Edited 21/8/2015
I wandered through the observatory, not really paying much attention to the path I paved. My thoughts were on everything that had happened, before and after meeting the Doctor. A tear slipped down my cheek before I had the opportunity to wipe it away as I thought of the life I'd had prior to Rose and Jackie. Without them, I wouldn't be alive. They were the ones who'd rescued me from a lifetime of hell... although I was quite a burden on the single mother. I always used to voice that, and the woman would scold me for ever thinking it. Sure, money was tight, but Jackie'd always said she wouldn't have it any other way. Chuckling at the memory, I wipe d away the tears that had fallen, laughed at myself for being a sentimental idiot, and returned to the observation gallery.
As I tried to figure out my way back, the ship violently shook and I found myself on the floor. Groaning from the force of impact, I knew I'd end up with another bruise. The shake was enough to have me scrambling to the observation room; I knew there was something was wrong and I had to get back to Rose and the Doctor. The trip back took me about ten minutes, and that was after going the wrong way twice and being directed in the right way by the little blue aliens. When I finally reached the observation gallery, the two were there, much to my happiness. They were speaking to Jabe, the tree woman. As I walked by, the Doctor grabbed my arm, asking if I were all right.
"Fine. I suppose that wasn't a gravity pocket, eh?"
He shot me a questioning glance before answering. I didn't understand why he was so confused or worried about me. While I was used to Jackie and Rose fussing about me, having someone else do so was downright uncomfortable. "No. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." He turned away from me, letting go of my arm and messed with a wall panel. "What do you think, Jabe? Listen to the engines. They've pitched up about thirty Hertz. That dodgy or what?"
The female humanoid shrugged. "It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make sense to me."
"Where's the engine room?"
"I don't know." She thought for a moment. "But the maintenance duct it just behind our guest suite, I could show you and your wife," Jabe offered, motioning to me.
"She's not my wife."
"Partner?" she turned, motioning to Rose. The tree was fishing, trying to figure out if the Doctor was available. For some odd reason, him saying I wasn't his wife hurt. I couldn't understand why I'd feel that way, especially since I didn't even know the man. I let out a breath, not believing I was actually worrying about that, especially since there was more going on on the satellite. Coming out of my reverie, I caught the alien ask if Rose and I were prostitutes. I glared at her, barely noticing that Rose was doing the same. I wanted nothing more than to slap the smug grin off her face as the Doctor replied with a negative but I was quite certain the action would land us all in more trouble.
"WHATEVER we are, it must be invisible. Do you mind?" Rose snapped, causing the female alien and the Doctor to bring their attention to us. "Tell you what, you two go and pollinate. We're going to catch up with family." She grabbed my hand and began to pull me to the flap of skin. "Quick word with Michael Jackson."
"Don't start a fight," the Doctor called out as we walked away.
"I expect you back by midnight, you," I replied, turning in Rose's grip and pointing at him threateningly. Rose shot me a glance which I quickly avoided. I didn't know why I'd said that. It just popped out before I had a chance to think about it. Shrugging, I followed Rose to Cassandra.
"Earth Death in fifteen minutes. Earth Death in fifteen minutes."
When we reached 'the last human', she was going on about Earth and how much she'd miss it. Standing next to her though, I didn't actually feel as though she were sincere. Honestly, I didn't even think she cared about the planet; this was all a way for her to show her face. Granted that was basically why everyone else were here too, but still, she didn't care. "Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die." We walked beside her as she was rolled to the nearest window. "That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy, down there." Rose and I shared a look at her words. A little boy? While there wasn't anything wrong with Cassandra making the change, the fact that she'd revealed something so personal was quite shocking. "Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice. I'd have such fun."
"What happened to everyone else? The human race, where did it go?" Rose asked her.
"They say mankind has touched every star in the sky."
"So, you're NOT the last human," I quipped.
"I'm the last pure human. The others... mingled." I glared at her in disbelief, disgusted by how repulsed she was by those who'd decided to get with other species. "Oh, they call themselves New humans and Proto-humans and Digi-humans, even 'Humanish', but you know what I call them? Mongrels."
I met Rose's gaze for a moment and she seemed to notice how irritated I was becoming with each word the trampoline spoke. Seeing how close I was to going off and ripping the 'last human' an new one, Rose piped in. "Right. And you stayed behind?"
"I kept myself pure."
"Pure, yeah, right." I snorted. Rose groaned, knowing that I no longer cared to keep my composure. "So because they decided to go out and expand, they aren't pure? Who are you to call them mongrels? I think they just moved on. With there being others out there, why would one want to stick with humans alone? Do you really want to know what I think Cassandra?" The sheet rolled her eyes. "I think you're the mongrel." I stopped for a moment, staring at the piece of skin. There was one thing I just had to know. "How many operations have you had? I'd say quite a bit."
"Seven hundred and eight. Next week, it's seven hundred and nine. I'm having my blood bleached." Cassandra seemed extremely proud of the many surgeries she's had. "Is that why you wanted a word?" she questioned. "You could be flatter, Cerys. You've got a bit of a chin poking out, not to mention a bit of a bulge."
I grit my teeth, trying my best not to say anything too harsh. We were told not to start any fights, as if the Doctor knew one was inevitable. "I'd rather die."
"Honestly, it doesn't hurt."
"Seriously, I would rather die. It's better to die than live like you, a bitchy trampoline," I heatedly retorted. There was no way in hell I'd allow the flap of epidermis to make me feel bad about my body or as if I needed ANY form of surgery. I'd spent enough years hating my body and there was no way I was going back to those days.
"Oh, well. What do you know." I rolled my eyes at Cassandra's dismissive tone.
"I was-we were born on that planet, so was our mums, and so was our dads, and that makes us, officially the last humans in this room 'cos you're not human," Rose angrily started. It was nice to see her reaction to Cassandra, and hear her thoughts on the matter. She was right, in the room, Rose and I were technically the last humans, even if we came from 2005. "You've had it all nipped and tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra. Lipstick and skin."
When Rose finally paused for a breath, I began to speak. I knew I was taking the shine from her, but there were a few things I wanted to tell Cassandra, she needed to hear it. "You did all that for what, beauty? I would never say this to anyone but no amount of operations could get rid of the ugly. You're a hideous person who's going to die painfully and very much alone. Nice talking," I finished before grabbing Rose and pulling her out of the room.
As we reached the corridor, Rose and I stopped, me leaning against the wall and Rose standing off to the side, her arms folded and back to me. She was thinking, that much was obvious and I was soon to find out what was bothering her so much. I took it as my cue to listen when she sighed and faced me. "Hey, I'm going to look around a bit. I'll meet you in that room."
"What's there to look at?"
"I'm still wrapping my head around it all. I'll meet you there."
"Sure, meet you there," I replied with a small smile. It wasn't what I wanted to hear, but I took her response. Unlike her, I was willing to wait, I was patient in letting people reveal things to me. Firstly, it was none of my business nor my place to pry. If she needed time, she needed time; that was all I could really give her. As I meandered through the halls, the Adherents of the Repeated Meme approached me. The uncomfortable feeling that I had associated with them returned, and I was in no mood to be friendly. "What do you lot want?" I asked. They didn't reply, much to my irritation. Instead, two circled me while one remained out of my gaze at all times. As I turned to look at the one, something collided with my the back of my head, sending me into darkness.
I came to on the marble floor in the room I had been in what seemed like minutes ago. Lazily rubbed my eyes, not quite sure what was going on or how I'd gotten to the room. Hell, I didn't even know when I'd fallen asleep, although the painful throbbing coming from my head told me that I hadn't just fallen asleep. My eyes popped open when I heard the computer's voice say that the sun filter was descending. The deadly glare of the sun peaked into the room, its rays burning everything they landed on. Realising the danger I was in, I jumped up and ran to the door, frantically banging on it. "Let me out! Let me out! Oh my god. Please, someone let me out!"
I continued to bang on the door as the computer continued to repeat that the sun filter was descending. I didn't stop until I heard someone FINALLY respond. "Cerys?" To my surprise it was my best friend. She was not the person I'd expected but at least she was someone. "What are you doing in there?" Rose was silent for a moment before she snapped at me. "Stop messing about and open the door."
"I'm not! I've already tried opening it and it won't. Can you just get someone to open it?" The sun filter thing is coming down. I'm about to be burned alive!"
"Okay, okay. I'm going to look for the Doctor. Don't worry all right?"
Annoyed, I rolled my eyes as if she could see me. It seemed as if she took my silence for an answer. How was I not supposed to worry? If the room flooded with light, I'd be vaporised. As more rays came in, I crouched down, still pounding on the door. I couldn't help but think of how pathetic I was. Once again, I was a damsel in fucking distress. I hated it. Why did it have to be me? How soon would the Doctor get tired of it and drop me back off home? How long until he just got tired of me in general? It was probably going to have soon, I knew it would.
"Anyone in there?"
A breath I didn't know I'd been holding came out at the sound of the Doctor's voice. "Let me out!" I was quite relieved that he'd found me. It wasn't the fact that I could die at any moment, but the fact that I didn't really want to feel the pain that came with being vaporised. Still, the Doctor was there, so I probably wouldn't have much to worry about in the case of being vaporised.
"Oh, well it would be you."
"Shut up and open the bloody door!"
"Hold on. Give us two ticks." I sat there for a second, not banging on the door; just trying to control my breathing. My heart pounded erratically in my chest, causing more pain than needed and my head still ached. I wasn't sure if it was from being hit, or seeing the scorch marks on the walls. Fire had always been a touchy element for me, one that invoked a fear like no other. I didn't know why either. I knew it was dangerous, but the paralysing fear I had made it irrational. The same went with robotic voices, and I abhorred those more than anything. "You all right?" he questioned in my moments of silence. At that moment, the computer decided to remind us that the sun filter was still falling.
"Quit asking me that and get me out. I don't want to die, Doctor." I grit my teeth, realising that my statement came out weaker than I'd wanted. The man already knew I had nightmares and I didn't want him to know another weakness of mine. No, I just didn't want to APPEAR weak. I wasn't ready to go home yet.
"I was just checking." It sounded as if he wanted to say more but the computer interrupted him, informing us both that the sun filter had begun to rise again, much to my relief.
"Well check when I'm safe. Now get me out of here."
"I'm working on it." Again the computer seemed to remind me of my impending doom. However, I felt nothing but anger as the Doctor made a sarcastic comment in response to the sun filter falling as I ducked to avoid another ray of light.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"The computer's getting clever."
"Well, stop mucking about!" I banged against the door again, this time angrily. Honestly, I wished the man were in front of me so I could give him a right slap. It was like he was toying with the system and with me and I didn't like it one bit.
"I'm not mucking about. It's fighting back," he replied.
"Well, open the door will ya!" I ran from the door, back to the stairs to hide from the sun's glare. It was an attempt to keep myself safe but ended up getting burnt as I did so. I hissed in pain, but tried to keep it from reaching my voice as I spoke to the Doctor. "The lock's melted!"
"Sun filter descending. Sun filter descending." I groaned, looking from the door to the window. I was terrified of death, no matter how many times I had told myself I wasn't. No, I was fine with death. I just didn't want to die at this moment. That was the only difference. I wanted to have a choice of when, where, and how I died and this was not how I wanted things to end. "Sun filter rising. Sun filter rising." I smiled a bit as it seemed to remain that way. My smile only grew when it filter was completely up. Happy I was safe for the moment, I raced back to the door.
"The whole thing's jammed. I can't open the doors. Stay there! Don't move!"
I rolled my eyes at statement as if he could see me. That was honestly the stupidest thing he'd said since I've met him. "And where the bloody hell am I supposed to go, Doctor? Ipswich?"
"Earth Death in five minutes." I sat by the door, waiting for someone to figure out a way to get me out. I pulled my knees to my chest, holding myself together as the computer spoke. "Earth Death in three minutes." I sighed, using it to calm myself down. Getting too excited would only lead to my headache growing worse and that would only make things worse. Then again, I had other 'heath problems' that could probably leave me even worse off. "Safety systems failing. Heat levels rising. Heat rising." I closed my eyes as the heat started to become unbearable. I concentrated on my breathing, taking deeper, slower breaths in an attempt to cool myself as sweat beaded down my back. If I ever made it back to the Tardis, the first thing I planned on doing was taking a shower. "Earth Death in two minutes. Earth Death in two minutes. Heat levels critical." Another breath, another minute closer to impending doom. I wish I had a glass of water; my throat was dry and I felt as if I'd lost all the moisture in my body.
"Heat levels hazardous. Heat levels hazardous." The window began to crack; rays of light shot into the room. I moved, trying to avoid one but was once again burned. I managed to keep myself from crying out in pain but my hand instantly cupped the area of the burn. "Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction. Shields malfunction. Heat levels critical. Heat levels critical. Heat levels rising. Heat levels rising," the computer repeated. I was getting irritated with its voice. All I had to hear was how close to dying I was getting and it added to my fear, or lackthereof. "Planet explodes in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five." I closed my eyes, fully expecting to die. I wished so badly that I wasn't alone. I wanted Rose to at least be with me, not that I wanted her to die. "Four, three, two." I took in a deep breath. Relax, tension was bad. If I was going to die, I didn't want to be tense. "One. Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair." I opened my eyes as the cracks in the window disappeared. Standing, I walked over and stared out to where Earth used to be. All that was left were bits of rock. Sighing, I sat on the stared and looked out into space, an overwhelming sadness taking over me. I was another few minutes before the doors open.
"Doctor!" I got up and rushed over to him, pulling the man into a hug that he returned. I let go of him and met his gaze, noticing the anger in his eyes. Jabe wasn't with him, although I was quite certain she'd stayed with her people. Then again she and the Doctor had taken a shine to each other. "What happened? Where's Rose?" He didn't answer. He just walked of, leaving me to follow after him. When we reached the observation gallery, I saw Rose by the Moxx of Balhoon, or what was left of him. It was nothing but the chair now. The Doctor walked over to the other trees and said something to them while I went over to Rose. We pulled each other into hugs, expressing just how happy we were that the other had made it through virtually unscathed. She was a bit worried when she saw the blisters that littered some areas of my arms but I told her other than that, I was fine. Sighing, I moved from Rose and went over to the Doctor, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze. "You all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, pulling from my grasp, an action that slightly hurt, although I wasn't too sure as to why. "I'm full of ideas. Idea number one, teleportation through five hundred degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two, this feed must be hidden nearby." The Doctor walked over to where the 'ostrich egg' sat on a podium and smashed it open, revealing a small device. "Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed." He twisted a switch waited. I stood by Rose and watched curiously as the scene unfolded.
"Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces," Cassandra said as she was beamed back into the observation gallery, her voice coming through before her body... if one could call it that. To be honest, I wasn't even surprised that she was behind it. "Oh."
"The last human," the Doctor sneered.
"So, you passed my little test. Bravo," she smirked. "This makes you eligible to join, er, the Human Club." I rolled my eyes at her. Of course she'd make up some half baked attempt to save her ass. It was pathetic and she disgusting.
"People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them," I said before the Doctor had a chance to. While a part of me knew I should really leave the talking to him, I was just so angry that I had to say something. Still, I knew the next words out of mouth her would anger me.
She rolled her blue eyes. "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, Cerys, and watch me smile and cry and flutter..."
"And creak?" the Doctor interrupted.
"And what?"
"Creak. You're creaking." There was a smug grin on my lips as I told her. Maybe she was being served a whopping dish of karma, something I wholeheartedly believed in. As bad as it might have seemed, she definitely deserved it.
"What? Ah! I'm drying out!" The lines on her face seemed to grow deeper and her eyes and lips got smaller as they got closer. The gap between her skin and the frame, however, grew. "Oh, sweet heavens. Moisturise me, moisturise me!" Her eyes frantically darted around the room. "Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!" Red splotches had begun to cover her skin, ruining the seemingly flawless complexion she had.
"You've raised the temperature."
"Have pity! Moisturise me! Oh, oh, Doctor, Cerys. I'm sorry. I'll do anything."
"Talk to him about it. I couldn't care any less about you." I turned to the Doctor and Rose, both had their eyes on me, the Doctor's impassive and Rose's in disbelief. While I wasn't usually that heartless, I wasn't going to try to persuade anyone to help Cassandra. She didn't deserve it. "I'm sorry but she doesn't deserve another chance. Everything has to go at some point." I turned and went to stand by the door, becoming an observer again.
"Help her," Rose pled.
"Cerys is right. Everything has its time and everything dies."
"I'm too young!" Cassandra bit out before she tore, leaving bits of flesh flying in various directions. I looked at her bits in disgust, brushing off a piece that had landed on my shoulder. Once it was over, the Doctor walked off, leaving Rose and me in the gallery. I was indifferent to what had just happened but Rose was shaken. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, comforting her without words. She didn't need any. This wasn't something that could easily be forgotten, but it was something he had to learn. Some decisions weren't easy.
Twenty minutes later, everyone had left the observation centre and the unit was shut down. With the ship empty, only Rose, the Doctor, and I were left. The three of us stared out at the asteroids, pieces that once made up the Earth, float by the red giant sun.
"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…" Rose trailed off, a distant expression on her face. From my peripherals, I saw a tear fall from her eyes.
"Sad. It's so sad. It deserved a bit of respect... a bit of recognition," I finished.
The Doctor took our hands, causing us to glance at him. "Come with me." He led us back to the Tardis, pressing buttons once we were all in and the door was closed. The flight was surprisingly smooth and when we landed, he led us outside. It was Earth on any normal day during OUR time. People were going about their lives, some happy, some angry, and some indifferent. A smile hit my face as we stood there, watching as people bustled around us. "You lot think it'll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky." He took in a breath. "My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before its time."
I took his hand and looked up at him. "What happened?" I whispered. While I never wanted to pry, my interest was piqued, and HE had brought it up. It didn't feel so much as prying, more like trying to get him tell us a little more. Besides, I was sure Rose would have asked him that if I hadn't.
"There was a war and we lost."
"A war with who? What about your people?" Rose inquired.
"I'm a Time Lord. 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 us."
"You've seen how dangerous it is." He looked me square in the eyes, something I thought was odd. I'd figured he'd mainly want to ask Rose, seeing as she was so much more useful to him than I was. Still, I felt a warmth in my chest at the fact that his question seemed to be geared more so to me. It made me feel special, like he truly wanted me around. "Do you want to go home?"
I rolled my eyes before hitting his arm. "Of course not, you idiot," I smiled.
"I don't know. I want," Rose stopped, smelling the air. "Oh, can you smell chips?"
"Yeah," the Doctor laughed. "Yeah."
"I want chips."
"Me too."
"Right then, before you get us back in that box, chips it is, and you can pay," Rose smiled, taking hold of his arm.
"No money," he replied sheepishly.
"What sort of date are you?" I chucked as I took his other arm. "Come on then, tightwad, chips on us. We've only got five billion years till the shops close." With that, the three of us walked to the nearest shop.
We ended up at a fish and chips shop only a block or so from the Tardis. As we sat there consuming the salty side, I barely listened as Rose and the Doctor spoke. It wasn't really much, just small talk, and about what had transpired only moments ago. Rose had asked how I ended up locked in the observation room and she told me about the Adherents of the Repeated Meme and how they were under Casandra's influence. After that, I was too caught up in my thoughts to really care if they noticed whether or not I was paying attention. If they were aware, neither mentioned it. They probably thought I was dealing with my recent near death experience.
I sighed when I realised that the two had finished off the chips and I was still slightly hungry. I looked up to see Rose giving me a worried glance. A smile crept onto my face, answering her unsaid question of whether or not I was okay. Content, she returned to the conversation she was having with the Doctor. Suddenly feeling ill, I jumped to my feet and covered my mouth with my hand. The two stopped speaking and glanced at me, worry etched in their expressions. Without sparing them another look, I raced to the back of the shop, hoping this was all in my head.
Reaching the bathroom, I was so happy that it was a personal room and vacant. It meant no one would nag me as I tried to make myself better. Ten minutes of deep breathing and sick later, there was a knock on the door. My breathing was laborious as I tried to keep myself from fainting. My stomach had been completely emptied, and the headache I'd had, which I thought disappeared, returned with a vengeance. The pain just about debilitated me; there was no way I'd be able to leave the room without help.
"Are you all right, Cerys?" I grunted, unable to say anything. "Let me in." I groaned, using the sink to support myself. My legs felt like jelly, and my vision was covered in black and white speck. I knew it was only a matter of time before I fainted. I cursed myself for leaving my medication home but then again, how was I supposed to know I'd end up travelling the universe with a my best friend and a Time Lord? It wasn't as if I planned to be whisked away.
Hearing the door jingle, I began to inch my way towards the locked door. Just as I actually made it, I heard the sonic screwdriver go off and the click of the door's lock. I rolled my eyes at how impatient they were, mainly Rose who I was sure kicked up a fuss to get the Doctor's help. Knowing the two would be inside the room shortly, I let myself sink to the floor. As they walked in, I managed to give a small, pained smile as I felt myself plummeting into unconsciousness. It was only a matter of seconds before my vision had turned completely black.
Hey, so we've reached the conclusion of this episode. Cerys definitely had a part in Cassandra's death. I hope her dislike for the woman was realistic and made sense. Cerys does share my views on certain topics, such as bullying and thinking less of others. It's something she can relate too so of course she'd be against it (that's something for a later chapter though).
Now, why did our lovely protagonist faint? Any ideas? Feel free to leave a review. I'd love to hear your opinions. It'll make my day AND, constructive criticism will definitely help make the story better.