I own nothing. Least of all this.
1:15
Turns out their method for defrosting someone was just as terrible as the actual freezing.
I fell out of the container, feeling like I had been taped to the end of a hair dryer that had been turned on high.
Once some semblance of feeling returned to my limbs, I struggled to my feet. If things were that bad for me, who had barely been in there for a third of a day, how on Gallifrey were they going to feel for Her?
Nothing short of Hell, I was sure. Time to put that spare regeneration energy I had "accumulated" to good use. Blimey, this was going to be awkward.
My visor whirred, and her container came to life. A jet of hot air blasted down from above Her, blowing away whole chunks of ice at a time. When they hit the bottom, they vaporized into steam, clouding Her form. I deactivated my visor, and moved in front to catch Her.
As She fell into my arms, I forced every ounce of energy I had into a kiss.
That kiss…Ooo, that kiss.
By far the best I've ever had.
As the last bit of glow disappeared through Her lips, Her eyes finally met mine.
I could see the Time Vortex behind them, at the beck and call of the Bad Wolf. Gradually, it faded, leaving the enchanting orbs I had known for years.
I smiled. "Welcome back, Rose Tyler."
Her voice, barely more than a whisper after centuries of disuse, wafted towards me.
"...Doc...tor?"
Whereupon she promptly passed out in my arms.
I sighed. "Figures. Looks like I'm gonna have some serious explaining to do later."
For now, it was best to let Her rest. Her body had some major healing to do, to say nothing of Her mind.
I swung Her up into my arms, and slowly headed back towards the elevators. There were just a few things I needed to grab, then we could start heading towards the top of the building.
As we passed the cloning pods, I was sorely tempted to destroy them. If they hadn't had anyone in them, I probably would have just blew them all to bits. As it was, only two of them were occupied. I paused just long enough to fry the circuits of the others. I would have to come back and deal with the other two later.
As the exit came into view, my eyes came to rest on Astrid's body. She had given everything she had to bring down the Templars. Now, she was going to help us escape them.
I gently lowered Rose to the ground. She needed a few more clothes than what she currently had, and, as much as I hated to admit it, it wasn't like Astrid was gonna be using them anytime soon.
First, off came the shoes. Then the socks. Those I pulled onto Her feet, leaving the shoes behind. I managed to get the suit coat off as well, and then thread Her arms through the sleeves. Finally, I pulled off my own grey and wrapped Her in it. That ought to do the trick. At least until we made it to the TARDIS.
I swept Rose back up into my arms, and stood. If you didn't know better, you would have thought Astrid was merely sleeping. Her whole face seemed to radiate peace, her eyelids closed and a smile on her lips.
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
It wasn't enough, but it was all I had.
Her identification hung from my fingers. It was a bit of a chore to swipe it through the reader while holding a sleeping person, much less to get close enough for a retinal scan, but I managed. The elevator doors slid open. We stepped in. And up we went.
It took a fairly long time to get all the way back up to the ground floor. Just making it through the doors in the emergency stairwell took ten minutes. At last, our next-to-last elevator stopped. The hidden wooden doors through which I had come merely half-a-day before swung open towards us easily, and I was greeted with...
Bodies.
So many bodies.
I had known there would be a lot, but still…
I counted at least seven who had tried to claw their way into the hidden passage. That made seven more souls burning Downstairs, given they obviously knew what was done on the levels below. I gingerly stepped over them, taking care not to disturb my sleeping cargo.
Everywhere I looked, I saw Death. Corpses covered practically every inch of the place.
But it was near the front that the majority of them lay. If the Sergeant hadn't made it, that was where I'd find him. Men like him don't let a little thing like Death keep them from their duty.
Yep, there he was. Or what was left of him. The bodies in front of him had obviously died from bullets, not poison. I would venture that when enough people had realized what was coming for them, they had tried to force their way out...directly through the Sergeant. And he had held the line, unwilling to risk unleashing something worse than Death into London. It wasn't easy to kneel down and close his eyes, but it was worth it. I had never asked his name, but his badge clearly read "Calvers, William".
I would do my best for what family he might have left behind. They deserved it.
I stood, and slowly picked my way back to the main elevator. Coming through here for the first time, I had been forced to stick to the stairs and corners. This time, there wasn't anyone around to ask awkward questions, and I had a good deal more to carry. I was for sure gonna take the easy way up.
We rode it almost all the way, only stopping when we got to the floor just below the top. Better safe than sorry, after all. I didn't fancy getting shot in the face as soon as the doors opened. Well, shot in the bulletproof mask, but you get the idea.
As we rounded the corner of the last stairway, my mask immediately began scanning for human life signs. None. Good. There were a few bodies, but that was to be expected. This was the area they would have investigated the most thoroughly after they realized something was wrong. Shame it was so far from any means of escape.
I gently set Rose down in one of the desk chairs. Seems they had cleared out the first bodies I had left behind. I wonder exactly what went through the minds of those who first came on the scene. Something with colorful language, I had no doubt.
*Click*
I sighed. "Really? You think a gun will work on me?"
"Oh no, I'm sure it wouldn't. Lucky me, I've got something meant specifically for killing angels. Now, turn around. Slowly."
I turned, and was met with the barrel of a revolver. A Colt, in fact.
The Colt.
The Colt that could kill anything.
The Colt meant specifically to kill anything and everything.
Everything-killing Colt.
That Colt.
Oh, the irony.
The one thing I knew for a fact couldn't kill archangels, was one of the few I suspected could kill a Time Lord. And I was being threatened with it.
And behind its barrel, was a face I had just recently pissed off in all manner of ways.
Or, what was left of a face.
"Yeesh, Ricky boy, time has not been kind to you. Or was it me?"
"SHUT UP."
'Sure thing, Ricky, sure thing."
"Now, back yourself all the way to the elevator. You and I are going for a little ride."
I would have gone for my own gun, but it was currently in my coat. The one I had given to Rose. I had no choice; I began to comply.
"Let me guess: I forgot about the helipad?"
"Give the gentleman a cigar. Ironically, that was merely the latest of your mistakes."
"Oh, really? Pray tell."
"I was halfway to the West Indies before I realized what you had done...or rather, hadn't. You wiped out every single one of our genetically-engineered people. I only survived due to a handy breath mask. You released every single Assassin we had into the wild when the computers controlling their cells shut down. You even decimated every last bank account and front company we had. BUT. You hadn't activated the explosives that would have buried what was left of our work under tons of rubble. And the only reason someone like you wouldn't slide in that final dagger, was if there was something left here you wanted. Something...precious. You wanted Her. And now, I find you both here, just on the other side of wherever it is you came from. Waiting for..something. Perhaps, for her to wake up? People can't say yes when they're asleep, after all. Vessel wearing a bit thin, Witcher? I noticed you're wearing a mask now. Eyes not what they used to be? Perhaps you were hoping some of that DNA tinkering you were looking down on not too long ago had produced a better meatsuit. One a bit more suited for you."
I softly began to applaud. "Oh, well done, Ricky boy. Top of the class. I'll have to make sure you get one of my better torturers. We could use a demon as smart as you."
"You still think you can win this? Don't you know? The Devil never wins! There was no ride; I just needed your back to the elevator shaft long enough for it to go up one more level! You've got a long drop ahead of you, for both your body and your soul!"
He aimed the Colt. "Go to Hell!"
I smiled. "You first, Ricky boy."
*BANG!*
He stumbled. And I moved.
My knife slid into his chest. In, and out, and in, and out.
Finally, he stopped breathing. There had been no absorbing of energy; I had wanted his Death to last. And so it had. His body had finally run out of juice to repair the absolutely huge amount of damage I had inflicted on it.
It was finished.
I slowly came to my feet.
And in front of me, eyes swirling gold, still pointing my handgun, stood the Bad Wolf.
Her voice seemed to fill the room, a far cry from Her earlier whisper.
"YOU ARE HE."
"The Doctor? No, no, I'm afraid I'm not. Just someone who saw something evil that needed fixing."
"YOU ARE NOT THE DOCTOR. YOU ARE HE."
"I'm sorry, then, I'm afraid I don't understand. Who's He?"
"HE IS THE WHITE WOLF. YOU ARE HE. YOU ARE MINE."
"Yours? What does that mean, yo ...ohhhhhhhhhh. Yours."
"YES. MINE."
Of all the ways to find out how I had gotten tossed into the Doctor's universe, this was not the one I would have picked. Clearly, the Bad Wolf was a good deal more powerful than the Doctor had thought. I checked the date on my visor, something I had neglected to do earlier. Sure enough, it read as June 27th. One day after I fell through the Crack.
"You saw all this, didn't you? When you became Yourself. You saw it all."
"YES."
"...Well then, there's really only one question I have to ask: can you tell me why? I mean, why me?"
"I CANNOT SEE BEYOND THE REALITY I AM IN. BUT I SAW THE WHITE WOLF.. I SAW YOU. YOU WOULD BRING ME BACK. BACK TO MY HOME. AND NOW, YOU ARE HERE. WE ARE THE TWO THAT ARE ONE. TWO WOLVES, HOWLING FOR BLOOD. YOU ARE MINE. AND I AM YOURS."
"...Ah. And...what of Rose?"
"SHE WILL NEED HEALING. YOU WILL HELP. BUT YOU CANNOT HEAL. MORE I CANNOT TELL YOU."
"So basically, spoilers."
"YES."
"...Fair enough. Would you mind putting the gun down, now?"
Slowly, the gun barrel lowered. Just as it came to rest at Her side, the glow in Her eyes disappeared, and She pitched forward.
I only just managed to catch her before she hit the floor. Looks like the Bad Wolf had used a fair amount of the energy I had given Rose. She was going to be out for quite a bit longer, now.
I set her back in the chair. Just a few more things to take care of, then we could lift off. But first: the Colt.
I had no idea how it had gotten here. By all accounts, it shouldn't exist in this reality. The last I heard, the Men of Letters had it. And as bad as they were, they weren't nearly as bad as the Templars. Unless they had done something stupid like throwing it through a portal to an alternate reality, I couldn't fathom where Rikkin had gotten ahold of it. I'd have to look into it.
For now, I pried the Colt from his hand. I checked the chambers. Five bullets. Missing eight. I began going through his pockets. Ah-ha! I pulled out... an entire box of cartridges. That was worrying. They obviously had access to supernatural help when it came to replicating the ammunition. That, plus how easily my play at being the Devil had succeeded, didn't exactly give me a comforting feeling.
I would just have to move that much faster, then.
Into one of my cargo pockets went the Colt, and into the opposite went the extra ammo. His ID went next to the others I had accumulated. That was one thing done with. Now, for the TARDIS.
I turned back to where I had seen her vanish 24 hours later. I hoped I was right about the recharge time. My visor began to whir.
For a moment, I was afraid I had miscalculated. Then, gradually…
VWHOOOOSH. VWHOOOOSH. VWHOOOOSH. BOOM.
There She stood, in all her blue glory.
"Hello, beautiful. Long time no see. Sorry about any trouble I might have given you, but in the end, it was worth it. You see, I've brought an old friend home for tea."
The doors swung open, and warm light streamed out.
Gently, I eased Rose up off of the chair. She was still sound asleep, and ...I think I detected a slight snore. It was beautiful. A smile crossed my face. I hadn't been a Time Lord very long, but already I felt I had done more as one than I ever had as a human. And I was just getting started.
I stepped into the TARDIS .
And the doors swung closed behind me.
