The final chapter for Gridlock! It took me awhile and I had to decide what to do with Martha. I've figured it out and hopefully it doesn't make people too mad.
We landed on the floor, right on our faces. I suppose it was a bad start with my first encounter with teleportation. I thought it would have been a smoother process in the future but I guess not. I lay on the floor, waiting for the room to stop spinning.
"Ow!" The Doctor struggled to his feet, "Rough teleport. Ow! But you can straight back down and teleport people out. Starting with Martha." The Doctor demanded and grabbed my arm, helping me to my feet.
"I only had the power for one trip." Hame told us.
"Then get some more." The Doctor looked furious.
I interrupted, "Where are we?"
Hame looked around us, "High above, in the over-city."
"Good," the Doctor said, he was practically glaring daggers into her, "Because you can tell the Senate of New New York I'd like a word. They've got thousands of people trapped on the motorway! Millions!" Doctor's voice echoed off of the empty room.
"But you're inside the Senate, right now." Hame held her bracelet, "May the goddess Santori bless them."
Doctor's face dropped, losing almost all of the anger. The lights turned on and the narrow windows opened, letting light in. There were rows of seats above us, with hundreds of skeletons and bones in place of where people would sit. It looked empty. It was empty. I was surprised it didn't smell.
"They died, Doctor." Hame said sadly, "The city died."
"How long's it been like this?" The Doctor said in a quiet voice. He walked through the path that was littered with rubble and rocks. We stood in front of a skeleton, a memory of a person laying on the steps.
"Twenty four years."
The Doctor knelt down to the bones. I frowned, it didn't smell like death. At least it didn't when we were there. It was like nothing was left, nothing but emptiness.
"The entire city? How did this happen?" I whispered.
"A new chemical." Hame sighed, "A new mood. They called it Bliss," She picked up a tiny sticker off the skeleton, "Everyone tried it. They couldn't stop. A virus mutated inside the compound and became airborne. Everything perished. Even the virus, in the end. It killed the world in seven minutes flat."
As she spoke, I could only look at the skeleton and at Doctor's face as his eyes got misty and the corners of his mouth sunk. I wondered if diseases were common in the future. If they were necessary to keep the universe moving.
"There was just enough time to close down the walkways and the flyovers, sealing off the under-city. Those people on the motorway aren't lost. They were saved." She spoke with passion and hope.
"The whole thing down there is running on automatic." The Doctor muttered and stood up.
"There's not enough power to get them out. We did all we could to stop the system from choking." Hames told us.
The Doctor looked around, at the seats of skeletons. At the dead Senate.
"Who's we? How did you survive?" Doctor's face wrinkled in confusion.
"He protected me." Hame said, "And he has waited for you, these long years."
A voice echoed in my head. A low, rumbling voice. "Doctor."
The Doctor ran off, around the corner and shouted, "The Face of Boe!"
I waited, staring at the dead for a little longer and followed Doctor. An entire city could be wiped out within minutes but still live on. I guess that humans were always going to be a stubborn species.
"I knew you would come." The Face of Boe's voice echoed.
"Back in the old days, I was made his nurse as penance for my sin." Hames bowed her head.
"Old friend, what has happened to you?" The Doctor thought aloud.
"Doctor?" I asked, I was standing by the corner. I didn't know who the Face of Boe was but he seemed important to Doctor. Like an old friend who he'd known forever but only talked to once in a while.
"Ah, Charls," the Doctor looked back at me and waved me over, "this is the Face of Boe. Don't be shy."
I inched towards the giant head, "Hello."
He looked at me, not just at me but into me. Like he knew everything in the world but on purpose.
"He protected me from the virus by shrouding me in his smoke." Hames told us, "But with no one to maintain it, the City's power died. The under-city would have fallen into the sea."
"So he saved them." The Doctor realized.
"The Face of Boe wired himself into the mainframe. He's giving his life force just to keep things running."
"Isn't there anyone else in the universe you could ask for help?" I asked, unable to break my gaze at the Face of Boe.
"The last act of the Senate was to declare New Earth unsafe." Hames shook her head, "The automatic quarantine lasts for one hundred years."
The Doctor looked at her and stood up, "So the two of you stayed here, on your own for all these years."
"We had no choice." Hames couldn't look at Doctor's face.
The Doctor reached out to her, "Yes, you did."
"Save them, Doctor." The Face of Boe whispered, "Save them."
The Doctor dashed off to the computers to find a solution. A way to save everyone. So that no one else would die to terrifying, giant crabs.
I placed my hand on the glass of the Face of Boe's container. He looked tired, he sounded tired.
"The forgotten species." He spoke, I guess only to me because the Doctor continued on with his work.
"What?" I asked.
"The forgotten species." The Face of Boe's voice repeated.
"I'm sorry," I blinked, "My name is Charlie Grey. Do you know me?"
"What a great mind." The Face of Boe sighed, "Such wonderful memories."
I frowned, I guess the Face of Boe wasn't one for answering questions straightforwardly.
"What a horrible history," the Face of Boe continued to talk, "they were never treated very fairly. That brilliant species," the Face of Boe closed his eyes, "turned into memory storage."
"What?" I stood up, I was frustrated. I didn't even know why. Somewhere inside I could tell that he had given me answers to questions I didn't ask. Questions I hadn't even thought up of.
"Charls!" The Doctor called from the computers, "I found Martha!"
I backed away from the Face of Boe and joined Doctor. He was messing with the chords that were strewn about.
"Take the residual energy, invert it, feed it through the electricity grid." The Doctor was thinking out loud again.
"There isn't enough power." Hame told Doctor, she was holding a lever in place.
"Oh, you've got power!" the Doctor shouted as he messed with the computers again, "You've got me. I'm brilliant with computers, just you watch. Charls every switch on that bank up to maximum!"
I nodded and ran over to the bank and pushed all the buttons. Of course, I didn't really know what I was doing so I guessed. The Doctor was on the floor, messing with a box of switches and chords. He had his sonic screwdriver in his left hand and was fiddling with a switch with his right.
"I can't power up the city, but all the city needs is people." He slammed his fist into the box and stood up.
"So what are you going to do?" Hame asked as she looked over the Face of Boe.
"This!" The Doctor said dramatically flipping a switch which caused all the lights to switch off.
The Doctor looked around in surprise, "No! No, no, no, no, no, no!"
He picked up a metal box from the ground and started messing with it, "The transformers are blocked. The signal can't get through."
"Doctor." I heard the Face of Boe's voice say weakly.
"Yeah, hold on, not now." The Doctor barely lifted his head.
"I give you my last." The Face of Boe breathed out and the lights turned back on.
"No." I murmured.
The Doctor looked at the Face of Boe then untangled himself from the wires and ran back to the computers, "Hame, look after him! Don't you go dying on me, you big old face. You've got to see this." The Doctor flipped the lever again, "The open road! Ha!"
The Doctor's face filled with joy, I helped Hame turn some wheels for the Face of Boe's tank. I could hear far away clanging, like old, rusty doors being opened. The Doctor continued to fiddle with the computer and broadcasted himself on all the screens in the planet.
"Sorry, no Sally Calypso. She was just a hologram. My name's the Doctor. And this is an order. Everyone drive up. Right now." He looked directly into the screen, "I've opened the roof of the motorway. Come on." He encouraged like a parent would do to their child, "Throttle those engines. Drive up. All of you. The whole under-city. Drive up, drive up, drive up! Fast!" His voice raised louder and louder, "We've got to clear that fast lane. Drive up and get out of the way!"
He took a breath, "Oi! Car four six five diamond six. Martha! Drive up! You've got access above. Now go!"
We heard a voice crackle at us, it was Brannigan, "Did I tell you, Doctor? You're not bad, sir. You're not bad at all! Oh, yee-hah!"
I smiled. Everyone was free.
The Doctor sauntered over to a window, still holding the mic, "You keep driving, Brannigan. All the way up. Because it's here, just waiting for you. The city of New New York, and it's yours. And don't forget I want that coat back."
I heard Brannigan laugh, "I reckon that's a fair bargain, sir."
The Doctor watched as cars flew past, into the abandoned city, "And Car four six five diamond six, I've sent you a flight path. Come to the Senate."
Martha shouted back, "On my way."
"Quite a while since I saw you, Martha Jones." The Doctor smiled and turned around once Hames had shouted.
"Doctor!" Hames knelt in front of the Face of Boe. The tank was crackling, shattering apart.
The Doctor lost his smile.
I didn't know the Face of Boe but it made my heart ache watching his tank fall to pieces. I wanted to ask him more questions, why he'd spoken to me, why he'd wasted his energy on answering some unknown questions. I wanted to know more. I knew it was selfish but I wanted to know more about myself. Probably the last person in the universe that could give me answers was dying. The Face of Boe spilled out of his tank. The smoke that was with him rolled onto the floor in clouds. I knelt alongside Doctor, resisting the urge to ask questions.
I heard Martha call for Doctor in the hall.
"Over here." The Doctor said softly.
"Doctor! Charls! What happened out there?" Martha ran in with a smile that soon faded. "What's that?"
"It's the Face of Boe. S'alright." The Doctor looked at Martha, "Come and say hello. And this is Hame. She's a cat. Don't worry." Martha walked towards us, slowly. "He's the one that saved you, not me."
Hame spoke with passion, "My lord gave his life to save the city, and now he's dying."
The Doctor said in a low voice, "No, don't say that. Not old Boe. Plenty of life left."
The Face of Boe was so quiet, "It's good to breathe the air once more."
"Who is he?" Martha asked, she was sitting next to Hames.
"I don't even know," the Doctor said, "Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right? And you're not about to give up now." The Doctor smiled at the Face of Boe.
"Everything has its time." The Face of Boe said slowly, "You know that, old friend, better than most."
"The legend says more." Hames bowed.
"Don't." The Doctor looked at her, "There's no need for that."
She continued anyways, "It says that the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveller."
"Yeah, but not yet. Who needs secrets, eh?" The Doctor said, like he didn't want to know anything. He wasn't ready for it.
"I have seen so much. Perhaps too much." The Face of Boe sighed, "I am the last of my kind, as you two are the last of yours, Doctor and Charlie Grey."
My head shot up so fast that I nearly got whiplash. Last of my kind? I didn't understand.
The Doctor glanced at me but pushed his thoughts aside, "That's why we have to survive. Both of us. Don't go."
"I must. But know this, Time Lord. You are not alone." The Face of Boe sighed for the last time and closed his eyes.
I looked at Doctor, his eyes were full of disbelief and denial. Hames began to weep.
"Good night." I whispered.
"We'd better get going." The Doctor stood up and turned his back to us.
I frowned. I didn't know their relationship and I could only guess but I supposed that the Face of Boe was like a friend that was always there. No matter the time or place. He was able to be there. To aliens, humans must have the lifespan of a fly. I blinked, remembering that I was also technically an alien. How long will I live?
Martha joined Doctor and I stood up last. We said our goodbyes to Hames and walked out of the Senate. We'd met up with Brannigan and Valerie to get Doctor's coat back and a ride to the under-city to get the TARDIS.
"All closed down." The Doctor commented as we walked past the shops that we'd seen earlier that day.
"Happy?" Martha asked.
I frowned, "What will become of this place?"
The Doctor looked into an empty shop, "New New York can start again. And they've got Novice Hame. Just what every city needs. Cats in charge. Come on, time we were off."
I sighed and looked around one last time. Then began to walk towards the ally with the TARDIS.
"But what did he mean, the Face of Boe?" Martha didn't walk with us, "You're not alone."
I stopped in my tracks, it was obvious by the way the Doctor refused to mention it on the trip back that he didn't want to talk about it yet. Isn't she supposed to be a doctor? I turned around and looked at Martha.
The Doctor looked at her, "I don't know."
"You've got us. Is that what he meant?" She asked, stepping forwards.
"I don't think so." The Doctor gave a tiny smile and shook his head. "Sorry."
"Then what?" Martha pressed on.
I growled, it was none of her business. It was none of my business. That legend and those words were not meant for us. We didn't need to know the meaning or the reasons or why. I held back my anger and spoke as quietly as I could, "Martha, it doesn't matter. It's none of our business. Let's just leave."
"Yes," Doctor agreed quickly, "back to the TARDIS, off we go." The Doctor continued to stroll away.
Martha picked up a chair from off the ground and sat. He stopped walking.
"All right, are you staying?" He asked in a tone I couldn't name.
"'Till you talk to me properly, yes." Martha crossed her arms and legs, "He said last of your kind. What does that mean?"
"It really doesn't matter." The Doctor looked down then back at Martha.
I clenched my fists, I really wanted to punch Martha. It's none of our business. I took a breath.
"You don't talk. You never say." Martha said sternly, "Why not?"
A choir echoed from very far away, taking a little bit of the tension away.
"It's the city." Martha leaned forwards, uncrossing her arms, "They're singing."
I relaxed and walked up to Martha.
"It's none of our business, Martha." I repeated, "The Doctor can keep all his secrets as secrets. He doesn't have our trust and we don't have his. We've all only just met, we can't just go butting into other people's lives."
Martha looked at me, "That funny for you to say! You knew about his planet, he's looked at your memories! I just-"
The Doctor cut her off, "I lied to you, because I liked it." He admitted, "Rule 1: the Doctor lies."
I sighed, Martha was stubborn. I knew she wouldn't leave without some sort of explanation. I walked to the Doctor, "Key." I held out my hand.
"What?" He asked.
"I need the key, for the TARDIS." I said, "I know it's not really something you should give to someone you just met, but I don't want to hear something that I don't think I'm ready to hear. It's none of my business."
"Right, right…" The Doctor fumbled around in his pockets and pulled out a small key, "Normally this is a big deal but I'm just lending it to you. Really, you need to give this back."
I nodded, "Yeah. I will." I took the key from him, "Good luck with the whole talking thing. And don't say anything you don't want to. Okay?"
I didn't wait for him to answer. I walked around the corner as the Doctor pulled up a chair and began to spill his history. I sighed, Martha could do what she wanted. I unlocked the TARDIS with the key and stepped inside.
Next chapter isn't going to be Daleks in Manhattan. After all, there's still a fire to put out inside Charls. Also, apologies to all Martha lovers but I'm dropping her back at home. It's gonna be interesting to see how the finale will play out without her. :3