hello fanfiction, I'm back. sorry that line from Dr Who was pretty awesome, gotta love james corden. anyway here is the final installment of this series and the story in general. it's taken me a while to get here but I think I've finally answered all (or at least most) of the questions I raised during my writing. hope you all enjoyed. thanks to TKLee and DannyP they are awesome reviewers and a good percentage of the ideas behind this have come from them. without further adue and much applause for my reviewers please enjoy
"Hello River"
River song was sat at Luke's desk, he couldn't help but notice the gun at her side
"you boys know who i am, well that makes a change, usually i'm the one with all the answers. Who told you i was coming?"
her question was teasing and light but hid an overwhelming curiosity. Luke allowed himself a small smile
"i did"
Marcus caught on to the joke and smiled himself but River's eyes deepened into a frown
"interacting with your own past is incredibly dangerous, why on earth would i let you do it?"
Luke was torn between a universe destroying paradox and a vengeful Trickster, either one made a good arguement
"apart from preventing a paradox, you helped me defeat the Trickster"
she allowed herself to relax again but kept her eyes focused on Luke
"I take it we need to do this soon to preserve the timeline?"
her raised eyebrow indicated she knew the answer
"yes you and i need to leave right now"
River stood up and held out her vortex manipulator
"well then, let's get started"
Luke gathered up a few things from around his room, anything he might need. Marcus grabbed his hand before he could touch the vortex manipulator
"I know that i'm not supposed to go with you, so be careful alright"
Luke simply smiled and pulled him close
"I'll be back soon OK"
a light kiss and then Luke disappeared in a flash of light
"well K-9 guess it's just you and me for a while"
he wanted Luke to be back and hated waiting behind. before he could leave for his own room he heard a tremendous sound behind him followed by a blast of air. the tardis materialized out in the hall moments later. before the Tardis had properly landed the doctor burst through the doors and into the room.
"Where's River?"
there was a look of alarm on his face
"She just left with Luke, back in time, why?"
Marcus managed to keep the edge out of his voice but the Doctor noticed his concern anyway
"because she's after the Sanctuary and if we don't stop her she could rewrite all of history"
Marcus choked on a surprised reply so he could follow the doctor into the tardis where Amy and Rory were both waiting
"Hey Amy, hey Rory, what the hell is he talking about?"
the doctor had already sent the tardis lurching into motion and was frantically dancing around the console
"Melody, I mean River she's trying to change time, Rewrite history to prevent the death of the doctor only she doesn't have all the facts yet"
the TARDIS lurched and they all narrowly avoided being thrown to the floor
"you died! no wait scratch that i don't want to know, how is she going to rewrite time, and why does she need Luke"
The tardis materialised in london and this time they were knocked to the floor
"sorry had to rush the landing come on TARDIS says she's around here somewhere"
the Doctor raced out of the door and into the middle of a busy street, before he could step out around the corner he was yanked out of sight by his collar
"slow down you idiot and pay attention to what's in front of you"
at Marcus's words the doctor took a breath and looked around the corner again, he saw a version of Marcus in the middle of the street with river barely a few metres away
"I recognise this doctor and I don't remember you being in this memory so keep your head down, it's the moment where she helps me solve a riddle"
as he spoke the younger version of Marcus ran off, the Doctor however was focused on River song who gave him an infuriating smile before sauntering off
"clever girl, she's hiding in established chains of events, i can't stop her without affecting the future, OK time for plan B"
turning on his heels the Doctor disappeared back into the TARDIS
"why do we even need a plan B you never told me what she's planning, how is she going to rewrite history"
the Doctor turned to face them all a deadly serious look on his face
"she is after what many call the prison, a place where a race of powerful creatures are held captive, except they aren't captive, and it isn't a prison. The prison is actually a sanctuary, built by timelords to protect one of the greatest gifts ever given"
a cascade of memories burst into Marcus's head and slotted together prefectly
"you're talking about the NELs aren't you"
The Doctor faced him with an open mouth, clearly he hadn't expected that
"umm well yes, River thinks she can use the last prayer of a NEL to save my life, and she could but she doesn't remember enough of my death to realise why it is such a bad idea, and how did you know about the NEls. You know what that really ruined the moment, rule 1111 never intterupt a timelord when he's...timelording!"
the doctor stalked off to the console and Amy and Rory had to quickly hide smiles.
"OK well that's easy then let's just go wait at the vault until she gets there"
the Doctor's frown deepened
"That's a good plan except that i can't find it, Timelords as a rule cannot locate the vault, the creators hid it from all of my kind even themselves. River found it because she isn't timelord enough for it to need to hide from her"
He let that settle for a moment, even Amy and Rory hadn't heard this part of the story
"OK but then why does she need Luke if she's already found the vault"
Amy knew there must be a reason but he just couldn't see it
"simple Pond, because the vault can only be opened by a timelord and she isn't timelord enough to do it, it was considered the perfect solution, only the timelords could open the vault but they couldn't do that if they didn't know where to find it"
Marcus felt his anger bubble below the surface
"stop dodging the question, why does she need Luke!"
He tried to stamp down on the anger that was ruling him but it was being fuelled by fear
"because she gave him timelord DNA when Luke was first created his DNA was woven together from thousands of strands of DNA, including a timelord, her's specifically, not much but if left to mature over say ten years or so it might be enough to be recognised by the vault"
nobody had a remark for that. except Amy
"OK that's all well and good but if she wasn't enough timelord to open the vault how is Luke gonne do it? he's like extra diluted timelord"
despite the grim circumstances the doctor smiled
"DNA was nothing to do with the door refusing to open, the door doesn't just look at your body, it looks at your soul, the timelords that build it were young but wise and their minds glowed with the light of the universe, all the wonders they had seen"
Marcus sucked in a worried breath
"she really could get in there with his help"
he took a moment to gaze at the console, he could feel the wild emotions of the intelligence hidden inside
"If this is so dangerous and you can't find the sanctuary, I know someone who can"
the Doctor turned to him with wide eyes and screamed to stop but the feelings of his body abruptly vanished. The only thing that mattered was what he could sense inside the console. he could sense time, Roaring by in it's infinite majesty. he could sense the emotions that came with the passing of that time. brightest joys and deepest sorrows. with an impossible effort he put them aside and focused on what he was looking for. that one simple emotion that would lead him where he needed to go.
"the Sanctuary! i thought it was supposed to keep them safe"
River had lived up to her word and time was in place, now she had explained why she needed Luke
"the prison as it is called by many who misunderstand its purpose has cracked. it isn't open yet but they are closer than anybody has ever come before, I could defeat them but i need help"
Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing
"OK well lets get Marcus and he can help"
the thought of having a powerful solaran at his side would make Luke feel a whole lot more confident
"No! it can't be that way, a brave soul named Gamma found me once in stormcage, he told me i had to make sure that Marcus never stepped foot inside the Sanctuary or he would die, he never told me why"
Luke felt a small smile creep over his face
"Gamma was repaying a favour of sorts, one that hadn't happened when you met him. OK come on then, the two of us will do it ourselves, you're sure the doctor won't be able to get close either"
she nodded her head and held out the vortex manipulator. taking a breath he put his hand on it and they both dissapeared. The place they entered was unlike anything he had ever seen, everywhere around him he caught glimpses of tumbling gears and whirring circling movement. the place reminded him of a giant clock. each piece, each gear moved in unison meshing together perfectly. It didn't take a genius like Luke to figure out who made the sanctuary. before them was a simple door, it reminded Luke of the door to his mums house.
"they're already passed the outer defences, we must hurry"
she started towards the door, removing her gun from it's holster as she went
"or what River, who are you afraid will stop you?"
the voice was calm but River turned towards it anyway, a mad glint in her eye
"I won't let you stop me, even if it means i have to kill you twice to save you"
the doctor shrugged his shoulders
"you won't kill me because I won't do a thing to stop you"
before she could question him Marcus staggered out of the tardis supported by Amy and Rory
"Marcus! is he okay?"
Luke had been the closest to the door but he started to move away
"Don't move Luke!"
River had turned her gun towards him and he froze in fear.
"I don't want to hurt you Luke, I just need you to open that door"
he lowered his head slightly and when he spoke his tone was dissapointed
"you lied to me. you lied to me by telling the truth. there was a threat to this vault but it wasn't some evil alien warlord, it was you. I can't let you hurt them, I promise Gamma that much"
she pulled the hammer of the gun back into place
"Melody Pond that is enough!"
the voice rang out loud and perfectly clear despite the noise around them. everyone was shocked into silence
"I know we didn't get to raise you the way Amy and I had always imagined, but we did raise you, and I know we raised you better than this"
Rory's words weren't loud and they weren't angry, but nobody missed the dissapointment in them. River's hands trembled and then she lowered the gun
"I'm sorry father"
the gun swung up from by her leg and caught Luke under the chin. he tumbled back and tried to catch himself. he caught himself on the door. everything went still and the pace of the gears seemed to increase. For one long second the gears stopped. the second passed and the gears around them moved like nothing had happened.
"I don't understand, why didn't the door open?"
the security systems had recognised Luke, but they had not let him pass
"being a timelord is more than just DNA River, you didn't think the door would be that simple to open. The creators of this vault were kind and filled with a spark of innocence much like the N. they never saw what lied in the dark corners of the universe. Luke has"
River turned on them realisation turned to determination in her eyes
"fine then I'll simply go back and claim Luke before he saw the darker parts of the universe, it may not have lasted forever but I know there was a time when he was much like the creators"
The doctor just shook his head slowly
"If you go back that far the timelord DNA you gave Luke wouldn't have had time to mature, the door would not react to his touch. I know time is not the boss of either of us River, but every now and then you have to concede a game to it"
Shrieking in fury she whirled around and opened fire on the door
"River that's enough! you can't kill a single one of them no matter how important this is to you, that's why the timelords built this vault, the universe is full of people who think their reason for using the power is just, but to kill creatures as pure and innocent as them, even the end of the universe isn't a good enough reason"
River's hand trembled, her grip loosened on the gun
"I just wanted to save you"
The doctor smiled an old sad smile and pulled her into a gentle hug
"I know you did melody, but whatever happens next we must leave it be, do you understand"
She started crying, Amy and Rory both closed around her leaving Luke and Marcus on the outside with K-9
"more or less human with just that little spark of timelord. I have good taste"
the joke earned him a light punch to the ribs before he pulled Luke into a hug
"are you alright?"
Luke's eyes were searching him. Marcus slowly massaged the sides of his head until he could manage a grin
"The Doctor couldn't find this place, but between me and the TARDIS it wasn't that hard to manage. Still there's a reason why the Timelords didn't build her with a purely psychic interface. The migraines are unbelievable"
the both laughed and Luke's cool hands on his head did something to relieve his headache
"I was worried for a second, River told me she had spoken to gamma, but I guess she must of just said it to manipulate me"
Marcus nodded his head and the turned to see Melody finally calmed down amongst the ring of her family. she wiped tears out of her eyes and looked Luke in the eye
"I'm sorry for using you like this Luke, it was a cruel thing to deceive you"
Luke flashed a smile in her direction
"well you helped me save the universe from the Trickster at one point or another, lets call it even"
she started laughing and soon the sound spread through their little group of friends
"right home for the lot of you, although we could stop for Cake first"
Amy frowned and simply pushed him through the door
"no more cake cause I don't care how much bigger your Tardis is on the inside I will not fit"
she stressed the last four words and everybody started laughing again, the doors swung shut behind them
"right home, River where am i taking you?"
she walked towards the console to give him directions but stopped short of trying to take control, she could indulge his ego this once. a few minutes later and they were hurtling through the vortex. The doctor gave Luke a few instructions and then let him fly for a bit, it seemed like a good reward and the young mans eyes lit up at the chance"
Marcus having been the passenger for way to many road trips with Luke, hung on tight
"Must it be this way my love"
there were no physical signs of affection but Marcus could feel the emotions of River and the Doctor bubbling just below the surface
"whatever happens, must happen"
She nodded solemnly turning to hug her mum and dad
"I'm sure i'll see you again soon, bye mum, bye dad"
she hugged them both in turn and stepped away with a sad smile. they had similar looks on their faces but Marcus could sense hope in there as well
"Is it my stop yet Luke?"
she had turned to look at the console but Luke couldn't meet her eyes, he had paused while moving about the controls. in the back of his mind Marcus felt something stirring
"Luke what's wrong?"
at the sound of his friends voice he looked up and caught his eyes for a few moments. Then they hardened. he pulled at the levers. The Tardis doors sprang open. Extrapolator shielding failed and the raw vacumn of the vortext tried to drag them all out of the Tardis. The doctor clawed at the ramp trying to get a grip on something. he finally caught the railing. In his other hand he held onto amy for all he was worth. River opposite him had Rory.
"Doctor!"
he could barely hear her scream over the roar of the vortex but he saw marcus being dragged towards the door. with as much strength as he could manage the doctor swung Amy outwards and she caught Marcus by the front of his shirt. Luke moved towards them, one hand steady on the console. his other held a gun, River's gun.
"Luke what are you doing!"
OK so maybe this wasn't the very last story idea i had to write. I'm beginning to understand the twisted mind of Steven Moffat. having lots of questions and knowing all the answers is a lot of fun, even more so is giving two questions for every answer. this isn't ending just yet but wether it takes the form of one finally awesomely epic chapter or an entirely knew story i don't know, keep a look out and maybe you will see.
hint for next chapter/story: the one villain you never expected