AN: If you guys have not seen the Christmas special, you need to because HOLY FISH STICKS AND CUSTARD IT WAS AWESOME. And quite confusing, but anywho. Might do something with that later. Enjoy!
Chapter 21
I awoke to the feeling of weightlessness and strong arms supporting me. As my senses came back to me, I groaned at the intense pain shooting through my hands. "Alice, you awake?" The Doctor's concerned face swam into view. "Five more minutes," I moaned, sounding very cliche, but what the heck. My eyes were still adjusting, but I slowly nudged his arms so he would set me down.
I immediately almost fell over only to be caught again by the Doctor's leather-clad arms. "I'm fine, I'm fine," I whimpered, wincing as my damaged hands grabbed at his strong grip. "No, you're not," he decided, once again scooping me up so my head lay on his shoulder. We traveled into the Observation Deck where Rose was looking around worriedly, searching for us. I was more pleased to see that everyone was okay, including Jabe and the Moxx of Balhoon. I was quite content with falling back asleep, but Rose came rushing up to us. "What's wrong with Alice?" I weakly hold up my hands.
She gasps and gently probes the blackened remains of my palm. "I'm fine, really," I reassured her, but Rose still covers me with her jacket. I could feel myself tiring again, so I pulled the Doctor closer and whispered in his ear, "The egg." My last thoughts before blacking out again are, God, I hate fainting.
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(Rose P.O.V)
After Alice drifted slowly into unconsciousness, the Doctor set her on the ground and gingerly tucked the jacket around her body. "Are you okay Doctor?" Rose asks, concerned. "Yea brilliant, actually! I'm full of ideas, bristling with them in fact. Idea number one: teleportation through five-thousand degrees needs some kind of feed. Idea number two: this feed must be hidden, though not very well."
He storms over to the fake ostrich egg and smashes it open, extracting a small device. "Idea number three: If you're as clever as me, then the teleportation feed can be reversed." He quickly presses a few buttons and a shimmering light fills the room, shaping a rectangular form who was saying, "-have seen their little alien faces...Oh." Cassandra finally realizes that she is back in the spaceship, surrounded by a multitude of angry aliens.
The Doctor approaches her with crossed arms. "The last human," he says in a patronizing voice. Cassandra decides to wing it, slightly stuttering, "So… you passed my little test. Bravo! You are eligible to join the, erm…. Human Club?" If she had shoulders, Rose was positive that Cassandra would be in a sort of half shrug. "People have died, Cassandra. You murdered them," the Doctor glares at her, the Oncoming Storm visible in his eyes. Cassandra glanced around nervously. "It depends on your definition of people," Cassandra says carefully, trying to delay her punishment. "That's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries." Deciding that her speech did no good, Cassandra rolls her eyes. "Take me to court then, Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter-"
"And creak?" comes a hoarse voice. Cassandra's gaze lies on the source, the weakened Alice. She smiled smugly up at the canvas. "And what? You vermin," Cassandra sneers. Alice pushes shakily to her feet, Rose and the Doctor on either side of her. "Creak, you're creaking." She chuckled a bit. Cassandra swiveled her beady eyes to look down at herself. "What? I'm, ah, drying out!" Her skin was starting to crack and shrink because of the heat. "Oh sweet heavens! Moisturize me! Moisturize me!" She looked around frantically for her assistants who had not teleported back with her. "Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!" Her voice began to get quieter and quieter as she shriveled up even more.
The Doctor smiled, commenting, "You raised the temperature."
Cassandra's last resort was begging for mercy. "Have pity! Moisturize me! I'm sorry! I'll do anything!" Alice could tell there was no meaning behind her words, but Rose was horrified. "Help her!" she cried, gazing at the people beside her. "Everything has it's time," the Doctor said, not looking at her. "And everything dies," Alice finished. Looking sullenly at the screaming carcass in front of her. "I'm too youn-" Cassandra exploded outward, coating those nearest to her with a fine layers of flesh and blood.
"Ewwwww," grimaced Alice, wiping some blood off of her cheek. Luckily, the three travelers were a good 5 feet away. Rose was still processing all that's happened when Alice, ignoring her wounds, dragged her to the giant window as the guests departed. "It's beautiful, isn't it," Alice sighs. "I would use…interesting," Rose glanced at the crumbling molten bits of the Earth float away. "Come along, you too!" the Doctor calls, exiting the room. Alice just smiles and says, "Beauty doesn't necessarily have to be pretty, interesting is kind of the idea." She grabs Rose's hand, and they fly out the door.
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We just stand silently in the scorched room, observing the Earth float away. "The end of the Earth," Rose starts, trying to justify exactly what they were witnessing. "Yea, it's gone," I confirm, still transfixed at the glowing fragments of my home. Though, this version of Earth never really was my home. "No one saw it go, except us. No proper human witnessed the end of their own planet. How corrupted is that?"
Rose hummed in agreement. "All those years, all that history, and no one actually cared enough to watch it. It's… just-" Rose searched for the right words to say. She closed her mouth, content with her opinion. The Doctor let us gaze at the glowing sun for a while longer, then said, "Come with me." We traveled back in the Tardis, and the ride was silent. Not in an awkward way, but a comfortable silence filled with our own thoughts. I wrapped my hands up with gauze and some alien cream the Doctor supplied (Thank goodness for Tylenol). They were still painful, but not as bad. We finally landed with an audible clunk. We silently exited into modern-day London. A busy streetway greets us with loud noises, people rushing around, not giving us any attention.
I had a strange look on the world now. These people, bustling around, don't know half the things in the universe, waiting to burn them, or eat them, or exterminate them. And yet, they are not content with their puny little lives. They take everything for granted. I want to storm up to these people and tell them, "I HAVE SEEN THE WORLD BURN! APPRECIATE YOUR CHIPS," but what good would that do? Land me in a mental hospital. Get me arrested. I can't help everyone in the world, in the universe, understand, but I had to try, right? If I didn't, what kind of people will lead our world. I am not a coward, I will do what must be done, but I am also not an optimist. I know that life isn't a bowl of cherries. I don't expect it to be. I just wish I could show these people that there is so much more to life than a cell phone and a crappy temp job. There are aliens, and love, and adventure, and courage, and happiness, and so, so much more. It's hard to explain, but I've never felt this type of, elation, in all of my life. I can breathe. It's like flying with no fear of falling.
"You think it'll last forever, peoples and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky." The Doctor takes a deep breath. "My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust before it's time." I slide my arms around his midsection, holding him tight. His heart beats in a rhythm of four beats, bum bum bum bum; bum bum bum bum. He rests his chin on top of my head, returning the hug. "What happened?" Rose whispers. "There was a war, and we lost." I wasn't sure whether or not to remove my arms, so I removed one, but kept the other in it's tight embrace. I know I can't heal that kind of pain immediately, but I try all I can to help at this time.
"A war with who? What about your people?" I could tell that Rose was genuinely curious, but this was a sore subject, and I wished she would respect the Doctor's emotions for once. "I'm a Time Lord. The last of the Time Lords. They're all gone." He bows his head. "I'm the only survivor." He sounded so broken, I wanted to tell him everything. Every single little sliver of information to make him feel better: all the people he saves, the planets he rescues and discovers, what really happened concerning Gallifrey, but I can't. Too many problems, too many complications. I tightened my grip, squeezing supportedly. "I'm left travelling on my own 'cos there's no one else."
"You've got me, and Alice." The Doctor smiles a bit. "You've seen how dangerous it is. Don't you want to go home?" Rose shrugs. "I don't know. I want…I want… Do you smell chips?" There's no denying that the Doctor's smiling now. I sniff. "Yeah."
"Well, I don't know about you two, but I am in the mood for some chips." I chuckle. "I have not had a proper London chip yet." Rose mocked gasping. "Well, I can't let that happen. Now we have to get chips! Doctor, before you get us back in that stuffy box," the Doctor rolls his eyes, "Alice needs proper chips, and you're paying." The Doctor smirks and replies, "No money." She turns to me. "Alice?" I turn my pockets inside out. "I'm with him." Rose shoves us both playfully. "What sort of dates are you? Come on then, cheapskates, chips on me. We've only got five billion years before the shop closes." Rose enters but the Doctor keeps me by the door for a second. "Do you want to go home?" he asks, searching my eyes for any doubt. I smile softly saying, "I think I found a new home. You two." The Doctor can sense the severity of my words and smiles gratefully. "I'm sorry." For what, he does not say. I look once more at London before entering.
I meant what I said. Even if I could go home, what kind of life would I lead there? The Tardis is my home now. No, the Doctor and Rose are my home. It's foundation might be cracked, the wallpaper might be peeling, but it's mine, and that's all that counts to me.