A/N: I do not own Twilight or Doctor Who. I'm just playing in their universe. Original plot developed by i heart the doctor.
Chapter 18 Earth 100,000BC
10th Doctor's POV
Bella was protecting the northern entrance. I was sure she wouldn't have a problem keeping them out. The only issue would be the ones at the southern entrance. We had 3:58 seconds until the pod launched. After that I had to make my way up to the northern entrance and get back to the TARDIS. The only way I knew to keep the Ice Warriors from entering the southern hatch is with fire.
I started to overload every circuit in that tunnel. Given the number of connections between here and there that have frozen over it was going to take some quick thinking and a lot of luck. But luck is my middle name. I pull out my old trusty sonic screwdriver and got to work.
Soon enough the area alarms were blaring and the whole tunnel light up. Our friend in the infirmary was going to be none too happy about the heat, but would be far enough away to not get burned. Alright, time to get out of here. By my estimation we had about 3 minutes before the shuttle lifted off. After that the place would go into automatic lock down, I did not want to be inside when that happened.
I made it with plenty of time to spare, about 15 seconds. I stepped out and saw Bella standing by the door.
"Ready Doctor?" She calmly asked, even though my eyes were drawn to the dozens of bodies all over the snow.
"Are they…"
"They are alive, just unconscious. They really wanted to get in."
"Well let's head out." Just then the pod lifted off. I let the door close and the dead lock instantly engaged. I looked up to see the pod lift off into the snowy sky and then disappear in a cloud bank. I climbed on Bella's back once more and she ran us to the TARDIS.
I snapped my fingers, opening the doors. When we went in she was freezing cold. I guess she shut down when we left. To keep the Lorican from attacking her too, I quickly got her powered up and turned up the heat.
"How about we head back 100,000 years and see what all is going on?" I asked smiling.
"Another good deed done?"
"You bet." I was please we were able to save them and get them enough ore to maintain their life until they could find a replacement energy source. She nodded and came over and started pushing buttons and turning knobs. I took that to mean she was ready to return and did the same. As I checked the viewer I saw several of the Ice Warrior waking up and running towards us, just as we started to disappear.
"Doctor, how do you do it? I mean how to you keep on the way you do?"
"Because no one else can, as I said I am a Time Lord, the last Time Lord. I see the whole of time and whenever someone needs my help, I answer the call. I do it because I have to, because I want to, and because I need to." I took a deep breath. It was hard, always meeting people in mortal danger of some kind. Never knowing what might be next.
"So you feel responsible in some way, for locking the rest of your kind in the Time War. Now you fell you have to help everyone, those that might have been helped by another of your kind."
She was good. I guess I kind of did feel a little like that. "I suppose so." I replied with the most distant tone possible, hoping she would not realize just how true that statement is.
"You're a bad liar." She called me out. "But I guess when you look at it no matter what you did you are taking responsibility for it. No one can fault you for that."
I laughed. It was nice having a companion again, albeit for a short time. I wonder if she has gotten over her lost Edward. Not that I think she will ever get over him really. On the bright side of that she will always have the one she married.
We landed and started to reappear in London, same spot where I found her, just a few hours later.
"We're back." I announced, switching the TARDIS to idle. "Would you like to get out and stretch your legs?"
She walked down and opened the door. "Doctor when are we?"
I started walking down after her, "London 20…" I looked outside to see trees, trees and more trees.
"Got to say this looks more like the Stone Age. I hope you make a better Doctor than a navigator." She laughed at me and walked out.
"What? How? Where? What?" I was getting more and more confused. I swear I should have never pick Bella up. Aside from her hunting trip I have not made it to one place I wanted to go. "What are you doing?" I asked the TARDIS.
Bella was looking at me like I was on drugs. "It's fine, let's just go for a walk and let her cool down or maybe warm up considering the ice planet you just had her on.
"Fair enough." I grabbed my coat and went for a stroll. There was nothing. And I mean when I say nothing I mean nothing, no signs of life at all. No cart path or cut tree anywhere. Not even a hint of metal according to my screwdriver.
"So, any idea when you brought me?"
"Yes, this time period." Another quick scan. "Is 100,000 BC. Great Year, though I need to be careful."
"Why is that?"
"I was here around this time, long ago. I can't cross my own timeline either. Which poses a problem for me; I never stay in one timeline."
"So what was your most exciting adventure? No better question, what was your most boring adventure."
"What kind of question is that? It is like asking someone if they have ever watched paint dry."
"Well have you?"
"No, I skip those days, remember?"
"Of course, I remember everything. You always go on and on about these companions of your and how much fun you have and the wonderful things that you do together, save the world, rescue a species from enslavement. But what about the mundane things, like getting a little girls balloon out of a tree, or picking a bunch of flowers from a far away world and giving them to someone?"
"Well I have never done that." This Bella girl was certainly going to save me again. I could almost imagine traveling with others now. "It would have to be a couple hundred years ago. I stopped on a planet similar to yours in the industrial age. I actually crash landed in a family's back yard. They were in the middle of what you would call a Great Depression."
"You crashed; I can't imagine that, oh wait, yes I can."
"Oi, that is enough out of you now, you want to hear this or not?"
"Yes, sorry, continue please."
She wouldn't stop smiling, which made me smile, but I continued as asked. "I don't need to eat a whole lot, Time Lord Physiology and all. But they opened their home to me and offered me to share their meal, what little they had. I never had to get out my screwdriver or run. Two things I always seem to have to do. It was as you said boring."
I thought about that time, I had just left one of my companions and truth be told I was a little lonely. Surprised that the peanut gallery wasn't saying anything I chanced a look at Bella. She was just waiting for me to continue. But that was the end of the story, wasn't it?
"Fine, I guess I rather enjoyed it, the simplicity of it all, the ease of talking with them, laughing and having a good time. They hardly had a dime to their name and no idea what tomorrow held for them. But that didn't matter, they lived in the moment."
"See, maybe you should land somewhere on a Sunday every once in a while. We all need a vacation."
We continued walking; I really did need a vacation. I had plenty of time to meet up with Sigma. This girl makes me feel human. Which is ironic since she isn't human, but neither am I, so I guess it works out.
"Maybe I will. I have to meet up with a friend of mine pretty soon, but I think I will take some time for myself."
"What is your biggest regret? Your personal one, not losing a companion or not being able to save a species from extinction, but something smaller that you and you alone could have done, but didn't."
Wow, that is a kick to the gut. "A little harsh aren't we?"
"I'll tell you mine. It is losing the man I love. I regret everyday that I was not more accretive or vocal in telling Edward that I loved him, needed him, and wanted to be like him. I regret that I was touch by the Weeping Angel and not knowing if Edward realized just what he meant to me." She was on the verge of tears again. "For me, that is my biggest regret, leaving things unsaid. Edward was a thick headed old fashion stubborn vampire, but maybe, just maybe, if I told him one more time how much I loved him he would be alive today."
She dropped to her knees, her head fell him her hands and though her body shock like she was crying, no tears fell. I understood what she was saying now. I regret what happened to Donna, but it was Donna that touched my severed hand, full of Time Lord Energy. Rose was sucked into the parallel universe, helping save the world, and Martha loved me, but I was not over the loss of Rose. My biggest regret, "Not telling her I loved her." I whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear. There have been many in my travels that I have taken a liking to, but none like Rose, the girl who saved me.
"Sorry." Bella said, barely louder than my whisper. "I guess we regret leaving things unsaid, thinking we have all the time in the world to get around to it, get the courage to say it or wait for the perfect time. The perfect time to say what your heart tells you is always now."
She slowly rose. "Bella, can you cry?"
"No. My body is dead. I have no heartbeat, no blood, no tears. I am forever unchanged."
"You're wrong." I told her. "You might not change the ways humans do, but you grow and learn. You understand me better than anyone else ever has. It is like you know what I need."
"I am just observant. I have seen the way you act and talk and do things. You never stop, for fear that the past will catch up to you. You speak of your past in a guarded manner because you feel it is something that you should be ashamed of. And most importantly you try to keep others at a distance. So you won't be hurt again when they are gone."
"You really are observant. I suppose I really can't argue with you on anyone of those points. It is difficult, out living those that I care for. The things I have done in the past have been done to help others. However, people always seem to get hurt or die when I get involved. Did you know I am the reason Pompeii exploded?"
"And what would have happened if it didn't explode?"
"A race called the Pyroviles would have been your lords and masters."
"See, what happened was terrible, so many innocent lives were lost, but their sacrifice saved the world. Who is to say that the other places you have visited and other people you have saved would have been better off without you? Humans are fragile creatures, they break so easily. Then next situation you come across ask yourself, 'what would happen if I left?' I am sure you are smart enough to be able to see the whole situation for yourself and determine what could happen."
I nodded. This girl was brilliant. I have half a mind to ask her to join me. I am not sure how much longer I have, but it would be bearable with this Bella. We had to have walked a couple miles by now. It was a nice day, a little overcast, but no one around so the occasional sparkle from Bella's skin was not a big deal. I still had a hard time believing she was a vampire. I mean I have traveled to so many time periods of this world, never have I seen one of her kind.
I wonder how they came to be, though I suppose that would be like the chicken and the egg question. I suppose if I wanted to I could track the first one down, to see how they started. But if Bella wasn't with me I might end up a meal. The Cullens were saying that those Volturi guys were 3000 years old. Maybe I could go ask Marcus. Hopefully he would know, I mean there are only about a thousand in Bella's time, so I find it hard to believe they evolved somehow. It isn't like a bat or something could change their genetic makeup so easily.
I felt a shift in the breeze; a cool wind blew from the forest, when all of a sudden Bella took off towards the woods. I ran after her, at least I hope I was because I could no longer see her. I must have run half a mile when I saw Bella with a half dead man in her arms and blood on her lips.