A/N: Ah you're all so lovely with your reviews! You rock, thanks a lot :D
Chapter 25 - "So Many Good byes..."
They'd managed to stop the anaphylaxis and get his hearts going but he was bleeding copiously again, the bed and him absolutely soaked in his blood. He was gasping out for help in a way Rose had never heard him do before, not even during labour. His tears of pain were mixing with his blood and dribbling off his chin. His entire body was shaking around as he gargled and cried out in complete agony. Ulysses was stood in the corner of the room, gazing at the situation in front of him with watery eyes.
"Insect in the middle of a brain, does anyone have a bright idea?" Martha almost pleaded, looking around.
"There's gotta be somethin'!" Rose sobbed. "Anythin', please, someone!" She looked at Penelope. "Is there somethin' high-tech? Please say there's somethin' in here!"
Penelope swallowed, struggling to hold back her tears now at the sight of Theta lying there crying out for help desperately. "I... I don't... No. No... There isn't."
"Jack?" Rose wailed.
"Hold on, just... let me think!" Jack said quickly, whacking his head to propel his thoughts. Then suddenly he snapped up his head, realisation on his face. "Singularity Scalpel," he muttered.
Rose watched as Martha looked at Jack with wide eyes.
"But... Owen was the only one who could really use it... Rhys did it on a fluke..."
"Have you got any better ideas?" Jack challenged seriously.
Martha had nothing to say to that.
"Get the Singularity Scalpel," Jack ordered her, and she was off in a shot. He then turned to Rose and Penelope. "This is all I've got and if it doesn't work..."
He didn't need to finish the end of that sentence.
Martha ran out into the corridor, heading straight to the alien artefact cupboard in Torchwood. She absolutely pelted down the TARDIS corridor with her heart in her throat, going so fast she almost mowed down Alex coming the other way.
"Alex!" she shrieked, stumbling to avoid him... Then she realised he was panting as though he'd sprinted, and he was holding... the singularity scalpel. He held it up to her, his lip wobbling.
"Thank you!" she yelled. How could he have known to get that before even Jack did? She took it and ran back down the corridor to the infirmary. She burst in, and everyone looked surprised at her entrance.
"Your son is a bloody genius, Rose," she said seriously, running to give Jack the singularity scalpel.
He looked over it for a moment, and quickly realised the twisty things and buttons made absolutely no sense to him whatsoever. "I can't," he realised, his heart sinking like a stone. For a moment he had thought he could blag it, make things up as he went along, work it out... but he really, really couldn't. He'd probably end up blowing a hole in the Doctor's head...
"What's that? Let me see it," Ulysses suddenly interrupted, striding forward and taking the singularity scalpel from Jack in one swift movement.
"Get the fuck off!" Jack yelled back, all courtesy out the window for this parasite-created hallucination that had been spending the best part of a month torturing his best friend.
"I can use this," Ulysses said suddenly, looking it over. "I can get it out."
"Why the hell would you do that?" Rose spat.
"For the same reason I would," Penelope suddenly said, somehow managing to calm everyone with the tone of her voice. "Please, he's not lying. He knows how to use it. He is Theta's only hope."
"But..."
"Rose, we do not have time for this," Penelope told her sternly. "Ulysses was made to do those things, acting as a hallucination according to what Theta thought he might do. The real Ulysses would have never done any of this. The parasite has played on Theta's childhood fears, and now Theta's brain is failing we are not constricted by what he thinks we would do. If you don't trust him, then trust me. Ulysses is Theta's only hope, or he's going to have his brain slowly eaten until he dies, regenerates, and the creatures becomes melded to his next brain and staying in him forever."
Rose swallowed, looking back at the Doctor again.
"Please..." he whimpered, still shaking and jerking, blood pouring out of his nose still. "Please help me, please... Please, it hurts..."
"Okay," she said, stepping back.
Ulysses nodded and began to calibrate the singularity scalpel as Penelope explained.
"The second the parasite is removed, we will disappear, so Jack, you will need to catch the scalpel. Put him to sleep now, and keep him under until he falls into healing coma. Let him wake up of his own accord, test his brain activity, specifically memory recall, motor and autonomic functions. Let him rest for a few days."
Martha nodded, moving to get the sedation.
"No," a voice suddenly croaked from the bed.
"What is it?" Rose asked, taking the Doctor's bloody, shaking hand.
"I won't let you, Mum. Don't take it out."
Everyone looked at the Doctor, shocked.
"Theta..." Penelope began gently.
"No, Mum."
"I cannot stay here, Theta. You know the consequences."
"But... Mum..."
"Theta." She took his hands, looking at him. He stared at the ground, so she took his chin in her hand and raised his head to look at her. "I understand, really, I do. But I am the side effect of a deadly parasite, created by your memories of your mother. I am not your mother, she has been dead for a very long time, but standing here as I am now as you have remembered her, perhaps I am her. And as your mother, I am telling you to accept this. The Universe needs you, Theta. I am not worth your death. Please understand that it was never my intention to leave you, and I do not think you would ever intend to leave your family, Theta. Because that would not be the son I know."
"I know," the Doctor croaked, tear tracks down his face.
She smiled gently, taking both his hands and maintaining her gaze. He was still bleeding, still spasming, utterly and complete helpless.
"Oh, Theta. Look at you. You have the most beautiful family, and great friends who stick by you until the end. The way you travel the Universe and fight for what is right – you have made so many people happy. You are a hero. Perhaps I am not your real mother, but the love I feel for you and your little family is real. I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that she would be proud of everything you have done... And everything you have yet to do."
"But how can I let you die again?" the Doctor asked in a whisper. "How can I be your killer again? How can I just sit here and pretend everything's okay? Because it's not, Mum. It's not." He paused to swallow down his emotions, barely able to get the words out. "I didn't even realise how much I missed you until you came back. And now that you're here... Everything's perfect. And... And I want you to be there for Leah and Alex, I want you to live with us, I want you to... To stay. This... It just isn't fair. Why did it have to create you? Anyone else, I could deal with, but not you."
She gazed at him for a moment longer, smiling sadly. "For that very reason, Theta."
He just nodded. He knew all this... But that didn't mean he could accept it any easier.
"Please don't dwell in the Time War," Penelope continued softly. "I have forgiven you, Theta. It's time you forgave yourself too."
"But I killed you," the Doctor sobbed.
"I don't care," Penelope said, clutching so hard onto his hand. "And I think, in a way, deep down inside your hearts, you are glad you destroyed Gallifrey. Because without that you would have never met Rose. You wouldn't have Leah and Alex. And Leah, she's so beautiful, so resourceful and kind, and Alex may not be talking yet but he is even cleverer than his Daddy."
She looked around at the entire group gathered around, listening to her, and smiled before looking back at Theta. "Your father and I may be dead, Theta, but you don't need us here. You have a new family here, a family who have taken you in to their little planet, rushing at the drop of a pin to help you when you need them. Because they all love you for who you are. While these other humans scream and scatter at the mention of aliens, they choose to live with one and treat him as an equal. And that is you, Theta. That is you, and no one else."
The Doctor choked a tear, staring up at her.
"Don't cry because it's over, Theta," his mother said with a gentle smile. "Smile because it happened. And perhaps... You would care for one last conversation with your father?"
The Doctor's eyes flickered to the foot of the bed, and saw the man himself holding the singularity scalpel in both hands.
"Theta," he began. "I... I may not be your father, but I am sure he would never have done what I did. We are figments of your memories acting how you would think we'd act, enhanced by the parasite. So now I am going to say what your brain is already telling you. Your father was never a bad person. He would never have done this. He only ever wanted to see you grow up to be strong. And now I can see that he succeeded with flying colours. Although you never talked to him towards the end perhaps you can take solace in that you have talked to me now, and perhaps you have learnt that there was always a different perspective. Never lose that courage, my boy. Fight and stay strong, and have a fantastic life."
The Doctor looked between them. His hearts aching badly. He took a breath, and looked at Martha. "Okay, do it."
She nodded, moving forward with a needle filled with sedative in her hand. The Doctor laid down flat on the bed, maintaining a firm grip on his mum's hand. She just leant forward, and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"I love you, Theta," she said gently.
"I love you too, Mum," he replied, then looked at his father. "You too... Dad."
Ulysses smiled at that. He didn't say a word, simply leaning forward to kiss his son on the forehead too. Then Penelope nodded to Martha, who pressed the trigger on the needle gun, and it fired. It took a few seconds to kick in, the Doctor still holding his Mum's hand as tightly as he could, before his eyes flickered closed and finally his pained expression evened out into nothing.
"Thank you," Rose suddenly said, looking at Ulysses and Penelope.
"You're welcome, Rose," Penelope said gently, smiling through teary eyes. "You take good care of him."
"I will."
Ulysses looked between them, and Penelope nodded. "Activating in three, two, one..."
He pressed the button, and he and Penelope vanished. Jack caught the singularity scalpel as it dropped, and suddenly all was silent. The Doctor had stopped spasming.
Martha jumped forward first, checking his heartsbeat and pulse. "He's alive," she whispered. "Rose, can you get some towels?"
Rose nodded numbly, and ran off across the infirmary. Jack helped Martha turned him on his side to stop him choking on his own blood.
"He's still bleeding," Jack muttered.
"It'll clot," Martha assured him. "But we need some blood bags of his, he's lost a lot."
"I'll get 'em," he said, and ran off as Rose came back. She and Martha placed the towels under and around his head to catch the blood, dabbing at his nose carefully.
"Can't believe I doubted him," Rose muttered.
"It was hardly your fault," Martha said.
"I thought he was going insane. I... I was scared of him. Scared that he might hurt Leah or Alex. God, I've been so stupid..."
"Ulysses was really manipulative, Rose," Martha told her. "You were taken in by the best. You can't blame yourself for this."
"But he's gonna be absolutely wrecked when he wakes up," Rose murmured, trying to wipe the blood out of his hair. "His parents just died again. Oh god, especially his mum. She and him were... Well, he loved her so much."
Martha looked at her. "Rose, whatever he wakes up to, however he feels, I'm sure you can deal with it. Now forget about that – me and Jack will sort out the Doctor. All you need to do is go out that door, thank your son for saving his daddy's life, then you need to go straight to your mum's, find Leah and bring her back home. Okay?"
Rose nodded, and left to do exactly that.