Chapter Nineteen
Holding Ian in his arms, the Doctor flew back to Rose. As he neared her, he was relieved to see she was up and walking around. He smiled when Rose caught sight of him and let out a squeal of joy. He touched down on the roof beside her, quickly lowered Ian to the ground and enveloped her in his arms when she flung herself into them.
"Oh God, Doctor, am I glad to see you!" she said. "I woke up and I didn't see you, and I was so afraid Ian had done something to you!"
The Doctor kissed her cheek.
"I'm sorry I scared you, Rose, but I had to get Ian away from here before he killed you."
She looked down at him sprawled out on the roof.
"Why did you bring him back here then?" she asked.
"Because I need to talk to him, and I want to do it before the sun comes up."
Rose frowned.
"Talk? About what?" she said.
The Doctor started to speak when he suddenly noticed Ian beginning to stir.
"No time, just get behind me," he said.
He glanced up at the sky, as Rose moved around him and noticed it was beginning to lighten.
"Good, almost time for sunup," he said.
He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at him, as Ian opened his eyes.
"Welcome back," the Doctor said.
He held up his hand when Ian leapt up and started to attack him.
"Wait!" he said.
"Why should I?"
The Doctor took hold of Rose, and they moved to the side. Ian's eyes bulged out of his head when he saw the sun starting to rise. He started to lift off into the air.
"Stay where you are!" the Doctor said.
"We'll finish this later!"
"No! We're gonna finish this now! If you fly off, I'll follow and I'll make sure you stay out in the open until the sun rises and kills you!"
"But you'll die too, Doctor," Rose said.
The Doctor shook his head.
"Sunlight doesn't kill a new vampire. It won't kill me until after the next full moon when I become immortal permanently. All the sunlight can do is give me sunburn, which is more than I can say for Ian here."
Ian glared at him. He threw his arms open.
"You win then, Doctor. I'll just stand here until the sun takes me," he said.
"Or…you can listen to my offer instead."
Ian frowned.
"What offer?" he said.
"I offer you a chance to live, Ian. Unlike you, I am capable of showing compassion even towards people who don't deserve it."
"You're letting me go?"
"I will, if you do as I say."
"Yeah, and what do I have to do?"
"Relocate."
"What to another city? Another country?"
"Another planet!"
Ian stared at him.
"What?"
"I know a planet that has no people on it, but does have plants and animals. One plant in particular is known as the Bleeding Corianthus and the reason it is called that is because it uses blood to attract insects and animals for its meals. It's not human flesh, but at least you will be sustained and you can live out your immortal life in peace."
"But, Doctor, if you let him live you'll be a vampire forever," Rose said.
"Not necessarily. There's always a solution to every problem and I'm sure as clever as I am I could find a way to reverse the vampirism," he said. "After all, I'm practically a vampire anyway. All I would need to do is reverse the two percent genetic difference between Time Lords and vampires."
He looked at her.
"In the meantime, I could get used to this. Flying is pretty cool," he said.
He looked back at Ian.
"So, how about it, Ian? Do you take my offer and live out your life on another planet, or do you force me to kill you?"
Ian looked over the Doctor's shoulder and noticed the sun just beginning to peek over the top of the buildings. He looked at the Doctor.
"What about the rest of my kind? Are you going to take them to this planet as well?" he asked.
"If I run into any others, I will make the same offer to them. But, I will not go actively hunt them out. The only reason I'm dealing with you is because you decided to threaten Rose."
He glanced back over his shoulder and saw the sun was rising quickly into the sky. He looked at Ian.
"So? My offer or death," he said. "Your choice."
Ian hesitated for a moment and then snarled at him.
"I won't be the one to leave this planet, Doctor. You will!" he said.
With a roar, he lunged at the Doctor and Rose. With lightning quick speed, the Doctor pushed Rose away, sidestepped Ian and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck as his momentum carried him past.
"Oh, why do they always have to do things the hard way?" he said.
Holding Ian in a death grip around his neck, he rose several feet into the air and held him out as the sun rose higher in the sky. He stared ahead impassively while Ian kicked and flailed in an attempt to get away.
"You'll pay for this, Doctor! You haven't seen the last of my kind!" Ian said.
"Nope, probably not," the Doctor said. "But I have seen the last of you."
He watched as Ian's body began to smoke. He tightened his grip on his neck when Ian let out a scream and desperately tried to break free.
"Hate to have to do this," he said to Ian. "But I offered you a chance to get out of it. I can't let you hurt Rose anymore."
He floated down to the roof, as Ian's body burst into flames. Touching the ground, he let go and stepped back while Ian writhed and screamed in agony.
"I will be avenged, Doctor! You have not seen the last of the immortals!" he said as flames consumed his body.
With one last scream, Ian's body broke apart and quickly disintegrated into ashes. The ashes continued to disintegrate until only a fine powder remained. Rose wrapped her arm around the Doctor as they watched the powder blow away into the morning sky.
"It's over, Rose. We're free," the Doctor said.
He turned and embraced Rose, as sunlight washed over their bodies.