Double update! Woot! Hope you all enjoy. Brain really wanted to finish this two-parter episode.


The Doctor wandered toward the Tardis library, downtrodden and slightly on edge after his most recent experience. He hadn't expected a simple trip across a diamond planet to turn into something so dangerous and mentally exhausting. It was only made worse with how the journey had started out and… well… how lacking it had been without his companions.

Donna, expectedly, had forgone the tour to get a bit of a spa day herself, which was fine and all but Fallon… Fallon hadn't left the Tardis since what occurred at the Library. It was partially his fault, he knew. Or, well, mostly his fault. He'd blamed her for not trying to stop River and sure, River had been saved by their future selves in the end but he hadn't been able to gather the courage to talk to her about things since then. So, instead, they ended up doing things without really talking.

Fallon let him get her hand fixed up initially and then started caring for it herself. She avoided him in the Tardis and he'd hoped that by offering this spa trip and tour she might come out. At the time, he was still a bit frustrated that she hadn't done anything to help River. He'd hoped to at least get an explanation why she refused to stop her. He had to make sure that this wasn't just Fallon sinking back into that dangerous thought process she'd fallen into with General Cobb; that she hadn't let things happen because she didn't care. Instead, Donna informed him that Fallon wasn't interested and was just going to rest on the Tardis because she wasn't feeling well. So he, in turn, bit back his frustration with her and had him and Donna go off without her.

Now though, he was almost glad Fallon hadn't come. While it was more likely she'd have gone with Donna to the spa, if they had been on better terms he would have convinced her to go with him. Instead, he went alone after failing to convince Donna and settled in while stewing in his frustration over Fallon and her possible thought process with River. Then, the trip went horribly wrong and a shuttle full of panicking humans had nearly thrown him out to die. If Fallon had been there, he didn't doubt something worse might have happened, and right now, all he wanted to do was apologize.

He stepped into the library and winced, silently wondering why Fallon was in here after what happened but he shook his head and went in search of her, rolling through his apology in his head over and over in the hopes he wouldn't screw it up when he found her. I just say sorry, explain that I'm not angry a-and I understand. Or, well I would understand if she explained but—No, no. I'd understand no matter what because she must have had a good reason. He nodded to himself only to freeze when he found her.

She was sitting at a table lit by a simple green lamp, books stacked up around her and a pencil being twirled between her fingers. Her glasses were on and there was a small furrow in her brows as she looked at the book she was reading and the notebook beside it. She scribbled something down, eyed the book, then winced. The pencil clattered to the desk and she leaned back in her chair, rubbing her bandaged hand in annoyance.

It was healing well from what he could see. It was no longer heavily wrapped in bandages but there were obvious scars peeking out from the thinner ones covering what little hadn't healed yet. The injury still pained her obviously but that wasn't surprising given how bad the damage had been initially. She was lucky she hadn't kept her hand in the shadows for longer than half a second. It could have been so much worse. His chest ached at the thought before her eyes locked with his and she stiffened, easily slipping into being more guarded; adding to his guilt as he approached sheepishly.

"I… I didn't mean to interrupt," he muttered, looking at the books and being surprised by the various alien encyclopedias. "Are you… studying?"

Fallon's cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she snapped the book she'd had out closed and started to gather her things. "What does it matter?"

He winced, scrambling to try and stop her before he finally reached out and lightly took her arm. "Fallon, wait. I… I want to talk… please."

She eyed him before closing her eyes with a sigh and putting her things down. "Fine."

He let her go with a bit of relief, glad she was giving him a chance. "Do you… want to move rooms? We can have tea."

She didn't say anything and just waved for him to lead the way. He offered a half-smile and soon the two of them were settled in a small sitting room with their drinks. He poured her a cup and she took it, glancing at him with a hint of suspicion. He needed to talk and explain things soon or she might just leave. Again.

"Fallon, I… I wanted to apologize," he started off, getting the hard part out of the way. "I shouldn't have said those things before with… with River. You probably had a reason for doing what you did and—"

"And what if I didn't?" She asked suddenly, startling him.

"What?"

"What if I didn't have a good reason?" She repeated, looking down at her tea. "What if I just didn't do anything because I didn't want to die again?"

He opened his mouth to respond, pausing for a moment before trying again. "I… I think that's fine. It's a perfectly normal, human response."

Fallon sighed though, rubbing at her face. "Human. I don't know why you still think I'm human at this point."

"Fallon, what—"

"I shot someone," she reminded him bluntly, looking at him seriously. "No hesitation. I would've killed him in a second if you hadn't stopped me. Then, a good friend of mine loses her memory of me in front of my face while I just stood there. Now, someone I don't even know who's apparently a good enough friend of mine to know things I wouldn't tell anyone gets killed because I didn't do anything. And you still somehow think I'm a good person? That I'm somehow still a… a human being like one of those billions of other people out there who would have done something to help her?"

The Doctor's mind was spinning, confused. This wasn't how he expected this apology conversation to go and it took him a second to understand why Fallon was reacting like this; why she was saying these things. Fallon was blaming herself just as much as he was.

"Fallon," he said calmly, eyeing her as he put his tea down. "I've always considered you human. You are human even with your immortality. You're perfectly allowed to be human and make human decisions."

Fallon scoffed, not believing him.

"What happened with River wasn't your fault."

Fallon shot him a look, lifting her tea back up. "That's not what you were saying before."

"And I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight, you were hurt, and… and River was right. I shouldn't try to push you into making decisions like that. I…" He looked down, shamefully. "I've been trying my best to keep you from getting hurt, from dying needlessly and then I went and said that. It was stupid, impulsive, and… and I understand if you're upset with me about it. If you… If you'd want to leave."

Fallon put her cup back down rather harshly, the porcelain rattling in her frustration as she rubbed at her face. "I don't understand you. I don't—T-The whole point of you liking humans is centered around how they look at life, right?" She asked him, not waiting for him to respond. "They die. They live eighty-some-odd years and then they die so they go through life doing whatever they feel is best. They look at, at things and see them to be amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunities! I can't even use that term because my life just keeps going. Even when I want it to stop it just—" She cut herself short, taking a shuddering breath.

The Doctor pursed his lips, forcing himself to stay silent because he wasn't sure that what she just said was something she meant to say. He knew that living a long life—a never-ending life—wasn't always fun. That… That at some point she would have wished she could die or have been dead. She'd never said as much, possibly because it was an obvious thing but also because it wasn't something she was comfortable sharing. Fallon was a very closed-off person who needed a lot of constant reassurance to even consider speaking to him about anything. This could just be her slipping up and he knew that if he interrupted—if he made that topic the next focus of their conversation, she would just shut down again.

"Humans… Humans are allowed to be afraid of dying," she continued, lowering her hand from her face to look at him, appearing far older than he'd ever seen her. "They can run away from death because when it catches up, they're gone forever. That's not me. How… How can I use that excuse when I just pop back up again like nothing's wrong? How can I stand by as a human dies when my taking their place would mean a brief moment of pain and then I'm right back up again?"

The Doctor wasn't sure what to say and she pressed him further.

"H-How can I run away from death when there're humans out there like River who willingly die for others even when they'll never come back? Even when they're afraid? I don't get to have that choice. If, if I run… If I run away then what sort of person am I? Because I'm most certainly not human."

"You are," the Doctor finally said, grasping her hand across the table and holding firm even when she tried to pull back out of shame. "Fallon, I just spent the last few hours trapped in a shuttle full of humans being attacked by an unknown alien. I've always done my best to look at the good side of humanity even when they're doing something wrong. I still try, and right now, all I'm seeing is a human struggling with their life. A human trying to work out what to do, how to explain themselves, and their morals. Someone who just wants to have a fun, peaceful life without having to worry about getting hurt. That is what humanity is. It's not worrying about everything leading up to their death. It's not jumping out of planes or rushing into danger without fear. Humanity is… well, it's being afraid. Afraid of death, of life, of bees and danger and the unknown. You might live forever, Fallon, but every second of that life is still you being human."

"I-I could've stopped her," Fallon choked out, voice tight as her hand curled into a fist under his.

"You told me why you couldn't, and you know what?" He asked, cracking a small smile. "You were right. Everyone has the right to decide how they live and how they die. If there's a way to stop it, then we can try to help them but in the end, it's up to them to accept that help or leave it. Even if it means we're upset about it. Being afraid of pain and death—not acting in a situation where those are consequences… that doesn't make you any less of a good person."

Fallon lowered her head onto the table, making him worry as she tangled her other hand in her hair but when he went to pull his hand away and check on her, she grabbed his hand and held it tight.

"Sorry," she murmured into the wood, voice tight with tears and allowing him to relax with a soft smile.

"It's okay. I'm sorry too. I should've come to apologize sooner. I… I've been regretting it ever since, really. I just… I wasn't thinking. Of course, it's been hard on you too. She seemed… close to us… To you. It wouldn't have been easy to…"

The two fell into silence for a moment, the Doctor idly running his thumb back and forth over Fallon's knuckles. He glanced at her other hand that still rested, tangled in her hair.

"How's your hand?"

Fallon lifted her head, pulling her other hand back to wipe at her cheek as she sat up and looked at her bandaged fingers. "It's okay. Cramps up sometimes, aches a bit. Grip strength isn't as good as it could be but I've been… I've been working on it. Not the first time I've done physical therapy so I know what to do and what to look out for. Scaring is all that's really left but there are a few places where it's not quite right so I'm bandaging it for another day or so."

"I can have a look later if you'd like," he offered. "See if the Tardis has anything that could help."

She slowly nodded and they abandoned their tea to head back through the Tardis halls.

"Do you… want to go somewhere?" The Doctor asked, still a bit awkward after their talk but relieved that they'd had it and were back on good terms. "You've not been out of the Tardis for a bit. We could go to a market. I know a great place in Shan Shen—that's a planet—and they have amazing drinks and culture."

Fallon raised a brow. "Drinks and culture? Wow, you're a real charmer, aren't you?" She joked, making him smile and rub the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Well…"

"Probably why you attract all these women," she hummed. "Sarah Jane, Rose, Martha, Donna—though I guess she's the exception given she's not remotely interested."

"Wha—It's not like I go taking people out on dates!"

Fallon snorted. "You might as well be. 'Hey, young, single woman who thinks I'm hot, would you like to climb in my snazzy, snog box with me and travel the universe?'" She cracked a smile at his offended expression. "That's the line of one of two people: a charmer or a kidnapper. Your pick."

He wrinkled his nose as she bumped hips with him.

"Come on. We can take Donna too. Sure she'd enjoy it."

He partially wanted to go by themselves without Donna but the Doctor knew that wouldn't be possible just yet and begrudgingly gave in. "Sure, if you want," he shrugged.

Maybe some other time, he mused as Fallon smiled at him and he tucked his hands in his pockets. Give her some time to relax and then we'll see.


I was so confused as we sat in an abandoned fortune-teller's tent in the market on Shan Shen. "Hold on, explain this again. You got tricked by a fortune teller with this giant beetle—" I threw a finger at the creature lying dead before the Doctor. "—who somehow shifted you into an alternate universe where some woman warned you the stars were going out?"

"Well, how else do I explain it?" Donna complained, gesturing to the Doctor. "He's the science guy."

"It's probably fine," the Doctor hummed. "That world's gone and that's it."

"No, but she said it was all worlds. Every world. She said the darkness is coming even here," Donna pressed, making him grow a bit more worried.

"Who was she?" He asked.

"I don't know."

"What did she look like?"

"She was blonde."

Even I could see the possible connection there. "What was her name?" I asked.

"I don't know."

The Doctor was tense now though. "Donna, what was her name?"

"But she told me to warn you. She said two words."

"What two words? What were they? What did she say?"

"Bad Wolf. Well, what does it mean?"

The Doctor looked as though he'd seen a ghost.

"Doctor?" I questioned, concerned before he suddenly bolted up and ran out of the tent where everything seemed to say the same two words.

Posters, signs, flags. Even when we got back to the Tardis its usual "police box" had shifted into Bad Wolf. We rushed inside and the entire interior was red as a loud klaxon echoed through the console room.

"Doctor," I asked hesitantly. "Doctor, what's going on?"

"What is it?" Donna asked. "What's Bad Wolf?"

"It's the end of the universe," he answered, starting up the Tardis right away as we scrambled to steady ourselves.

"What does that mean!" I snapped, wishing he'd give us answers instead of just rushing about without any idea.

He landed her quickly and rushed back out. It was Earth again. Normal, modern-day Earth. Nothing was off or different. Just a city with a milkman doing his usual delivery.

"It's fine. Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong, all fine. Excuse me. What day is it?" The Doctor asked the man, who eyed him like he was mad.

"Saturday."

"Saturday. Good. Good, I like Saturdays."

"Doctor," I said firmly, grabbing his arm and turning him back toward Donna and me. "You need to explain. Donna saw Rose, didn't she? How is that possible? What does Bad Wolf mean?"

"I just met Rose Tyler?" Donna questioned before he could speak. "But she's locked away in a parallel world."

"Exactly. If she can cross from her parallel world to your parallel world, then that means the walls of the universe are breaking down, which puts everything in danger. Everything. But how?" He complained, rushing us back in as I groaned.

"If you'd stop rushing about for one second, we might actually be able to talk and work it out, you know," I complained as he fiddled with the console controls and Donna approached him.

"The thing is, Doctor, no matter what's happening, and I'm sure it's bad, I get that but, Rose is coming back. Isn't that good?"

It took him a second before he smiled fondly. "Yeah."

Then the Tardis jolted.

"What the hell was that!" Donna exclaimed and the Doctor turned to the door.

"Don't know. It came from outside."

He hurried over, pulling open the doors only for us to see space with a few drifting asteroids.

"Hold on, did we move?" I asked the Doctor confused.

"How did that happen? What did you do?" Donna questioned him as well as he rushed back to check the scanner.

"We haven't moved. We're fixed. It can't have. No." He rushed back over, leaning out the doors. "The Tardis is still in the same place, but the Earth has gone. The entire planet. It's gone."

"How can a whole planet move?" I questioned him, nervousness rolling in me. "That would upset the whole balance of Earth. The tides require the moon and the sun gives the right amount of heat. Moving it could mean—"

"Fallon," the Doctor silenced me, drawing my attention to Donna who was upset by my doomsday approach.

"What about my Mum? And Granddad? They're dead, aren't they? Are they dead?" Donna asked and the Doctor closed his eyes briefly as he tried to bring some sort of information up on the Tardis scanners.

"I don't know, Donna. I just don't know. I'm sorry, I don't know."

"That's my family. My whole world."

I shifted over to the Doctor's side. "Can you trace it?"

He shook his head. "There's no readings. Nothing. Not a trace. Not even a whisper. Oh, that is fearsome technology."

"So what do we do?" I asked. "I'd ask if there's someone to call for this sort of thing but I figured you're the closest to that."

"We can get help," he said, starting up the ship. "I'm taking you to the Shadow Proclamation. Hold tight."

The Tardis jerked and rattled as he pointed at a lever near me that I grabbed for him.

"Do I want to know what the Shadow Proclamation is?"

"Posh name for police. Outer space police. Here we go," he called over the noise as the ship landed and he bounded toward the door. "Just do what I say. They can be a bit rude."

"Sounds about right," I muttered under my breath as we stepped out to a group of familiar aliens. "Oh, joy. Judoon."

The Doctor shushed me and held up his hands, Donna and I doing the same.

"Sco bo tro no flo jo ko fo to to."

"No bo ho sho ko ro to so. Bokodozogobofopojo," the Doctor said, explaining something well enough that they put their guns away. "Moho."

We were led into an office area of sorts then, where a silver-haired woman—the Architect—watched us in curiosity. The Judoon had apparently told her we were coming as she gave the Doctor a once over.

"Time Lords are the stuff of legend. They belong in the myths and whispers of the Higher Species. You cannot possibly exist."

I glanced at the Doctor, who looked almost proud of the description. Show off.

"Yeah. More to the point, I've got a missing planet."

"Then you're not as wise as the stories would say. The picture is far bigger than you imagine. The whole universe is in outrage, Doctor. Twenty-four worlds have been taken from the sky."

"Earth isn't the only one?" I questioned, joining the Doctor and her over at her monitor.

"How many? Which ones? Show me," the Doctor demanded.

"Locations range far and wide, but all disappeared at the exact same moment, leaving no trace," she replied.

"Callufrax Minorr. Jahoo. Shallacatop. Woman Wept. Clom. Clom's gone? Who'd want Clom?"

"More to the point, Doctor," I grumbled, "why? Why are there planets just disappearing? Where would they go?"

"All different sizes. Some populated, some not. But all unconnected," the Architect explained before Donna chimed in.

"What about Pryovillia?"

"Who is the female?" The Architect asked, making me frown.

"What, you question her but not me?"

"You have been cataloged in our systems the moment you met the Judoon," she explained, eyeing me. "Human with a genetic defect, seemingly immortal, who travels with the Doctor. You are already well-known, Fallon."

I turned to the Doctor with a scowl. "See what you did? You made me fucking famous?"

"Oi, that's not my fault," he complained as Donna waved to get our attention.

"Yeah, hi. Donna. I'm a human being. Maybe not the stuff of legend but every bit as important as Time Lords, thank you. Way back, when we were in Pompeii, Lucius said Pyrovillia had gone missing," she explained.

"Pyrovillia is cold case. Not relevant," the Judoon leader nearby grumbled.

"How do you mean, cold case?"

"The planet Pyrovillia cannot be part of this. It disappeared over two thousand years ago," the Architect countered, making me frown.

"That shouldn't discredit it. You should be looking at all planets that disappeared in a similar manner before just blowing it off as irrelevant."

"There was the Adipose breeding planet, too," Donna added. "Miss Foster said that was lost, but that must've been a long time ago."

"That's it! Donna, brilliant!" The Doctor praised, starting up a hologram with the computer. "Planets are being taken out of time as well as space. Let's put this into 3-D. Now, if we add Pyrovillia and Adipose Three. Something missing. Where else, where else, where else? Where else lost, lost, lost, lost. Oh! The Lost Moon of Poosh."

The last planet was added and the hologram changed suddenly, rearranging them all and confusing us all.

"What did you do?" The Architect asked.

"Nothing. The planets rearranged themselves into the optimum pattern. Oh, look at that. Twenty-seven planets in perfect balance. Come on, that is gorgeous," the Doctor cooed as Donna frowned at him.

"Oi, don't get all spaceman. What does it mean?"

"All those worlds fit together like pieces of an engine. It's like a powerhouse. What for?"

"Who could design such a thing?" The Architect asked as the Doctor's expression grew serious.

"Someone tried to move the Earth once before. Long time ago. Can't be."

"You have someone in mind then?" I asked, but he was dazed and I grabbed him to draw his attention. "Doctor! You need to talk, not just shut us out. Let us help."

He grabbed my arms, pressing his forehead to mine and closing his eyes, taking a deep breath before nodding slightly. "Okay… Okay, you're right." He opened his eyes and cracked a smile as he pulled away. "Let's see what we can do."


"Argh! This doesn't make any sense!" The Doctor complained as I tried to figure it out too.

"There has to be some sort of sign. Something that could give us an idea of how they moved them or where they went."

The Doctor moved over to Donna to ask her given I hadn't been on Earth more recently and when I was it wasn't exactly to focus on random patterns that might help explain how a whole planet could move. She seemed to be a bit of a dead end too as the Doctor started to come back when she mentioned something.

"Although, there were the bees disappearing."

"The bees disappearing. The bees disappearing. The bees disappearing!" The Doctor shouted, understanding something that I was missing.

The Architect was lost too. "How is that significant?"

"On Earth, we had these insects. Some people said it was pollution or mobile phone signals," Donna tried to explain as she joined us at the computer.

"Or, they were going back home," the Doctor hummed, making me frown.

"You're joking. Are all animals on Earth aliens?"

"Well, not all of them. But if the migrant bees felt something coming, some sort of danger, and escaped? Tandocca!" He pointed at the Architect who understood.

"The Tandocca Scale."

"Yeah, don't know what that is," I mused, watching the Doctor work.

"Tandocca Scale is the series of wavelengths used as carrier signals by migrant bees. Infinitely small. No wonder we didn't see it. It's like looking for a speck of cinnamon in the Sahara, but look, there it is! The Tandocca trail. The transmat that moved the planets was using the same wavelength, we can follow the path."

"And find the Earth? Well, stop talking and do it," Donna demanded.

"I am!"

We ran back to the Tardis and he started her up.

"We're a bit late. The signal's scattered, but it's a start," the Doctor said, poking his head out and saying something before sending the ship off as I eyed the door where I'd heard a shout.

"Did you just piss off the outer space police?"

"Just a bit," he said with a cheeky wink. "Don't worry about it, Fallon. We were never on great terms, to begin with, after the whole hospital on the moon thing."

"Was that with Martha?" Donna asked, getting a nod from me as I grabbed the railing and a thought came to mind.

"Yes, speaking of, I take it the Earth will be a bit of a mess when we get back."

"How do you mean?" The Doctor hummed, brows furrowed in focus as he flew the ship.

"I mean, Earth has just been forcibly moved to another area. People are going to notice and when humans see something like that, they tend to panic," I explained, hitting the button he was stretching to reach for. "And when people like Martha and Jack start to panic, they tend to cause a bit of trouble. If someone is behind this too, you can bet they're adding to that. Humans don't tend to react well when their home is uprooted."

"We can't do anything until we get there, Fallon," he explained, glancing at me as I eyed him in return.

"I'm just… worried about what we might be stepping back into. Humans aren't always kind when threatened."

His gaze softened and he nodded, turning away. "I know."

I felt that I might have been missing something with how seriously he said that but I hadn't really been told much after what happened with River. He mentioned getting trapped in a shuttle with people… did something happen then? I watched him for a moment longer before letting the questions I had, go. He would tell me if and when he wanted to. Then, the Tardis went quiet.

"It stopped."

"What do you mean?" Donna asked as I gripped the railing uneasily. "Is that good or bad? Where are we?"

"The Medusa Cascade. I came here when I was just a kid, ninety years old. It was the center of a rift in time and space."

"So, where are the twenty-seven planets?"

"Nowhere. The Tandocca Trail stops dead… End of the line."

Donna grew more worried, more frantic. "So what do we do? Doctor, what do we do?"

He was silent though.

"Now don't do this to me. No, don't. Don't do this to me. Not now. Tell me, what are we going to do? You never give up. Please." She turned to me then. "Fallon?"

"I-I… I don't know," I muttered, confused as well. "I'm not familiar with this technology o-or what's happening. I wouldn't know where to start."

"There's got to be something!"

I wasn't sure what to do though. It may not have been my Earth but it might as well be. I'd been on there for so long that the planet was definitely my home now. I wanted it saved just as much as anyone, so to hit a dead end like this and have not even the slightest idea of what to do was… heartbreaking.

Something touched the back of my hand and I turned, glancing over at the Doctor as he took it and gave it a squeeze. I turned my gaze to the floor, leaning up against him with a soft sigh. Then, out of nowhere, the chime of a phone.

"Phone!"

"Doctor, phone!"

We all hurried to the console as the cell phone Martha had left us was pulled out.

"Martha, is that you?" The Doctor answered, but the phone just kept ringing.

"Doctor, if they're calling from Earth, can't we follow that trail?" I asked, hopeful as he pulled out a stethoscope with a manic grin.

"Oh, just watch me." He hooked the phone to the console and finally jabbed at the controls. "Got it! Locking on!"

I held tight to the railing, grimacing as my injured hand cramped and the Tardis sparked and a fire started up. I cursed and grabbed a fire extinguisher, keeping one arm looped around the railing while the other attempted to put out the fire.

"We're traveling through time. One second in the future. The phone call's pulling us through! Three, two, one!"

The Tardis jerked to a stop and our eyes went to the monitor, relief flooding through us.

"Twenty-seven planets. And there's the Earth. But why couldn't we see them?"

"They were out of sync, right?" I asked, spraying the last bit of fire just below the grating. "You said one second."

The Doctor smiled. "That's right. The entire Medusa Cascade has been put a second out of sync with the rest of the universe. Perfect hiding place. Tiny little pocket of time. But we found them. Ooh, ooh, ooh, what's that?" He asked as the monitor flickered with static. "Hold on, hold on. Some sort of Subwave Network."

"Where the hell have you been?" A familiar voice chimed in as three images appeared on the screen.

"Jack!" I said with a grin, getting a wink from Jack.

"Missed ya, Fallon. Look, it's the Daleks, Doctor."

"And Sarah Jane! And Martha!" I continued, eyeing the videos. "Aren't you lot clever, sending out that signal. We couldn't find you until then."

"It's the Daleks though, Fallon," Sarah Jane explained, reminding me of the deadly creatures that had killed at least once before. "They're taking people to their spaceship."

They all started talking over one another mentioning Daleks and Earth surrendering as the Doctor eyed them all.

"Sarah Jane. Who's that boy? That must be Torchwood. Oh, they're brilliant. Look at you all, you clever people," he said with a smile.

"That's Martha and who's… he?" Donna asked, pointing at Jack and making me snort.

"Captain Jack Harkness and trust me, you don't want to fall into his trap."

Jack made a face at me as I cracked a smile back, fond of the other immortal I'd been lucky enough to befriend.

"It's like an outer space Facebook."

"Everyone except Rose."

Then, the screen turned to static and the Doctor groaned, smacking the monitor to try and get the signal back.

"No, no, no, no, no. There's another signal coming through. There's someone else out there. Hello? Can you hear me? Rose?"

"Your voice is different, and yet its arrogance is unchanged." Came a croaky voice and I saw the Doctor's expression fall as an old wrinkled face appeared on screen with a blue eye on his forehead and shadows where his eyes should have been. "Welcome to my new Empire, Doctor. It is only fitting that you should bear witness to the resurrection and the triumph of Davros, lord and creator of the Dalek race."

"I take it this is the guy you suspected earlier?" I muttered under my breath, eyeing the Doctor in concern as he was silent.

"Have you nothing to say?" Davros pressed and I reached over, grabbing the Doctor's elbow and drawing his gaze to me.

I wasn't sure how to reassure him. I didn't know the history behind him and this Davros person but… he'd reassured me a lot lately and I felt I needed to give him the same in return. Especially if this is going as bad as it appears to be. The Doctor needs someone right now. I give his arm a squeeze and he took a steadying breath and turned back to the monitor.

"You were destroyed. In the very first year of the Time War, at the Gates of Elysium. I saw your command ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I tried to save you."

"But it took one stronger than you. Dalek Caan himself."

A mad cackle of a voice chimed in. "I flew into the wild and fire. I danced and died a thousand times."

"Emergency Temporal Shift took him back into the Time War itself."

"But that's impossible. The entire War is time-locked," the Doctor argued.

"And yet he succeeded. Oh, it cost him his mind, but imagine. A single, simple Dalek succeeded where Emperors and Time Lords have failed. A testament, don't you think, to my remarkable creations?"

"And you made a new race of Daleks."

"I gave myself to them, quite literally. Each one grown from a cell of my own body," He pulled away part of his shirt to reveal scraps of his body barely hanging onto his bones."New Daleks. True Daleks. I have my children, Doctor. What do you have, now?"

"After all this time, everything we saw, everything we lost, I have only one thing to say to you… bye!"

The Tardis was sent off and the transmission ended, undoubtedly landing somewhere on Earth now. Donna hurried toward the doors and the Doctor did the same, pausing when I grabbed his arm.

"Are you alright?"

He raised a brow at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I know. I'm not exactly someone who asks but…" I pulled a hand through my hair. "It just seemed like this was a big thing for you. Figured I should ask since you looked a bit—"

I blinked in surprise as he pulled away with a smile, having kissed my forehead out of nowhere. I opened my mouth to say something but closed it with a confused frown as he grabbed my hand and tugged me to the doors.

"Thank you," he said from over his shoulder, pushing open the door as we stepped outside. "For worrying."


Abandoned cars and trash were scattered around the empty street as Donna breathed in shock.

"Like a ghost town."

"Sarah Jane said they were taking the people. What for?" The Doctor asked as I wandered a bit further away.

"Labor? I'm not sure what else they'd be for other than that," I offered, glancing up at the sky full of planets instead of stars.

"Think, Donna. When you met Rose in that parallel world, what did she say?" The Doctor asked.

"Just, the darkness is coming," Donna said, unsure what he wanted from her.

"Anything else?"

I saw movement and turned, seeing a familiar face in the distance at the same time Donna did.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?"

The Doctor turned, shocked to see Rose standing there grinning away at him as she started running up the road. He rushed for her as well, a smile lighting up his face. I hadn't noticed I'd wandered a bit far from him as I'd looked around and he had just reached me when a robotic voice echoed through the dark.

"Exterminate!"

I whipped around at the sound, the Dalek sending a tendril of fear rolling through me after the last time I'd dealt with them. A curse slipped out of my mouth and I cringed, bracing for the heat of its weapon only for arms to wrap around me. My eyes went wide as we toppled to the ground and a blast went off as the Dalek was destroyed. I rolled over to grab at the Doctor though, as he squirmed on the ground, eyes wide.

"W-Wha—My God, y-you idiot!" I shouted at him, clutching at his suit. "Y-You absolute—"

He groaned in pain, shooting me a look. "O-Oh, don't give me that."

"You saved me! I-I told you! I told you not to do stupid shit! Why can't you just—God, why?"

"I said I-I'd protect you."

"Y-You daft idiot," I breathed as Rose came over as well, eyes rolling over him in sadness as well. "God, I'm immortal. You don't need to protect me."

"Y-Yeah, well…" He sighed, grimacing in pain and turning to Rose with a small smile. "Rose."

"Hi," she breathed, teary-eyed herself.

"Long time no see," he croaked as a hand settled on my shoulder, turning my gaze to Jack behind me.

"Yeah. Been busy, you know. Don't die. Oh, my God. Don't die. Oh my god, don't die," Rose begged him as Jack pulled me up off the ground.

"Get him into the Tardis, quick. Move."

I just stared as Rose and Donna helped get him up but Jack grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me, jolting me out of it.

"I need you here and focused, Fallon. You understand?"

"But he just…"

"I know but there are bigger things happening right now and he'll be okay, remember? He'll regenerate."

"He won't be the same… He told me he wouldn't be the same person."

"He'll still be the Doctor, Fallon. Even if he's different and you need to remember that because he just saved you. He was willing to give up his life for you and he wouldn't want you to think any differently about him, okay? Okay?" He urged, tugging me along to the Tardis.

I brought a hand to my mouth though, feeling sick. "God, he's the only one who can fix this a-and I killed him."

Jack groaned and turned me around, pressing me up against the Tardis doors and grabbing my face in both his hands. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this, Fallon. You've done enough of that for centuries and right here, right now, I need you to focus and be the best you can be for him. He needs that from you, you understand?"

Slowly, I nodded, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. When I looked back at Jack again, I was far calmer.

"He'll be okay?" I asked to confirm and Jack nodded.

"He will."

"Okay," I muttered, running a hand through my hair as Jack took a step back. "Okay. I'm all right."

He nodded, pressing something into my chest and surprising me at the pistol he was giving me. "Take this. Hide it."

"Jack, this—"

"The Doctor wouldn't approve but I'm not sure how he'll be right after regenerating. We might be immortal, Fallon, but you've got more experience than I do. If the Doctor isn't right; if you have no other choice…"

I nodded in understanding and tucked the gun into the back of my waistband before we both stepped into the Tardis with the others. Donna and Rose had the Doctor on the ground where he squirmed in agony, equally concerned.

"W-What do we do? There must be some medicine or something," Donna asked as Jack put his gun aside and Jack called out to her and Rose.

"Just step back." He went over to pull Rose up as she hesitated. "Rose, do as I say, and get back. He's dying and you know what happens next. Fallon, have you—"

I shook my head, forcing my own gaze away from the Doctor. "No. I've only heard he changes. I've not seen it other than afterward."

"What do you mean? He can't!" Donna argued as I tugged her up too, helping Jack move everyone away.

"Oh, no. I came all this way," Rose murmured as Donna pushed me off and turned to Jack.

"What do you mean, what happens next?"

"The Doctor told me he changes when he dies," I explained to Donna as best I could. "He said Time Lords cheat death by changing their entire being. I met him a few times where he had a different face, different personality. I just thought it was the name 'the Doctor' getting passed along but he said it's just what his species does. I-I don't know much else, Donna. I'm sorry."

"It's starting," the Doctor breathed, lifting a hand that began to glow gold.

Rose was pulled away by Jack as we gathered together and the Doctor started to heave himself onto his feet.

"Here we go. Good luck, Doctor!" Jack offered him, holding Rose and Donna back as I brought a hand up to my mouth briefly, upset but knowing now wasn't the time.

I took a shuddering breath and looked over at the Doctor as he stared back sadly.

"I'm sorry, it's too late. I'm regenerating."

Then, he burst into gold.