Work's never over when you're the Doctor and it's something that Theodore grew accustomed to since the faithful day the TARDIS entered his life and forcibly took him on his first adventure with Lila as his unwitting companion.
In a span of centuries, they've solved conspiracies, dealt with dangerous individuals, governments, everything under the bloody seven hundred and ninety-three suns, it's a madhouse in his poor mind, honestly.
Yet, he remained committed to his work as the Doctor, as his father before him, even if he did want to hang himself with his scarf more than once.
Al gave them time off from their adventuring, knowing they needed breaks, but once an emergency comes up, that's that, and trust Theodore, he's had several emergencies ruin his day-offs.
It's a tossup between him finally getting out of bed that morning or him having to get dressed and march himself into the waiting TARDIS.
Still haven't found the coin he lost from the one adventure, he's not losing his mind, Theodore swears he had the coin with Paul's journal, and yet, it hadn't showed up.
Cleaned his flat from top to bottom, more than he usually did, and yet, the damned thing hadn't gotten lodged in the vacuum.
He couldn't have lost it, his mind, for that matter, but yet, that coin hadn't reappeared.
Even went far as asking Al about the coin, if he saw it, but Al said he hadn't seen it and still couldn't tell him anything about the coin, despite the TARDIS helping him on several adventures effortlessly prior.
He shouldn't had problems deducing the origins of the coin, he should've had everything down to what minting company produced it, but the TARDIS claimed otherwise.
Without the coin, Theodore's at a lost understanding the significance of it, the connection it held to the mysterious benefactor that he couldn't even find a census taker's footnote.
Not even Al could've conjured up anything on the benefactor, it's as though he didn't exist, and it's just irritating dwelling on this, that Theodore found himself hugging Advil more than once, his poor brain.
It's a joy that Theodore found closure in an adventure, such as destroying the fabric of a complex using drugs on the sister location's employees without authorization.
The avalanche of lawsuits that poured in from families having lost their loved ones to HX-66, the agony of defeat in Alex Industries' lawyers as the verdict came back guilty, everything becoming undone by the day.
Every soul part of the conspiracy got theirs, thankfully, and serving their terms under protected custody for life, with no hopes of them getting out for good behaviour.
Too good for them, he thinks, but he couldn't abdicate the sentencing. At least, they got theirs for the crimes they committed, it's not much in Theodore's eyes, but they'll never hurt anyone else, again.
Everyone else they hurt's swimming around them like they're being hung by a hook over shallow water, waiting for an opportune time to jump and take a bite out of them.
John and Mary gave birth to a healthy son, he's doing well, Theodore hears, and has a clean bill of health, despite the drugs his mother unknowingly took, and with the money they gotten from the lawsuit, John and Mary's living the simple life with their son.
So far, the two haven't developed issues regarding the consumption of HX-66, that's great to hear, and they've taken up new jobs closer to their son's daycare.
Oh yes, justice was served, much rejoice, and now, Theodore's thrusted into something that couldn't be described as an adventure.
Anya and Kev, they've reached out to him, wanting him to return to the train yard, it sounded urgent, and he didn't have time getting Lila involved, so he went alone.
Wearing his simple brown stitched coat with the usuals, Theodore went and met the two, slightly different than he last saw them, but they didn't spend time chatting, Kev and Anya looked perturbed, enough to seek him out.
Something happened in the train yard, near where the Weeping Angels were digging, and they called him the moment they found it.
Didn't touch anything, left it alone for Theodore, and he followed them through the nearly forested train yard, having become devastated further by nature reclaiming it due to the council having not agreed to terms.
When they reached the familiar spot, Theodore's icy blue eyes saw there's a bigger hole where the Weeping Angels dug.
It's wider, deeper, didn't look like machinery was involved, nothing's disturbed except the hole.
Theodore deduced it being 4.5m wide and 3.9m round.
Like Kev and Anya said, no machinery could've done this, there's nothing in the dirt showing treads from tires.
There's only one shovel left abandoned near the hole, if Theodore had to guess, only one person's responsible for digging.
Would've taken Theodore an hour or two tops, but that's his genetics, and if he's sufficiently motivated.
At the bottom of the hole, Theodore caught sight of something laying in the middle, and he jumped down to look at it closely while Kev and Anya looked down as they remained near the edges, as he slowly made his way to something slumping near a pile of dirt.
Coming up to it, Theodore sees an outline, and when he reached out to cautiously touch it, he found that it's… a head… but not a HUMAN… head.
"Doctor, what is it?" Anya called down to him as he pulled it from the ground, raising it to his face.
Looking at it closely with his icy blue eyes, Theodore's shocked at the sight.
It's… a Cyberman's head.
Draping from the bottom's the blackened wiring and unmentionables leftover from the conversion, the black substance that powered the Cyberman's dried out completely, it's been like this for a while.
The head itself, Theodore sees something jutting out the side of the lobe, the handle of a screwdriver.
Someone strong enough to stab a Cyberman's through the lobe with a Philips screwdriver with a yellow translucent handle, that's a new one.
Calling up, Theodore asked if Kev and Anya saw anyone they didn't recognize, but they responded they didn't, and they asked around just to be sure.
Nobody saw anyone near the train yard that stood out, whoever did this waited until nightfall, and didn't leave until they finished.
"Is that a head?" Kev caught sight of the outline, but Theodore assured him it wasn't human.
Well, not in the sense that Kev's familiar with, but in all, it wasn't human, so he nor Anya should run away and call the police.
Theodore didn't want to have to do anything more than needed and talking to officers isn't one of them.
Looking down at the head in his hands, it called into question how it ended up here.
This universe shouldn't have Cybermen, Al would've told them so, there's no way it could've wound up here.
It's bothering him and he's already bothered by a lot of things as it stands.
Theodore called up to Kev and Anya, asking them what led them back to the train yard in the first place.
Kev called down to Theodore that they've recently returned to the area after spending time in London.
Their families have moved on elsewhere, couldn't come together like they've hoped. Neither wanted to dwell on what transpired since they left for London prior and Theodore left it alone.
Continuing the story, they came back to the train yard to reminiscent and remembering when they nearly met their ends by the Weeping Angels, and when they came to the spot that the Weeping Angels fell apart around, they noticed someone dug deep into the earth.
Anya thought it was because of the gemstones, as they never told anyone what happened years ago, maybe someone stumbled upon the hole.
However, they found remnants of the gemstones that they once spent time collecting, still in the dirt as they've left them prior, now turned into blackened coal.
Picked up one near the edges, instantly turned into powder in Kev's hands, leaving a sooty pile in his palms.
"We don't know anyone who came here, Doctor. Ever since it happened, we never told anyone," Anya tells Theodore as they helped him climb up the hole, struggling as he grasped the head.
The council couldn't come to an agreement, per usual, as it's been refilled with newer people who butted heads once more what to do with the train yard, since then, patrols ramped up because they're worried about teenagers and the like getting into trouble.
Yet, nobody found the hole or the gemstones, leaving them to wonder.
"Turned to ashes, hm?" Theodore's miffed as he heard the part with the gemstones. Kev affirmed as they noticed it only happening with the gemstones left behind, the ones they collected still intact, to him, it's almost like something burnt them at such high temperatures for an extended time.
It's impossible, burning gemstones to the point of them turning into ashes by mere touch required almost 850C!
That kind of temperature would've destroyed the train yard and everything around it and no machinery could've done it, nothing that'd fit in the palm of his hands, that is.
Kev went far as checking for any volcanic activity in the area, but found they're hardly in the area where it's a threat.
Looking down in the hole, holding the severed Cyberman's head, Theodore sees the hole in detail.
Someone knew what they're looking for and it wasn't the gems, there's no hole leading into the centre of the Earth, the angle Theodore's standing, something was buried here once ago, but now it isn't.
The ground's soft under his loafers, but not soggy, Kev said it rained not too long ago, and started drying out.
He apologized about not calling sooner, but there was a terrible storm that knocked out the phone lines, they only got them back a day or two ago.
Seeing the Cyberman's head, Anya's disturbed at the sight, but Theodore assured her that they have nothing to worry about, however she asked why anyone left it behind.
A good question and with the screwdriver strategically stabbed through the head, destroying the vital parts of the head, making it difficult to restore or even hash together an idea, Theodore doesn't have much to go on, aside from the fact someone had a Cyberman's head with them.
The more Theodore's thinking to himself, he harkened back to his misadventure with Liliana and Dom.
Al said Masa was delivering a head… and few disemboweled heads excrete the black substance.
Theodore's mind snapped back when Kev tried getting his attention and he's forced to forgo his inner thoughts, telling Kev that he's unsure what happened.
He's only sure that they won't encounter Cybermen, that much he can tell them, however, he couldn't tell them much about the Cyberman's head.
"Where did it come from?" Anya wanted to know how it ended up here and Theodore's unable to tell her anything more, but he said that it's one of the major questions he wanted answers.
Thanking them for calling him, Theodore went with them back to the TARDIS, holding the Cyberman's head outstretched.
It's nonfunctional, there's no chance it'll try and worm its way onto someone's head, someone knew how to destroy it with a simple screwdriver, with strength that's comparable to Theodore.
His mind aflutter, Theodore returned to the TARDIS, talking to Kev and Anya along the way, finding out how they've been doing since they last met.
With the gemstones and precious metals collected, they have a modest flat in London, with the money, they've been living modestly while pursuing their dream careers.
With their parents unable to see past their noses, it's been a struggle trying to reconnect with them, that they've given up hope.
Theodore encouraged them not to strain themselves, they've done their best, and nobody could've told them differently.
Unfortunate that they couldn't come together for their children, but alas, there's nothing more that's possible changing their minds.
They'll have to get used to their respected children's absences in their lives if they can't try.
"It's a bummer. I'd love to have my parents over for Christmas," Anya exhaled sharply as she tells Theodore that the hostility between her and Kev's parents made holidays difficult, that it culminated into them barely calling on holidays and birthdays.
Comforting her, Theodore tells her to not let it get to her, that she got this far, she can't let their families hold them back.
"Um, Doctor, what do you intend to do with that head, anyway, and, what exactly is that?" Kev spoke up, wanting answers on the Cyberman's head, but Theodore waived it away as nothing that concerned him, and he intended on finding out where it came from.
Who brought it here, what was buried there, all sorts of questions, the usuals, no answers in sight, bothering him terribly!
"You sure there won't be any more?" Anya asks Theodore if he's certain that they won't find more heads or encounter the things with theirs still attached and the aloof giant assured her.
If he's wrong, for whatever reason, they have his number, he'll come back and take of them.
Toppling Cybermen became a hobby and just another day at the office for him.
With that said, Theodore left with the Cyberman's head, and when he returned home with it, Al's in awe.
"Kid, you got any idea how hard it is cutting off their heads?" Al's mystified at the bodiless Cyberman stuck on in a grip while Theodore studied it.
Turning his head, Theodore tells him that he's well-aware that it wasn't easy, but Al elaborated that someone killed the Cyberman by cutting off its head.
"Even your Home Depot tools couldn't do that!" Al summed that there's no chance someone could've incapacitated one and cut off its head without it blowing them away.
Somehow, whoever did it, got the drop on the Cyberman, something that's near impossible.
"Al, do you remember what you told me, about the head that Masa was supposed to bring, could've it have been this?" Theodore looked towards the avatar as he smoked his cigarette, looking on while Theodore moved around the console room.
Nodding, Al tells him that of course he does, and stopped to think about the second part of the question.
He couldn't be sure since the Cyberman's internals became destroyed, preventing further access, and with it exposed to the elements, forget about it.
Then again, he heard of conflict between Sontaran and Cybermen, but there's nothing in his files that showed the Sontaran capable of killing Cybermen that way.
"Hm, but it is odd that it was there of all places," Al couldn't discount the connections.
Theodore asked him if he's scanned the area and he replied he did, like Kev said, there's no way that the gemstones burnt at that temperature naturally.
No machinery's capable of the feat and there's no volcanic vein.
It's condensed to one spot and that's that.
"Al, can you run the scan from the first time, again, with the new filters?" Theodore asks him to go over the previous scan and comparing it to the new scan.
When they went there, Al wasn't in the best shape, and barely lucky he worked long enough to bring them back.
Now, with the repairs, he shouldn't have problems.
Nodding as he tapped his cigarette at the edge of the phantom ashtray, Al did just that, and he said that there was something draining his nearly depleted cells, causing him to go into self-preservation mode, and when he checked with the new scan, it's gone.
"Something was draining me like a vampire. I was already in a bad shape, something took a bite out of me," Al summed how fortunate he was that Theodore used dark matter to power him.
Thinking it over, Theodore broached an idea with Al, asking what temperature he runs at, and the TARDIS thoughtfully said he runs about in the millions, those little diamonds would've ceased existence.
"And how about forming them?" Theodore continued while the TARDIS' avatar moved around the console room, his bright clothes glistened under the cream lights.
Mulling it over, Al said he could've easily form millions of the gems if he wanted to, he's got plenty of capacitors to do the job.
Hearing his answers, Theodore crossed his arms as he's trying to think.
"I don't know what was in that hole, but it had to be something," Al summed that whatever was buried there did a number on him and managed to create and destroy gemstones of all walks.
Whatever it was, it's long gone, now, and with no witnesses, they're without a clue on who took the Cyberman's head to the train yard and dug in the same area as the Weeping Angels.
"Look kid, you're already dealing with a multitude of questions as is, surely you can take some time off, on me," Al pressed Theodore to take time off, he's spent most of his free time trying to solve questions that plagued him.
TARDIS' orders, Theodore needed to relax, else he'll turn gray, and that's no good.
"I can do this, Al. Masa went out of his way to deliver the Cyberman's head to someone, I wanna know why," Theodore asserted that he didn't want to take leave from his quest.
The Sontaran went through the effort to distract them just so someone else could've snuck in and taken the head, that's grounds for something.
"Kid, your father had his fair share, trust me, but you're still young. Don't mess everything up just to solve a word puzzle. Come on, it can wait. What would your mother tell me if she found out you're skipping dinner for this?" Al showed concern that Theodore's pushing himself too hard, reminding him that he must take care of himself above all else.
He can come back to this later, but not on an empty stomach. Missing dinner's a grave sin among the Smith household, why, Sarah would've pinched Al's cheeks if she found out that he didn't make sure Theodore ate, bless her heart.
Exhaling sharply, Theodore agreed that he didn't get to eat when Kev called him, now that he returned to his flat, he'll grab something to eat, make sure his fur friends have their dinners, and then he'll work on finding his answers.
Leaving the TARDIS, Theodore went to wash off his hands, before starting to cook, leaving Al standing alone in the console room.
Once he's sure that Theodore's not in earshot, there's a look on Al's face, as he took a deep breathe, inhaling the virtual cigarette, before exhaling.
"Bad… this is… very… bad…" Al murmured as he looked at the Cyberman head, left alone, no chance of it reactivating, with the screwdriver glistening under the cream light. "Oh, this is… bad!"
THE END