Human nature and the Family of Blood
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Me: Any flashbacks are in italics! *grins*
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Tory looked around the street she had appeared in, it was a quaint street in a quaint village in 1913.
"The date's right…" Tory muttered as she glanced around herself, "but is this the right place?" She closed her eyes as she tried to track down the Doctor using their connection. She received two distinct signals, one weaker than the other and both from the same direction.
Tory sighed, why the Doctor thought it was a good idea to become human and place his Time Lord self into a fob watch was something she would never really understand, even after he told her why he had done it; he was being kind.
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Tory was waiting. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for but she knew she had to wait for it.
She rubbed the spot on her chest, right between her hearts, as she waited. The pain was a constant steady throb whenever she was away from the Doctor. It wasn't something she had planned for, the pain that is, she hadn't known just what the bond she had accidently formed would do to her and she certainly never saw this coming. The only way to end the pain was to stay with the Doctor forever; she was completely dependent on him. She had to stay within telepathic range of the Doctor to stop her TARDIS side causing the pain she was currently going through but Tory was at home while the Doctor was out adventuring somewhere.
Tory was planning to join him eventually but she was worried: what if he didn't want her? She loved him….Tory LOVED him?! When did that happen?!
When the bond had opened sure she'd felt something for him but it hadn't been love, not then. Love was something that Tory had always had issues expressing and too make matters worse she wasn't even sure the Doctor felt the same way! But…maybe she'd be willing to try.
Tory was jerked out of her thoughts as a young blonde boy clutching something gold in his hands appeared before her.
Tory and the boy stared at each other.
"Tory?" he asked hesitantly, like he was remembering her from a dream.
"Yeah…" Tory trailed off as the boy leapt forwards and wrapped his arms around her waist in a hug. Tory just stood in shock as he buried his head into her stomach.
He pulled away just as suddenly as he grabbed on in the first place and latched onto one of her wrists with his empty hand.
"What are you doing?" Tory demanded.
The boy didn't answer and instead placed the golden thing from his hand into hers; it was a pocket watch with Gallifreyan writing on it.
The moment the watch touched the bare skin on her palm her link to the Doctor blasted wide open.
"Doctor?" she whispered, staring at the watch in wonder.
"He put himself in the watch." The boy, who Tory now knew as Timothy, explained.
"Yeah," Tory agreed quietly, tracing her fingers over the engravings on the watch, "He was being kind."
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When Tory woke up she was sitting on the floor in her bedroom beside the bookcase, the cookbook she had being reading lying open and upside down beside her thigh.
She picked the book up and closed it before placing it back on the ground.
Whatever she had just being through was no dream, she knew that much; the pain in her chest had faded enough to prove that He had been there even in just a mental sense.
Tory sighed and leant her head back against the wall, rubbing the spot between her hearts as it gave an extra strong throb.
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Tory spent more time with Timothy over the next two weeks; Jordan was working in the American division of U.N.I.T. for a month leaving Tory on her own. In her spare time Tory had worked out the reason she and Timothy were meeting in their dreams; it was the mate bond between Tory and the Doctor trying to reassert itself, Timothy's latent psychic ability and a little bit of wibbley-wobbley-Timey-wimey…stuff.
Tory hummed as she moved around the kitchen. She'd just made cupcakes and was clearing up to make room for making the icing when she felt a sudden flash of fear run down her spine coming from the thin but constant bond she had to Timothy.
She dropped the glass bowl she was cleaning into the, thankfully, full sink and clutched at her head.
The panic retreated after barely a moment but Tory still had to wait for nearly half an hour until her body settled down enough for her to use her Meridian Particles to go and find out what was wrong with Timothy and if the Doctor and Martha where in danger.
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Timothy Latimer, the boy who was visiting Tory in her dreams, watched carefully for a chance to sneak passed the older man collecting money at the doors to the village hall; the watch had told him he had to be there tonight. He took his chance as the man turned away and darted through the doors. Timothy hurried inside and hid behind a potted plant as he watched the party guests milling around the hall, getting a drink of beer and chatting easily amongst each other.
Timothy slid into the room carefully and moved over to a table at the back of the hall where he would be hidden from questioning eyes.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer at the front of the hall called, "Please take your partners for a waltz."
Timothy watched as John Smith, who was really the Doctor in human form, and the school nurse, Joan Redfern, moved onto the dance floor. The music started and the couples started to move.
Joan said something and John grinned at her before bumping into another couple.
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Later Joan was sitting at a table watching John as he waited for drinks. Joan smiled at him but it faded as Martha stepped up beside her.
"Please, don't. Not again." Joan begged.
"He's different from any other man you've ever met, right?" Martha ignored her.
"Yes."
"And sometimes he says these strange things," Martha continued earnestly, "like people and places you've never heard of, yeah? But it's deeper than that. Sometimes when you look in his eyes you know; you just know that there's something else in there. Something hidden. Right behind the eyes, something hidden away. In the dark."
"I don't know what you mean, I..." Joan trailed off.
"Yes, you do." Martha insisted, "I don't mean to be rude, but the awful thing is it doesn't even matter what you think. But you're nice. And you're lucky. And I just wanted to say sorry for what I'm about to do."
John walked back over to them, placing his two drinks on the table and giving Martha a disapproving look.
"Oh, now really, Martha. This is getting out of hand. I must insist that you leave." He ordered.
Martha ignored him and held out the sonic screwdriver in her hand.
"Do you know what this is?" she asked him, "Name it. Go on, name it."
"John, what is that silly thing?" Joan questioned, looking between John and the sonic, "John?"
John slowly reached forwards and took the sonic, turning it over in his hands.
"You're not John Smith." Martha insisted gently, "You're called the Doctor. The man in your journal, he's real. He's you."
John stared at the sonic before looking to Martha and opening his mouth to ask a question but he was interrupted as a large man barged into the room, knocking over a hat stand as he did so. The people near him shrieked and tried to move away.
"There will be silence!" he yelled, "All of you!" a boy from the school named Baines and a maid named Jenny walked in followed by what appeared to be an army of scarecrows. "I said silence!"
"Mr Clarke!" the announcer yelled, "What's going on?" the man, Clarke, turned and fired on the announcer with an alien weapon, the announcer dissolved into nothing.
Joan's hand covered her mouth to stop her from screaming.
In his corner Timothy stood up, his fear radiating down the bond to Tory unknowingly.
"Mr Smith, everything I told you, just forget it!" Martha ordered, "Don't say anything."
"We asked for silence!" Baines yelled, "Now then. We have a few questions for Mr Smith."
"No, better than that." A little girl spoke up from behind Martha as she joined Baines, "The teacher. He's the Doctor. I heard them talking."
"You took human form." Baines announced.
"Of course I'm human, I was born human!" John exclaimed, "As were you, Baines. And Jenny, and you, Mr Clarke! What is going on, this is madness!"
"And a human brain, too! Simple, thick and dull." Baines moaned.
"He's no good like this." Jenny hissed.
"We need a Time Lord." Clarke spoke up.
"Easily done." Baines stepped forwards, raising his gun and pointing it at John. The crowd gasped and John recoiled backwards. "Change back." Baines ordered.
"I don't know what you're talking about." John tried to argue.
"Change back!" Baines ordered.
"I literally do not know..." John shouted back.
Jenny moved forwards and grabbed Martha holding her gun to her head, Martha screamed.
"Get off me!" Martha tried to fight her off.
"She's your friend, isn't she?" Jenny demanded, "Doesn't this scare you enough to change back?"
"I don't know what you mean!" John told them desperately not taking his eyes off the weapon held to Martha's head.
"Wait a minute..." Jenny realised something, "The maid told me about Smith and the matron... that woman, there!"
"Let's have you!" Clarke yelled as he grabbed Joan and held his gun to her head.
"Have you enjoyed it, Doctor?" Baines taunted, "Being human? Has it taught you wonderful things, are you better, richer, wiser? Then let's see you answer this. Which one of them do you want us to kill? Maid or matron? Your friend, or your lover? Your choice."
"Lover?!" Tory shrieked from the doorway, "Lover!?" she stormed into the room, seemingly not noticing Maratha and Joan being held hostage, glaring at the body of the Doctor.
"Do I know you?" John asked nervously as Tory got right in his face.
"I don't care if you can't remember me right now but you promised me 'always'." She hissed at him.
"I…I…don't." He stuttered.
Tory glared at him before backing away and making an 'I'm watching you' gesture.
She turned back to the family and glared at them.
"You're very lucky you know."
"And why is that?" the one holding Martha hissed.
"Because I'm just going kill you." She pulled her sonic blaster out from one of her bigger-on-the-inside pockets, "Oh look, mine's bigger." Tory's eyes scanned the room before landing on Timothy and giving him a comforting smile.
Martha, using the distraction, managed to turn the tables on Jenny and held the gun to her head.
"One more move and I shoot." Martha warned.
"Oh, the maid is full of fire!" Baines laughed.
"And you can shut up!" she told him before firing at the ceiling to prove she was serious.
"Careful, Son of Mine." Clarke warned, "This is all for you so that you can live forever."
"Shoot you down!" Baines snarled. Tory lifted her blaster higher.
"I dare you." She hissed at him.
"Would you really pull the trigger?" Baines taunted, "Looks too scared."
"Scared and holding a gun." Martha pointed out, "It's a good combination. You wanna risk it?"
Baines looked over at John before slowly lowering his gun.
"Doctor, get everyone out." Martha ordered, "There's a door at the side. It's over there. Go on!" he stood still looking between Martha, Tory and Baines, "Do it, Mr Smith. I mean you!"
"Do what she said." Joan ordered, "Everybody out now." She moved around the room to push people towards the exit, "Don't argue, Mr Jackson. They're mad. That's all we need to know. Susan, Miss Cooper, outside, all of you!" the villagers ran out screaming.
Timothy moved towards Tory but John intercepted him.
"Move yourself, boy." John ordered, "Back to the school, quickly."
"Oh no!" Tory glared at John over her shoulder, her blaster not moving from Clarke's chest, "Timmy stays with me." Timothy moved to Tory's side as John tried to argue with her.
"He's just a child!" he protested.
"And I will keep him safe better than you will in this state!" Tory snapped.
John stepped away from her as her eyes glowed silver for a moment in her anger.
"Go on." Martha ordered before Tory could really lay into the Doctor, "Just shift."
"What about you?" he asked her; he'd rather talk to the maid he could remember than the woman he couldn't who was making his head hurt.
"Mr Smith, I think you should escort your lady friend to safety, don't you?" Martha shot Tory an apologetic glance.
Joan was already outside leaving just John, Timmy, Tory and the aliens with their scarecrows behind.
John looked between Tory, Martha, Timmy and the door before darting away and outside.
Martha pushed Jenny back at the family and moved to stand beside Tory, both of them pointing their guns at Baines.
"Don't try anything." Martha warned, "I'm warning you, or sonny boy gets it."
"She's almost brave, this one." Baines taunted Martha as he and the others slowly started to moved forwards.
"I should have taken her form." Jenny agreed, "Much more fun. So much spirit."
Martha, Tory and Timmy started to back away.
"What happened to Jenny?" Martha asked, "Is she gone?"
"She is consumed." Jenny's body answered, "Her body's mine."
"You mean she's dead." Martha snapped.
Tory turned and scooped Timmy into her arms, wrapping his legs around her waist and his arms around her neck, her free arm holding him to her while her other kept the blaster pointed steadily.
"Yes. And she went with precious little dignity. All that... aah...screaming." Jenny taunted.
Suddenly Martha was grabbed from behind by a scarecrow.
"Get the gun!" Baines yelled.
Tory spun and shot the scarecrow. It disintegrated, dropping the gun it had managed to pull out of Martha's hands to the floor.
"Get out now!" Tory ordered pushing Martha out the door before running after her.
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They made it outside only to find John and Joan waiting for them.
"Don't just stand there, move!" Martha yelled as she and Tory, Timmy still in her arms, raced past, "God, you're rubbish as a human! Come on!"
They kept running.
"Where are we going?" Tory yelled as she followed Martha.
"Back to the school!" Martha panted back, "The pocket watch should be there!"
Tory and Timmy shared a look.
They arrived at the school and ran into the main hall way.
John closed the heavy wooden door behind them and pushed passed the women and Timmy to reach a large bell which he immediately began to ring.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Tory demanded as she put Timmy on the ground and watched him dart up the stairs.
"Maybe one man can't fight them, but this school teaches us to stand together." John answered, "Take arms! Take arms!"
"You can't do that!" Martha insisted.
"You want me to fight, don't you?" he demanded, "Take arms! Take arms!"
Boys started running down the stairs one of them leant over the banister and spoke to John.
"I say sir, what's the matter?"
"Enemy at the door, Hutchinson." John answered, "Enemy at the door. Take arms!"
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The boys were arming machine guns and various other weapons.
"You can't do this, Doctor." Martha was trying to reason, "Mr Smith!"
He ignored her.
"Maintain position over the stable yard." He ordered the boys.
"They're just boys!" Martha protested, "You can't ask them to fight!"
"Faster now!" he continued, "That's it."
"They don't stand a chance!" Martha screamed in desperation, "Tory! Tell him!"
"They're cadets, Miss Jones." John snapped, "They are trained to defend the King and all his properties."
A taller man entered the room.
"What in thunder's name is this?" he demanded, "And why is this woman not properly dressed?!" he gestured at Tory who looked offended, "Before I devise an excellent and endless series of punishments for each and every one of you, could someone explain very simply and immediately exactly what is going on?"
"Headmaster," John stepped forwards and in front of Tory defensively before he realised what he was doing, "I have to report the school is under attack."
"Really?" the Headmaster asked, "Is that so? Perhaps you and I should have a word in private."
"I promise you, sir." John reassured him, "I was in the village with Matron. It's Baines, sir. Jeremy Baines and Mr Clarke from Oakham Farm. They've gone mad, sir. They've got guns. They've already murdered people in the village. I saw it happen."
"Matron, is that so?" the headmaster questioned Joan.
"I'm afraid it's true, sir." She answered.
"Murder on our own soil?" the headmaster demanded.
"I saw it, yes." Joan confirmed.
"Perhaps you did well then, Mr Smith." The headmaster commented, "What makes you think the danger's coming here?"
"Well, sir, they said, um..." John trailed off.
"Baines threatened Mr Smith, sir." Joan jumped in, "Um, said he'd follow him. We don't know why."
"Very well." The headmaster agreed, "You boys remain on guard. Mr Snell, telephone the police. Mr Philips, with me. We shall investigate."
Martha stepped into the headmaster's way.
"No, it's not safe out there." She protested.
"Mr Smith," the headmaster gave Martha a disgusted look, "it seems your favourite servant is giving me advice. You will control her, sir." He pushed passed her and left.
Martha turned and all but ran out of the room muttering.
"I've gotta find that watch." She paused at the door and turned to Tory, "Tory make sure he doesn't do anything dangerous!" she darted out of the room quickly followed by Joan.
"Sure." Tory sighed, "I'll do that."
Tory turned and followed John, ignoring the looks she got for been 'improperly dressed' by the teenage school boys. John, however, didn't seem as able to ignore the looks and decided to do something about them; he reached back and grabbed her hand, pulling her to his side.
"Possessive much." Tory teased just like she would with the Doctor, forgetting that he wasn't the Doctor right now.
"It's only proper," he scolded her, "especially for one in your state of dress."
"Not sure if I should be thankful or insulted." Tory muttered.
John heard her and smirked without answering.
Tory and John stopped by a window overlooking the front of the school where Jenny and Baines were standing a crowd of scarecrows gathered behind them.
The headmaster and another teacher walked outside to confront Baines and Jenny.
"So, Baines and one of the cleaning staff." The headmaster scoffed, "There's always a woman involved. Am I to gather that some practical joke has got out of hand?"
"Headmaster, sir. Good evening, sir. Come to give me a caning, sir?" Baines taunted, "Would you like that, sir?"
"Keep a civil tongue, boy." The headmaster snapped.
"Now," the teacher intervened, "come now everyone. I suspect alcohol has played its part in this. Let's all just calm down. And who are these friends of yours, Baines? In fancy dress."
"Do you like them, Mr Philips?" Baines questioned, "I made them myself." He walked to the nearest scarecrow, "I'm ever so good at science, sir. Look..." he pulled an arm off one of the scarecrows, "molecular fringe animation fashioned in the shape of straw men. My own private army, sir. Ever so good, sir."
"Baines, step apart from this company and come inside with me." The headmaster ordered.
"No, sir. You, sir...You will send us Mr John Smith." Baines corrected, "That's all we want, sir, Mr John Smith and whatever he's done with his Time Lord consciousness. Then we'd be very happy to leave you alone."
"You speak with someone else's voice, Baines. Who might that be?" the headmaster asked.
"We are the Family of Blood." Baines answered.
"Mr Smith said there had been deaths." The headmaster prodded.
"Yes, sir!" Baines agreed enthusiastically, "And they were good, sir!"
"Well, I warn you, the school is armed." The headmaster spoke.
"All your little tin soldiers." Baines scoffed, "But tell me, sir, will they thank you?"
"I don't understand."
"What do you know of history, sir?" Baines asked, "What do you know of next year?"
"You're not making sense, Baines."
"1914, sir." Baines clarified, "Because the Family has travelled far and wide looking for Mr Smith and, oh, the things we have seen. War is coming. In foreign fields, war of the whole wide world, with all your boys falling down in the mud. Do you think they will thank the man who taught them it was glorious?"
"Don't you forget, boy, I've been a soldier." The headmaster snapped, "I was in South Africa, I used my dead mates as sandbags, I fought with the butt of my rifle when the bullets ran out, and I would go back there tomorrow for King and Country!"
"Et cetera, et cetera." Baines scoffed before whirling and pulling his weapon on the teacher. The poor man never had a chance.
John gulped.
"How can I fight that?" he asked Tory with such a lost look in his eye.
"You can't," Tory answered him honestly, "but the Doctor can." John dropped the hand he was still holding like she'd burned him and walked out to meet the headmaster as he re-entered the building.
Tory sighed and followed.
"Mr Philips has been murdered, Mr Smith. Can you tell me why?" the headmaster asked as Tory entered the room containing the two men.
"Honestly, sir, I have no idea." John answered, "And the telephone line's been disconnected. We're on our own."
"If we have to make a fight of it, then make a fight we shall." The headmaster announced before turning to the boys that had made their way into the room while John had been talking, "Hutchinson, we'll build a barricade within the courtyards, fortify the entrances, build our defences. Gentlemen, in the name of the King, we shall stand against them."
"Yes, sir!" the boys yelled back.
The headmaster walked out of the room and the boys filled out to do as he said. John made to follow but Tory caught him by the arm.
"Please don't let those boys become murderers." She whispered.
"We fight for king and country." John answered.
Tory sighed.
"Please try." She begged.
"What would your Doctor have done?" John snapped.
"I don't care!" Tory hissed back, "He's not here! YOU are! And you are the man I'm talking to." Tory shook her head in disgust. "But I guess you're not half the man I thought you were." She walked passed him and out of the room.
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Tory followed John down a corridor and into the makeshift hospital where he was standing talking to Joan.
"Joan, it's not safe." He warned her.
"I'm doing my duty," she told him, "just as much as you." She paused, "Fine evening we've had together."
"Not quite as planned." He laughed.
"Tell me about Nottingham." Joan asked suddenly.
"Sorry?"
"That's where you were brought up." She pointed out, "Tell me about it."
"Well, it lies on the River Leen, its southern boundary following the course of the River Trent which flows from Stoke to the Humber."
"That sounds like an encyclopaedia. Where did you live?" Joan asked.
"Broadmoor Street," he recited easily, "adjacent to Hotley Terrace in the district of Radford Parade."
"But more that facts. When you were a child, where did you play?" she questioned, getting desperate, "All those secret little places... dens and hideaways that only a child knows? Tell me, John. Please tell me."
"How can you think that I'm not real?" he sounded so heartbroken, "When I kissed you, was that a lie?"
Tory twitched at his words and felt her own hearts break even if it was just a little.
"No, it wasn't. No." Joan agreed.
Tory wanted to get angry at John and Joan but she just couldn't; they were human and in love, what right did she have to John Smith?! What right did she even have to the Doctor? When he fell in love with another woman so easily what was she supposed to think? She wiped away her tears and pushed her shoulders back; if he didn't want her, fine! She coped on her own before him and she could do it again! She lived with the pain on the days she wasn't with him she could do that for the rest of her life! So what if she loved him!? He didn't love her!
"But this Doctor sounds like some... some romantic lost prince." John was protesting, "Would you rather that? Am I not enough?"
Tory closed her eyes to stop the tears.
"I'll love you no matter who you are." Tory promised all but silently.
"No, that's not true." Joan protested this time, "Never."
"I've got to go." John turned to walk away but Joan grabbed his arm.
"Martha was right about one thing, though." Joan told him, "Those boys, they're children. John Smith wouldn't want them to fight, never mind the Doctor. The John Smith I was getting to know, he knows its wrong, doesn't he?"
"Mr Smith, if you please!" the headmaster called from the other room.
"What choice do I have?" John asked before leaning down and kissing her.
Tory backed away from the doorway and the sight, silver Meridian Particles leaking from her eyes in place of tears as her TARDIS side cried out to her mate, a mate in love with another woman.
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Tory sat on the roof of the school and watched as the boys ran around like ants to try and defend themselves from something they could never understand.
She watched as the scarecrows charged in and she watched as the boys shot them down. She watched as John Smith raised his rifle and never fired a shot. She smiled as John looked up at her, somehow knowing where she was without prompting, and she pushed as much comfort through their partial bond as she could manage.
John smiled back up at her and then the shots ended.
The headmaster walked forwards and kicked at the fallen scarecrows.
"They're straw." He muttered in amazement, "Like he said. Straw!"
"The no one's dead, sir?" one of the boys asked John hopefully, "We killed no one?"
The headmaster could hear footsteps. He retreated back to the guns.
"Stand to!"
The young girl with the red balloon from the part skipped up the path.
"You child, come out of the way." The headmaster tried to coax, "Come into the school. You don't know who's out there. It's the Cartwright girl, isn't it? Come here. Come to me."
"Mr Rocastle," Martha yelled from the doorway into the school, "please. Don't go near her."
"You were told to be quiet." The headmaster snapped back.
"Listen to me, she's part of it!" Martha tried to convince him, "Matron, tell him."
"I think..." Joan hesitated," I don't know. I think you should stay back, Headmaster."
"Mr Smith." Martha prompted.
"She was... she was with... with Baines in the village." John concluded.
"Mr Smith, I've seen many strange sights this night but there is no cause on God's earth that would allow me to see this child in the field of battle, sir." The headmaster turned back to the girl, "Come with me."
"You're funny." The girl told him simply.
"That's right. Now take my hand." He ordered.
"So funny." The girl reached into her coat, pulled out a gun and shot the headmaster, disintegrating him, "Now who's going to shoot me, any of you, really?"
"Put down your guns." John ordered as he lowered his own gun.
"But sir, the Headmaster..." one of the boys insisted.
"I'll not see this happen. Not anymore. You will retreat... in an orderly fashion back through the school. Hutchinson, lead the way." John ordered.
"But sir..."
"I said, lead the way." John repeated.
Baines walked up behind the girl.
"Go on, then," he yelled, "run!" he fired his gun into the air.
The boy's screamed and started running back into the school.
Tory turned and made for the stairs back into the main school building, she knew Timmy was safe through their bond so she didn't have to worry about him, what she did have to worry about was John and Martha getting out alive.
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John, Martha and Joan were directing the boys out through the passageway in the stables when Tory caught up to them.
"Where have you been?" Martha demanded, "I can't find the watch!"
"On the roof." Tory answered as she shimmied some of the slower boys along.
"Let's go!" John yelled, "Quick as you can!"
"Don't go to the village!" Martha instructed as the last of the boys passed them, "It's not safe!"
"And you, ladies!" John insisted as they stood by the open passage.
"I'm not leaving you." Tory refused point blank while Joan also shook her head.
"Not until we get the boys out."
"Now, I insist." John told them sternly, "The three of you just go. If there are any more boys inside, I'll find them." He opened the door to see a crowd of scarecrows. He slammed it shut before locking it, "I think... retreat." They ran.
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They were sneaking through the woods by the school when they heard a voice calling out to them.
"Doctor!" Clarke yelled, "Doctor!" the group of four stopped to look.
Tory started to shiver in rage as she noticed the captured TARDIS surrounded by scarecrow guards.
"Come back, Doctor." Clarke taunted, "Come home. Come and claim your prize."
"Out you come, Doctor!" Baines cried, "There's a good boy. Come to the Family."
"Time to end it now!" Jenny yelled.
"You recognise it, don't you?" Martha asked John softly as he stared at the blue box.
"Come out, Doctor!" Jenny continued, "Come to us!"
"I've never seen it in my life." John insisted stubbornly.
"Do you remember its name?" Martha continued.
"I'm sorry, John," Joan spoke up, "but you wrote about it. The blue box. You dreamt of a blue box."
"I'm not..." his voice broke, "I'm John Smith. That's all I want to be. John Smith, with his life... and his job... and his love." Tory winced, "Why can't I be John Smith? Isn't he a good man?"
"Yes." Joan answered, "Yes, he is."
"Why can't I stay?" John asked almost childlike.
"But we need the Doctor." Martha pointed out.
"So what am I then, nothing?" John spat at her hatefully, "I'm just a story."
"You were never just a story." Tory tried to comfort him, "You are everything he could never be and at the same time exactly what he wanted. I love the Doctor and I like to think that he loves me but if after you change back you'd rather be with Joan then I…." Tory stopped to swallow her sob, "I love you enough to leave you." She turned and walked a short distance away before vanishing in a flash of silver Meridian Particles.
This seemed to be the last bit of strangeness John could handle; he turned and ran. Joan followed him without a pause while Martha took a moment to stare at the place where Tory had vanished.
"I'm so sorry." She whispered before turning and racing after John and Joan.
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Tory didn't have a set of coordinates when she vanished; she just wanted to get away. Far away.
She stumbled across Timmy and the watch quite by accident.
"He told me you'd find me." Timmy told her as he grabbed hold of her hand comfortingly, "Now we just need to find Martha and Mr. Smith."
"I hope I don't get my hearts anymore broken." Tory tried to joke but it fell flat as Timmy looked up at her seriously.
"So do I."
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Tory and Timmy knocked on the door of the cottage that the watch and Tory's own senses had led them to. Inside they heard low voices and then movement. The door opened.
Martha stared at them and the watch in Timmy's hand in something akin to shock.
"I brought you this." Timmy grinned.
Martha. Tory heard the watch whisper.
Martha reached out and picked up the watch with a small, sad, smile.
Tory stepped up beside Timmy with a matching sad smile. No words were said as the three re-entered the house.
Tory and Timmy moved along the side of the room, Tory trying to ignore John's questioning gaze and Joan's hateful glare. The pair sat in the corner on a small love-seat.
Martha moved to stand in front of John, holding out the watch in the palm of her hand.
"Hold it." Martha ordered. John turned his gaze from Tory to her.
"I won't." John refused.
"Please, just hold it." Martha begged.
"It told me to find you." Timmy spoke up, "It wants to be held."
"You've had this watch all this time?" Joan demanded, "Why didn't you return it?"
"Because it was waiting." Timmy answered honestly, "And because I was scared of the Doctor."
"Why?" Joan asked.
"Because..." Timmy tried to explain, "I've seen him. He's... like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun."
"Stop it." John ordered.
"He's ancient and forever." Timmy continued, "He burns at the centre of time and he can see the turn of the universe."
"Stop! I said stop it."
"And he's wonderful." Timmy finished with a smile.
Tory smiled.
"You can't help but love him. He's the Doctor and he will live forever in my hearts as well as those of anyone who meets him." John stared at her silently, who was this Doctor, really? He thought to himself, to inspire such loyalty? Such love?
Joan reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small black book.
"I've still got this." She announced, holding it out, "The journal."
"Those are just stories." John tried to wave her off.
"Now we know that's not true." Joan chided him, "Perhaps there's something in here."
Something exploded outside.
"What the hell?" Martha yelled.
They ran to the window and looked out to see what could pass for meteorites falling to the ground over the village.
"They're destroying the village." Joan announced.
Martha turned to Tory.
"Can you do anything?" she asked desperately; not wanting the village to suffer any more than it had already.
"Not in this state." Tory answered with a wince, "It's like only half of the Doctor is accepting the bond and the other half is refusing; most of my energy is going into maintaining the link between us. It wasn't so bad when we were far apart but now…." Tory shrugged.
"Watch." John muttered softly, moving over to the table Martha had left it on and picking it up.
"John, don't." Joan begged.
Come closer. The watch whispered.
"Can you hear it?" Timmy asked.
Closer. Closer.
"I think he's asleep." John mused, "Waiting to awaken." Tory nodded.
"Why did he speak to me?" Timmy asked.
"Oh, low-level telepathic field." The Doctor spoke, "You were born with it. Just an extra synaptic engram causing..." he stopped and gasped, becoming John Smith once more, "Is that how he talks?"
Tory held onto her chest in pain as the bond solidified before snapping again.
"That's him!" Martha cried, excited, "All you have to do is open it and he's back."
"You knew this all along and yet you watched while Nurse Redfern and I..." he trailed off glaring at her accusingly.
Martha stepped towards him and tried to explain.
"I didn't know how to stop you! He gave me a list of things to watch out for but that wasn't included."
"Falling in love? That didn't even occur to him?" John demanded.
"No." Martha looked over at Tory.
Tory just stared at the floor.
"Then what sort of man is that?" John continued, "And now you expect me to die?"
The explosions were still continuing outside.
"It was always going to end, though!" Martha tried to explain once more, "The Doctor said the Family's got a limited lifespan. That's why they need to consume a Time Lord. Otherwise, three months and they die. Like mayflies, he said."
"So your job was to execute me." John spat.
"People are dying out there!" Martha pointed out desperately, "They need him and I need him. 'Cause you've got no idea of what he's like. I've only just met him. It wasn't even that long ago, but he is everything... he's just everything to me and to so many other people! You wouldn't believe the lives he's touched! The people he's saved and the people he's made better!"
The cottage rocked with the explosions as they got closer.
"It's getting closer." Timmy squeezed Tory's hand for comfort.
"I can keep us safe." Tory reassured him, "That I can do."
"I should have thought of it before..." John held up the watch, "I can give them this. Just the watch. Then they can leave and I can stay as I am!"
"You can't do that!" Martha insisted, horrified.
"If they want the Doctor, they can have him." John announced.
"He'll never let you do it." Martha argued, "I'd never let you do it Tory'd never let you do it!"
"If they get what they want," John tried to reason, "then... then…"
"Then it all ends in destruction." Joan announced, "I never read to the end," she held up the journal, "but those creatures would live forever to breed and conquer. War across the stars... for every child." John was on the verge of tears. "Martha, Timothy, Tory, would you leave us alone, please?" Joan asked politely.
Tory, Timmy and Martha trooped out of the room.
Once they were gone John broke down into heart wrenching sobs.
)0(
Tory shivered outside in the cold night air.
"I just remembered why I moved to Egypt while I was still human," she muttered to herself, "It was warmer." Martha snorted in amusement.
"You said it." She agreed, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. Timmy was sitting in-between them so as to stop him freezing completely. "What do we do if he stays human?" Martha asked quietly, hesitant to even suggest such a thing.
"I have to blow up their spaceship with them inside it, probably taking the village, school and farmland with it, I take you home in the TARDIS before parking her somewhere where she won't get disturbed and messed with so she can wait out the rest of her days and i…I stay and look after John."
)0(
John and Joan sat side by side on a wooden bench still in the kitchen of the cottage. John held the watch in one hand, staring at it.
"If I could do this instead of you," Joan told him, "then I would. I'd hoped... but my hopes aren't important." John turned to look her in the eye.
"He won't love you." He told her bluntly, "I can feel it, even now, he loves Tory."
"If he's not you, then I don't want him to. I had one husband, and he died... I never thought... ever again. And then you... you were so..."
"It was real." John insisted, "I wasn't... I really thought..."
"Let me see." She ordered, taking the watch from his hand, "Blasted thing." She turned it over in her palm, "Blasted, blasted thing. Can't even hear it. It's nothing to me." John reached forwards and took her hand. As they both touched the watch images flashed in front of their eyes; they saw their wedding, their children, and their peaceful death in bed. But in the back of all those images was Tory, slowly wasting away as she followed him, trying her best to keep him happy, content, and safe, all without ever been seen herself. He saw her regeneration waste and wither away until she was reborn a hardened and burdened soul long after his own death.
Then he blinked.
He watched himself, as the Doctor, sweep a giggling Tory into his arms on their wedding day, their first, ginger, children and just how proud the Doctor was of his family, he moved heaven and Earth to keep them safe. He saw the Doctor and Tory grow old together and die only to regenerate and be able to do it all again; to live the rest of forever with the ones they loved.
John was speechless.
"Did you see?" Joan asked him after a moment, "The Time Lord has such adventures but he could never have a life like that, and yet you could!" she must have only seen the images with her in. John just stared at the watch silently. "What are you going to do?" he turned and faced her again, breathing heavily but didn't answer; what was he going to do?
)0(
"We'll blast them into dust," Baines cried happily as he rained destruction down on the village, "fuse the dust into glass, then shatter them all over again!"
Behind them came a slight metal twang. The Family turned as one to see John Smith stagger into the ship.
"Just..." he lurched to the side and hit a control panel, hitting a few buttons, "Just stop the bombardment. That's all I'm asking. I'll do anything you want, just stop."
"Say please." Baines taunted.
"Please."
There was a pause before Jenny leaned over and flicked a switch. The bombardment stopped.
"Wait a minute." She took a deep breath, "Still human."
"Now I can't..." John stuttered, "I can't pretend to understand, not for a second, but I want you to know that I'm innocent in all this. He made me John Smith. It's not like I had any control over it." He fell and hit another set of buttons.
"He didn't just make himself human, he made himself an idiot." Jenny muttered.
"Same thing, isn't it?" Baines answered.
"I don't care about this Doctor and your family," John explained, "I just want you to go. So, I've made my choice." He held out the watch, "You can have him. Just take it, please! Take him away."
"At last." Baines breathed as he took the watch. He reached out with his other hand and grabbed John by his lapels, "Don't think that saved your life." He pushed John away making him fall and hit yet another console. "Family of Mine, now we shall have the lives of a Time Lord."
He opened the watch. The Family all breathed deep.
"It's empty!" Baines yelled, rounding on John.
"Well, where's it gone?" John asked.
"You tell me." Baines demanded, throwing the watch at John.
The Doctor reached up and snagged it one handed.
"Oh," the Doctor spoke, John Smith long gone, "I think the explanation might be you've been fooled by a simple olfactory misdirection... little bit like ventriloquism of the nose. It's an elementary trick in certain parts of the galaxy. But it has got to be said..." he placed the watch in his pocket and pulled out his glasses before putting them on, "I don't like the looks of that hydroconometre. It seems to be indicating you've got energy feedback all the way through the retrostabilisers feeding back into the primary heat converter... ah," he hissed through his teeth, "'Cause if there's one thing you shouldn't have done, you shouldn't have let me press all those buttons. But, in fairness, I will give you one word of advice.. Run." He turned and ran out.
"Get out!" Baines yelled, "Get out!" they ran from the ship and across the field ending up tossed on their fronts as the ship exploded behind them. They looked up to see the Doctor standing over them a hard and unforgiving look on his face.
He never raised his voice. That was the worst thing. The fury of the Time Lord. And then we discovered why. Why this Doctor, who had fought with gods and demons, why he'd run away from us and hidden, he was being kind. He wrapped my father in unbreakable chains, forged in the heart of a dwarf star. He tricked my mother into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy to be imprisoned there... forever. He still visits my little sister once a year every year. I wonder if one day he might forgive her, but there she is... can you see? He trapped her inside a mirror, every mirror. If ever you look at your reflection and see something move behind you, just for a second, that's her. That's always her. As for me, I was suspended in time. And the Doctor put me to work standing over the fields of England... as their protector. We wanted to live forever, so the Doctor made sure that we did.
)0(
The Doctor and Martha entered the TARDIS after saying goodbye to Timmy, Tory having said hers before, the Doctor moved to the console and dematerialised the ship. Martha stood leaning against one of the coral pillars while Tory stood off to the side.
"Take me to Jordan." She whispered.
The Doctor turned from the console slowly to face Tory.
"Take me to Jordan." She demanded her voice close to breaking.