Well, friends, this is the final chapter! Sorry it's kinda short, but it really is just an epilogue to a very long story, and sets the scene for what's to come! I hope you've found this story not only enjoyable, but satisfying. It can sometimes be a "burden" to know how the Doctor will dispatch with the villain in the end... we know he doesn't just blow s*** up, not with innocents involved, and he can't be overtly cruel (like, say, have General Kir put in a place where he'd experience an eye for an eye) as he arguably was in "The Family of Blood." I also sometimes think that it's not really the Doctor's responsibility to punish the bad guy, especially someone high-up in a military (or militia?) organization.
This story seemed to have 3-4 different climaxes; I hadn't meant for that to happen. I had a story in mind, and a climax in mind, but I kept realizing that I wasn't telling the whole story, and things needed to be sussed out a bit better... hence 35 chapters, and several different balls in the air! Again, I hope you feel as if most questions were answered, and all characters and conflicts were served well.
And now, the stunning conclusion, of "An Oxbow in Time!" Stay tuned for another quick Author's Note at the end! Enjoy!
THIRTY-FIVE (EPILOGUE)
The Doctor walked into the kitchen, where Colin and Martha were washing/drying dishes, and reminiscing about family stuff from days gone by.
"Hi, you two," the Doctor chirped.
"Hiya," Martha said. "Everything okay with the patient?"
"Funny you should ask," he said. "She has a question for you, and Colin, I have one for you."
"Okay," she said, drying her hands on her jeans, and handing him the sponge. "Trade places?"
"Yep," he said, and Martha left the room.
The Doctor plunged both hands into the soapy water, cleaned a bowl, then handed it off to Colin, who dried it, and stored it in a cabinet.
They repeated this process a couple of times, before the Doctor said, "So, how are you?"
"How am I? A lot better than I was yesterday."
"Because Donna's awake?"
"Yeah," Colin said, emphatically. "And not only is she awake, she seems normal. I mean, the same as before. Though… you've known her a lot longer than I have. Does she seem normal to you?"
"Actually, yeah," the Doctor said. "Disagreeable as ever."
"What?"
"I just mean… cheeky. Opinionated."
"Right," Colin muttered. Then, he chuckled. "It's funny, innit? Most of the time I've known her, she's been either absent, or in a coma."
"And yet, you seem so very attached to her."
"I am. Is it weird?"
"It's inspiring," the Doctor said, handing Colin another dish. "You knew straight away when you met her that she was someone incredibly special that maybe you should hold onto."
"I did. I don't know what it was about her."
"It doesn't matter. The point is, I could have learned something from you, Colin, because it was the opposite with me and Martha. It was a 'didn't-know-what-I-had-until-it-was-gone' sort of thing. Thanks God for Donna, or I might never have realized what a moron I'd been."
"I'll have that story off you someday, yeah?"
"Someday," the Doctor agreed. "As for Donna, I'm just really glad she's found someone. Historically, she hasn't liked being single. At all."
"Well, thankfully, neither have I," Colin replied.
"And I'm ecstatic that she's finally with someone who's not a complete wanker and/or in cahoots with a giant spider empress," the Doctor said.
"Pardon me?"
"Never mind," the Doctor dismissed.
"All of us need someone," Colin mused.
"I know I do," the Doctor mused back. "Donna taught me that, actually."
Colin continued, "Thinking of what Donna did for you, what Martha was going to do for you... and even your agreeing to imprison the Earth for Martha's sake… I just think, you know, everyone deserves someone who will do anything for them. I guess that's what I was feeling, underneath the panic, when I was deciding to jump out the TARDIS door like an idiot."
"I only wish she could've been conscious to see you do it," the Doctor chuckled.
"Me too!" Colin chuckled back. Then, his tone changed. "But you know… I couldn't have done that without you, mate."
"Does that mean you're… well, warming to me?"
Colin looked at him with surprise. "What?"
"Am I wrong in that you've implied you'd do almost anything for Donna, even at this early stage?"
"No," Colin admitted. "You're not. I'm smitten. I feel like a sucker, or a twelve-year-old or some such, but… I can't help myself."
"Good," the Doctor said slowly, shutting off the water to turn and face Colin. "And I'm wondering if doing anything for her might even mean, putting up with me."
"How d'you mean, putting up with you?"
"Donna announced a couple weeks back that she would not be travelling with me and Martha anymore," the Doctor said. "She said she didn't want to be a third wheel. Now, she no longer has to, but only if you come along."
"Oh. Wow."
"Martha and I want her with us. We need her. We discovered a couple months ago in Mallorca, we are a great team, the three of us," he said. "If one of us goes down, there's still two people to get all clever and fix things. Whereas, with two of us, things can get ugly if one of us gets captured or injured…"
"Jesus," Colin breathed.
"Did Martha tell you what happened when my friend Jack and I were captured by another Time Lord, who then tried to take over Earth?"
"A Time Lord tried to take over Earth?"
"Yep. It was ugly for a while. Killed ten per cent of the population of the planet, the first day."
Colin's brow furrowed. "I have no memory of that!"
"You wouldn't – I turned back time."
"Of course you did. Wait, you and your friend Jack? Would that be Jack Harkness?"
"Yeah – she told you about it?"
"No, Donna mentioned his name when you and Martha were both imprisoned across the universe," Colin said, matter-of-factly. "I can't believe I just said that so easily."
"Well, even with three of us, it was a disaster," the Doctor explained. "Jack and I got ensnared by the Master…"
"The Master?" Colin asked, with one raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, he chose that name for himself – a Freudian field day. Anyway, that left Martha to save the planet all by herself."
"Oh. Whoa. She did not tell me about that."
"In fact, Francine, Clive and Tish were taken prisoner as well."
"So that's why she said that her family know full well, who and what you are."
"Yes – they know. They know first-hand. They spent a whole year with me and Jack, in slavery under the Master. Martha got us out of it."
"Amazing."
"Can't fault Francine for not liking me much, to be honest," he admitted.
"Well, she can be prickly."
"Anyway," the Doctor said, completely throwing aside the sponge. He leaned on the counter opposite. "When the Master got his hooks into all of us, I had just enough time to give Martha instructions, which she carried out like the spectacularly brave and clever woman she is. She saved us all – even you, though you no longer know it. But it took her a whole year, during which she was all alone. Alone, daunted, often sick and weak…"
"I see," Colin said, crossing his arms tightly over his chest, looking at the floor.
"I know I'm not selling you on how safe my lifestyle is, but… Colin, Martha's not leaving anytime soon – if ever. I don't think either of us could live without the other anymore."
"You love each other – anyone could see that."
The Doctor smiled and nodded in acknowledgement. Then, he added, "And if something like that happens again, we're going to need all the firepower we can get. What if Martha and I both get taken, and there's no one to know about it? What if it's me and Donna next time? Do you want Martha all on her own again? What if it's both Martha and Donna? Wouldn't you want to be involved in assuring their safety?"
"Okay, I get it."
"Although, some of that is moot, because Donna says she won't do it without you."
"She won't do what without me?"
"She won't travel with me and Martha, unless you're there."
"Oh!" Colin said, with surprise. He threw aside his dishtowel, and walked slowly round the kitchen island, and braced himself against two of the barstools. He thought for a few moments, then asked, "And if I say no?"
"I imagine you and Donna would eventually set up house, and live happily ever after, maybe never giving me a second thought," the Doctor said. "So, what would I have to do to get you to come aboard as a semi-permanent fixture, for all of our sakes?"
Colin sighed. "Could you guarantee anyone's safety?"
"You know I couldn't."
"If I wanted to stop, and go home… could I?"
"Well, yeah. In theory."
"Lovely."
"Sorry. Ninety-five per-cent certain I could get you home. Best I can do."
"But, you're saying, there's only one way I can know whether both Donna and Martha are safe from mortal peril at any given moment?"
"Pretty much."
There was a long, heavy silence, and then Colin piped up again. "Actually, not necessarily. There is another way."
"Which is?"
"What would I have to do to get you to find a job, and stay in London, live with Martha, have a couple kids, just be normal, for all of our sakes?"
The Doctor laughed. "Touché, Mr. Brownhill."
The Doctor was sitting up in bed, reading, when Martha finished her shift with Donna, and entered "their" bedroom that night.
"Wow," she said, stopping to flirt a bit. "I'm seeing you in your pyjamas! I don't know how to act."
It was the first time they hadn't had to hand off Donna's care at the end of the day, and have their kiss good-night right there in the TARDIS' medical suite, in a week.
"I'm not wearing hospital scrubs," he added, fluttering an absurd eyebrow at her. "How does that make you feel?"
"A bit flushed," she answered, approaching the bed. She crawled up beside him and said, "I'd forgotten we could both exist outside of the infirmary. Turns out, it feels kind of good."
She leaned in for a kiss, and he delivered.
"Indeed," he mused, as she pulled away.
"How'd your convo go with Colin?" she wondered.
"Donna told you?"
"She said she would only come with us if he does, so I assume that meant you went to try and talk him into it," she said. "I imagine it was no mean feat."
"Well, you know how charming I can be," he said. "I just turned it on."
"Oh, I'm sure that went over swimmingly!"
"I simply assured him that life with me is weird at best, terrifying at worst, and that I could not one-hundred-per-cent guarantee returning him, or anyone he loves, to Earth in one piece," the Doctor said, matter-of-factly. "So, naturally, he's agreed to travel with us."
"Seriously?" she asked, practically exploding with surprise.
"Sure," he shrugged. "After that hard sell, who could say no?"
She laughed out loud. "Wow! This will be interesting."
"Definitely," he agreed. "I was thinking, Donna stepped aside and gave us some space to be together when we first, you know…"
"Ah, yes," she said. "We had our dirty weekend, didn't we? So to speak."
"So to speak," he chuckled. "It was five weeks!"
"Okay, a dirty five weeks," she corrected. "I suppose we should do the same for them."
"Right. We can take them back to Mallorca, even… or anywhere they want. Any planet they want, really. I know of several resort planets that they'd probably find charming."
"I'm going to go ahead and assume that Colin will want to stay on Earth," she smirked. "However, as I've informed our patient, it won't be entirely safe for them to do so for another two to three weeks, at least."
"Okay."
"We need to get Donna's blood pressure under control without electrodes, and wean her off the anti-convulsants before the two of them can even think about..."
"I get it."
"What? I was going to say skiing, surfing, or operating heavy machinery together."
"Were you, now?"
She smiled. "She said you got prudish about it, when she asked."
"I'm not prudish," he protested, scowling.
"Oh, I know," she sang. "I've seen."
"I just don't need to be involved in moving their sex life forward."
"I told Colin she was basically a cousin to you. Looks like I wasn't far off the mark, eh?"
"A very good way of putting it." Then his tone changed. "You, however… you, Dr. Jones, are different. And returning to our earlier conversation, as I look at you, I can't help but notice that you are still wearing hospital scrubs. You appear to be a few steps behind me."
"I usually am," she mused.
"What can we do about that?" he asked.
"Well, follow me to the shower, and maybe we can problem-solve together."
And there it is.
I'm so sorry this is coming to an end... but, a new story is coming in a week or so, it's called "Hearts of Calm." It is a continuation on this story, though not a sequel (as I think of it). This means that it does not carry forward the conflicts of this story, but uses the character dynamics built in this story, and some of the framework and consequences, to work with a new conflict. Like, the next episode, if you will. It should be intense - you'll like it.
Thanks for reading, everyone, and as always, here it comes... wait for it...
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