Author's Note-
Thanks everyone for all the feedback, shout out to @the.apple.seed for the comments, they really do mean a lot! And I'm sorry it's taken so long to write this next chapter, I will make an effort to post more regularly... I promise!
Keep coming with the feedback, it really helps to motivate me and guides my writing to improve.
We make it to the console room, and the Doctor begins to pull leavers and press buttons, the Tardis lets out a groan as the dematerialisation sequence begins.
I stand there, watching, smiling and panting from our sprint through the many rooms in this magical ship. Donna is still laughing as she attempts to 'help' the Doctor navigate the Tardis by pointing at and pressing buttons.
"Hands off Donna!" He responds to her actions with mock annoyance.
"You said you'd teach me to drive spaceman!" She reminds him.
"And I will... one day.." He replies, then under his breath he mutters "the day I have nothing left to live for..." I snigger at that.
"Oi! I heard that Martian" She barks back, letting out a laugh.
"How many times Donna! I'm not Martian!" He snaps back.
"Yeah, Donna, he's a Timelord..." I chip in, and he looks over his shoulder and smiles at me as I move to sit on the jump seat.
"...because that's such a modest name..." I continue.
And his smile turns into an annoyed frown, but I can tell he's not really annoyed.
"Don't you start, I swear Donna, you really do bring out the worst in Nadine" he moans.
"I rather like to think I bring out the best, I'll have you know!" Donna grins over at me.
And we all begin laughing again.
And that's when it starts, the flashing, blinding pain that I wish I didn't recognise so well. Disappointment etches on my features as I inhale deep breaths, trying to remain calm and composed.
Although, my eyes water and I can't help the grimace I make as I lean heavier into the seat. The Doctor picks up on my change in demeanour quickly, moving to my side.
"You're going?" He asks, although it feels more like a statement.
"I think so" I groan out through gritted teeth as a few traitorous tears slip down my cheeks.
He quickly wipes them away, and I can see the depth of sadness in his eyes. He clearly finds this as difficult and frustrating as I do. And I wonder to myself how this must feel for him. While I am always going to him, for him it must be like I'm always leaving, and he never knows when I'll be back. I am struck by this realisation, he is suffering as much as I am, we are both cursed by this time jumping thing.
I take his hand and grasp it in my own, squeezing lightly to offer something. I'm not sure what, support maybe? Or just an attempt to comfort him and let him know I'm fine, or at least I will be. I have to be.
And then the inevitable happens and I leave.
I recover faster than I used to, is it a good thing that I'm getting used to this? How much have I changed over these last few days?
My eyes blink open and I am greeted with the cries of a girl.
"Let me out! Let me out!" She screams.
I immediately jump into action, greeted by an enormous amount of heat as I stand.
"Sun filter descending" A robotic voice repeats.
What the Hell! I run towards the blonde who cries out in fear when I grasp her shoulder.
"What's happening!" I yell.
"Nadine! What?... How are you here? Oh God... We're going to get burned alive" She cries out to me.
"What! Where's the Doctor?" I automatically respond, he's always here when I arrive, where is he? He can help. He'd save us.
"I don't know! We split up earlier!" She replies, panicking.
We continue banging the door, hoping to get the attention of literally anyone.
"Anyone in there?" We hear after crying out for help some more.
"Let me out!" She continues to exclaim.
"Oh, well it would be you" We hear from the other side.
I roll my eyes.
"Hurry up already!" I cry, although it's drowned out by the continued yells of this blonde.
"Open the door!" She bellows.
"Hold, on give us two ticks" is the reply we get.
Two ticks... we don't have two ticks!
We both grasp each others hands in fear. And then...
"Sun filter rising, sun filter rising" that may be the greatest words I've ever heard.
Our bodies go slack with relief from the exertion of pounding against the door. We sigh and calm down somewhat. I turn to see the filter rising. And then...
"Sun filter descending" begins to repeat all over again. The filter begins to lower.
"Thats just what we need, the computers getting clever" The Doctor complains.
Great. Thats just great. We're going to die.
"Stop mucking about!" The girl growls in frustration.
"I'm not mucking about! It's fighting back!" He cries back in response.
"Well fight back harder then" I shout.
"Open the door" We both cry out.
"I know!" He shouts back.
Then, I grab her hand and pull her lower onto the platform, avoiding the burning heat descending for a few seconds longer.
All we can hear is the robotic voice reminding us of our impending doom. More seconds pass, and then finally...
"Sun filter rising" Is repeated, still my favourite words ever to be spoken.
"The whole thing's jammed" The man explains as we race over to the door.
"Stay there, don't move" he instructs pointlessly, I scoff, as if we can go anywhere.
"Where am I gonna go? Ipswich!" The girl takes the words straight out of my mouth. I chuckle.
"Earth death in five minutes" What is it with this robotic voice bringing me bad news every two seconds?
"What does that mean?!" I ask the girl.
The girl heads towards me and we sit together on the steps.
"The Doctor will sort it" She replies.
"Oh, that was him then, I didn't recognise his voice but I guess I was a bit preoccupied" I respond.
"Yeah, that's him" she continues. Then there is a pause and she truly looks at me.
"God, Nadine, I never thought I'd see you again!" She cries out, engulfing me in a hug.
Oh, right, so she knows me then. I really don't want to upset her anymore by telling her I haven't met her yet. Maybe I can just play this off, she's been through enough today and she seems sweet.
"Yeah, I mean, this is as much a surprise for me as it is to you" I attempt.
She buys it.
"Well, crazy things have always surrounded you, I remember when we first met, you knew my name. Rose Tyler you said, and I was kinda freaked out, but then after the day we had, you seemed pretty normal compared to them aliens" she continues, laughing at the memory I am yet to experience.
"Yeah, my life is crazy like that" I reply.
Rose Tyler, thats her name then. Pretty name, then again she's a pretty girl.
We continue chatting, about her mum, and her life, comparing stories about school and childhood. She hated school, left before she got her A-Levels, meanwhile I'm the exact opposite. She's definitely more naturally social, but I like her, she's funny and she has a good heart, I can tell. By the end I feel like we've been mates for years.
I take the time to look out through the glass window opposite the door and down onto the Earth, the view it truly breathtaking. It's awful when Rose explains that it's going to burn and that the Doctor had taken her to see the Earth's death. Why, of all the places to go, would he take her here?
Then we just sit, curled up by the window, taking in the view as time passes and we wait for the Doctor.
That is until the whole place starts falling apart, the ground shaking as an alarm starts blaring.
"Safety systems failing" begins to be repeated by that demonic robot voice.
"Heat levels rising" it continues.
"Earth death in two minutes" the voice brings more bad news.
"Heat levels critical" can this get much worse! Oh God, we're going to burn.
"Heat levels hazardous" Tears fill my eyes in fear.
"Shields malfunction" we both run to the door and sit against it, screaming as light burns through and hits different parts of the wall. If it hits us, we're dead.
The glass looks as though it may shatter any second. We panic, grasping hands and waiting for either our deaths or salvation.
The light pouring through is getting closer. This is it.
"Planet explodes in ten...nine...eight...seven... six..."
For one final time I take Rose's hand and we curl close to each other, both shaking in fear despite the heat.
"Five...four...three..."
I see Rose close here eyes, and go to do the same, and then I glimpse the Earth. Nobody will see it go, mark its passing. And I decide that if I am going to die, I'll die watching the Earth, I'll die as it dies too. My home.
"Two... one..." And then suddenly the shaking has stopped and it is over. I witness the earth engulfed in an inferno as it shatters into debris.
"Exoglass repaired" the voice drones out.
Rose is on her feet, breathing deeply, then the door opens and she races off. I quickly run after her to follow.
We enter another room and she walks over to a man in a leather jacket.
The man stops, startled at the sight of me.
"You! Nadine, how can you be... I don't have time... meddling..." He complains before Rose cuts in.
"You alright?" She asks him, wait, is this the Doctor?
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm full of ideas" he scowls as he stalks over towards the aliens in the room. Wow, these are proper alien aliens.
"Im bristling with them, idea number one teleportation through five thousand degrees ends some kind of a feed, idea number two this feed must be hidden nearby" he continues, yanking some technology out of the wall.
"Idea number three, if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed" Yep, this is definitely the Doctor.
The technology in his hand makes a whirring noise and then a voice...
"Oh, you should've seen their little alien faces...Oh!" a slab of skin held in a metal frame appears, what the hell!
"The last human" He's angry, I've never heard the Doctor like this.
"So, you passed my little test, bravo, this makes you eligible to join the um...errr...um, human club" I don't even know what's going on and even I can tell she's lying.
"People have died Cassandra" he butts in.
"You murdered them" the Doctor's voice contains so much rage.
"Depends on your definition of people" she bites back at him.
"And thats enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries! Take me to court then Doctor, and watch me smile and cry and flutter" she continues...
"And creak!" He cuts in again.
"And... What?" She is taken off guard.
"Creak! You're creaking!" He smirks, there is so much rage.
"I'm drying out! Oh sweet heavens, moisturise me, moisturise me! Where are my surgeons... my lovely boys! It's too hot!" Cassandra panics.
She continues to creak and stretch...it's a grotesque sight.
"You raised the temperature" He explains in a monotone voice, uncaring at her plight.
Rose moves towards the Doctor.
"Have pity!" She begs.
Can't someone help her? She's in pain! Cassandra continues to plead in pain. My heart breaks at the sight. Even if she is in the wrong, help her, she can stand trial, she doesn't have to suffer and die. This isn't right.
"Help her" Rose implores the Doctor.
But he continues staring at Cassandra, making no move to aid her.
"Everything has its time and everything dies" he states. Is that really his place to decide?
"I'm... too...young!" She screams, and then explodes.
I think I might be sick. I stand there in shock, unable to move. The Doctor races off with Rose following quickly on his heels. And then I move, looking for the pair.
I end up at another viewing platform, bigger than the one I was in earlier, and see Rose walk off towards the Tardis I expect. The doctor continues standing there looking out at the remnants of the Earth.
We pause, silence fills the time for a while. Then I decide to speak.
"Why did you take her here, Rose, I mean. To watch her planet burn, she's 19 and she's watched her planet burn. Not exactly an ideal trip surely?" I pause, attempting to read his expression, moving to sit on the steps that overlook the viewing platform, staring at the empty corpse of the burnt Earth.
"Unless you wanted her to see this, but what I don't understand is why? You don't strike me as the malicious type. And I rather think I'm quite a good judge of character" I continue, trying to figure him out, understand his thoughts.
"My planet burnt" He speaks after a long pause.
"I'm sorry" I respond automatically.
Then I think about it more.
"Oh, I see... now that she's seen her planet burn you've got common ground, you've experienced a similar level of grief. It connects you, and you didn't want to go through this alone" I expand my theory.
His head snaps to mine, those bright blue eyes glistening with emotion.
"I didn't plan it that way, but I suppose to some degree you're right. But not completely. It's not just about her seeing that. I wouldn't consciously wish that level of suffering and grief on anyone. It's about her seeing how humanity expands, grows, lives and thrives well beyond its primary planet. There's so much life, and you humans, you fantastic people, you don't just survive... You thrive. And isn't that just beautiful?" He explains, the excitement and joy on his face is infectious.
"You're right there, it is mad to know that after all that worrying about global warming and war and disease, the planet dies naturally. There's something good about that, or at least it's a relief to know we don't all kill one another in the end" I respond, smiling too.
"No, not just yet. That comes later" He snaps back.
"Wait, what? Are you serious!" I cry out.
"Guess you'll just have to wait and see... if you're sticking around that is" he grunts back, great he's back to moody then.
"I don't think I have a choice" I mutter.
Wait, his planet burned? But I thought his race were crazy clever, surely they could have stopped that?
"Why didn't you stop it?" I ask before thinking about what I'm saying.
"Stop what?" He turns back to me.
"You're planet burning... I mean, you're so clever, and you can time travel. Couldn't you just see it coming? And then, I don't know... fix it, protect it... save it. Thats what you always do, you're always saving stuff!" I expand.
"Shut it! It's not like a stupid ape like you could ever understand" He shouts back.
"Alright! I get it.. touchy subject! Sorry!" I fire back. I didn't mean to upset him.
"This is why I chose Rose, I didn't chose you, you just showed up where you're not welcome" He grinds out through gritted teeth, clenching his fists.
Tears fill my eyes, he hates me. He really hates me. He's never been like this towards me before. And I'm stuck with him for god knows how long. How can I get away? He clearly doesn't really want me here, he's just dealing with me because he doesn't have a choice.
"Right, I'll just go then!" I snap back, hurt and just wanting to get away.
"Well you're not going to get far without me, so good luck" He laughs back.
"Well, it's not your problem, so go away then. Get in that stupid box and leave. Like I want to be with you any more than you want to be with me" Its not true, and I know it. I'm just being defensive because I don't want to cry in front of him.
He glares at me, arms crossed. Then he simply turns on his heel and leaves.
Then I start crying. I can hear the groaning of the Tardis leaving. That's it then.
Hours pass and I just sit there. I can't leave, I'm stuck here, unless someone finds me, there should be a maintenance shuttle soon I hope. God, am I going to die here?
"She needs to be in the capsule..." I hear a whisper that breaks me from my thoughts. My head snaps up.
I see nobody.
I look around the room and my eyes head towards the door. Then it slides open.
"It won't work unless she's exposed..." A woman speaks through it, her head turned slightly away from me.
Then she looks through the window, right at me.
"Time to go now, you can't fail..." She grins towards me, I instantly feel colder, as her icy gaze penetrates mine. She has an eyepatch, but not like a pirates, it looks far more advanced than that...
"I'd say I'm sorry... but I'm not" and then the window snaps shut and she is gone.
Immediately pain courses through my body. I shriek in agony, sobbing, pleading to an empty room for help.
But nobody is coming, the Doctor has left me. I am alone.
And that is my last thought before blackness takes over and I am gone.