the New Doctor and electricity knocked him to the floor.
"Activate holding cell," Davros said and the New Doctor was trapped.
"Doctor!" Donna shouted, running from the TARDIS. She bent and picked up the device. "I've got it! But I don't know what to do!"
Davros shot the electricity at Donna, sending her flying backwards.
"No!" Clara shouted, as the Doctor cried out, "Donna!"
"Donna! Are you all right, Donna!?" the Doctor exclaimed.
"Destroy the weapon," Davros said and a Dalek shot it, causing it to explode. "I was wrong bout your warriors, Doctor. They are pathetic."
"Yeah, let me up and I'll show you how 'pathetic' I can be," Clara growled.
"How come there're two of you?!" Rose asked the Doctor.
"Human biological metacrisis," the Doctor said. "Never mind that, now we've got no way of stopping the Reality Bomb."
"Detonation in twenty rels!" Supreme Dalek said. "Nineteen..."
"Stand witness, Time Lord," Davros said. "Stand witness, Humans. Your strategies have failed, your weapons are useless, and...oh—the end of the universe is come."
Clara grabbed Jack's hand and held onto it tightly as Supreme Dalek started counting down.
"Nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one..."
Instead of destroying the universe, everything powered down and the screen went dead. Clara looked around, confused, but pleased.
"Oh...closing all Z-Neutrino relay loops using an internalized synchronous back-feed reversal loop! That button there!" Donna said, smiling.
"Donna, you can't even change a plug!" the Doctor said, completely bewildered.
"Do you wanna bet, Time Boy?" Donna asked, grinning away.
"You will suffer for this," Davros said.
Donna gave him a look that said, 'I don't think so' and flicked a switch which electrocuted Davros' own arm.
"Oh..!" Donna said. "Bioelectric dampening field with a retrogressive arc inversion."
"Exterminate her!" Davros said in furry.
"Exterminate!" all the Daleks started crying.
Donna didn't look bothered, however. Instead, she pressed some buttons and flipped switches. All the Daleks powered down, their guns twitching.
"Weapons are non-functional!" one Dalek said.
"What?" Donna asked. "Macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength blocking Dalek weaponry in a self-replicating energy blindfold matrix?"
Clara didn't understand half of what Donna was saying, but still thought it was brilliant.
"How did you work that out?" the Doctor asked, amazed. "You..."
"Time Lord," the New Doctor said. "Part Time Lord."
"Part human!" Donna said, loving it. "Oh, yes! That was a two-way biological metacrisis. Half Doctor, half Donna!"
"The Doctor-Donna," the Doctor said, staring at her. "Just like the Ood said, remember? They saw it coming! The Doctor-Donna."
"Holding cells deactivated," Donna said, flicking some switches. "And seal the Vault. Well, don't just stand there, you skinny boys in suits—get to work!"
Both the Doctors dashed to the console to help Donna.
"This is too weird," Clara said, standing up.
"Stop them!" Davros shouted. "Get them away from the controls!"
The Daleks approached them.
"And...spin," Donna said, flicking a switch.
Clara giggled as the Daleks started spinning in circles, all saying, "Help me. Help me."
"And...the other way!" Donna said. They started spinning the other way, their top halves and bottom halves were spinning in opposite directions.
"What did you do?" the Doctor asked.
"Trip-stitch circuit-breaker in the psycho-kinetic threshold manipulator," Donna said.
"But that's brilliant!" the New Doctor said, beaming.
"Why did we never think of that?" the Doctor asked the New Doctor.
"Because you two...were just Time Lords!" Donna said. "You dumbos. Lacking that little bit of Human, that gut instinct that goes hand-in-hand with planet Earth. I could think of ideas that you couldn't dream on in a million years! Ah, the universe has been waiting for me! Now...let's send that trip-stitch all over the ship. Did I ever tell you—best temp in Chiswick? A hundred words per minute!"
"Ha!" the New Doctor said.
The Daleks started rolling around uncontrollably.
"System malfunction-" one Dalek said.
"Motor causing interference-" another one said.
"What is happening? Explain!" the Supreme Dalek said.
Clara pushed a Dalek away as it got too close to her, laughing at the chaos.
"Come on then, boys, we've got twenty-seven planets to send home," Donna said. "Activate magnetron."
"Stop it at once!" Davros screamed.
Jack emerged from the TARDIS holding two very large guns.
"Mickey!" he said, tossing one to him.
"You will desist!" Davros said.
"Just stay where you are, mister," Mickey said, pointing his gun at Davros.
"Out of the way!" Jack said, kicking a Dalek out of the way.
Clara helped Rose and Sarah Jane push a Dalek away.
"Good to see you again!" Sarah Jane said.
"Yeah, you too!" Rose said.
"Rose!" Clara called, and the two cousins embraced. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too," Rose said.
"Ready? And reverse!" Donna said, as she and the two Doctors pulled rods out of the controls.
"Off you go, Clom," the Doctor said.
"Back home, Adipose Three!" the New Doctor said.
"Shallacatop! Pyrovillia! The Lost Moon of Poosh. Topping. Ha!" Donna said.
"Ha!" the New Doctor exclaimed.
"We need more power..." the Doctor said.
"Is anyone gonna tell us what's going on?" Rose asked.
"'Cos this is a little more than weird," Clara said, looking between the three of them.
"He poured all his regeneration energy into his spare hand, I touched the hand, he grew out of that, but that fed back into me," Donna said quickly. "But, it just stayed dormant in my head 'til the synapses got that little extra spark, kicking them into life. Thank you, Davros!"
"Wait, regeneration?" Clara asked, looking at the Doctor, hands on hips.
"It's a long story, tell you later," the Doctor said.
"Part Human...part Time Lord," Donna said. "And I got the best bit of the Doctor. I got his mind."
"So, there's THREE of you?" Sarah Jane asked.
"Three Doctors?" Rose asked.
"I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now," Jack said in a distracted voice.
"Jack!" Clara snapped him out of it. "My Doctor, remember?"
"Hey, I can dream, can't I?" Jack said, grinning.
"You're so unique that the timelines were converging on you," the Doctor said. "Human Being with a Time Lord brain."
"But you promised me, Dalek Caan," Davros said. "Why did you not foresee this?"
Dalek Caan only giggled.
"Oh, I think he did," the Doctor said. "Something's been manipulating the timelines for ages...getting Donna Noble to the right place at the right time."
"This would always have happened," Dalek Caan said. "I only helped, Doctor."
"You...betrayed the Daleks?" Davros asked.
"I SAW the Daleks," Caan said. "What we have done throughout time and space. I saw the truth of us, Creator, and I decreed 'no more'."
"Heads up!" Jack said, as the Supreme Dalek descended.
"Davros, you have betrayed us," Supreme Dalek said.
"It was Dalek Caan!" Davros said.
"The Vault will be purged!" Supreme Dalek said. "You will all be exterminated!"
He sent a ray to the central column, causing sparks to fly everywhere.
"Like I was saying, feel this!" Jack said, using the gun to blast Supreme Dalek.
"Oh, we've lost the magnetron!" the Doctor said. "And there's only one planet left, oh—guess which one. Look, we can use the TARDIS!"
He ran to the TARDIS.
"Holding Earth stability...maintaining atmospheric shell," the New Doctor said, flicking switches.
"The prophesy must complete," Caan said.
"Don't listen to him," Davros said.
"I have seen the end of everything Dalek, and you must make it happen, Doctor," Caan said.
"He's right," the New Doctor said. "Because with or without a Reality Bomb, this Dalek Empire's big enough to slaughter the cosmos. They've got to be stopped!"
"No," Clara said.
"Just—just wait for the Doctor," Donna said.
"I am the Doctor," the New Doctor said. "Maximizing Dalekanium power feeds. Blasting them BACK!"
The Daleks started to explode, one by one.
"Doctor!" Clara shouted. The Doctor stood out of the TARDIS, seeing the chaos.
"What've you done!?" the Doctor asked, horrified.
"Fulfilling the prophesy," the New Doctor said.
Outside the Crucible, Dalek ships started to explode. Clara was nearly thrown to the ground as everything was exploding everywhere.
"Do you know what you've done?" the Doctor asked furiously. "Now, get in the TARDIS! Everyone! All of you inside, run! In, in, in, in, in!"
Clara ran into the TARDIS after Rose.
"Sarah Jane! Rose! Clara! Jackie! Jack! Mickey!" the New Doctor said, ushering them in from the door.
Clara grinned as everyone gathered around the console. The Doctor ran to join them and said, "And! Off we go!"
Clara held onto the console, like everyone else as the TARDIS shook as they left the Crucible.
"But what about the Earth?" Sarah Jane asked. "It's stuck in the wrong part of space!"
"I'm on it!" the Doctor said, then used the monitor. "Torchwood Hub, this is the Doctor. Are you receiving me?"
Since Clara was right next to the Doctor, she saw the Torchwood Hub come on screen.
"Loud and clear," Gwen said. "Is Jack there?"
"Can't get rid of him," the Doctor said. "Jack, what's her name?"
"Gwen Cooper," Jack said.
"Tell me, Gwen Cooper, are you from an old Cardiff family?" the Doctor asked. Clara looked at him, confused, wondering what that had to do with anything.
"Yes," Gwen said. "All the way back to the eighteen-hundreds."
"Mm, thought so!" the Doctor said. "Spatial genetic multiplicity..."
"Oh, yeah!" Rose said appreciatively.
"Yeah, yeah!" the Doctor said. "It's a funny old world!"
"Oh!" Clara said, getting it. Gwen Cooper looked just like Gwyneth, from when they met the Gelth.
"Now, Torchwood, I want you to open up that Rift Manipulator—send all the power to me," the Doctor said.
"Doing it now, sir," Ianto said.
"What's that for?" Martha asked.
"It's a tow-rope," the Doctor said. "Now then, Sarah—what was your son's name?"
"Luke, he's called Luke," Sarah Jane said. "And the computer's called Mr. Smith."
"Calling Luke and Mr. Smith!" the Doctor said. "Come on, Luke, shake a leg!"
"Is Mum there?" Luke asked, coming on screen.
"Oh, she's fine and dandy-" the Doctor said.
"Yes! Yes!" Sarah Jane said, laughing.
"Now, Mr. Smith, I want you to harness the Rift power and loop it round the TARDIS, you got that?" the Doctor asked.
"I regret I will need remote access to the TARDIS basecode numerals," Mr. Smith said.
"Oh, blimey," the Doctor said. "That's gonna take a while."
"No, no, no," Sarah Jane said, moving by Clara to the monitor. "Let me! K-9, out you come!"
"Affirmative, Mistress!" K-9 said.
"Oh, good dog!" the Doctor said, laughing. "K-9, give Mr. Smith the basecode!"
"Master," K-9 said. "TARDIS basecode now being transferred. The process is simple."
"Now, then, you lot," the Doctor said, sending Sarah Jane back to her place. "Sarah—hold that. And Mickey—you hold that. Because, you know why this TARDIS is always rattling about the place? Rose—that, there. It was designed to have six pilots and I have to do it single handed. Martha—keep that level. Clara—that button, hold it. But not anymore! Jack—there you go, steady that. Now we can fly this—No, Jackie. No, no. Not you. Don't touch anything, just...stand back -Like it's meant to be flown! We've got Torchwood Rift looped around the TARDIS by Mr. Smith. We're gonna fly planet Earth back home. Right, then! Off we go!"
He pulled a lever and they were off. Clara kept her button pushed down, while holding on. The New Doctor and Donna strolled around the console, watching them.
"Rose," the Doctor said, gesturing to a button.
"That's really good, Jack," Donna said, watching Jack pump a lever. "I think you're the best."
Jackie giggle and Clara snorted as Donna joined the New Doctor as they leaned against a support, chuckling.
The TARDIS floated on when the Earth was in its right position. Everyone started whooping and cheering and Clara was taken by surprise as the Doctor grabbed her and kissed her. Clara turned pink as Jack started making whooping noises at them. That was until Donna grabbed him in a hug.
Clara held hands with the Doctor as they stepped outside with Sarah Jane.
"You know...you act like such a lonely man," Sarah Jane said. "But look at you! You've got the biggest family on Earth! Also, you have Clara."
The Doctor smiled and Sarah Jane hugged him and then Clara.
"See ya, Sarah Jane," Clara said.
"Gotta go!" Sarah Jane said, suddenly backing away. "He's only fourteen! It's a long story. And thank you!"
She waved to them and then was gone down the sidewalk. Jack and Martha were the next two to leave the TARDIS. The first thing the Doctor did was grab Jack's wrist to disable his vortex manipulator.
"I TOLD you, no teleport," the Doctor said. "And Martha, get rid of that Osterhagen thing, eh? Save the world one more time."
"Consider it done," Martha said, smiling as she hugged Clara.
Jack and Martha both saluted Clara and the Doctor, which the Doctor returned, but Clara just grinned. Jack gave Clara a hug before him and Martha walked away, hand-in-hand.
Mickey emerged from the TARDIS, startling Clara.
"Oi! Where are you going?" the Doctor asked.
"Well, I'm not stupid—I can work out what happens next," Mickey said. "And hey, I had a good time in that parallel world but my Gran passed away. Nice and peaceful. Spent her last years living in a mansion. There's nothing there for me, now. Certainly not Rose."
"Wish I could've been there for you, Mickey," Clara said. "I really loved that woman."
"Thanks, Clara," Mickey said.
"What will you do?" the Doctor asked.
"Anything!" Mickey said. "Brand new life. Just you watch."
He knocked fists with the Doctor and hugged Clara.
"See you, boss," Mickey said, then ran to catch up to Jack and Martha. "Hey, you two!"
The Doctor and Clara turned back to the TARDIS and went to the console.
"There's time for one last trip," he said. "Dårlig Ulv Stranden. Better known as..."
The Doctor, Donna, and Clara followed Jackie, Rose, and the New Doctor out onto the same beach that Rose had been left on before.
"Hold on, this is the parallel universe, right?" Rose asked.
"You're back home," the Doctor said.
"And the walls of the world are closing again...now that the Reality Bomb never happened," Donna said. "It's dimension retroclosure. See, I really get that stuff now."
"No, but I spent all that time trying to find you and Clara, I'm not going back now!" Rose said, bewildered and close to tears.
"But you've got to," the Doctor said, stepping towards her. "Because we saved the universe, but at a cost. And the cost is him."
He looked at the New Doctor.
"He destroyed the Daleks," the Doctor said. "He committed genocide. He's too dangerous to be left on his own."
"You made me!" the new Doctor said, confused and angry.
"Exactly, you were born in battle—full of blood and anger and revenge," the Doctor said, then looked at Rose and Clara, but mainly at Rose. "Remind you of someone? That's me. When we first me. And you made me better. And now, you can to the same for him."
"But he's not you," Rose said, tearful.
"He needs you," the Doctor said. "That's very me."
"But it's better than that, though," Donna said. "Don't you see what he's trying to give you? Tell her, go on."
Rose turned and faced the New Doctor.
"I look like him and I think like him...same memories, same thoughts, same everything," the New Doctor said. "Well, except for feeling about Clara. Sorry. Except, I've only got one heart."
"Which mean?" Rose asked.
"I'm part Human," he said. "Specifically the aging part. I'll grow old and never regenerate. I've only got one life... Rose Tyler. I could spend it with you. If you want."
"You'll grow—grow old at the same time as me?" Rose asked.
"Together," the New Doctor said.
Rose put a hand on his chest, feeling only one heartbeat. There was a sudden grinding sound from the TARDIS that made everyone look.
"We've gotta go," the Doctor said, taking Clara's hand. "This reality's sealing itself off. Forever."
The Doctor, Clara, and Donna turned around to head back to the TARDIS and Rose went after them.
"But it's still not right," Rose said. Clara looked at her cousin sadly as they turned around. "Because...the Doctor's...still you."
"And I'm him," the Doctor said, nodding to the new Doctor.
"All right," Rose said. "Both of you, answer me this."
"This is kinda creepy," Clara whispered to Donna as the two Doctors stood side by side, identical expressions, identical positions, identical hands in their pockets.
"When I last stood on this beach on the worst day of my life...what was the last thing you said to me?" Rose asked, looking at the real Doctor. "Go on, say it."
"I said, 'Rose Tyler'," the Doctor said.
"Yeah, and how was that sentence going to end?" Rose asked.
"Does it need saying?" the Doctor asked. Clara gripped his hand, noticing the pain written all over his face. She was also in pain. She was about to lose her family, Jackie and Rose, for the second time.
"And you, Doctor?" Rose said, turning to the new Doctor. "What was the end of that sentence?"
The new Doctor leaned down and whispered something in her ear. When he pulled away, Rose immediately pulled him back and kissed him.
"That was too weird," Clara said, as she, the Doctor, and Donna closed the doors to the TARDIS.
The Doctor pulled her into a hug, knowing she needed it, as she was crying but trying to stay cheerful and funny.
Donna was moving around the console, fiddling with controls, while the Doctor and Clara leaned against a support, watching her.
"I thought we could try the planet Felspoon...just 'cos," Donna said. "What a good name, 'Felspoon.' Apparently, it's got mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move. Can you imagine?"
"And how do you know that?" the Doctor asked.
"Because it's in your head!" Donna said. "And if it's in your head, it's in mine!"
"And how does that feel?" the Doctor asked.
"Brilliant!" Donna said. "Fantastic! Molto bene! Great bit of universe packed into my brain. You know you could fix that chameleon circuit if you just try and hotbind in the fragment links and superseding the binary, binary, binary, binary, binary—I'm fine!"
Clara got a very confused and worried look on her face.
"Nah, never mind Felspoon," Donna said. "You know who I'd like to meet? Charlie Chaplin. I've heard he's great, Charlie Chaplin. Shall we do that? Shall we go and see Charlie Chaplin?"
She picked up the phone and spoke into it, "Shall we? Charlie Chaplin? Charlie Chester, Charlie Brown. No, he's fiction, friction, fiction, fixen, mixen, rixten, brixton-"
She gasped and doubled over.
"Doctor, what-?" Clara asked, before the Doctor put his finger to his lips.
"Oh, my gosh," Donna said, holding her head.
"Do you know what's happening?" the Doctor asked.
Clara then got what was happening. It reminded her of when she had the Time Vortex in her head and her head had been killing her. She supposed that was what was happening to Donna now, with the Time Lord in her head.
"Yeah," Donna said.
"There's never been a Human-Time Lord metacrisis before now," the Doctor said. "And you know why."
"Because there can't be," Donna said. "I want to stay."
"Look at me," the Doctor said, while Clara started to silently cry. "Donna, look at me."
"I was gonna be with you two...forever," Donna said, shaking.
"I know," the Doctor whispered.
"The rest of my life...traveling..in the TARDIS. The Doctor-Donna," she said. "No. Oh, my gosh. I can't go back. Don't make me go back. Doctor...please. Please, don't make me go back."
"Donna," the Doctor said. "Oh, Donna Noble. I am so, so sorry. But we had the best of times. The best. Goodbye."
"No," Donna frantically said. "No, please! Please! No, NO, no!"
The Doctor put his fingers to her temples and closed his eyes.
"NO!" Donna cried one last time before she fell unconscious.
Clara rang the doorbell at the Nobles' house, while the Doctor was holding Donna on the ground. Wilfred opened the door, laughing until he saw them. Clara's face was streaked with tears and the Doctor was on the ground with an unconscious Donna.
"Help me," the Doctor said urgently.
"Donna? Donna?" Wilfred asked.
He helped the Doctor lay her on the bed, then left the room.
"Goodbye, Donna Noble," Clara said sadly, kissing her forehead. The Doctor just stood there, watching Donna. Then, it was time to explain things to Sylvia and Wilfred.
The Doctor and Clara sat on the couch together, gripping each other's hands, while the Doctor explained.
"She took my mind into her own head," the Doctor said. "But that's a Time Lord consciousness. All that knowledge—it was killing her."
"But she'll get better now?" Wilfred asked.
"I had to wipe her mind, completely," the Doctor said. "Every trace of me, or Clara, or the TARDIS...everything we did together, anywhere we went...had to go."
"All those wonderful things she did," Wilfred said.
"I know," the Doctor said quietly. "But that version of Donna is dead. Because if she remembers, just for a second, she'll burn up. You can never tell her. You can't mention me, or Clara, or any of it...for the rest of her life."
"But the whole world's talking about it," Sylvia said. "We traveled across space!"
"It'll just be a story," the Doctor said. "One of those Donna Noble stories, where she missed it all again."
"Be she was better with you," Wilfred said, upset.
"Don't say that-" Sylvia said.
"No, she was," Wilfred said angrily.
"I just want you to know that there are worlds out there, safe in the sky, because of her," the Doctor said. "That there are people living in the light, singing songs of Donna Noble, a thousand million light-years away...they will never forget her. While she can never remember. And for one moment...one shining moment...she was the most important woman in the whole wide universe."
"She still is," Sylvia said shortly. "She's my daughter."
"Then maybe you should tell her that once in a while," the Doctor said.
There were footsteps coming from upstairs and Donna came into the room. Clara quietly inhaled.
"I was asleep, ON my bed, IN my clothes, like a flippin' kid!" Donna said, holding her phone. "What did you let me do that for?! Don't mind me. Donna."
"John Smith," the Doctor said, standing, holding out his hand.
"Er, Jane Doe," Clara said, also holding out her hand. Donna shook both of their hands, not really looking at them.
"Mr. Smith and Miss Doe were just leaving," Sylvia said.
"My phone's gone mad!" Donna said. "Thirty-two texts, Veena's gone barmy, she's saying planets in the sky—WHAT have I missed now? Nice to meet you two," she said, as she left the room.
"Like I said, I think you two should go," Sylvia said coldly.
The Doctor and Clara went to the door, accompanied by Wilfred.
"Ah...you'll have quite a bit of this," the Doctor said, looking at the rain outside. "Atmospheric disturbance. Still, it'll pass. Everything does. Bye then, Wilfred."
The Doctor shook his hand. Clara gave Wilfred a hug and kissed his cheek.
"You take good care of her," Clara said, as she stepped out into the rain with the Doctor.
"Oh, Doctor...what about you two, now?" Wilfred asked.
"We'll be fine," the Doctor said, managing a smile.
"I'll watch out for you two, sir, ma'am," Wilfred said.
"You can't ever tell her," the Doctor said.
"No, no, no," Wilfred said. "But every night, Doctor...when it gets dark...and the stars come out...I'll look up. On her behalf. I'll look up a the sky and think of you two."
"Thank you," the Doctor said, as he and Clara went back to the TARDIS and the Doctor dematerialized it.
Clara curled up on the pilot chair, hit hard by all the losses she had gone through that day. Jackie and Rose had gone back to the parallel universe, and now Donna was gone. The Doctor sat down beside her and pulled her head into his lap.
They stayed like that long after the TARDIS was gone from Chiswick and floating in space.
