Chapter 9: Burn, baby, burn
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, it belongs to BBC
The Woods- Hollow Coves
We're all falling down
We need a place to hide
A safe place somewhere in the woods
We can start the fire
All we know is what would be
Our home
We will stay
'Till the break of dawn
The Doctor and Kit ran through the ducts and out into the engine room. The room felt like the desert and the temperature only seemed to keep rising. Kit took off her jacket and tied in around her waist feeling hot and constricted in it. She was sweating already but the Doctor seemed perfectly fine.
They came to a stop in front of the catwalk and Kit noticed the fans were moving far faster then they were before.
"Heat levels critical," the computer told them.
"Oh. And guess where the switch is." The Doctor pointed to the leaver that was on the other side of the catwalk.
Kit groaned. "Of course, just our luck."
The Doctor ran to where a breaker lever was and pulled it down. When he did the fans slowed down. The Doctor let go of the leaver and headed to the catwalk but the fans started to rotate faster again. Kit realized that the leaver needed to stay down for the Doctor to get across so she went over to it and pulled it down again. She fought against her reflexes that were telling her to let it go as it was hot.
The Doctor turned around to face her. "Kit, let go of the leaver," he ordered. "The heat's going to vent through this place."
Kit shrugged. "Yeah, and?" She asked, yet she knew what the Doctor meant.
"Kittredge, that leaver is going to feel like touching magma very soon. You'll get second, no, third degree burns from that," he insisted.
"Well, if I had to choose between third degree burns or dying, I think I'll take the burns!" Kit snapped, really wishing the Doctor would hurry up.
"Kit—"
"Doctor! The faster you do this the less time I have to hold his down. So what I'm saying is, hurry up, time boy!" She argued.
He gave her a small smile and nodded. Kit watched as the Doctor ran towards the first fan then stop. Kit bit her lip feeling the leaver get hotter and her hands start to sting. The Doctor ran through the first fan and stopped again at the second one. Kit's hands felt like they were on fire now and she bit back a scream that was forming in her throat. It took all her will power to not let go on the leaver. The Doctor had been right; it was like touching magma.
The Doctor looked back at her. "Hurry!" She yelled.
Kit was growing dizzy from the pain and it was becoming hard to concentrate on anything other then the burning. The Doctor had finally passed the second fan and was standing before the last one. Just one more fan. Hold on until then, she told herself but she didn't know if she was going to be able to. Her hands were now becoming numb and her ears were starting to ring. She wasn't sure if she was becoming delirious but she could swear she saw smoke coming from her hands. The leaver suddenly spiked in temperature even more and Kit couldn't handle it anymore. She let out a painful cry and let go. The leaver went back into place and the fans sped up again. Kit looked down at her hand and noticed how red and blistered they were. Some of her skin had even pealed off.
She looked up at the Doctor. "I'm sorry," she shouted to him. "I couldn't do it."
The Doctor looked back at the speeding fan. He tired to go through a couple of times but always stopped himself. The computer stated to count down and Kit felt fear creep in her. She watched as the Doctor stood there unmoving and then something extraordinary happened that she had never seen the Doctor do. The Doctor went passed the fan like he somehow was able to slow down time and go through.
The Doctor then dashed to the reset breaker and pulled it down. "Raise shields!" He shouted just as the computer counted down to one.
Kit felt the station shake and knew the Earth had exploited but the station was still intact and they were still alive. She watched as the Doctor walked back towards her, easily going through the fans now.
"Cutting it a bit close there," she grinned.
He shrugged. "What can I say? It makes things more interesting," he smiled back at her. "Now, let's look at those hands," he said taking them.
Kit hissed in pain as he did. "I'm sorry again," she apologized which earned her a confused look from the Doctor. "For not being able to hold the leaver for the entire time. We could have all died because of me," she confessed.
"Kit, most people wouldn't be about to hold that thing for a second. I was able to get to the other side thanks to you," he smiled. "You forced yourself to hold on even though it hurt. That takes a lot of determination," he told her which made Kit smile up at him. "Thank you."
She nodded to him. "Don't mention it but just promise me I don't have to do anything like that again."
The Doctor laughed. "Promise. Now let's see what the damage and find Rose."
They were walking back to the observation room when Kit was suddenly hit with a sharp pain in her head. She closed her eyes tight as a series of images flashed before her much like with the living plastics. These images showed Jade going with the Doctor and her holding down the leaver. It also showed her bursting into flames and dying. She gasped and looked around. She wasn't supposed to help the Doctor. Jade was supposed to die. She messed with time. Still, the universe wasn't caving in on itself which meant that it was a fixed point in time. She just hoped it wasn't going to cause any trouble.
The Doctor had noticed she had stopped. "You alright?" He asked.
"Um, yeah, just my hands. They're really hurting." It wasn't a complete lie, her hands were in a lot of pain.
"Don't worry, when we get back to the Tardis I can fix your hands right up," he told her and Kit nodded.
When they got to the observation room, everything was a mess. Many of the aliens were injured and some were even died. Kit bit back a sting of guilt. If she had just held on a little longer or if they had just come sooner, they could have saved them.
Kit noticed Jade across the room helping some of the aliens. When she saw them she gave them a wave. She walked towards them.
"Doctor, are you alright?" She asked
The Doctor nodded. "Never better."
Kit rolled her eyes. "I'm good too by the way."
Jade just ignored her. "Yes, well, you managed to save everyone here."
The Doctor shook his head and sighed. "Not everyone unfortunately."
"You guys alright?" They heard Rose say behind them. They turned and came face to face with a very beat up looking Rose.
"Yeah, we're fine," the Doctor replied a bit distracted in his own thoughts. "In fact, I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two," he explained to them walking over to the ostrich egg, "this feed must be hidden nearby." The Doctor smashed the egg open to reveal a small device. "Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed."
He turned something on the device and Kit could hear Cassandras voice. "Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces," they heard her say and just like that Cassandra was beamed back. "Oh," she gulped noticing them.
Kit crossed her arms over her chest. "Welcome back, Cassandra."
Cassandra's eyes widened. "So, you passed my little test. Bravo," she rushed out. "This makes you eligible to join, er, the Human Club."
"People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them," the Doctor snapped.
"It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries," Cassandra ranted which only made Kit roll her eyes. "Take me to court, then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter." Kit suddenly noticed Cassandra drying up.
"And creak?" The Doctor asked, realizing the same thing.
"And what?"
"Creak, Cassandra. You're creaking," Kit explained, with a smug grin on her face.
"What? Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me!" She exclaimed. "Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!"
"Well, that's what happens when you decide to raise the temperature," Kit told her, watching her shrivel up.
"Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything!" She begged but Kit felt nothing for the dying women and just continued to stare.
Rose walked up to the Doctor. "Help her," she pleaded.
"Everything has its time and everything dies," he told her through his teeth.
Cassandra continued to shrivel up. "I'm too young!" She shouted before she exploited and pieces of her went everywhere.
The Doctors face grew grim. He looked to be deep in thought and Kit knew never to disturb him when he got this way. He walked away from them but Kit decided in was best not to follow.
She instead turned to Rose. "So what happened to you? You don't look so good," she asked, noticing the shape Rose was in.
"Oh, you know, got locked in a room while it tried to roast me alive," she explained sarcastically. "And you?" She asked, nodding towards her hands.
Kit looked down at her bloody and blistered hands. "Had to hold down a really hot leaver so the Doctor could save the station. No big deal," she shrugged and Rose rolled her eyes.
Kit looked around and noticed everyone filling out and leaving the station. Jade and her bodyguard had disappeared and even the Face and Boe was leaving. He gave her a wink, which Kit smiled in return and he left.
Kit saw Rose move to the big window in awe. "I can't believe it's gone," Rose remarked.
Kit walked towards Rose. "Yeah, it's definitely hard to believe," she whispered.
They didn't say anything else just stared at the crumbling rocks. They stayed like that for a long time. Kit felt sad now that the Earth had actually died. Even though she didn't have any friends or family on Earth, she still didn't like endings and this was a pretty big one.
Kit heard footsteps coming up behind them and she looked behind her to see the Doctor. He came up between Rose and Kit.
"The end of the Earth," Rose said suddenly. "It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go," she cried then paused. "All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just…"
Suddenly the Doctor took Rose hand and Kit's arm. "Come one," he told the both of them.
They walked to the Tardis and when Kit went in she felt ten times better knowing she was home. The Doctor started up the Tardis and landed it. Rose and Kit stood there not really sure where he had brought them. The Doctor just nodded towards the door. Rose and Kit moved to it and open the door. Kit was surprised when she realized they were on Earth, probably in 2005. They were on a busy street and Kit watched people walk by them smiling and laughing.
She heard the Doctor exist the Tardis and come beside them. "You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't," he told them. "One day it's all gone. Even the sky." They all look up at the perfectly blue sky above them. "My planet's gone," the Doctor said suddenly. "It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before it's time."
Kit just watched him, unsure as to what to say. The Time War and the death of his planet was still a very fresh wound for this Doctor. Kit knew that eventually he would save his people but that wasn't going to be for a very long time. She wanted to tell him that everything was going to be alright but she knew that wouldn't do anything to help.
"What happened?" Rose asked.
"There was a war and we lost," he said simply.
"A war with who?" But the Doctor didn't answer. "What about your people?" Rose tried again.
"I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no one else," he explained to them.
"There's me and Kittredge," Rose piped in.
The Doctor gave them a small smile. "You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you two want to go home?" He asked them.
"No," Kit responded without hesitation. She knew this Doctor needed her, not just to save him physically but to save him emotionally as well.
The Doctor smiled at her and then looked at Rose. "I don't know," she told him truthfully. "I want," then she paused and sniffed the air. "Oh, can you smell chips?"
The Doctor laughed. "Yeah, Yeah." Kit felt the tension around them lift.
"I want chips," Rose declared.
The Doctor smiled widely. "Me too."
"Yeah, me three," Kit added. "Although, before we get chip, maybe someone can fix my barbecued hands."
The Doctor chuckled. "Yeah, that might be a good idea."
Rose nodded. "Right then, you two go back into the box and I'll get the chip. You're paying, though," she told the Doctor.
The Doctor shrugged. "No money."
Rose looked at Kit. "I'm broke."
Rose shook her head. "You two are the worst, you know that?" She joked. "Fine, chips are on me. We've only got five billion years till the shops close," she giggled and started to walk off. "Don't you two leave without me," she called to them.
"Wouldn't dream of it," the Doctor called back.
The Doctor and Kit walked back into the Tardis and to the med bay. When they entered, Kit noticed that it looked exactly the same as her med bay in her Tardis. It made her smile. She sat down on a chair and watched the Doctor rummage through some cabinets.
"Ah, here it is!" He beamed taking out a bottle of pink gel-like substance. "We just put this on your hands and wrap them up. They should heal in the next 24 hours, though, you might have some scaring," he explained to her.
The Doctor went over to her and put the gel-like substance on her hands. The second it touched them, Kit jumped and hissed in pain. "Ow! You should have warned me that that stuff stings!" She grunted.
"Oh, don't be such a baby," he joked.
"Hey, I'm not being a baby. That stuff really hurts," she whined.
The Doctor just laughed. He then grabbed the bandage from the counter and started to wrap her hand. There was silence as he did so until he spoke up. "Why didn't you ask me?"
Kit gave him a questioning look. "About?"
"Being a Time Lord. Jade said it back in the ducts but you never asked what that meant. Why?" He questioned again.
Kit gulped and knew she had to be careful with her answer. "Oh, well, you looked so upset about it. I figured you didn't want to talk about it," she lied. "Plus, we were in the middle of a crisis, didn't think it was the best time." It wasn't a total lie but it was definitely far from the truth. "And, I also knew you would tell me when you were ready." That one wasn't a lie. She knew the Doctor always told her what was wrong eventually.
The Doctor finished bandaging her hands. "Alright, all done," he told her.
She got out of the chair and stood in front of the Doctor. "Are we good?" She asked.
The Doctor nodded and smiled. "Yeah, we're good."
The walked out of the med bay and into the control room. The saw Rose standing there with two things of fries. "There you guys are! I was going to eat these without you."
Kit ran up and grabbed one of the cup of fries. "Yeah, sure you would," she told her, taking a bite out of a fry.
Rose shrugged and they both sat down in the captain's chair. Rose and The Doctor started talking about different places to go and Kit smiled. She wasn't sure about traveling with Rose and this Doctor but now, sitting with them, she felt a lot better. Maybe it wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.
A/N- Hey guys! So here's the chapter. We finally finished The End of the World and next chapter will be The Unquiet Dead. I'm not too happy with this chapter but I hope you guys liked it anyway. Also, I got a question about Kit's name and where I got it. This is going to sound weird but I got it from one of the American Girl dolls, Kit Kittredge. I really liked the sound of the last name so I decided to use it. Anyways, don't forget to leave a review!