Chapter 16
Flying through the air was a remarkable time to think, the Doctor thought, as he rocketed toward Mr. Wesley's car. He hadn't had much time to think after what had happened in the manor's basement, or rather, he hadn't wanted to. He had been so close. So close. If the Brigadier hadn't arrived in the nick of time…
He didn't want to think about that.
The right thing to do would be to resign the instant this investigation was over. He would go back to living on his meager savings and feeding on unsuspecting animals. That wasn't a steady lifestyle though, and if he wasn't careful it could happen again. Of course, he hadn't been careful this time and look what had almost happened to Jo.
Jo.
He would resign for her sake. None of this situation was fair to her. She smiled at him and pretended like nothing had happened and for an instant he had believed that everything was going to be okay. But now he could see the strain in her smile and the frown on the Brigadier's face. He was a monster and he had no right to endanger their lives.
He would have sighed if he wasn't whipping through the night air.
Time slammed back into motion as he crashed into the back of Mr. Wesley's car. He rolled once, falling into the space between the back and front seats.
"What the hell?!" Mr. Wesley yelled. The car swerved wildly as he turned to look at the intruder. When he saw the Doctor, his bloodshot eyes widened. "How the—?!" He snapped back when the car hit a rut and almost went off the road.
The Doctor, breathing heavily, picked himself up and tried to move to the passenger seat. Mr. Wesley reached wildly for something at his feet. After fighting the wind and one of Mr. Wesley's flailing arms, the Doctor managed to get one foot on the slippery leather.
Just then Mr. Wesley pulled his gun out and aimed it at the Doctor's head.
Acting on instinct, the Doctor flung his arm out with a deafening "HAI!" knocking the gun onto the back seat.
Growling with fury, Mr. Wesley took both hands off the wheel and tried to reach the gun. His elbow hit the wheel, causing the car to twist violently to the right.
In the split second before the car hit the ditch, the Doctor grabbed the man roughly by his jacket and pulled him bodily out of the car and into the air. For a moment they soared upward, the car moving inexplicably beneath them. Mr. Wesley suddenly seemed to realize what was happening to him and his mouth opened in a scream.
He didn't get the chance. The Doctor yanked him to the side and they fell together several yards away from the vehicle. They tumbled to a stop in the long heather.
The instant he fell out of the Doctor's grasp, Mr. Wesley crawled away, panting hard. "What was that? I don't—how did you—"
The Doctor, who was beyond words at this point, got unsteadily to his feet and approached the man. He shrunk away in fear. "What are you? How did you do that?" he questioned shrilly.
The Doctor responded by delivering a sharp blow to the man's shoulder, knocking him unconscious.
He drew back and leaned over, resting his hands on his knees. He took in a long, long, deep breath.
It was done. Oh god it was over.
Bessie soon pulled up beside the crushed remains of the Duke's car. The Brigadier hopped out, followed quickly by Sgt. Benton and Jo. They hurried quickly over to where the Doctor stood, gasping for breath. Behind them the other UNIT jeeps finally arrived, and the slim figure of Captain Yates as well as an arsenal of other UNIT soldiers poured out of the canvas trucks.
The Brigadier was all business. He shouted orders to Benton, Yates, and the other soldiers and soon Tom Wesley was handcuffed and carried into the back of one of the trucks, to be monitored the entire trip back to UNIT HQ. For someone who was usually quite bombastic, the Doctor could only stare mutely at the busy seen in front of him.
Jo approached him and stood beside him in silence, watching the proceedings. They were both coming off their adrenaline high, but there was more to it than that. There was a sad finality about the whole business. The Doctor knew what it meant. The fairy tale was over and now he needed to face the consequences.
The Brigadier jogged up to the odd couple and informed them that they'd better be getting on, then. Indeed, the faint red streaks of dawn were beginning to light up the night sky.
The Doctor didn't want to go back to his old life. Here he was useful. He was a force for good. Like he had been, before everything changed. But how could they accept him, after everything he had done? And they didn't even know…
He walked, still in silence, back towards the line of vehicles. He watched the people, the humans, go about whatever they needed to do. And he resigned himself to whatever fate they had in store for him.
I'm sure that somewhere it's been clinically proven that you can knock someone out by hitting them on the shoulder. At least, I hope so.