Chapter Six: the Valeyard
"The Valeyard?" the Last Doctor asked. "That explains it. I'm incomplete."
It was the Eleventh Doctor who spoke up. "Okay, someone's going to ask the question. River? No, not you. You already know."
"Do I?" River asked.
The Eleventh Doctor paused. "You said you did?"
River smirked. "Do you think this is where I find out?"
"Right. Okay. Ummmm, Luke. You're smart. You can ask."
"And they called me a ninny," the Second Doctor muttered. "I should ask the question."
"But you know . . . Oh, right. I should ask the question. Well, Old Man?"
"What?" Jack asked
"Wrong question?"
The Sixth Doctor said, in an annoyed tone, "No. No. No. It is the right question. It just on the wrong subject."
"No," the Eighth Doctor said, his arm around Grace. "It's the right subject. He just needs more information. Either that, or he needs to analyze the information he already has." He looked at Jack. "You do know that we are all the same person. At different points in time."
The Third Doctor put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "We, Jack. And you are the youngest." He smiled as he glanced at the Eleventh Doctor. "What is the word your special other uses?"
"Spoilers," River answered reaching out for her Doctor's hand.
"We're your entire future, Jack," the Seventh Doctor said. "And so is the Valeyard."
"I have it," the Twelfth Doctor said. "He's Darth Vader to your Luke Skywalker. Except he's not Luke's father. He's his twin brother."
"What?" Jack asked again.
The Second Doctor raised his hand. "I was the first to see that movie. When they remade it into 3D."
Sarah had to giggle. Jamie, the Scotsman, was nodding his head at the memory.
"Jekyll and Hyde," the Fourth Doctor stated. "It was one of the first earth books I read."
"I read that, too," Jack said. He then paused.
"Jack?" Sarah asked, "What is it?"
He turned to her, a strange look on his face. "Sarah, he remembers me reading that book."
"But how can he re . . . " Sarah stopped. "Wait. You didn't read that book. I remember. You were in my room. I was showing you my library. All you did was flip through the pages. You didn't read any of those books."
"Yes, I did."
"You can read a book by flipping through the pages?" Surprise, awe and then anger swept through Sarah as Jack nodded his head. She hit him. Hard. "YOU READ MY DIARY."
"I didn't know what it was."
"THAT DOESN'T MATTER."
"Especially not the page with the heart," the Twelfth Doctor noted.
"WH . . . A . . . t?"
"Yes," the Seventh Doctor said joyfully, "the heart."
Sarah looked around. All the Doctors had grins. Her voice became small.
"what?"
"Sarah." Jack's voice sounded tense. She turned to look at him. He grabbed her arms and pulled her forward. His kissed her. On the lips. It was embarrassing, she thought. It was demeaning, she thought. And, once he let go, she thought, 'it was too short'.
"I . . . I just wanted . . . wanted to say . . ." he then rushed out, "thefeelingismutual."
Sarah was glancing at the Doctors. Jack said that their grins were probably from remembering.
She understood what Jack was coming to terms with. All the Doctors kept saying it. They were the same person. She had a flash of incite. She had known they were the same. Now, she also understood. Each of them was Jack. Each an older version of the one before. "How old are . . ." She couldn't think of who to ask.
"Oh, one hundred and fifty," the Second Doctor said.
"Four fifty," the Fourth Doctor noted.
"Nine hundred and seven," the Tenth Doctor answered with his toothy grin. They were all smiling at her.
"Jack?"
"Oh. I'm almost twenty. We don't age as fast as humans."
"That's not what I meant."
Suddenly, they were both laughing. She calmed herself with difficulty. "I wanted to ask if that means you're also this Valeyard."
Jack's eyes sharpened. He abruptly turned to the Twelfth Doctor. "Who is the Valeyard?"
"I'll tell you after the interruption. You see, I broke your memory lock. I'm also remembering this." He turned to the Last Doctor. "That's why I immediately had myself frozen. Otherwise, I might have mucked things up even more." The door to his Tardis opened. He smiled at Sarah. "You're going to love this."
A man stepped out, wearing a modern army uniform. Sarah recognized it. She recognized the markings. It was her father's battalion. She looked at the Twelfth Doctor. The man nodded his head.
The uniformed man asked if he was too early, and smiled when told it didn't matter. He looked at all the people now staring at him, grinning broadly when he spotted Sarah. He stuck his head inside the door and said she was here. The someone inside must have said something because the man said it didn't matter. He added that the Doctor said it didn't matter. Then he stepped out of the way. Still looking at the door, the man raised his hand and pointed.
Sarah was afraid. The fear that she might not have understood properly. Yet, the man was pointing at her. And another man stepped out of the Tardis. He was dressed in ordinary clothes. (Someone was saying this was fantastic.) The face looked older than she remembered. But she did remember him.
"FATHER."
All she knew was that everyone cleared a path for her as she ran into his arms. She kept repeating, "They told me . . . They told me . . ." without ever saying what they told her. He was hugging her, telling her that he knew. As for all the others, they could have been cheering or yelling at her or standing silently to watch. She had no idea. She finally raised her head and asked how.
"Stupid, really. The men in charge bodged the details. Sam and I were lying in a hole in the ground with a couple of others when the Tardis appeared. Man yelled to get in, that a shell was on its way. We heard the whizz and ran." He cupped her chin. "It's bigger on the inside, you know."
"I do," Sarah answered. The smile refused to leave her face.
"That was four years ago, daughter." He was not smiling. "I can't go home. Fixed points of time, or so I'm told. And so we traveled. And waited. For this moment."
"But if you can't go home, then . . ." Sarah stopped speaking as she remembered. Sarah Jane was named after her grandfather's older sister. The one who disappeared. "I can't go home, either?"
"Your mother knows. I was able to send her a message. I received a reply. She told me to take care of you. She'll miss you. She misses me. By the way, the holster goes well with that outfit."
He was hugging her again. She wasn't smiling. She had her father but she would never see the rest of her family again. She wasn't sad but she wasn't happy. She knew it would take time to come to terms with all of this. She also knew that she would have chosen this, if the choice was hers. Her father was alive.
"Is that why you let me stay?" It was the voice of Sarah Jane. Sarah knew who she was talking to. The expected voice replied, "I saw the resemblance at once. My curiosity demanded I find out who you were. I'm very proud of my curiosity."
Sarah looked at her brother's granddaughter. They shared a smile. Sarah Jane had the chance to meet her great-grandfather. Sarah Jane's eyes shifted to one side. She turned back to Sarah and gave a nod in that direction. Jack was walking toward them. Reluctantly. River was pushing him forward. As they came close, River commented that he never liked meeting the girl's parents.
Sarah reached out and grabbed Jack's hand, telling him it wasn't the end of the world. She then introduced her father. She started to introduce Jack but she stopped. A voice in the back of her head said she had been doing that a great many times.
"Jack, I don't know your name. Your real name, I mean." Jack looked at her. He was looking through her. He pulled on her arm, causing her to let go of her father and step toward him. He closed the remaining distance and whispered into her ear. She nodded.
"Father, this is Jack. For now." She smiled, her eyes glancing over the various Doctors. They knew what was whispered. That Jack couldn't tell her. And she knew that all their companions would think he did. "The things they must say about you."
It was the soldier who spoke. "I've heard it all. I liked what that schoolboy said. 'He's fire and rage."
"He's the Oncoming Storm," Rose added.
"He is the Reckoning," Teela said, "he is the Night."
"He's the Fountain of Hope." That was Grace.
"He is the storm at the heart of the sun." Adric was looking with pride at Jack when he said that.
"He is ancient and forever." Jamie noted.
"He burns at the center of time," River was saying, "and he can see the turn of the universe." She was smiling. "He copied that into his diary."
"You read my diary?" The Eleventh Doctor asked.
"I read that part, too," the soldier commented.
"He is humble and proud, all in one breath" Sarah Jane said.
"He's wonderful."
Sarah looked up as her father said those words.
"I've spent four years with him, Sarah. I know your young man very well. That is why I'm here." He was grinning at her. "You're not going to leave him. We both, no, we three know that. Even though you're only fifteen. And, you, young man. I will make sure you always treat my daughter properly or I will throw you out of your own Tardis. Understood."
"Yes, Sir," Jack answered. He was grinning again.
"THAT'S IT," The Sixth Doctor shouted with exclamation. "FIXED POINTS IN TIME. And no, Peri. I'm yelling for effect."
"Of course," the Third Doctor said, "Sarah Jane, your great-grandfather was a fixed point in time. He died. He died with his comrades."
"But he's here," Rose said, turning to the Ninth Doctor.
"And that created a fissure in time."
The Fourth Doctor was laughing. He turned to Sarah. "The result of saving your father was that I created the Valeyard. The fissure occurs at my last regeneration."
"My thoughts exactly," the Seventh Doctor said. "The fissure is the Valeyard. Except . . . I don't remember what happens next. I've remembered everything else."
"You weren't here," Jack said. His voice was different. "It's time for all of you to leave." He looked around. "Hmmm? Well, go on." His voice became stern. "And you won't remember. I'll make sure of that."
"He can do that?" River asked of her Doctor.
"Mental Block. It's child's play. Especially if you've read . . . uh, which I did when I was eighteen."
"Then you'll never know if he succeeds?"
"I will," the Last Doctor answered. "And the Old Man will. It hasn't happened yet for either of us."
"Good luck," the Twelfth Doctor said. He turned to the soldier, "Sam, any place in particular?"
"That place we left? The girl seemed interested in me."
They both laughed and entered their Tardis. They were the first to go.
The Second Doctor walked up to Sarah and wished her the best of luck. When Sarah asked if he knew what would happen to her, he smiled.
"I know when I think about it. It was part of my old life. And I won't tell you."
With that, he and Jamie went to their own Tardis. The Fourth Doctor handed her a small bag, saying it was a goodbye gift. She reached in and pulled out an unfamiliar confection. Her father whispered that they were called Peace Babies. He tried some when he was in London around 1938. They were very good. Sarah tried one and agreed.
Adric came up to say goodbye to Jack. "It isn't really goodbye though," he laughed. He turned and ran to the Tardis where the Fifth Doctor was waiting. The man flashed a grin, then followed Adric inside. Then they were gone.
Most goodbyes were swift. Donna and her Doctor waved goodbye, as did Grace and hers. The Sixth Doctor asked for a Jelly Baby. Just before he popped it into his mouth he mentioned that they changed the name in 1953.
At last it was down to the Dandy Doctor and the Bow Tie Doctor.
"Bow Ties are cool."
The other Doctor tugged at his orange bow tie. "I wouldn't say cool, but I agree with the sentiment. Good luck to you and your father, Sarah. And I promise to take good care of your niece."
Sarah Jane smiled and gave her a hug. She turned and grabbed Luke, giving him a hug as well. She told him he did a great job stopping the robots. Luke smiled and told her that his mother taught him how to do that. They were still smiling as they left.
"Do you have a plan?" River asked. "JACK. Do You Have A Plan?"
Jack was startled but smiled when the Doctor said she was always like that.
"You're not helping," she hissed.
The Doctor turned to Jack. "Just keep smiling and say yes."
Jack made his smile bigger and said, to River, "Yes, I do have a plan."
"Ooooh, how I hate the two of you."
"No, you don't," the Doctor said. He put his hand on her shoulder. "It's time to go." He called to Luke.
"Um," Luke said, and turned to Jack. "I know it's all a rush, but . . ." When Jack nodded, he turned to the Doctor. "Tell Clyde and Rani . . . and Sky . . ."
"I'll tell them," the Doctor said. With a smile that was a bit too large he said, "River."
Jack was smiling. Sarah couldn't help but join in. She also had to ask if they were married. Jack said he didn't know. The Last Doctor said it was complicated. "We kept meeting in the wrong order." He paused. "I assure you. It was, will be, more fun than it sounds."
There were only five left. Jack suggested to the elder Smith that he take his daughter and Luke into his Tardis. He would join them shortly. Sarah refused.
"I came with you all this way." She slapped the holster. "You might need help."
"I'm not leaving you alone with my daughter," Arthur Smith said with humor. "For your sake, not hers."
"I want to see what happens," Luke insisted. "Besides, the door's locked. Again."
"She likes to do that," Jack said. "She'll give me a key, eventually. Until then, just ask politely."
Sarah laughed. "You talk about the Tardis as though it was a real person."
"Yes. I do," Jack answered. He turned to the Last Doctor. "As I understand it, when you regenerated, you didn't become one Doctor. You became two. Two incomplete Doctors."
"So it appears," the Last Doctor agreed. "Do you understand what you have to do? And why it has to be you."
"I have to undo your regeneration. And I can do that because I haven't regenerated yet."
Sarah stared in surprise. Jack was smiling again. His 'I know and you don't' smile. But then he explained as the Doctor sat down on the dias and Jack put his hands on either side of the man's head.
The problem was not with undoing the regeneration. It wasn't actually complete. The problem was what to do with the material. It needed a bio-compatible form to keep it from dissipating. That was what Jack would do. He would reverse the effect of the regeneration, reducing the Last Doctor to, for lack of proper words, Doctor particles. Jack would absorb them until he could come in contact with the Valeyard. Then the regeneration would be completed. The good half and evil half would become the actual Thirteenth Doctor.
"Can you do that?" Sarah asked.
"We're about to find out," The Last Doctor said.
"I am so glad I stayed," Luke was saying. "The dynamic reconstruction will be . . . Um, sorry."
"He is busy," Arthur Smith said to Luke as he put his hand on the young man's shoulder.
Jack's hands were on the Doctor's temple and the man was becoming transparent while a golden dust seemed to come off his body.
Sarah frowned. Words that River had spoken came to her mind. She spoke them out loud before she realized it.
"It's too easy."
"What?" Jack said idly.
"All of this. Fighting the robots. Freeing the Doctors. Figuring out the solution. The Valeyard not even making an appearance now that the end has come. It's as though he's waiting."
As Jack lowered his head into the gold cloud that swarmed between his hands, Luke assured Sarah, "the Valeyard doesn't know what Jack is doing."
Jack jerked his head back out. "HE KNOWS WHAT I SHOULD DO." He turned his head up and looked at Luke. "I could use your help."