Author's Note: I absolutely love writing this story! I'm even more excited to write to when the Doctor is in her tenth regeneration! The next chapter is going to be a bid further in their travels. They go back to the 1920's and meet the infamous Jay Gatsby! I'm very thrilled for this one. I was also wondering if I should skip over the Slitheen arc and just mention it or should I keep it in and actually write the two episodes out? I love getting feedback from you all!

The Doctor and Ross made their way back to the observation gallery. The Doctor went over to the panel on the wall and started to do scans.

"That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." The Doctor turned to meet a tree. "What do you think, Jabe? Listen to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?"

"It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me," Jabe replied.

"Where's the engine room?"

"I don't know," he paused, "But the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite. I could show you and your…husband."

"He's not my husband," she corrected quickly.

"Partner?"

"No."

"Concubinus?"

"Nope."

"Prostitute?"

Ross finally butt in, annoyed. "Whatever I am, it must be invisible. Do you mind?" He frowned. "Tell you what, you two go and pollinate. I'm going to catch up with family. Quick word with Michael Jackson," he referred to Cassandra.

"Don't start a fight," she warned. She turned and took Jabe's offered arm. "I'm all yours," she smiled.

"I want you home by midnight," Ross called after them.

The two aliens made their way into the maintenance duct. They conversed a little as they continued down the hall of wires. It seemed like it went on forever.

"So tell me, Jabe, what's a tree like you doing in a place like this," she asked.

"Respect for the Earth."Jabe gave a small smile. "Well, perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasion."

"In case your share prices drop?" She smiled back. "I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land."

"All the same, we respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below, and I'm a direct descendent of the Tropical Rainforest."

"Excuse me," she pardoned herself as she took out her Sonic Screwdriver. The Doctor began to scan the door panel.

"And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two. Perhaps a woman only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left. I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species. It refused to admit your existence."

The Doctor froze. Jabe knew who she was. He knew what happened. The pained Time Lord stared off, flashing back to that fateful day.

"Even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right. I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just wanted to say how sorry I am."

Jabe gently placed a hand on the Doctor's arm. She instinctively placed hers on top of his. A single tear dripped down her face. She quickly wiped the tear and opened the door to the engine room. The Doctor shook her head, ridding herself of the painful memories. They both stepped inside the engine room.

"Is it me, or is it a bit nippy?" The Doctor questioned while staring at the giant fans running at full blast. "Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it retro," she laughed and turned from the giant fans. She then began to scan another panel on the wall.

"Gotcha," she said as she pulled off the panel cover. A metal spider-like creature scuttled out and up the nearest wall. "What the hell's that?"

"Is that part of the retro," Jabe questioned, innocently.

The leather clad alien aimed her screwdriver at the spider as Jabe lassoes it.

"Hey, nice liana," she complimented with a smile.

"Thank you. We're not supposed to show them in public."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody," the Doctor reassured. "Now then, who's been bringing their pets on board?"

"What does it do?"

"Sabotage."

"Earth death in ten minutes," the computer reminded.

"And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on," she led Jabe back out of the wire pathway, and back to the hallways. They both quickly made their way to the steward's office.

Once they were outside the office the Doctor noticed the smoke, and smell coming from within. The steward was dead.

"Hold on. Get back."

She soniced the door's panel, causing the sun filter to rise.

"Is the steward in there," asked Jabe.

"You can smell him. Hold on, there's another sun filter programmed to descend."

She quickly ran off, following the signal. She hoped no one was in the room. She soon found the room with the descending filter. The Doctor started to work on raising it as fast as she could.

"Anyone in there," she called out.

"Open the door," she heard Ross yell from within. She rolled her eyes, not even surprised.

"Oh, well, it would be you. Hold on. Give us two ticks." She spoke as she continued to work.

"Sun filter rising," the computer announced.

Ross and the Doctor both began to relax.

"Sun filter descending," the computer announced once more.

"Just what we need," the Doctor said, annoyed. "The computer's getting clever."

"Stop mucking about," Ross yelled.

The Doctor began to stress out. "I'm not mucking about. It's fighting back."

After a few nail-biting seconds the Doctor finally got the filter to rise, and stay up.

"The whole door's jammed. I can't open it. Stay there!" She told him before heading off towards the observation gallery.

The Doctor walked inside the gallery as Jabe was giving everyone a briefing. She took the spider from Jabe, and inspected it once more.

"I'm afraid the steward is dead," Jabe informed them.

"Who killed him," The Moxx of Balhoon asked.

"The whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe. He invited us. Talk to the Face. Talk to the Face," Cassandra said.

"Easy way of finding out. Someone brought their little pet on board. Let's send him back to master."

She set the spider on the ground. It scuffled off towards Cassandra, scanned her, and then moved on. It then moved onto the black gowned group.

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. J'accuse," Cassandra accused.

"That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you think about it…" The Doctor moved towards the group. The leader swung its arm at her. She caught it, and ripped it out. "A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are, an idea."

She pulled the main control wire from the arm. All of the Adherents fell to the floor.

"Remote controlled Droids. Nice little cover for the real troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo," she nudged the spider. "Go home."

The spider quickly scuffled off to Cassandra.

"I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed. At arms," Cassandra commanded. Her attendants raised their spray guns.

"What are you gonna do, moisturize me," she asked sarcastically.

"With acid. Oh, you're too late. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts; tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just a pretty face," Cassandra smiled.

"Sabotaging the ship when you're still on it? How stupid's that?" The Doctor crossed her arms.

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous."

"Five billion years and it still comes down to money," the Doctor was astonished at the selfishness of humans.

"You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll tripe in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? Burn, baby, burn."

The space station shook as the spiders were activated. The force fields suddenly disappeared. They were vulnerable.

"Bye, bye, darlings," Cassandra smirked before she and her attendants beamed out.

The heat levels began to rise.

"We have to reset the computer by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, come on. You lot, just chill," she told them as she exited the gallery.

The Doctor and Jabe sped to the engine room. They only had two minutes to restore the system. No pressure. Once inside, the Doctor quickly searched for the switch. She spotted it behind the three giant fans.

"Oh, and guess where the switch is."

The Doctor pulled a breaker lever and the fans began to slow a bit. As soon as she let go and stepped away the fans reset their speed. Jabe grabbed the lever and held it down.

"You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place," the Time Lord protested.

"I know," the tree told her.

"Jabe, you're made of wood."

"Then stop wasting time, Time Lady," Jabe used the correct gender term of her race. The Doctor grinned, and nodded.

She made it passed the first fan easily. Once at the second fan she looked back at Jabe. He was still okay. They could do this! She turned back to the fan. Timing it perfectly, the Doctor ran through. When she reached the third fan a cry of pain was heard behind her. She turned to look. Jabe had combusted, and was burning alive.

'No!'

She couldn't help him. It killed her. The Doctor had to keep going. Jabe's death wouldn't be meaningless. It'll be harder to get through the last fan since they were back on full blast.

The fans were going faster than expected. The only way she could get through is if she slowed down time. It was something they were taught to do in the Academy. It wasn't easy. It took lots of concentration.

She closed her eyes and steadied her hearts. Her entire body needed to be calm. She breathed slowly and focused. In her mind everything started to slow down. The fans were at a crawling pace. Holding her breath, she stepped through.

Once she realized that it worked, her eyes flew open. She bolted forward and pulled down the breaker.

"Raise shields"

The Shields raised just in time as the Earth exploded. Once her adrenaline slowed down, she decided to return to everyone. The Doctor walked back under the fans. She stopped and stared sadly at the ashes of Jabe. No matter how many companions she had, there will always be one constant one: Death. She turned away, and strode back to the main gallery.

When she stepped inside, she saw some members mourning their loss. Seeing Ross also lifted a weight off her shoulders. However, first thing she needed to do was inform Lute and Coffa. She stepped over to them and placed a hand on both of their shoulders.

"Jabe is dead," she spoke softly. "He died a hero. Make sure he has an honoured ceremony once you return home. I'm so sorry." She turned and stepped away to let them mourn in private.

"You alright," Ross asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them. "She spoke angrily. "Idea number one, teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby."

The Doctor walked over to the displayed Ostrich egg. She smashed it to reveal a small device.

"Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." The Doctor reversed the device. Cassandra beamed back in.

"Oh," she said, shocked.

"The last human," The Doctor growled, very cross.

"So, you passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join, er, the human club," Cassandra lied.

"People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them."

"It depends on your definition of people, and that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court, the Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter," Cassandra began to creak.

"And creak," asked the Doctor.

"And what?" Cassandra spoke, confused.

"Creak. You're creaking."

"What? Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturize me, moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot," Cassandra cried out.

"You raised the temperature," the Doctor spoke coldly.

"Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, oh, Doctor. I'm sorry. I'll do anything," she begged.

"Help her," Ross said, sympathetically.

"Everything has its time and everything dies," She said stone cold.

"I'm too young," Cassandra cried before exploding.

Without a second glance, the Doctor left the room. She needed pace to calm down. She didn't return until everyone was gone. When she walked back into the gallery she saw Ross staring out where the Earth once was.

"The end of the Earth. It's gone. We were too busy saving ourselves. No one saw it go. All those years, all that history, and no one was even looking. It's just-" he stopped himself.

The Doctor knew just what to do. She gently took his hand. "Come with me."

The both silently held hands as they walked back to the TARDIS. When they were inside, Ross sat on the jumper seat, defeated. The Doctor moved around the console returning them to London. When they landed, the two stepped out into a crowd of people.

"You think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky." The Doctor took a deep breath. She was going to tell him. "My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before it's time."

"What happened?"

She looked at him with sad eyes. "There was a war, and we lost."

"A war with who?" The Doctor stayed silent. "What about your people," Ross went on.

"I'm a Time Lord… well, Time Lady. 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."

"There's me," Ross told her.

"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home," she asked, waiting for him to confirm her fear.

"I don't know. I want…" he paused, and sniffed the air. "Oh, can you smell chips?"

The Doctor laughed, "Yeah."

"I want chips," he smiled.

"Me, too," she grinned.

"Right then, before you get me back in that box, chips it is! My treat. We've only got five billion years till the shops close."

They grinned at each other before Ross grabbed the Doctor's hand, and led her towards the glorious smell of chips.

Thanks for reading! You are FANTASTIC!

XXX ShawtyGoneMad