AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Thank you so much for the kind reviews! Here's this week's installment.
Chapter 23
Earth, London, England, outside of Coal Hill School, 2 September 2014
Beckman's time travel device was very similar to a vortex manipulator. It didn't take long to work out how to operate it.
The Doctor waited until Peter left for his solo mission at Coal Hill. His job was to work out a way to get a certain pupil to ask PE a question that would rattle him on his first day of school, leaving him a little off-center just before his first meeting with Clara. It was a perfect opportunity for Peter to get to do something on his own where it was unlikely that anything would go awry.
And Peter embraced the opportunity with gusto, immediately intrigued with the idea of attending classes in 2014, twelve years ahead of his own tenure at Coal Hill. Even better, to be in Danny Pink's class on the new maths teacher's first day at Coal Hill.
After some research, the Doctor decided the best point of entry was at lunch period, when Peter could easily blend in with other students his age and find his way to Pink's classroom in time for fifth period, when he needed to do his bit.
The Doctor fitted him with the nanocam so he could keep tabs on events and intervene as needed, but he really wasn't that worried. So far, Peter had shown remarkable restraint on their shared adventures. Knowing that the wrecked future he experienced in 2025 could only be avoided through making precise corrections gave him a self-awareness and caution beyond his years.
And, if needed, they could do a do-over.
While the Doctor wanted to keep an eye on Peter, he also had the means of taking a few essential unsupervised trips using Beckman's device, which he could do and then arrive back at this TARDIS before Peter returned.
He did feel more guilty about leaving the boy this time than he did when he made the trips using the faulty device while Peter slept in the safety TARDIS on Sagacity. While it wasn't without risks, it felt very necessary. As a precaution, he uploaded the nanocam feed to his sonic.
Sagacity, The Universal Collective for Temporal Insight, The TARDIS
The Doctor was nearly moved to tears when he materialized in the console room of his own TARDIS. He felt the TARDIS reaching out to him, as well. Perhaps she sensed that time had passed for him. Perhaps she missed him.
He confirmed his arrival time was only one minute after he and Peter had dropped off Hanar and Erdith. Good. They were likely still in the primary transportation hub, either making their way back to the laboratory or back to the dormitory, as it was still nighttime on Sagacity. Either way, the Doctor felt confident they would not yet know what progress he and Peter made on cleaning up PE's timeline.
He plugged his sonic into the main console to transfer the nanocam feed to one of the monitors. Currently, Peter was in the checkout queue in the Coal Hill cafeteria and seemed to be doing fine.
Next, he plugged Beckman's device into the adaptable device port and extracted the data log. He wanted to see where Beckman had been to determine what alterations he had already made and which ones he hadn't gotten to yet at the time the Doctor intercepted his device.
While that was running, he used the chronoscanner to see if the adjustments he and Peter made so far had done anything to alter the circumstances in 2025.
He looked in on Royal London Hospital and Coal Hill School on 25 December 2025 and was disappointed to see no change. The nuclear war still happened. Earth was still in ruins. And yet, looking on the time audit, a number of micro events had resolved, leading the Doctor to believe that at some point he would see changes in one or more of the macro events.
The Doctor looked in on the nanocam streaming before diving into the data from Beckman's device. Peter was carrying a food-laden tray awkwardly, given he was down an arm, toward a table where a few students his age were already eating.
Satisfied that all was well with Peter, the Doctor scanned through the device data. The log showed that Beckman made a total of 35 trips, but the only ones associated with PE's timeline were the ones he and Peter already corrected.
While the Doctor wanted to know more, he restrained himself from looking up the other trips on the timeline audit for now. Hanar and Erdith had limited his efforts to PE's timeline for a reason.
Back on Karn, when Hanar explained the Doctor's role in fixing the timeline, there were certain things the Doctor had refused to accept at the time. But with the lingering nausea and increasing weakness, the Doctor needed to know for sure.
Before leaving the TARDIS to address his next priority, the Doctor visited the medbay.
"I'm sorry to say that your Chorenn exposure was so severe and prolonged that it has irrevocably altered your DNA. Your recovery will be limited and temporary. The symptoms will worsen, and when it's time, you won't be able to regenerate. I'm sorry.
"You are the only one who can correct Danny Pink's timeline. If you can make those adjustments before – well, before you're unable to, then we can figure out how to correct the rest and it could be that you survive on the true timeline. We can't tell for sure because, as you pointed out, we are part of the alternate timeline. It's possible that you die on both timelines."
As she'd done previously, the TARDIS had the full body scanner powered up and ready for him. The results confirmed what Hanar told him. He probably wouldn't last long, and this would be his last life. No more regenerations.
"Well, I've had a good innings," he said aloud. He felt strong emotion from the TARDIS. Given his short shelf-life, the Doctor returned to the console room and got to work.
From the journal of Kate Stewart, 9 January 2026, Royal London Hospital, Earth, London, England
I woke up this morning with the distinct feeling that someone was watching me, but there was no one around. But then when I walked out into the common area I was greeted with a sight for sore eyes, another pile of supplies from the Doctor. I nearly wept with relief.
When I woke Osgood with the news, she was grateful for the provisions, but a little irked that the Doctor didn't stick around for the news or to give an update on his progress. I worry about him, and hope he is faring better than the last time we saw him.
There were more rations and another box of radiation tablets. At this point I don't see any of us who remained at Royal London going outside until conditions improve with one exception: interring the dead.
We've had nine deaths on the lower level in the past week. All of them had extensive radiation exposure, malnutrition, or other injuries. The truth is most of the patients remaining on the ward aren't likely to survive. I try not to think about it. Of course, if the original timeline isn't restored, I doubt many of us will live long.
On a happier note, the Torchwood team is settling into the underground facility. Jax is confident they can get the power back on once they repair or replace the auxiliary solar arrays, which were damaged when Canary One was partially levelled. In the meantime, they have a petrol-powered generator to cover their most basic needs.