I don't own anything except for my OC's. And the changes I made to the storyline. Everything else belongs to BBC.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
"We've got incoming!" Jack shouted.
The Guardian fought to keep the TARDIS steady as it flew through space. "Just a moment!" She pulled a lever just as the TARDIS shook with a massive explosion. Daleks and their missiles.
"The extrapolator's working." Jack breathed a sigh of relief. "We've got a fully functional forcefield. Try saying that when you're drunk."
"And for my next trick..." The Doctor flipped a bunch of switches.
As the TARDIS materialized, Michael and one of the Daleks appeared inside the console room. As soon as they were entirely present, the Guardian dove forward, grabbing her son and shielding him while Jack shot the Dalek with his makeshift gun. The Dalek yelled "exterminate!" just before it exploded.
The Guardian uncurled from her protective position to look at her son's small, tear-stained face.
"Michael!" The Doctor crouched beside them. "Is he alright?"
The Guardian closed her eyes, using the maternal bond to check her son for injuries. What she found made her blood feel cold.
She opened her eyes again and gazed down in his bright blue-gray eyes, ones that looked just like his father's. She could feel his small body shuddering as it fought the process it knew he wasn't ready for.
"Amadahy?"
'He's dying, Eltanin.' She couldn't even say the words out loud. 'The Game Station staff was right. Children can't survive the transmats.'
"Doctor? Guardian?"
The Guardian barely glanced up at Jack.
"What's wrong?"
At that moment, Michael's tiny hands began to glow golden.
"He's regenerating?" Jack asked. "You can do that so young?"
The Doctor answered. "At great cost. Guardian, we need to get back."
The Guardian shook her head. No, she couldn't just abandon her son at a time like this. He was terrified; she could sense it.
"Amadahy, get back. His regeneration will trigger yours, and we don't have time for you to recover from a regeneration right now."
The Guardian winced. She could hear how it hurt the Doctor to have to be the coldly logical one. Tears burning her eyes, she kissed her son on the forehead.
"I love you, Wesen. You'll be okay." Then she set him down on the console floor and let the Doctor pull her away.
The Gallifreyans clung to each other as the regeneration energy exploded, and Michael cried both telepathically and aloud. The Guardian flinched as she sensed each extra life leaving him. Because that was the cost of regenerating so young—after this, he would only have eight regenerations left, instead of eleven.
Suddenly, everything fell silent. The Doctor and the Guardian released each other to look over and see their son's new incarnation.
He was looking around with a curious look in his now-dark brown eyes. His hair was still black, though now it was curly. His skin had darkened considerably, which didn't surprise the Guardian. While the Doctor's incarnations had always appeared to be Caucasian human males, her incarnations had varied quite a bit in appearance.
Michael finally looked at his parents. "Maiteria! Paitare!" And then he slumped forward, exhausted from the regeneration.
The Guardian caught him just before his face hit the grating. She pulled him into her arms, letting his head rest against her shoulder. "I'll take him to the nursery."
The Doctor nodded and rested one hand on his son's head for a moment. He kissed the boy's forehead.
The Guardian smiled sadly and took Michael back to his room. She wanted to stay with him, watch over him as he slipped into a healing coma, but there were resurrected Daleks to deal with and a universe to save. He would be fine—the TARDIS would ensure that.
Reluctantly, she went back the console room, her resolve hardening as she did so. "Right. Time to go meet the neighbors." She walked directly to the doors, the Doctor and Jack following her.
The moment she stepped outside, the Daleks began crying "exterminate!" They fired, only for the forcefield to stop the deadly energy.
The Guardian smirked.
"Is that it?" The Doctor asked. "Useless. Nul points! Don't bother trying that again, 'cos this forcefield can hold back anything."
"Almost anything," Jack corrected.
The Guardian and the Doctor both turned to glare at him. "Yes, but I wasn't going to tell them that," the Doctor replied. "Thanks."
"Sorry."
The Doctor turned back the Daleks, looking at them coldly. He advanced towards them. Just as he was about to step out of the forcefield, the Guardian grabbed his arm.
'Best not do that, Eltanin.'
'Right. Thanks.'
"Do you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek Homeworld?" He asked the Daleks. "The Oncoming Storm. But you lot have even more recent legends, of the Time Lady known as the Weapon. Well, here she is—and you just hurt her child. That's not a very safe place to stand. The Oncoming Storm and the Weapon, and we both have the same motivation to kill each and every one of you.
"You might have removed all your emotions, but I reckon right down deep in your DNA, there's one little spark left. And that's fear. Doesn't it just burn when you face us? So tell me: how did you survive the Time War?"
A deep, warbling voice drew the Guardian, the Doctor, and Jack's attention to the side. "They survived through me."
Her jaw tightened. No. That was impossible. She personally made sure that his ship was destroyed.
A light illuminated a giant, open Dalek casing. In the center, a Dalek mutant was suspended in blue transparent fluid.
"Jack," the Guardian said. "Meet the Emperor of the Daleks."
"You both destroyed us, Doctor. The Dalek race died in your inferno. But my ship survived, falling through time, crippled but alive."
"I get it."
"Do not interrupt!" The Daleks cried, repeating themselves several times.
The Guardian took a deep breath to keep from lashing out at them. The forcefield could only take so many hits from a Dalek laser.
"I think you're forgetting something. I'm the Doctor, and if there's one thing I can do, it's talk. I've got five billion languages, and you haven't got one way of stopping me. Plus, my talking is the only thing keeping the Guardian from killing you all right now. So, anybody's going to shut up, it you!" He spun around and lunged slightly at several Daleks, making them roll back a couple of feet.
The Guardian smirked. "So, where were? Oh, yes, you had managed to survive the explosives that I rigged on your ship, which is quite a feat I must say."
"We waited here in the dark space, damaged but rebuilding. Centuries passed, and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth, harvesting the waste of humanity."
The Guardian frowned. What would they need the waste of humanity for? Unless…
"The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed. They all came to us. The bodies were filleted, pulped, sifted. The seed of the human race is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured."
"You created an army of Daleks out of the dead?" The Guardian felt sick. That was wrong, even for her morals. That was just… wrong.
Jack shifted uncomfortably. "But, doesn't that make you half human?"
"Those words are blasphemy!" The Guardian was startled by the outrage in the Emperor's voice.
"Do not blaspheme!" The Daleks surrounding them mimicked their leader's outrage.
Since when did Daleks feel offense?
"Everything human has been purged. I cultivated pure and blessed Dalek."
The Guardian raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Then how did you come to have a concept of blasphemy? Or learn to feel outrage?"
"I reached into the dirt and made new life. I am the God of All Daleks!"
"Worship him. Worship him. Worship him." This time all of the Daleks joined in, not just their guards.
The Guardian looked around. "Doctor, they're insane."
He nodded, his expression matching her own horror. "Hiding in silence for hundreds of years—that's enough to drive anyone mad."
"As I well know," she agreed quietly. She raised her voice to address the Daleks. "But it's worse than that. Driven mad by your own flesh."
"The stink of humanity. You hate your own existence." The Guardian was startled by the pity in the Doctor's eyes.
'Eltanin, they're more deadly than ever right now.'
He nodded. 'I know, Amadahy. I know. I guess they are just easier to understand for once.'
She glanced at him. Of course he could empathize with a race that hated themselves. He thought she didn't know, but she could tell—beneath the happy father and loving husband was a man haunted by his past actions. A man who hated himself, and felt guilty for being so happy when he had killed his own people.
She struggled with the same emotions every time she dared think of her worst self's actions. "Jack, time to go." She took the Doctor's hand and dragged him back to the TARDIS.
"You may not leave my presence!"
The Guardian waved behind her with her free hand. "Watch us!" She slammed the door on the Daleks' protests and demands. Immediately, she wrapped her arms around the Doctor's waist, letting him rest his forehead on her shoulder.
They stood in silence for a minute, listening to the far-too familiar cries of "exterminate". It was like the nightmares they both suffered from. Only this time, it was real.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
The TARDIS rematerialized in the Game Station, and the Doctor was the first one out, the Guardian following closely behind him.
"Turn everything up," he ordered. "All transmitters, full power, wide open. Now! Do it!"
Only the blonde and two of the staff members were left. "What does this do?"
"Stops the Daleks from transmatting on board," the Guardian answered. She sat down at a computer and began following her husband's orders.
"How did you get on? Did you contact Earth?"
"Well, we tried to warn them, but all they did was suspend our license because we stopped the programs."
The Guardian rolled her eyes. Typical humans.
"And the planet's just sitting there, defenseless. Lynda, what're you still doing on board? I told you to evacuate everyone."
"She wouldn't go." The man said.
"Didn't want to leave you."
Great. Another blonde human with a crush on the Doctor.
"There weren't enough shuttles anyway, or I wouldn't be here," the staff woman added. "We've got about a hundred people stranded on Floor Zero."
The Guardian winced. One hundred civilians.
"Oh, my god. The Fleet is moving. They're on their way."
One hundred civilians in the line of fire.
"Oh!"
The Guardian turned to see a big grin on the Doctor's face. He ran over to a section of the conduits.
"Doctor, what the hell are you doing?" She stood and followed him.
He began pulling pieces out. "Dalek plan—big mistake, 'cos what've they left me with? Anyone? Anyone?"
The Guardian frowned. There was something…
"Oh, come one, it's obvious. A great big transmitter—this station! If I can change the signal, fold it back, sequence it... Anyone?"
The Guardian blinked. "A Delta Wave?"
"You've got to be kidding," Jack said.
"A Delta Wave!" The Doctor turned back to frantically collecting pieces.
"What's a Delta Wave?" The blonde, Lynda, asked.
"Jack." The Guardian pointed at him, then joined the Doctor in gathering the needed supplies.
"A wave of Van Cassadyne energy. It fries your brain. Stand in the way of a Delta Wave and your head gets barbequed."
"And this place can transmit a massive wave. Wipe out the Daleks!"
"Well, get started and do it then," Lynda said.
The Guardian glanced at the Doctor and nodded. They needed to know.
"Trouble is, wave this size, building this big, brain as clever as mine, should take about, oh… three days?"
"How long until the Fleet arrives?" The Guardian asked the staff man.
"Twenty-two minutes."
"Right. Best get started then."
GD~GD~GD~GD~
The Guardian helped the Doctor reroute various wires while Jack explained their fighting strategy. The guns wouldn't do anything; they were going downstairs to die and hopefully buy them a few minutes. But Jack didn't tell them that.
"Guardian, I need you to operate the lifts, take us to Floor 499."
The Guardian put down her wires and hurried over the computer that was now controlling the lifts. In the corner of her eye, she watched Lynda shake hands with the Doctor before the human joined the two staff members in the lift.
Jack grabbed her shoulders. "Guardian, you're the first person since my mother died who treated me like you thought I could amount to something."
Surprised, the Guardian hugged him back.
"Enough hugging my wife." The Doctor had appeared behind them.
Jack released the Guardian and immediately hugged the Doctor. "Doctor, thanks for coming when I needed you. See you in hell." He cleared his throat.
As Jack ran off to join the humans in the lift, the Guardian took the Doctor's hand. She squeezed his hand reassuringly, knowing that he was bothered by the reminder of his earlier failing of Jack.
They turned back to the wiring. After several minutes of working in silence, the Guardian finally spoke. "The Delta Wave isn't going to be ready in time, is it?"
He sighed. "I can get it ready, but there's no way to refine it."
She flinched. "So we're also going to fry the brains of the entire Earth?"
"Basically."
The Guardian bit her lip. The TARDIS wasn't going to be able to protect them. Which meant that Michael and Gwyneth wouldn't be safe either.
The Doctor seemed to come to that same conclusion, because he looked over at her. "I want you to take Michael and Gwyneth somewhere safe."
She pretended not to see the devastation in his eyes. "Alright then. I'll be back in a moment." She stood.
"No."
She stopped and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She turned back to him. "I'm not abandoning you here."
"Someone needs to stay with the children."
The Guardian shook her head. "I've never run from a battle in my life."
He stood and pulled her into his arms. "I'm not asking you to run from a battle. I'm begging you to make sure our children are safe."
She bit her lip. "I can't just let you die."
"Amadahy, I promised to protect you. Let me do that."
She closed her eyes, her desire to be at his side warring with her maternal instinct to keep her children safe. She nodded slowly and kissed him, realizing it might be the last time. A moment later, she pulled away and walked to the TARDIS. Not even she dared look back.
Inside, she ran for the console, a plan forming. "Alright, old girl. You know what I need."
GD~GD~GD~GD~
The Doctor watched the TARDIS fade away, tears streaming freely down his cheeks. When the last remnants of the TARDIS noise died away, he hung his head and closed his eyes.
This wasn't fair. How many times had he saved the Universe? How many worlds had he saved? Even with the burning of Gallifrey, he had hoped it was enough to earn him the right to live quietly with his family.
With a cry of rage, he threw a random piece of equipment across the room. Now he would be nothing more than a distant memory to his children. Their father, who died saving the Universe from the Daleks. Their father, who destroyed the Earth long before its time.
Another piece of equipment shattered against the wall. It was all his fault. Nothing could ever wash away the blood of Gallifrey. Perhaps that's why the Daleks kept coming back. It was all to mock him, remind him what he did. A third piece of equipment followed the second.
~"Guardian, I've called up the internal laser codes,"~ Jack's voice brought him back to the problem at hand. ~"There should be a different number on every screen. Can you read them out to me?"~
"She's not here." He forced his voice to remain steady.
There was silence for a moment. ~"You sent her and the kids away."~
The Doctor sighed. "Yeah." He hesitated. He opened his mouth to tell Jack the truth about their first meeting—the meeting that Jack couldn't remember. If they were going to die here, then Jack deserved to know the truth about why his mother died. "Jack..."
~"The Delta Wave."~ The man said suddenly, cutting the Doctor off.
The Doctor glanced away, hating how grateful he felt. No, he couldn't tell him. Today of all days, the Doctor couldn't lose someone else.
~"Is it ever going to be ready?"~
~"Tell him the truth, Doctor."~
He looked up to see an image of the Dalek Emperor had appeared on the viewscreen. Apparently they couldn't keep transmissions from the Fleet away.
~"There is every possibility the Delta Wave could be complete, but no possibility of refining it. The Delta Wave must kill every living thing in its path, with no distinction between human and Dalek. All things will die by your hand."~
The Doctor didn't even question how the Dalek Emperor knew that. What did it matter? They couldn't stop him if the Delta Wave was completed in time, and how long it would take was out of his hands.
~"Doctor, the range of this transmitter covers the entire Earth."~ Jack's voice shook.
He knew that.
~"You would destroy Daleks and Humans together. If I am God, the creator of all things, then what does that make you, Doctor?"~
"There are colonies out there," he snapped. "The Human Race would survive in some shape or form, but you're the only Daleks in existence. The whole Universe is in danger if I let you live."
The Doctor noticed that his hands were shaking. He wasn't even sure that he could do this. It was too much like destroying Gallifrey, only this time he wouldn't survive.
"Do you see, Jack?" He focused on the computer, rather than the viewscreen. "That's the decision I've got to make for every living thing. Die as a human or live as a Dalek. What would you do?" A part of him hoped that Jack would take it out of his hands, like Harriet Jones had in Downing Street.
~"They're safe, Doctor. Keep working."~
The Doctor sighed. It was the 'just do it' that he was hoping for, but he had to remember that—the Guardian and the children weren't in danger anymore.
~"But he will exterminate you!"~
The Doctor flinched. He had killed Jack's mother, now he was killing Jack.
~"Never doubted him, never will."~ Jack's reply was confident.
The Doctor grinned weakly. "Now, you tell me, God of all Daleks, 'cos there's one thing I never worked out. The words "Bad Wolf", spread across time and space, everywhere, drawing me in. How'd you manage that?"
~"I did nothing."~ The Emperor seemed almost reluctant to admit that.
The Doctor scoffed. "Oh, come on. There's no secrets now, Your Worship."
~"They are not part of my design. This is the truth of God."~
The Doctor stared at the image on the screen. Was that… sincerity in the Dalek's tone? Could he really be telling the truth—the Daleks had nothing to do with the words?
He looked up at the words, a line from an old Gallifreyan poem coming to mind.
"Here comes the bad wolf, the bright and shining bad wolf..."
GD~GD~GD~GD~
Here comes the bad wolf, the bright and shining bad wolf.
Here comes the one who's broken.
Powerful beyond dreams is the Bad Wolf.
Angry beyond nightmares.
The one who crushes gods and brings life.
Creating itself. Saving worlds.
But beware, Bad Wolf.
Beware losing what you have saved.
For there is always a price to pay, Bad Wolf.
A price ten times your debt.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
The Guardian quietly stepped into her children's room. They still slept. Gently, she kissed first Gwyneth, then Michael on the head, sending their minds a telepathic message to sleep.
Straightening, she took a deep breath. She had to do it. It was the only way to keep her children safe. No matter what happened.
She carried Gwyneth to the console room, where the Chameleon Arch was ready, set up to change her daughter's biology into that of a human.
Gwyneth's unconscious state spared the Guardian from having to listen to her screams as the little girl's biology was rewritten. Nevertheless, the Guardian held her head, gasping in pain as her daughter's presence in her mind faded, until the psychic link between mother and daughter was nothing more than a spark, a stump.
Gathering her strength, the Guardian repeated the process with Michael. This time was even worse, as she was closer to Michael, like the Doctor was to Gwyneth. She lay on the floor for several minutes after the process was completed, gasping for breath. Her mind involuntarily called out for her children, like a phantom pain.
Finally, she was able to push herself to her feet. The TARDIS had chosen a random destination, some point in Earth's history. The Guardian made her way to the door and looked around outside.
It was an ordinary street, probably in the 1980s. The TARDIS had landed in the yard of a large house. The sign a short distance away read "Children's Home".
It seemed safe enough. And the Guardian trusted the TARDIS enough to take her to a time and a place where Michael and Gwyneth would be completely safe.
She stumbled back into the TARDIS and gathered up her two children—her now-Human children—and the fob watch and locket that now held their real selves.
She walked quickly across the lawn, needing to get this over with. She couldn't delay. She didn't trust herself enough to go through with it if she lingered.
A young brunette woman answered the door when she rang the bell. "May I help you?" She smiled sweetly.
The Guardian nodded, willing herself not to break down in front of this girl. "I need you to keep them safe."
The girl started. "What?" she asked, confused.
"I need them to be kept safe." She gestured to the children in her arms. "They are my world, but right now it isn't safe with me."
"Are you certain?" she asked after a moment.
The Guardian nodded and looked down at her son and daughter. "I hope that I can come back for them."
The girl nodded. "May I?" She gestured to Gwyneth.
Reluctantly, her maternal instincts screaming otherwise, the Guardian let the girl take Gwyneth. Something lit up in the young woman's eyes as she held the little girl, almost like she was coming alive again. "I promise that they'll be safe, Mrs…?"
"Shannon." The Guardian replied.
"Mrs. Shannon."
With just as much reluctance, the Guardian passed Michael to the young woman. "And these must stay with them, no matter what." She handed over the fob watch and locket.
"They're beautiful! Are they family heirlooms?"
"You might say that." The Guardian kissed her daughter's head. "Good-bye. Remember that we love you." She did the same to her son.
Then she ran back to the TARDIS. Once inside, she collapsed against the door and slid to the floor, finally letting her hearts break and release the tears she had been refusing to let fall.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
The Doctor half listened to everything that Jack and Lynda reported as he hurried to get everything ready. He wasn't surprised when Lynda reported that the defenses had gone offline. Of course the Daleks would now how to do that. They built Satellite Five, or near enough.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
Deep in the TARDIS, something stirred. The ship's heart broke listening to the broken sobs of the woman she considered her daughter.
After all, her heart, the Time Vortex, had made the immortal child what she was.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
~"Advance guard made it to 495."~ The Doctor heard Lynda's voice over all the beeping alarms.
"Jack, how are we doing?"
~"495 should be good. I like 495."~
The Doctor grinned. That would be the Anne Droid. Or rather, a replacement one, since the Guardian shot the last one.
His grin faded and his hearts hurt. He glanced over at the spot where the TARDIS had been, before mentally shaking himself and returning to work.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
~"They're flying up the ventilation shafts,"~ Lynda said. ~"No, wait a minute… oh, my god… Why're they doing that? They're going down!"~
The Doctor closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against a panel. The people on Floor Zero would be dead shortly.
A couple of minutes later, Lynda confirmed his fears. They were all dead.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
The TARDIS's decision was made. She could feel her daughter's distress and her thief's fear. After all, this was going to happen anyway. Had happened? Was happening? Oh, she would never understand those tenses!
Unseen by her broken daughter, the TARDIS opened a panel on the console.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
"Lynda, what's happening on Earth?" The Doctor called. The Daleks had made it to Floor 498.
~"The Fleet's descending. They're bombing whole continents. Europa, Pacifica, the New American Alliance. Australasia's just...gone."~
GD~GD~GD~GD~
Golden light, bright and shining, floated over towards the Guardian.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
~"I've got a problem,"~ Lynda said quietly. ~"They've found me."~
The Doctor looked up. No. Most of the human volunteers were already dead. Not another life lost because of him.
"You'll be all right, Lynda. That side of the station's reinforced against meteors." He did his best to sound more optimistic than he felt.
~"Hope so! You know what they say about Earth workmanship."~ She didn't sound anymore convinced than he was.
A minute later, he heard her scream. Just once.
He dropped his head in his hands. Sweet little Lynda with a 'y' was dead.
~"Last man standing! For god's sake, Doctor, finish that thing and kill them!"~ Jack shouted. The Doctor could hear gunfire.
~"Finish that thing and kill mankind."~ The Emperor taunted on the viewscreen.
There wasn't much of mankind left to kill. That knowledge soothed his conscience and spurred him on.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
"I'm so sorry for what must come, my daughter."
The Guardian looked up at the voice, just before a bright golden light surrounded her.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
~"Doctor! You've got twenty seconds maximum!"~ Gunfire punctuated Jack's shout.
The Doctor wired in the final cable. There. It was done. All that was needed was for him to pull the trigger.
~"Exterminate!"~
He looked up.
Then he heard Jack's disdain-filled voice. ~"Yeah, I kind of figured that."~
There was a thud, like a body hitting the lift doors. Now Jack was dead.
He was all alone once again, making the decision to destroy the Daleks and an entire planet to save the Universe.
The doors around the room opened and dozens of Daleks entered. He was surrounded.
"You really want to think about this, because if I activate the signal, every living creature dies."
How could he be so torn between ready to act and desperately hoping he wouldn't have to? In many ways, it was even worse than destroying Gallifrey. At least with Gallifrey, he had also been protecting the Universe from his own people. But the humans on Earth were innocent in all of this.
How did the Guardian cope with the blood of so many innocents on her hands?
~"I am immortal."~
No, he wasn't. The Guardian was immortal. "Do you want to put that to the test?"
~"I want to see you become like me. Hail the Doctor, the Great Exterminator!"~
Just the words made him feel sick. All these years, and that was what he was going to be known for?
"I'll do it!" He put his hands on the trigger. All he had to do was push down and they were all dead.
~"Then prove yourself, Doctor! What are you: coward or killer?"~
He braced himself to push, gritting his teeth. But the Dalek Emperor's words rang in his mind. Coward or killer? Coward? Killer?
Coward or killer?
He eased his hands off the trigger, feeling like a failure. "Coward. Any day." He wasn't strong enough to do it all over again.
~"Mankind will be harvested because of your weakness."~
And his children would be in danger again one day. But even with that knowledge, he couldn't do it. After all, the Daleks would just come back yet again. It seemed that there was no stopping them.
"And what about me? Am I becoming one of your angels?"
~"You are the heathen. You will be exterminated."~
"Maybe it's time." He had survived four hundred years of War. His death was long overdue. Besides, that golden young woman who had saved his life so many times during the Time War wasn't around right now to save him once again.
She was trapped in the Time Lock with the rest of their people.
He closed his eyes and waited.
"Exterminate!"
His body jolted and he cried out in pain before everything went black.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
The Bad Wolf opened her eyes. Everything was cast in a golden light. She cried out as the felt the power of all time and space running through her head.
"Be calm, my daughter. You can do this."
A picture formed in her mind, so vivid it was as though she was there. A small girl with unruly blonde curls stood in front of her, her eyes wide with fear. A moment later, she fell to the ground screaming. And the Bad Wolf knew.
The little's girl's biology was being rewritten. To become an Immortal. To carry a little bit of the power of the Time Vortex. All to prepare her body for this moment.
She felt the TARDIS leave the Time Vortex and land. She knew exactly where she was even though she hadn't set the coordinates, nor had she seen the monitor. She could sense it, hear the buzz of time, and the smell of the years gone by.
The doors opened, letting her light spill out.
It was Floor 500, and she was surrounded by Daleks.
Her husband's body lay in the middle of the floor, dropped there like a puppet with its strings cut.
"No!" She cried.
"This is an abomination!" She heard the Emperor's voice.
Cries of "exterminate!" sounded around her, but she threw up walls that the Dalek extermination bolts couldn't penetrate. She walked softly over to the Doctor's body.
"Oh, Eltanin. I am so sorry." She placed glowing hands on either side of his face and leaned down and kissed him, concentrating the Vortex power on restoring him. He would have to regenerate shortly, but at least her husband would be alive once more.
She felt him gasp awake. "Amadahy?" His eyes widened and he sat up, making her pull back. "What the hell are you doing? No one was ever meant to take that in!"
The Bad Wolf smiled and brushed her hand against his face. "I was, Eltanin. My biology was changed. I can hold the power of the Vortex, at least for a little while. Long enough to save you. It is a gift from the TARDIS, to save her thief and her daughter. And it means that I can give you this."
She closed her eyes and searched for Jack in her mind, dismayed to find him dead in the other room. A moment later, and she felt him gasp awake. Forever. Now, she saw a long, long life ahead of him, one that would not end until he gave up his lifeforce to save a city far in the future.
'I'm so sorry, Jack.'
Then she turned her mind to the hundreds of dead all over the Game Station. As a whole, she brought the humans all back to life.
Just for the Doctor.
On the planet below, she felt more people's timelines restarting. Everyone who had died in the Dalek attack.
She opened her eyes again and smiled once more at the Doctor. "Everybody lives, Eltanin. Just this once, all the humans live."
"What? What have you done?" He shouted.
"Only what it was always said I would do. 'Powerful beyond dreams is the Bad Wolf.' I save worlds, and I bring life." She stood, turning her attention to the words on the wall. "I create myself."
She waved her hand and scattered the words all across her timeline and the Universe, sending them all the way back to the Gallifreyan poet who first penned the tale of her. Then she sent the nightmares to her past self, warning her. She even pulled a few strings in time, allowing her to have the dream of her mother and Gallifrey.
"Amadahy, you need to stop this!"
She turned back to him. "Yes, yes, I do."
She felt the anger of the Bad Wolf, the TARDIS, and the Guardian, all as one. With a wave of her hand, the Daleks were unfrozen. Their battlecries and their god's declarations of his own godhood were just tiny noises, like an Earth gnat.
"You are nothing!" She shouted. "Tiny! Nothing to a creature like me! You claim to be immortal, Dalek. Then feel immortality!Watch your children perish!"
She jerked her hands outward. Bits of the Vortex energy flew towards the Daleks, making its way into their casings. The Bad Wolf heard the Daleks screaming in agony as the Vortex burned the mutants to death.
For eight hundred years, the Daleks had waged war against the Children of the Time Vortex. Now, the Vortex was finally getting its revenge.
Around her, the Daleks began exploding, but she confined each explosion so it didn't damage anything but the Dalek casing.
Outside the Game Station, the Daleks on Earth and on the battleships also exploded. Until there was only one left.
"Come to me, tiny Dalek." She commanded.
As she had ordered, the Emperor suddenly appeared in the Station.
"Do you still claim immortality?"
"I am immortal!"
"Then feel death!" One more flick of her wrist, and the Emperor joined his children in their fate.
At last, she felt the Time Vortex settle. "It is done, my daughter," the TARDIS told her.
She breathed a sigh. Golden light spilled out of her as she released her whole on the Vortex. She watched it fly around the room before returning to the TARDIS where it belonged.
Then her world went dark.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
The Doctor caught the Guardian as she fell, picking her up bridal style. He couldn't completely believe that he had just seen, but the evidence was there in the form of exploded Dalek shells and the fact that he was still alive.
Jack suddenly ran into the room. "Doctor, what the hell just happened?"
The Doctor blinked. The man was alive again! He glanced down at the Guardian. She had actually done it. She had brought Jack back to life!
Except… why did Jack suddenly feel… wrong?
"Get in the TARDIS," he said.
Jack stepped back when he saw it. "How did that get back here? How did she get back here?"
"In the TARDIS." The Doctor replied. He hurried back to the TARDIS as quickly as the Guardian's unconscious form and his now-failing body would let him.
Inside, he noted the lack of Gwyneth and Michael's psychic presence. The Guardian must have left them with Sarah Jane.
He gently laid the Guardian on the console room floor, kissed her forehead, and moved over to the console. They needed to be in the Vortex for this.
The Doctor leaned against the console unit. Already, he could feel his organs dying, one-by-one. No one was meant to come back after direct hits from several Daleks at the same time.
What sort of man would he be this time? A lover? A fighter? Bold? Timid? A leader? A nervous wreck? A gambler? Life and soul?
Romona had once told him that it was possible to influence what sort of person you became when you regenerated. He certainly hoped that was true. Because there was just one trait he wanted above all others.
He wanted to be a man who wasn't plagued by his regrets. One who wasn't held down and tormented by memories of a past he couldn't change.
He wanted to be a man who was free from his past.
GD~GD~GD~GD~
The Guardian woke up slowly, hearing voices. The Doctor was talking to Jack, explaining what had happened. Did he know that Jack was now immortal—a fixed point in time? Probably not. She only knew because of the Time Vortex showing her Jack's timeline.
Then she gasped. Doctor was going to regenerate. Or had he already? She sat up and looked towards the console. No. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her daft old Doctor was still there.
"You haven't changed yet." She said.
Both men jumped and looked at her. The Doctor hurried over and helped her to her feet, pulling her into his arms. She leaned into the feel of what she knew would be their last embrace, their last kiss. Already she could feel the waves of energy rising up in him.
"I love you, Amadahy." He whispered.
She smiled sadly. "I love you too, Eltanin. No matter what." She stepped back, knowing it was time. At least they had gotten this extra minute together before he had to regenerate. "You were fantastic."
He grinned at her use of his favorite word. "So were you. And you, Jack."
Then, he threw his head back as the regeneration hit. The Guardian wrapped her arms around herself, biting her lip, as she listened to his telepathic death-cry. She looked away, knowing this meant her husband was one incarnation closer to his last. He could only change twice more now.
While she would live on indefinitely.
The Guardian looked back up as she felt the regeneration energy subside. A new man stood there in her husband's familiar clothes.
This man's hair was a bit lighter, his features thinner and finer. His formerly blue-gray eyes were now dark, dark brown. The Guardian was slightly disappointed to note that her husband was now very, very thin, when he had been rather well-built before.
He gasped for breath. "Hello...okay." He spoke with a South London accent. What a contrast from her own Scottish accent and his previous Northern one.
The new Doctor made a strange face as he felt his teeth with is tongue. "New teeth, that's weird." He looked up at her and grinned. "So, what do you say we go pick up our children?"
The Guardian smiled, ignoring the bad feeling she had. "That would be fantastic."
GD~GD~GD~GD~
I've finished Book One! Oh my gosh!
Well, this is going to be the last update to this series for a while, as I need to take some time to work on my other writing project, a book I hope to publish sometime in the next year or so. It seems I'm not capable of working on two writing projects at once, so sadly, this one will have to wait for a bit. However, I do plan on putting together Book 2 in The Guardian of Time Series. As you know, it will be called A Tale of Two Time Lords and an Immortal, and it will be angsty. Just warning you all. It will break your heart.
Here's the current summary: The Doctor has regenerated. But when tragedy strikes, the Gallifreyans are driven apart. And when they are reunited at Canary Wharf, all is not happily ever after. With their love broken seemingly beyond repair, will they survive when the Master and the Toclofane appear?
WHAT?! I'll just leave you with that.
But, there is some good news. As I am able, I'll be writing some fluffy, domestic one-shots taking place in the year between "The End of the World" and "Boom Town". They may be long or short, depending on how much time I get to work on them. Readers can feel free to make suggestions! It will be called "Domestics". Kind of ironic considering how much Nine in the show hated domestics.
Thank you so much to everyone who has read The Doctor and His Guardian, and also to everyone who has reviewed it. As a gift (of sorts), I've got another sneak peak at Book 2 for you.
The Guardian looked around, searching. Plasmavore. Surrounded by police. What would be the most tactically advantageous thing to do?
She spotted a sign pointing to the MRI room. Oh. That was clever.
There was a crash that made the three of them jump. They heard the Judoon march down the hall.
"I've got to find her!" The Doctor shouted, looking around. He turned to Martha. "Martha, you've got to hold them up."
"How do I do that?" The girl asked.
Without warning, the Doctor grabbed the human's face and kissed her. The Guardian looked away, unable to watch.
"Guardian, come with me!" She heard the Doctor run away and Martha sigh.
"Which way did he go?" The Guardian turned back to Martha, flinching at the dazed look on the girl's face.
Martha pointed down the hall—past the MRI room. She blinked. "Wait a minute… you're his wife." Her eyes widened with horror. "Oh my god..."
The Guardian forced a smile. "Keep the Judoon busy for a few minutes, then lead them to the MRI room. That's where I'll be, and the Plasmavore will be with me." She turned and ran down the hall in the correct direction, trying to forget the image of her husband kissing another woman.
There's another "WHAT?!" moment for you. I did warn you that there was going to be angst.