Disclaimer: I don't own what you recognise; the drill should be familiar to you by now
Feedback: I'd appreciate it; I'm trying to do something a bit different here
AN: The final chapter in this story, but there's a twist or two at the end of it…
The World of Paradox
"So," Mel looked uncertainly around the console room, taking in all five Doctors as she spoke, "I get that I'm probably not going to like the answer to this, and if it comes across as self-centred I'm sorry, but if reality's reset back to what it was before the Valeyard… before he did anything… what does that mean for me?"
"In a nutshell," the Doctor said, looking sympathetically at Mel, "your universe has been merged back into mine."
"Yours?" Mel looked at him in confusion.
"Ours?" Amy raised an inquiring hand.
"Hold on, her world… merged with ours?" Natalie looked curiously at her father. "How did that happen?"
"Long story short, creating parallel universes isn't as simple as some of your scientists and authors think," the author put in with a slight smile. "After all, most of the time the choices we make don't matter that much; does it make a difference to your life and the lives of those around you if you painted a room green or blue, that you chose the ham sandwich over the cheese, that you chose to take this route or that route to work today?"
"I take it in that scenario both routes take the same time?" Amy raised a hand for clarification.
"Precisely," the author nodded. "In any case, in those scenarios there might be a brief divergence as reality shifts to reflect the change, but with most such small changes the divergent reality will eventually come back to the local one, or exist so close to each other that it makes no difference to those who may notice such a difference."
"But in this case," the newly-regenerated Doctor explained, "since the Valeyard's reality only diverged from the one that our colleague here came from because of the moment when our sixth self chose to go back for him, when we erased that moment from history we erased that particular branch from existence and it merged back into its point of origin, which would appear to be the universe that gave us this fine fellow."
"Oh," Mel said, looking at the screen for a moment as the vortex continued to repair itself, before she turned back to the Doctors. "So after all that… we just undid everything the Valeyard did to existence? He destroyed reality, and now it never even happened?"
"This timeline is going to need some time to fully knit itself back into my reality, but this kind of thing has probably happened more often than we know, albeit not on the same scale," the Doctor observed with a slight smile. "I've had a few surprisingly close calls that have left me wondering if something else just happened that I don't know about that stopped a bigger problem from unfolding…"
"Should we feel sorry for him?"
"What?" the newly-regenerated Doctor looked at their female counterpart in surprise.
"The Valeyard," the female Doctor explained. "I mean, I'm not going to ignore the fact that he destroyed the universe because he didn't think about the consequences beyond keeping himself amused, but on the other hand, he did end up saving it…"
"From what we observed, the Time Lords gave him an inch because they probably thought he'd be more willing to do their dirty work than I was, and he took a mile and claimed all those doomsday weapons we found in our travels before they realised how deranged he really was," the Doctor observed grimly. "I'll concede that he did the right thing in the end, but if he'd had the patience and common sense he should have been created with, he'd never have left us in that situation in the first place."
"Good point," the female Doctor acknowledged.
"So… not meaning to sound self-centred, but what does that mean for me?" Mel asked uncertainly. "I mean, if we erased the timeline that created me… will I just cease to exist?"
"No, no, my dear," the author smiled at her. "From what we overheard, and as the Valeyard's own words seemed to confirm, you have spent some time in the Valeyard's TARDIS; having spent so long in the Time Vortex will have given you sufficient excess artron energy to survive the erasure of your home reality."
"Oh," Mel observed, looking silently at the scanner that still displayed the recovering vortex. "So… I can't go home?"
"Not as such," the newly regenerated Doctor observed. "I mean, you could go back to Pease Pottage, but the… other you would probably go back there eventually-"
"I get that," Mel cut him off, before she sighed and turned to look at the assembled Doctors. "So… what happens to me now?"
"You could come with me," the white-haired Doctor put in.
"You?" the other Doctors looked at him in surprise.
"You… want me to join you?" Mel looked at the unfamiliar Doctor in surprise.
"Well, Alistair just left me to help a civilisation rebuild, and I… well, I could use a friend who has some idea of how I do things," the white-haired Doctor shrugged awkwardly. "From what I understand, my world diverged from the history you're aware of a good decade or so before this young woman's home time, so the risk of homesickness or temptation would be limited without putting her in a completely unfamiliar place, and based on what you've mentioned about her experience with my counterpart, I think I could use whatever insights she has to offer about what I might have missed out on."
"That… that sounds… thank you," Mel said at last, smiling gratefully at the Doctor.
"And on the topic of going home," the female Doctor spoke up, "I appreciate that I didn't do much in my own right, but you will all be willing to send a few positive messages about my role here to the High Council back in my universe? They were about to sentence me to death before I was called in help with this mess-"
"No problem," Susan nodded reassuringly at her grandfather's female alternate. "I can guarantee a letter of recommendation from a former President of an alternate Gallifrey that will affirm my full satisfaction with your role here."
"Best we provide you with a suitable alias in the process, my child; we don't wish to create the risk of them assuming a biased source," the author put in, even as he smiled warmly at his granddaughter.
"Right," the white-haired Doctor observed with a smile. "So, that's our immediate problems dealt with-"
"Except for the fact that I've spent the last two decades being an absolute ass who basically lied to a woman who was meant to be my daughter and burnt essentially every bridge I had left in my universe," the newly-regenerated Doctor observed grimly.
"You know, self-pity isn't exactly an appealing character trait-" Amy observed.
"I just regenerated twice in the last hour or so; I'm not really in the best state-!"
"Which is why I'll be staying with you," Rose put in.
"What?" the Doctor, Amy and Natalie looked at Rose in surprise.
"You're- you want to stay with him?" Amy looked at the other girl in surprise.
"Why not?" Rose shrugged. "He needs help, and I'm lookin' for somethin' to do with my life these days."
"But your mother-?" the Doctor began.
"Mum's dead."
"Dead?" Amy repeated, looking at Rose with new understanding.
"It was just a stupid traffic accident last week… back in our old reality, anyway," Rose shrugged awkwardly as the rest of the group looked sympathetically at the young blonde. "I'd pretty much sorted out the funeral easily enough, but I was gonna lose the flat, I'd lost all my other relatives anyway, an' I didn't have anywhere else I really wanted to stay…"
"And then the Faction came?" Amy finished, nodding at the other young woman in new understanding.
"And made you the offer that sent you back to 1987?" Natalie finished, staring intently at the shame-faced young girl.
"I just thought… maybe if Dad had never died, maybe he could have… or at least, Mum wouldn't get hit…" Rose shrugged helplessly. "Stupid, right?"
"No more stupid than anyone else who wished they could get back someone they loved," the author solemnly observed as he nodded at Rose, the other Doctors all giving her the same sympathetic smiles.
"It's not… perfect, I grant you, but… well, if he forgave you, I suppose I can do the same," the newly-regenerated Doctor observed.
"Thanks," Rose nodded tentatively at him. "I mean, I get that we only just met, but there's nothin' left for me back on my Earth, and I was stuck in a rut work-wise, so… well, if you need a friend here…"
"I'd… I think I'd like that," the shaggy-haired Doctor smiled at Rose. "I mean, if you don't mind-"
"We both screwed up," Rose replied with a self-deprecating smile. "Maybe we can help each other be better now."
It was an impulsive decision, but in the end the Doctor couldn't condemn Rose for it; as she had observed, she and his other self had each made significant mistakes, and both of them could be just what the other needed to find a new place to belong now.
"Well," he stepped back and smiled at his other four selves, "I think we can safely say this all worked out well; the reality collapse has been averted, and hopefully we've all come away with a bit of a better understanding of what we need to be as the Doctor."
"What we need to be?" the author looked at the Doctor in surprise.
"No… he's right," the female Doctor conceded. "I won't speak for the rest of you, but I will concede that I made a few bad decisions recently; maybe this was the kick we needed to confirm what we should do instead."
"Even if that means exile?" the white-haired Doctor looked at his female counterpart.
"If he can handle it, I'm sure I can crack it," the female Doctor mused. "Besides, I've got that new regeneration now-"
"Just don't feel the need to use it too soon," the Doctor cut his other self off.
"Really?" the female Doctor looked at him in surprise. "Even when-"
"What they feel about your current physical appearance is nobody's business but yours," the Doctor said. "If you'd prefer to change, go ahead, but don't feel the need to do something you don't want to just because other people don't like what you are now."
"I'll… consider that," the female Doctor conceded with a tentative smile.
"And as for you," the Doctor looked over at the shaggy-haired Doctor with a smile, "don't waste the new opportunities the Valeyard gave you."
"Waste?" the woman and the newly-regenerated Doctor repeated with exaggerated indignation.
"You weren't exactly living up to your full potential, were you?" the Doctor observed with a brief smile at the two Doctors. "At least this way you have a chance to be better."
"Even me?" the shaggy-haired Doctor asked. "I did lose my chance to save Gallifrey-"
"There's never only one way to do something," the Doctor observed. "I'm not saying I know of another way to do it, but don't give up just because the obvious solution isn't an option any more."
From what he'd seen of his other self's memories during their mental link, the Faction had at least been lost with Gallifrey's destruction in his reality, so that gave the other Doctor at least better opportunities to find alternative ways to bring his people back, even if the Doctor had to worry about the Faction stepping in if he tried to do anything about that back home.
With that solemn observation, the Doctors exchanged their final nods and returned to their TARDISes, the author and Susan taking a moment to disconnect the probability generator before they entered their own ship. Mel and Rose hesitated for a moment before they followed their 'new' Doctors into their respective TARDISes, leaving the female Doctor to look apprehensively at her TARDIS for a moment before she nodded in resolution and stepped inside it.
"Right then," the Doctor said, activating the TARDIS's radio as he took up position at the console. "Transmit all necessary supportive messages after our female counterpart, then we all take off and head back to our universes… and may I say, just before we part, that it's been a pleasure working with you all?"
The Doctor would acknowledge that he was always a difficult person to get along with, but at least this time around he had met some interesting alternates who had shown a willingness to overcome their worst traits and past mistakes… even if he had some suspicions about how these particular alternates had come into being…
As the other four TARDISes transmitted a positive response, the Doctor tapped a few switches on the console room before he pulled the dematerialisation lever. For a moment, the four other TARDISes seemed to be experiencing a drawn out dematerialisation within the Doctor's own ship, until the moment passed and Amy and Natalie had to grab the console as the other four police boxes suddenly vanished and the TARDIS seemed to accelerate into action.
"We're off!" the Doctor grinned at his companions. "We're going home…"
Then his gaze shifted to a small screen on the console and his gaze narrowed in confusion. "That isn't good."
Amy didn't have time to ask what he was talking about when the TARDIS suddenly shuddered around them, as though it had just struck something…
AN 2: This story has concluded, but only because I felt that the next storyline merited more than to just be part of this story; the first chapter of that storyline will have been uploaded by the time you finish this, so I hope you enjoy events as the Doctor meets an old friend to face a truly twisted plan…