Dean snorted and glanced at Sam with disbelief. "What?" he demanded, incredulous. The Doctor grinned madly. "Yes! I'm going to go get the book! I scanned the shadows quickly, and I'm certain that that book is the source! They're thicker over there, see." he explained. Tish approached the Doctor, training the camera on his face. "You're going to go get the book? What about the Van-Vast-Vashta Nerada? Won't they... y'know."
"Well, they'll try, but if I can fool them into thinking they're already inside my suit, then I have a chance of surviving."
"And if they see past you?"
"Then say your final goodbyes, eh?" the Doctor laughed, but all could see the real fear in his eyes. He looked around at the three people that had suits imploringly. "Now, I dunno if any of you are willing, but I'll need one of those, if you don't mind." Dean quickly unscrewed his helmet and tossed it to the Doctor, beginning to strip off the suit. "Mine. You can take mine." he said, peeling the rest of it off. The Doctor caught the item and immediately began to slip it over his tall, slim body. When he was finished, he beamed at all of them comfortingly and popped on the helmet, following the motion up by darkening the visor. "Don't wait up. If I die in there, you all need to get out. I don't care about your little television program, I don't care about your reputations; all I care about is that all of you get out of here alive." he insisted. Harry stepped forward defiantly. "Oh, yeah? What about Lucy? She didn't get outta here alive, did she? What happened to her?"
"She died. I'm sorry; I'm so, so sorry, but I couldn't help her. Take her as an example and do what I say. If I get slaughtered, get out." the Doctor reinstated. Everyone nodded meekly and the Doctor darkened his own visor, taking a deep breath and preparing to go into the shadows.
"Okay! Where did she say the book was?"
"To the left a little, then straight forward. Yeah, keep going." Ed called. The Doctor continued, following Ed's directions until he arrived at a little coffee table against the far wall of the room. He couldn't see; the darkness was too thick, so he felt around on the table until his hand stumbled across the book. He scooped it up and tucked it under his arm, then whirled around, to find... nothing. Just white, everywhere he could see. The Doctor quickly unscrewed his helmet and turned on his heel, surveying all around him, but he could only see the harsh, bleak color. "What?" he demanded nobody in particular. Suddenly, from the brightness, a man stepped forward. He wore a pale brown trench coat over a suit with a blue tie, and his face was clean, though unshaven. "Hello Doctor." the man said. His voice was deep and rough, and the Doctor extended a hand. Suddenly, he yanked the hand back, looking down at his body. Somehow the suit had disappeared from his body and he was wearing only his brown pinstripe suit. He looked up at the strange man, who emanated an aura of power. "Who are you?" the Doctor inquired.
"Castiel. I am an angel of the Lord."
"Brilliant! So, erm, does that mean I'm... y'know. Dead?"
"No. You're still alive."
"So this isn't... Heaven? Or Hell?"
"No. This is Limbo, the space between."
"Oh, Limbo! Isn't that brilliant! I've been to a planet called Limbo, not nearly as... white as this. Erm, why exactly am I here, then?"
"Because we need you, Doctor. We need you here and now. Something powerful is waking up. Something terrible and dangerous. As far as we can tell, you're the only one that can stop it. You and another."
"Another? Who's that, then?"
"A woman. Her name is Rose Tyler."
The Doctor paled. "Rose...? B-But she... we can't ever see each other again! She's in an entirely different Universe!"
"Do you really believe that something as petty as that can stop the One that created both Universes?"
"Well, I dunno, but-"
"You're not telling me you don't want to see her, are you?"
"No! No, most definitely not! I'd- you have no idea how much I'd love to see her! But it's physically impossible."
"Not for us. Just... I'll get back to you in three years. Be ready."
The Doctor was shocked back into the darkness, his suit on and the book in his hand. He squinted and shook his head, turning back and striding into the circle of light. He looked over his shoulder nervously before tossing the book onto the little coffee table and immediately stripped his suit off, throwing it in Dean's direction. The man put the suit on and everyone glared at the Doctor curiously. "Doctor?" Sam inquired. The Doctor ignored the man's inquiry and flipped open the book, whipping through the pages. Suddenly, he held the book extremely close to his eyes, peering at it. "Doctor!" Dean demanded impatiently. The Doctor acted as if he'd said nothing and instead licked the pages of the book. "What the hell are you doing?" the impatient American pressed. The Doctor smiled up at him. "I found the Vashta Nerada's source!" he said excitedly. Sam and Dean bounded up to the Doctor, staring at the book, and then at him. "What do we do with it?"
"We have to find a way to destroy it."
"Why don't we burn it?"
The Doctor looked up at Dean - who'd suggested the idea - with bewilderment. "Why would that work?" he inquired. Dean glanced at his brother and then shrugged. "Well, because when we fight ghosts, we have to burn their bones or whatever's left of them in order for them to die. Maybe that's the same deal with the Vashta Nerada."
"Actually that's not a bad idea. You're brilliant, you two!"
"What about us? We've been helping you!" Harry demanded. The Doctor looked back at what was left of the Ghostfacers and nodded, smiling politely. "Erm, yeah. You too. You're all brilliant." he stuttered. Ed and Harry exchanged angry glances and Tish smiled softly as the Doctor immediately began to work feverishly. He gathered the book and the turkey and rearranged the floodlights to allow them access into the kitchen. He made the Ghostfacers pass through first, and then the Winchesters, and then himself, but then he realized: someone was missing. He whirled around frantically, seeking out Tish, until he found her. She was still standing in the circle, but she wasn't moving forward. "Tish, come on. We don't have much time."
"I think I've got less than you guys."
"What d'you mean?"
"Sorry, guys." Tish said sadly, tears falling off of her face. She looked down between the floodlights, as did the Doctor, and he looked back up at her quietly. So quiet. And so sad. Mournfully, he stared at her with his big brown eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." he whispered. Harry aggressively grabbed his shoulder and whirled the skinny man around. "What? What the hell are you saying that for?"
"I really am. I'm so sorry."
Harry started to cross back into the circle but both Sam and Dean stopped him, made aware of the darkness that blocked Tish's path to safety. "Don't!" Sam yelled. He kept a watchful eye on the writhing shadows invading the fomerly nicknamed 'Safety Circle'. Harry became aware of his gaze and looked down at the shadows as well, then looked back up at Tish. "Oh my God. Tish..." he whispered. Ed looked on with horror, his face pale and the perspiration coating it not helping his pallor. "Latisha..." he choked. She started to cry, but slipped her hand out of the strap on the side of her camera and tossed it gently to Harry. He didn't seem to care that it was still rolling and handed it to Ed, who fulfilled his duties of filming. "You... you were amazing. Cool? Thanks so much, Tish."
Ed stepped forward shakily. Tish looked at him with wide, wet eyes. "Ed... I love you." she blurted. The Doctor and the Winchesters left the house and the three of them to say their goodbyes, and soon they heard a heartwrenching sob and a scream cut too short. Sam and Dean exchanged wary looks as the Doctor simply sighed with melancholy and trudged down the road to his big blue box. He slipped the key in the keyhole and ducked inside, the door creaking shut behind him. Dean glanced at Sam and then sprinted to the box, pounding on the door with his fist. "Doctor! Doctor, let us in, dammit!" he bellowed. He stumbled back as the doors immediately swung open and he sauntered in, raising a fist and getting ready to shout until he saw what he was in.
"I - it's bigger on the inside!" Dean realized. Sam crept inside behind him, smirking. "I told you." he whispered. His brother whirled around and regarded him with hostile curiosity. "What the hell is this?"
"I... erm... Actually I don't really know."
"Well that's just great. My braniac kid brother doesn't know what the hell we're standing in."
"It's a TARDIS. T-A-R-D-I-S. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. It's my spaceship. Well, and it's a time machine but I like calling it a spaceship. It's just catchy, innit?" the Doctor answered, poking his head around the green-blue glowing Time Rotor in the center of the room. Dean smiled disbelievingly. "You're kidding. You've got a time machine?" he demanded as he looked up at the impossibly huge room they stood in. The Doctor grinned despite the circumstances and animatedly pulled a lever, making the control room tremble and shake. "Close the door, will you! We're about to fly through the Time Vortex; there's gonna be a draft!" he shouted over the ruckus. Sam snapped to attention and reached behind him to shut the door quickly while Dean circled the control panel for the thing and the Doctor watched him with interest at how he would react. "You okay?" he asked quietly, a smug look on his face. Dean grinned. "Okay? I'm way beyond 'okay', bub. This is... it's... it's really cool!" he shouted. Sam leaned against the rails and kept his awe contained, and the Doctor frowned. "'Really cool'? It's better than 'really cool'. It's brilliant! Time Lord technology! The greatest inventors in the Universe! Tell you what, once we take care of these Vashta Nerada I'll take you both anywhere you want. Past or future, space or time or both." he assured them. Sam gripped his lighter with a grim demeanor. "Where're we gonna burn them?"
"Burn them? No! No, we're not gonna burn them. What do you take me as? Some sort of... some sort of... murderer? No. The swarm follows the source. We're taking them to their respective planet!"