"Wait, Tess, you can't leave. You may not make it back to us," Miss Peregrine attempted to grab the arm of the young girl as she made her way out of the vicinity of the TARDIS. Tess, however, knew she would blame herself forever if she did not at least try to save Millard and the Doctor.
"Don't worry about me, Miss P, I'll be fine. I'm more worried about Millard and the Doctor." Miss Peregrine acknowledged Tess's desire to save them, as she knew that saving Millard would mean a lot to herself as well. Although Miss Peregrine felt terrible letting her go, she knew she had to go, for she would never forgive herself if anything happened to one of her wards.
With a strong smile of support, Miss Peregrine said to Tess, "Be strong, Grand Duchess. You really were born to be royalty." And with that, she closed the blue doors of the space ship, leaving Tess standing in a darkly lit room, with only a few candles lit to light her way. Within minutes, the TARDIS lit up, blazing blue lights giving off shadows across the dark walls.
Now Tess was utterly alone. She had made her choice. Not that she regretted it, of course. She knew that it wasn't her who was supposed to survive, but the doctor. Hearing the voices of the Wights and Jenny clambering through the air from across the way, Tess took to a nearby rusty old desk that was conveniently positioned in the room, and, as fast as she could, climbed under it. Although the antique desk was covered with large amounts of dust from top to bottom, Tess figured that being under it was a lot better than being discovered by her enemies. Once safely underneath, she heard the footsteps of heals clicking and clanking on wood, which could only be Jenny, accompanied by what seemed to be the struggling footsteps of prisoners.
"Let go of me, you little demons!" It was the doctor. So he was still alive after all. And still complaining, as usual.
"Ha, that's not going to happen. You let the girl and the children escape, and do you know what that means for you?"
"Um, not really, because I didn't 'let her escape,' as you put it. She does have a mind of her own," The Doctor retorted sarcastically. "And as for the children, well, they are indeed a peculiar sort, aren't they? And besides, what do you need Tess now for? You've gotten what you wanted." The doctor looked at them in a confused manner. Jenny then laughed at the ignorance expressed on her father's face.
"Dad," she smirked, "Did you really think we were just after these children? There are a thousand of those monstrous children hidden all over the world in various time loops," she yelled, pointed a shaking finger at Millard, who was tied up next to the Doctor. Although he was invisible, the Wights apparently had some sort of technology that could detect his whereabouts. "If we lose the girl, we cannot get into the other loops to find the other children." Jenny finished.
She had changed a lot since the last time the Doctor had seen her, although he had known her for such a short time anyhow. At their first encounter, Jenny seemed so naïve and bubbly, eager to learn about the new world she had been introduced to. Now, however, as the doctor looked upon her face, he felt as if he saw nothing more than a stranger who desired nothing more than to destroy him.
Just then, Jenny began to occupy herself by rummaging through her left pocket, trying desperately to find what she was searching for. Tess, from under the desk, could see the confused face of the doctor as he watched his daughter. After a few seconds, it appeared that the doctor's daughter had found what she was looking for, and pulled it out of her pocket, causing many faces to look in horror at what she held in her small, nimble hand. Jenny held the small device in her hand, and pointed it right at Millard and the doctor, cocking the silver gun.
"Now, tell me where Tess is, and we'll be on our way. And please don't make this any harder than it has to be, I don't really have too much time to kill you."
"Jenny, why would you do this?" the doctor asked, completely aghast. "You don't need to do this, you're a good person, one with morals and a conscience." The doctor attempted to ease his daughter, knowing that any moment, she could pull that trigger, ending their lives. Funny, he thought to himself, it was the second time that day that he had a gun pointed at him.
Jenny, clearly tired of waiting, held the gun more firmly at her father and Millard, ready to fire. Tess was plastered to the floor in fear, watching the events transpire before her eyes. She knew that any second, the doctor and Millard could take their last breaths. She couldn't let them die for her, not when she was supposed to have died long ago. With courage in her heart, she sucked in one large breath of air, filling her lungs for what she feared would be the last time. Shakily, she pushed herself up from the raggedy desk, and stepped out in view of Jenny and the Wights.
"Don't you dare touch them, Jenny," Tess spoke, appearing to scold Jenny as if she were nothing more than a child. However, Jenny did not seem to care much. Her face lit up in a malicious smile, knowing that she had gotten what she wanted.
"Ah, come here, Grand Duchess, and join your new family," Jenny stretched out her arms to Tess, as if welcoming her into them. Tess, however, did not dare inch any closer to her.
"I'm not going anywhere with you. You're a psychopath. How could you try to kill your own father, as well as innocent children?" Tess asked in horror. However, she assumed she had already known the answer. Jenny would do whatever was necessary to please the monsters who saved her from the woods those many years ago, the Wights. She probably felt that she owned them her life, and would do whatever was asked of her to fulfill that debt.
"You, know, you can say no, if you want, Jenny." Jenny looked at Tess, slightly puzzled.
"I'm not sure what you mean, dear." She put on a fake façade, trying with much effort to real Tess into her trap.
"I know that you are only doing this to please the Wights. You don't really want to hurt innocent people. You feel that this is the only way to repay them for saving you, for being there for you, when nobody else was." It appeared that Tess had struck some sort of cord, as Jenny seemed to be taken aback.
"You don't know the first thing about gratitude, Grand Duchess. One can never be fully clear of debts in life. Therefore, you do their bidding to honor the ones who helped you in a time of great need." It seemed as if all of Jenny's malicious intents had washed away with a few words, words that seemed to unearth the true humility she felt inside. Tess wondered that, if she could keep her talking long enough, that she might be able to convince Jenny to let the doctor and Millard go.
"Maybe not," Tess replied, "but I do know that there's a difference between being thankful for someone's help, and throwing away your reputation for them because they helped you. You're better than this, Jenny. Although I didn't know you before, I can see it. You could use your genetics for good, to save the world. Not for all this." She lifted her hands up around her to show the doctor's daughter just what she had done. Attempted to capture and kill innocent children, and furthermore, attempting to kill he own father. Jenny began to wonder what it was all for. Other than saving her life, what else had the Wights done for her? Although they did make her their leader, she was really nothing more than their puppet; when she pulled too far on the strings, she knew they would pull her back. And they might not be so kind to her then.
For what seemed an eternity, Jenny stood there, frozen as solid as ice, unaware of what she should do next. She knew Tess was right, and there was no way around the truth. The moment Jenny acted against the Wight's favor, she would be obliterated. But there was nowhere else to go, nowhere else to find shelter. Surely her father would not take her in, after all the trouble she had caused here. However, she knew, as one of the last time lords of Gallifrey, that she had to do something good, something kind for humanity. Staring blankly into space, Jenny dropped the silver pistol; its hard metal body making a loud thud as it hit the ground.
Tess looked at her strangely, wondering what her motives could be. However, the last word Tess heard Jenny utter was "run," for after that, she turned and dashed into the vicinity of the Wights, crashing into the lot of them. It all happened in the blink of an eye, but Tess somehow realized what was happening. Jenny was giving herself up to save them.
A new energy overcame Tess at that moment, as she saw Jenny's body being torn apart by the Wights. The monsters ripped and tore at her flesh until there was nothing more of the young girl but torn limbs dripping with blood. Tess knew then that they would have to move quickly if they were going to make it out alive. She ran to the doctor and Millard's aid, unraveling their bodies from the tight ropes that bound them. After a few seconds, however, she seemed to have gotten them free, and ushered for them to follow suit.
"Come on! Hurry, they're getting closer!" Tess panicked, noticing that, as the Wights had finally finished with Jenny's now demolished body, they were now advancing towards the doctor, Millard, and herself. The trio ran as far as their feet would carry them, absent-mindedly dashing into the blinding darkness that enveloped them. It wouldn't be long before the Wights had them in their grasp, as they neared their heels as if they were large animals attempting to bite at them.
It wasn't long before they had made their way outside of the large mansion, hopeful that they would be able to find the TARDIS somewhere close by.
"Accio TARDIS!" Millard yelled out into the dark cool air. At this, both the doctor and Tess gave the invisible boy strange looks, although it was hard to tell exactly where he was standing. However, Millard was able to see the expressions clearly on their faces. "What? It worked for Harry Potter." The doctor, ignoring the invisible boy's attempts, then pulled out his sonic screwdriver, pressing a multitude of buttons that allowed it to glow a blazing blue.
Within moments after the screwdriver lit up, they all heard a loud whooshing sound rumbling through the air, a sound that could only mean one thing. The TARDIS was coming. Their hearts filled with a sense of hope as the blue police box materialized before them in the dark of the cold, bleak night. Next, out the front door of the blue box popped out Emma, Jacob, and Miss Peregrine, a look of both surprise and joy as they ran to embrace Tess, Millard and the doctor.
"We can't believe you made it! We were so worried about you!" Emma squealed, unable to contain her excitement. However, the reunion was cut quite short, as the grim sounds of the Wight's growls could be heard from behind them all.
"Quick, get inside, all of you," Miss Peregrine's face twisted in fright as she laid her eyes upon the gruesome creatures. With much haste, the six of them piled into the TARDIS, the doctor kicking its motor into gear, and they were gone. They had successfully left 1940s Wales. However, it was not the end, for there were still unresolved matters at hand.
Tess, taking note of the look of frustration etched across the doctor's faced, knew what was coming next. She knew she would be leaving soon. And not just the TARDIS.
"Doctor," she spoke in a cautious voice. "Where are we going now?" The doctor turned to face his companion, his eyes looking as if they were near tears.
"I think you know very well were we are going, Miss Romanov." And with that, all her questions were confirmed. He was taking her back to Russia, 1918. The place where she was supposed to have died.
"I'm sorry, Tess, I'm so sorry, but it has to happen, if the space time continuum is to be restored. Not to mention that, if you don't do this, the peculiar children's loop cannot be repaired, and they will die." Tess took in a long, shaky breath. But she wasn't scared. She knew what she had to do to save the world, and in a way, she sort of wanted to help. In all her life, which she now realized, wasn't real, she had never gotten the chance to do something as monumental as this, ever. Now, however, she could.
"Well, let's get this over with then," she then said. The doctor pressed and pulled an array of buttons and levers, and he and his company were swirling through the fragments of time and space. Even though she knew she was going to die, Tess was at least glad that she was able to experience all this.
BANG! The TARDIS suddenly crashed into a dark, grey room caked in dust. Tess opened the door and looked out. Although she couldn't remember exactly where, she knew she had seen this place before, somehow. Putting one foot slowly in front of another as if in a daze, the young girl slowly stepped out of the blue police box, entering what would be known in history as the scene of her death. She turned around, one last time, to see the faces of the doctor, Emma, Jacob, Miss Peregrine, and all the others.
"Good-bye, guys. It's been fun." And with that, she turned to face her death. At that moment, the doctor desperately wished that he could do something, change the course of history, something.
"GAH!" He yelled in frustration. "There must be another way!" It all happened at once. The doctor, in a state of rage, ran after Tess, while attempting to fight off Miss Peregrine's restraints.
"You can't! It cannot happen this way, doctor!"
"But I-I have to! I have to try to save her! I always save them!"
Miss Peregrine then grabbed him fiercely, pulling him to view her grey, old eyes.
"You may be a time lord, but you can't change the course of history. I know it is hard, but we can't save everyone. Believe me, I've tried. But, what I can do is look on to the present, and save the people that I can. That's all we can ever do." And with that, Miss Peregrine ushered him back inside the TARDIS, hearing Russian soldiers sputtering various commands. The doctor hurried in trying to get Miss Peregrine and her refugees out before they were seen, and that was when he heard it—the shot and the blood curding scream—the end of Tess Romanov. The doctor's eyes filled with angry tears as he pushed the lever that would send them home.
Back in 1940s Wales, everything was back to how the children knew it to be—a safe loop, no danger, and no Wights. The doctor watched on as the children ran around their backyard playing cricket, no threat of any monstrous creatures to worry their little heads about. Despite his disposition, he smiled. At least he was able to save someone.
"So, you'll be on your way soon, I presume?" It was Miss Peregrine. The old lady had had her share of adventures for today and for a life time, and found that it would be best if the doctor were on his way. The doctored nodded in agreement.
"I believe so, as my work is done here." He began to saunter off back to his TARDIS without another syllable, when Miss Peregrine put her hand on his shoulder, turning him around to face her.
"I'm sorry about Tess, doctor. But if it makes any difference at all, you did save quite a few precious lives today." She looked off into the distance at the children playing, wondering what could have become of their young lives without the doctor.
"You're welcome, Miss Peregrine," he retorted. "Just don't forget that Tess helped save them. It wasn't all me." She smiled at him then, as if to say silently that she would not forget. The doctor then waved his hand into the air, saying good-bye to all the children and Miss Peregrine, before he set off in his blue box once again, wondering what glorious and terrifying adventures he would get himself mixed up in this time.