Current poll leader is Red vs Blue with 2 votes! We're about 6 chapters until the next break, so please choose what you'd like to see next!
I hope you enjoy this second installment of Remnant Who's birthday post!
Remnant Who
By ReaderWarrior
I do not own Doctor Who or RWBY.
Father's Day (B)
Beta'd by: Accepting Offers
As always, please comment! It honestly makes my day to read your thoughts and opinions.
Tell your friends!
Guest: I think Ozpin would be fascinated by the concept of regeneration and empathize with Ten's concept of how regeneration is like a death.
Honorary (dead) companions:
Clive, Raffalo, Moxx, Jabe, Sneed, Gwyneth, Ganesh, De Maggio, Suki
'Bigger on the inside!'s:
2 (Rose, Jackie)
Fantastics:
8
Harriet Jones' greetings:
6
Exterminates!:
8
The Reapers bang into the church doors and make it shake violently. But, luckily, the wood holds. The Doctor spins around and glances across the people now panicking. Some where running about, others were trying to use their mobile phones to call for help, while others were simply frozen in fear.
"They can't get it," the Doctor explains. He watches the monster's shadows flicker through the stained-glass panes. "Old windows and doors. Okay. The older something is, the stronger it is."
"Maybe they are also drawn towards older items," Weiss thought. "That's why it went after that church-boy when Sarah was screaming right in front of it. His robes were older than her dress."
Ruby nodded. "Maybe that's why they went after Stuart's dad too. But what are they?"
"What else?" he mumbles. Suddenly, he starts running to the side. "Go and check the other doors! Move!"
"What's happening?" Jackie asks, following him. She grabs his arm as he slams another door shut. "What are they? What are they?"
The Doctor whirls around. "There's been an accident in time. A wound in time. They're like bacteria, taking advantage."
"But are they white blood cells, or an invading virus?" Blake asked.
"But are they here to stop the wound or to take advantage of it?" Yang asked a few seconds afterward.
"That is literally what I said."
He continues to check the interior of the chapel, making sure every door he finds is shut and locked tight.
"What do you mean? Time? What're you jabbering on about time?"
The Doctor shakes his head. "Oh, I might've known you'd argue." He stops running about to glare at the mother. "Jackie, I'm sick of you complaining. I haven't got time for this."
"How do you know my name?" she snaps. "I've never met you in my life!"
"You're at a wedding!" Qrow yelled in equal annoyance.
Weiss nodded. "Her name was probably on a list of attendees. And people talk about their friends. He could just know about you."
"And considering how she acts, I bet they don't have many nice things to say about her…"
"You never will unless I sort this out. If you don't mind, I've waited a long time to say this," his voice growls louder and he points across the room, "Jackie Tyler, do as I say. Go and check the doors."
She pauses for a moment. "Yes, sir," she mumbles before running off.
"I should have done that ages ago," the Doctor smiles as the wedding's groom walks up to him.
Everyone cheered.
"Thank the Brothers!" Qrow smiled.
"Thank the Doctor," Ruby corrected.
"My dad was out there."
The Doctor places his hands on his shoulders. "You can mourn him later. Right now we've got to concentrate on keeping ourselves alive."
"My dad had-"
"There's nothing I can do for him," he explains.
Stuart shakes his head. "No, but he had this phone thing. I can't get it to work. I keep getting this voice." He pulls the brick up and passes it to the Doctor, who brings it to his ear.
"Watson, come here. I need you. Watson, come here. I need you."
The Doctor smiles as the listens to the message. "That's the very first phone call. Alexander Graham Bell."
"Ah, so that's what got you excited," Blake realized.
The Librarian nodded. "Yup. But this means that time's all sort of broken."
Giving the phone back, the Doctor returns to checking the perimeter. "I don't think the telephone's going to be much use."
"But someone must have called the police," Stuart says.
"The police can't help you now, no one can." The Doctor proceeds to close another door, using its archaic lock as he does. "Nothing in this universe can harm those things. Time's been damaged and they've come to sterilize the wound." He walks through the rows of pews, stopping to stare into Rose's eyes.
"By consuming everything inside."
Yang growled. "So they're just going to kill everyone because of a tiny little change? That's so unfair!"
"It wasn't just a simple change," Weiss whispered kindly. "It was just like the Doctor said. The entire world is different."
She stares back in fear. "Is this because… Is this my fault?"
He doesn't answer. He just looks at Rose. Then, without a shake or a nod of his head, he pushes past her. Rose looks down and watches as her father, pretending to have not been listening, plays with his baby.
Outside, the creatures continue to encircle the church. A woman, who was running from another one of the reapers, let out a scream as it grabs her legs and crashes into her.
"No!"
Cars were crashed about - slammed into fences, lampposts, and electrical poles. Their doors were opened, but no survivors were visible.
Tipped over and abandoned, more than a few strollers were scattered across the streets. Bicycles wheels spun but with no one pedaling them.
Ruby covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh, my Gods. It's not just them."
"No," the Librsrisn whispered. "It's everyone. This timeline is now being ostracized and these Reapers are coming to feast."
"So… what can they do to stop it?"
A few of the watchers shared a glance. "I don't know," he lied.
Back in the church's vestry, Pete locks another one of the doors as the Doctor runs over to a window and checks how strong they are.
"There's smoke coming up from the city but no sirens," Pete says as he comes around behind the Doctor. "I don't think it's just us. I think these things are all over the place. Maybe the whole world."
The Doctor doesn't. Instead, he freezes at the sight of a beige car racing around the corner of the church. He can almost hear the tires screaming but does notice the driver covering their eyes in fear. Then the car disappears down the road, without a trace, in a flicker of yellow energy.
"Why does that car keep following them?" Yang asked. "It's like it's trying to hit him!"
Ruby's eyes went wide and she turned to open her mouth. However, Weiss stopped her and shook her head.
"That's not right," she whispered.
"I know," Weiss said back. "But it's the only way."
Following his gaze, Pete looks out just as the energy fades. "Was that a car?" he asks.
"It's not important," the Doctor says. He pats him on the shoulder before heading back inside the church. "Don't worry about it."
Rose watches the glass mosaic turn black where the Reaper tries to break in. Thankfully, it quickly gave up and flew away. Sighing, she looks down at the alter and bows her head.
Slowly, Pete steps in through a back door. "This mate of yours," he says, making Rose look up. "What did he mean, this is your fault?"
"Because it is," Qrow frowned. "She broke time to save you and now everyone is going to die."
"But what was she supposed to do? Watch him die again?" Yang snapped.
"She could have said goodbye."
Tears began to form in her eyes. "Don't know. Just everything."
"I gave you my car keys." He pauses to study Rose. "You don't give your keys to a complete stranger. It's like I trusted you. The moment I met you, I just did."
Rose tries her best to keep silent, her eyes becoming more and more damp.
Taking small steps towards her, Pete continues, saying, "a wound in time. You called me Dad. I can see it. In my eyes. Jackie's attitude. You sound like her when you shout." He strokes her face. Sighing, Rose grabs his hand and brings it back up. "You are. You are. You're my Rose. You're my Rose grown up."
At the same time, they wrap their arms around each other in a tight hug. The tears Rose was trying to hold back began to fall. "Dad!" she cried, her voice soft but bursting with emotion. "My Dad. My Daddy."
Everyone in the room began to cry in some way. Ruby and Yang were the loudest, their sobs echoing. Weiss, who had also longed for such connections to her father, also covered her face. A few tears fell down Blake's face but she did little to hide them.
"This is all she wanted," Ruby whimpered.
Even Qrow and the Librarian were hiding a few secret tears.
"Damn, this place is dusty," the huntsman commented as he turned to the side.
The Librarian nodded. "Yeah. I'll get that fixed."
Hearing one of the Reapers slamming into a door, the Doctor does his best to make sure it is securely shut as Stuart and Sarah follow.
"Excuse me," Stuart calls out. "Mister…?"
"Doctor," he corrects.
The Librarian gave a small smile. "It's strange."
"Who are they to judge?" Weiss asked
Stuart nods. "You seem to know what's going on."
"I give that impression, yeah."
Qrow chuckled. "Fake it until you make it."
"Or, make others believe it until you can," Ruby offered.
He reached over and ruffled his niece's hair. "Good thing you don't have to."
"I just wanted to ask-"
Sarah interrupts, asking, "can you save us?"
Sonic in hand, the Doctor looks away from the door and studies the bride and groom. He clicks the device off and steps over to them. "Who are you two, then?"
"Stuart Hoskins."
"Sarah Clark."
"And one extra?" he asks, nodding to Sarah. "Boy or girl?"
Sarah, who was unconsciously holding her stomach, looks down. "I don't know. I don't want to know, really."
"That explains why the father was so rude," Blake grumbled. "Pre-marital sex is a big no-no for most religions."
"And we already saw he was a religious person," the Librarian nodded.
"But there's a difference between your faith and your love. You shouldn't base one off the other."
The Doctor smiles kindly. "How did all this get started?"
"Outside the Beatbox Club," Stuart says. "Two in the morning."
She nods. "Street corner, I'd lost my purse, didn't have money for a taxi."
"I took her home."
"Then what?" The Doctor studies the duo. "Asked her for a date?"
"Wrote his number on the back of my hand."
"That is honestly so adorable and sweet," Weiss commented.
Nodding in agreement, Yang added, "and they're so happy together."
"I hope they make it."
Stuart smiles. "Never got rid of her since. My dad said-" his voice catches and he looks down at the phone in his hand.
Grabbing his other hand, Sarah gives her fiancé a smile. She then turns back to the Doctor. "I don't know what this is all about, and I know we're not important-"
"Who said you're not important?" he frowns. "I've traveled to all sorts of places, done things you couldn't even imagine. But you two… Street corner, two in the morning, getting a taxi home." His voice became softer than it had been in a while. "I've never had a life like that. Yes. I'll try and save you."
He smiles. And the 'ordinary' couple smiles back.
"Do you ever… regret it?" Yang asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"Not for a second," the Librarian answered. "Is it more difficult? Does it hurt? Absolutely. But what I do helps others. And consider me a masochist, but I'd rather suffer for someone than be happy at the expense of someone's own life."
Qrow nodded. "Same thing here. Joining Beacon was the best thing I ever did. And yeah, there are things that suck, but it's the best I can do." He turned to the members of team RWBY. "And I'm sure you all feel the same way."
"I'm a dad," Pete mutters as he and Rose sit down in the vestry. Rose sniffles to herself as he brings his hands to his chin. "I mean, I'm already a dad but Rose grows up and she's you. That's wonderful. I mean, I suppose I thought that you'd be a bit useless, what with my useless genes and all, but…" They both share a quick chuckle. "Well, I mean, how did you get here?"
Rose looks up at him. "Do you really want to know?"
"Yeah."
"A time machine," she says.
Pete pauses. "Time machine."
"Cross my heart."
"What, do you all have time machines where you come from?"
"No," she explains with a shake of her head. "Just the Doctor."
Ruby cracked her knuckles. "Can you imagine if everyone had a time machine?"
"I think this shows just how devastating that could be," Blake gulped.
Or those who swear to protect it, the Librarian thought, reflecting on the Time Lords.
Pete flinches at the sound of another Reaper screech. "Did you know these things were coming?"
"No," she answers truthfully.
"God, I don't know, my head's spinning." He rubs his face and sighs. "What's the future like?"
"It's not so different."
Weiss frowned. "Now isn't this breaking one of the rules of time travel? You know, the one that got Adam kicked out?"
"Technically, yes," the Librarian explained. "But with time so broken, I don't think that matters anymore. When a mall is burning down, do you complain if people are running down the 'up' escalator?"
"I guess not."
"What am I like?" he asks with a chuckle. "Have I gone grey? Have I gone bald?"
Rose doesn't answer.
"Don't tell me I've gone bald." Watching another tear roll down her face, Pete decides not to push on the subject. "So, if this mate of yours isn't your boyfriend and I have to say I'm glad 'cause being your dad and all, I think he's a bit old for you. Have you got a bloke?"
Laughing loudly, Rose manages to shake her head. "No, I did have-"
"Mickey!"
Pete and Rose look up to see the young Mickey running towards them with Jackie chasing far behind. Rising to her feet, Rose is greeted with a hug around her waist by the boy.
Qrow sighed. "Speak of the Grimm."
"Do you know him?" Pete asks.
"I just didn't recognize him in a suit," Rose mumbles. She smiles down at the scared child, saying, "you have to let go of me, sweetheart." She frowns. "I'm always saying that."
Jackie pulls Mickey away from Rose. "He just grabs hold of what's passing and holds on for dear life. God help his poor girlfriend if he ever gets one."
"God help the lady who blames him for murdering her daughter," Yang growled.
"She apologized," Ruby said.
"Not really. And if anything, this episode has just shown us how mean and cruel Jackie really is."
Pete smiles and motions to the blonde at his right. "Me and Rose were just talking."
"Oh, yeah? Talking?" Jackie glares at her husband. While the world comes to an end, what do you do? Cling to the youngest blonde. Come on, Mick."
She turns around to leave, grabbing the boy's hand. But before she leaves, Jackie casts a dark glare at both Rose and Pete as they blush.
Pete moves to chase after her but Rose quickly grabs his arm.
"You can't tell her," she blurts.
"So it's fine to tell Pete, but not Jackie?" Blake asked.
"Pete, technically, doesn't have a future," the Librarian explained. "Anything he is told won't affect his timeline. But Jackie does. If she knows about Rose, that might affect how she was raised."
Blake raised an eyebrow. "And having an entirely new parental figure won't?"
"Touché."
He frowned. "Why?"
"I mean," Rose stammers, "I really don't want you to tell her."
"You don't want people to know?"
"Where I come from, Jackie doesn't know how to work the timer on the video recorder."
"I showed her that last week," he frowns. "Point taken."
"It's the timers on those VCR players you've got to look out for," Qrow shuddered. "Those things are evil."
Ruby frowned. "Ours worked."
"Only because me and Tai spent a few hours screaming at it. If it wasn't for Summer… Let's just say it came at a high price." Qrow stared blankly at the screen, but the screams still echoed in his mind.
The Doctor, sitting in front of a baby's crib, smiles at his companion. "Rose, you're not going to bring about the end of the world, are you? Are you?"
The baby coos and stares at the strange man. Walking up behind them, Rose, the adult one, stops next to the Doctor and nods at the baby.
"Jackie gave her to me to look after," he explains. "How times change."
Rose nods. "I'd better be careful. I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken." She moves to pick up her younger self, but the Doctor shoves her back with a little too much force.
"No," he snaps. "Don't touch the baby. You're both the same person. That's a paradox. We don't want a paradox happening, not with these things outside. Anything new, any disturbance in time makes them stronger. The paradox might let them in."
"How was she supposed to know?" Yang asked. "You don't need to be rude!"
Weiss raised an eyebrow. "The Reapers. Her father. Broken time. Now Mickey."
"She still didn't know."
"He told her not to," Weiss frowned. "He explicitly told her not to mess with the events. I think he deserves to be cautious right now."
Rose looks out the mosaic and watches as a Reaper flies by. She sighs. "I can't do anything right, can I?"
"Since you ask, no. So, don't touch the baby." His words were slow, almost like each was its own statement.
"I'm not stupid," Rose growls in return.
"You could have fooled me!"
Ruby frowned. "Okay, she messed up, we get it."
"But does she?" Blake asked. "He's giving her a chance, unlike Adam. And so far, she hasn't apologized or anything."
"…"
The Doctor looks down. "All right… I'm sorry. I wasn't really going to leave you on your own."
"I know."
"But between you and me, I haven't got a plan," he says. "No idea. No way out."
"You'll think of something."
"The entire Earth's been sterilized. This, and other places like it, are all that's left of the human race. We might hold out for a while, but nothing can stop those creatures. They'll get through in the end. The walls aren't that old. And there's nothing I can do to stop them." The Doctor looks down at his hands. "There used to be laws stopping this kind of thing from happening. My people would have stopped this. But they're all gone. And now I'm going the same way."
Qrow gulped. "So this is it? These Reaper things destroyed the world and the Doctor has no idea how to stop it."
"Technically Rose destroyed the world," Weiss mumbled.
Yang slammed her fists into her armrest. "I got it! Don't mess with time! But can we stop blaming Rose? Would anyone here have made the 'right decision?"
Nobody in the room answered.
"That's what I thought."
"If I'd realized…" Rose mumbles
The Doctor stares up at her. "Just…" He sighs. "Tell me you're sorry."
"I am," she nods. "I'm sorry."
Cupping her face lovingly, the Doctor gives Rose a large smile. Then, simultaneously, they wrap their arms around each other and embrace in a quick hug.
"Aw, come on!" Blake yelled. "Why can't you just kiss already?!"
"Not the best time," Ruby mumbled.
"This is a perfect time!"
Rose winces suddenly as she presses her hand to his chest. Confused, she reaches into his jacket's breast pocket, asking, "have you got something hot?" She grabs whatever is burning and lets out a soft yelp, dropping it to the floor.
"It's the T.A.R.D.I.S key," the Doctor realizes as he watches it glow yellow and gold on the ground. After checking Rose's hand for burn marks, he takes off his leather jacket and uses it to safely grab the key off the floor.
"It's telling me it's still connected to the T.A.R.D.I.S," he smiles.
"Oh, yeah," Yang frowned. "What happened with it?"
"It turned into a normal police box, I believe. The interior was gone somehow." Weiss frowned and closed her eyes. "Perhaps… it sensed the Reapers and hid the temporal aspect of itself so they couldn't feed on it?"
"Uh… sure?"
With everyone sitting in the pews, the Doctor, standing on the pulpit, held up his jacket with the shining key atop it. "The inside of my ship was thrown out of the wound but we can use this to bring it back," he explains. "And once I've got my ship back, then I can mend everything. Now, I just need a bit of power. Has anybody got a battery?"
Stuart practically jumps from his seat, picking up his father's discarded phone. "This one big enough?"
The Doctor smiles and runs over to take the device. "Fantastic."
"He's going to do it!" Ruby cheered. "He's going to save everyone!"
Qrow nodded. "I wonder how he plans on fixing everything, though."
"Good old dad," Stuart smiles, pulling out the phone's battery and handing it to him. "There you go."
Taking the battery, the time traveler pulls out his sonic screwdriver and shoves it against the black box. "Just need to do a bit of charging up and then we can bring everyone back."
He continues to charge the battery, pressing it to the T.A.R.D.I.S key as more Reapers began to slam against the church's walls.
"Let's hope it works quickly," Blake gulped. "I don't know how much longer they have."
"Probably not long at all. Assuming they 'eat' aged items, then it just takes longer," Weiss frowned. "But everyone rushes through their meal when they can taste the desert."
Blake's eyes went wide. "Especially with how old the Doctor is compared to everyone else!"
In the back of the church, Pete tosses his jacket down on one of the pews as he sits down next to Rose. "You, erm, you never said why you came here in the first place. If I had a time machine, I wouldn't have thought nineteen eighty-seven was anything special. Not round here, anyway."
"We just ended up here," Rose says quickly.
"Lucky for me, eh? If you hadn't been there to save me…"
"That was just a coincidence," she says just as fast. "That was just really good luck. It's amazing."
"Tell him the truth!" Yang yelled.
"He already knows," Ruby whispered. "He's a smart guy. I'm sure he's figured it out."
Pete flashes a smile but remains silent for a moment. "So, in the future, are me and her indoors still together?
"Yeah."
"Are you still living with us?"
She smiles. "Yep."
"Am I a good dad?"
"You…" Rose sighs. "You told me a bedtime story every night when I was small. You were always there, you never missed one." The two stare at each other as Rose begins to stare at her hands. "And, erm, you took us for picnics in the country every Saturday. You never let us down. You were there for us all the time. Someone I could really rely on."
"Is that… what she wanted from him?" Blake asked.
The Librarian nodded. "That's the fantasy she would probably imagine each night or whenever she got angry at Jackie."
"But how true is it?"
After staring at Rose, Pete shakes his head and says, "that's not me."
The Doctor holds up the key and seemingly inserts it into nothing. But as he steps back, the key stays airborne and hovers. Very slowly, and very faintly, the shimmering outline of a lock forms. Then a door. Then a box.
On its crown, a small light pulses with gold as the T.A.R.D.I.S begins to form once again.
Smiling and tossing on his jacket, the Doctor rushes back onto the podium. "Right, no one touches that key, have you got that? Don't touch it. Anyone touches that key, it'll be, well, zap! Just leave it be and everything will be fine. We'll get out of here. All of us." He turns to the side and smiles at the happy couple. "Stuart, Sarah you're going to get married, just like I said."
"He's still looking out for the civilians," Qrow said. "He's making them happy and keeps giving hope."
"They're going to make it!" Yang cheered. "Stuart, Sarah, Rose, Pete… all of them!"
As the T.A.R.D.I.S continued to form, the Doctor sits down next to Rose, who had moved up a pew away from her father. Jackie glances back, watching her husband seemingly lost in thought as Rose leans over to her traveling companion.
"When time gets sorted out…" she starts.
"Everybody here forgets what happened," he finishes. "And don't worry, the thing that you changed will stay changed."
"You mean I'll still be alive," Pete says, his voice horse.
"Can the Doctor really promise that?" Weiss asked. "Want this whole thing because Rose broke the rules of time?"
"This happened because Rose did it on her own. I bet if she asked the Doctor, he would have probably found a way to help him," Blake answered.
"It's not about what you do," Weiss nodded. "It's how you do it."
He looks up at Rose, who had turned around to face him. "Though I'm meant to be dead. That's why I haven't done anything with my life, why I didn't mean anything."
The Doctor, who stayed quiet at Pete's revelation, shakes his head. "It doesn't work like that."
"Rubbish," he snaps. "I'm so useless I couldn't even die properly. Now it's my fault all of this has happened."
Yang sighed. "Technically, it's not."
"This is my fault," Rose says, grabbing his hand.
Pete shakes his head. "No, love. I'm your dad. It's my job for it to be my fault."
"Her dad?" Jackie, holding Rose, stands over the trio with confusion obvious in her eyes. "How are you her dad? How old were you? Twelve? Oh, that's disgusting."
"Oh, my Gods!" Ruby yelled. "Can you just shut up!"
Weiss gasped. "Ruby!"
"What? We're all thinking it! Jackie is a bad person."
"But it's probably due to her husband dying that she learns to be better," Weiss said. "Another ripple of causation that started from tragedy but led to something better."
The Doctor gets up and starts walking around as Pete tries to explain the situation to his wife.
"Jacks, listen. This-" he points "-is Rose."
"Rose? How sick is that?" Tears begin to well up in her eyes. "You give my daughter a second-hand name? How many are there? Do you call them all Rose?"
"Oh, for God's sake, look. It's the same Rose!" Pete grabs his infant daughter from Jackie and turns to pass her to the woman to his left.
"Rose!" the Doctor yells. "No!"
"The paradox!" Blake added.
But he was too late. The second that Pete dropped Rose into Rose's arms, a new Reaper shimmered and formed to life within the church. Screams erupted and the last remnants of humanity began to panic as they tried to move away from the monster.
"Everyone, behind me!" the Doctor yells, rushing forward down the church. He looks at the Reaper and says, "I'm the oldest thing in here."
He steps forward.
The Reaper howls and lunges.
And then he disappears underneath its scales.
"No!" Everyone - Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Qrow - screamed as the Doctor seemingly met his end.
Ruby curled into a ball, enveloping her red cloak around her. Weiss was frozen completely. Blake was sobbing. Qrow looked down at his tray of drinks and tossed them to the side in anger.
And Yang… Yang did nothing. Said nothing. She stared at the screen in horror with wide eyes and an open jaw.
"He was right…" Her voice was minuscule. "If Rose hadn't tried to mess with things… he would still be alive. And I wanted her to be right."
"You wanted what she wanted," the Librarian whispered. Unlike the others, he wasn't so much as distraught. More like concerned. "Unconditional love. And you don't need to blame yourself for that desire. It's your actions that define you, not your reasons."
"Doctor!" Rose screams as he vanishes. To her horror, the Reaper soon rises back to its 'feet' and begins to fly around the room. The attendees run around in panic, dodging swipes from its tail.
But the Reaper's attention was quickly drawn to something much older. It flies towards the T.A.R.D.I.S, which was now returning to its naval shade as it finishes its return. But upon the Reaper's touch, both it and the box disappear in a flash of yellow energy.
Letting the dun T.A.R.D.I.S key fall to the ground.
"That's it then?" Ruby asked. "No Doctor. No T.A.R.D.I.S."
Weiss nodded solemnly. "There's no hope now."
Rose runs forward and carefully picks up the key. "It's cold," she whispers, holding it like one would an injured bird. "The key's cold. Oh, my God, he's dead." Pete tries to pull her back, but she wriggles free. "This is all my fault. Both of you, all of you. The whole world."
The room begins to darken as more and more of the temporal creatures surround the church. They press against the glass windows, scraping against the stone walls, but are still unable to enter.
"This is it," someone whispers. "There's nothing we can do."
Another begins to cry. "It's the end."
"There's nothing they can do," Qrow growled.
"But there is something Pete can do," Blake said. "What we have been trying to not think about."
"Is it too late?"
Once again, Pete found himself drawn to the vestry window. From it, he watches once more as a beige car races around the corner of the church. Then the car disappears down the road, without a trace, in a flicker of yellow energy. He peers closer and sees a ripple form in the road as a beige car races around the corner of the church. He notices the driver covering their eyes in fear. Then the car disappears down the road, without a trace, in a flicker of yellow energy.
Pete steels his jaw and turns around, heading back into the church.
"Oh, Gods," Yang gasped. "Times trying to fix itself, isn't it?"
Weiss nodded. "That's what we think. If these Reapers are bacteria attacking an amputated limb, then it should be possible to re-attach it."
"But that would mean…" Yang couldn't finish her sentence.
When he found Rose, she was still staring at her - his - T.A.R.D.I.S key. She was sitting down now, but she barely seemed to breathe.
"The Doctor really cared about you," Pete whispers, grabbing his jacket and pulling it on. Rose looks up at him. "He didn't want you to go through it again, not if there was another way. Now there isn't."
Rose slowly rises to her feet. "What are you talking about?"
"The car that should have killed me, love. It's here." He fixes his tie and adds, "the Doctor worked it out way back, but he… tried to protect me. Still. He's not in charge anymore. I am."
"But… what will happen? Will everything get fixed? Will the Doctor come back?" Rose looks up at the Librarian with hopeful, tear-stained eyes.
He doesn't answer.
"But you can't." Rose's eyes, red from her tears over the Doctor, begin to cry again. Her voice breaks as she tries to plead with him.
"Who am I, love?"
She feels him stroke her cheek one last time. "My daddy."
Pete turns around and grabs his wife, turning her towards Rose. "Jackie, look at her," he whispers. "She's ours."
And, perhaps for the first time all day, she finally does. Jackie looks into Rose's eyes.
Pete's eyes.
"Oh," she gasps, hugging her daughter. "Of course."
"About time!" Weiss growled. "She's your child! Next time see her for what she is and stop letting your stupid paranoia get in the way!"
The two women embrace each other, tears falling down Rose's face as Jackie looks back at her husband.
"I'm meant to be dead, Jackie," he explains. "You're going to get rid of me at last."
"Don't say that."
"For once in your life, trust me. It's got be done. You've got to survive 'cause you've got to bring up our daughter." Pete grabs Jackie and kisses her. With tears in her eyes, she does so in return. When they finish, Pete turns back to Rose and envelops her in another hug. "I never read you those bedtime stories. I never took you on those picnics. I was never there for you."
Rose sniffles. "You would have been."
"Absolutely," Blake nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Just like Jackie, he would have changed and become a good parent."
"But I can do this for you. I can be a proper dad to you now."
"But it's not fair."
Pete kisses his daughter's forehead and smiles. "I've had all these extra hours. No one else in the world has ever had that. And on top of that, I got to see you. And you're beautiful. How lucky am I, eh? So, come on. Do as your dad says."
Slowly, Rose reaches around the chair and grabs the vase, the wedding gift, and passes it to him.
"You going to be there for me, love?"
She nods.
"Thanks for saving me."
Ruby let out a whimper. "I realize the gift she's given him, but it's still horrible that he needs to do this," she said. "Her dad needs to consciously choose to step out in front of that car."
"But he'll know what he's doing it for," Qrow responded. "That'll make it worth it."
The Reapers pay Pete little mind as he exits the church. Carefully, with vase in hand, he makes his way back out to the street. He looks around, noticing the shimmer of yellow light begin to form around the corner and runs towards it.
A beige car races down the street. Pete runs to the four-way, directly in front of it, and looks up to see it barreling towards him. The tires scream as the driver tries to spin away, covering their eyes in fear.
"Goodbye, love," he whispers.
A loud 'thump' permeates the road followed by the sound of the vase smashing down.
Once again, the theater filled with the sounds of women, and a few men, crying.
Two cry for the loss of a parent, their own history connecting to Rose's pain and the understanding that the sad death saved lives.
One cried for Pete's selflessness and honor, hating her own family's lack of it.
Two cried for the life lost. "A rightful life," Blake whispered.
"An honorable death," Qrow finished.
And the last cried for his own reasons. He cried for his family and the losses they had. He cried for his dead great- grandfather, who was said to be a great man. And he cried for his father, who he loved greatly.
Around them, the reapers disappear without a trace in a flicker of yellow energy.
Rose, from the church's entrance, cries openly as she looks to wear she last saw her father run. A man suddenly clasps her shoulder and causes her to jump.
"Go to him," the Doctor whispers. "Quick."
Ruby cheered. "He's back! Everything's back to normal!"
"Yes," Weiss mumbled. "Everything is back to normal. But today's normal was a tragedy."
Nodding, she quickly runs towards him. As more and more people step forward from seemingly nowhere, Rose turns out of the church. Unlike before, the driver had stopped. He was standing to the side, not moving.
Rose falls to the ground next to her father and tries to lift up his head. He was still awake and his eyes seem to sparkle a bit at her touch.
No words were spoken. Only looks. Rose offers him sadness and grief while he responds with love and sacrifice.
Then they close and his body goes limp.
Yang leaned down and shook her head. "She made the wrong decision. And it almost cost her everything. But…"
"But your happy they got this time together," Blake smiled, placing her hand on Yang's. "Because now he knows."
"Mhm."
"The driver was just a kid."
A few years later, Jackie was telling Rose the story of how her father died. "He stopped, he waited for the police. It wasn't his fault. For some reason, Pete just ran out." She sighs and wipes away the tears in her eyes. "People say there was this girl, and she sat with Pete while he was dying. She held his hand. Then she was gone. Never found out who she was."
"It was Rose," Weiss said. "She was there for him."
Qrow nodded. "And she changed so much. Not only did she give Pete an extra few hours, but she also changed the driver."
"None of which would have happened if she didn't break the rules," Weiss frowned.
Rose kisses Pete on the forehead as a final farewell before standing up and returning to the Doctor. He doesn't say anything either. Instead, he offers his hand and Rose takes it.
"Peter Alan Tyler, my dad. The most wonderful man in the world. Died the seventh of November, nineteen eighty-seven."
They turn to the T.A.R.D.I.S and never look back.
The lights began to return to their normal brightness inside the theater but nobody made a move to stand up.
"That was…" Ruby mumbled, "really hard."
Qrow nodded. "No kidding. I didn't realize how one change to the timeline could affect everything."
"And it caused so much pain and distraction," Weiss shuddered.
"For Rose," Yang mumbled. "For Pete. For the Doctor." She stared at the screen, frozen, as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Blake whipped away her own tears before giving Yang a hug. "But it was a gift," she whispered. "Everything turned out fine. And the only thing Rose did wrong was lying to the Doctor and not listening to his warnings."
"But I thought about it too… I thought that the Librarian could take me to my mom and that I could save her - tell her about what would happen."
"Then she would have gotten to see how strong her daughter would grow up to be," she smiled.
The Librarian stood up and made his way to the front of the room. "Okay, everyone. That was… let's agree to call it 'emotional'. Why don't we all take a few minutes, feel free to go back to your rooms, use the restroom, or eat some food, and we'll meet back here in a few. The next episodes are gonna be really scary, so make sure to bring your comfort objects!"
Ruby held up her scythe, as did Qrow. Weiss simply rolled her eyes. Blake and Yang… didn't let go of each other.
Comforted by each other.
Huge, huge thanks to my first ever supporter!
Helpful supporter - Dalek2150
Please, feel free to follow and comment on predictions, thoughts, etc. I am always looking for new ways to improve my craft. Tell your friends!
Also, if you have the money, please think about supporting me.
Pa tre on . co m
(slash)
readerwarrior