Katy wasn't sure what to expect as she attempted to burn the fob watch she clutched in her hands. She imagined there would be pain, maybe even enough to kill her, but if it meant the Family would die alongside her, it was worth the sacrifice. The problem was, not everyone in the village hall appeared to agree. Katy's eyes shot open when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and in the blink of an eye, her fob watch was being ripped out of her hands. She twisted around to find John glaring at her, a look of grim determination on his face.
"What the hell are you doing?" Katy hissed, dropping the lit match to the floor before it could burn her fingertips.
"If there is even the smallest chance that burning this watch may harm you, then I will protect it with my life" John retorted, as Katy gave him a look of disbelief.
"I appreciate the sentiment, John, really I do, but you have no bloody idea what you're talking about!" Katy exclaimed as Joan tutted under her breath.
"Language" She chided.
"Oh, fuck off, Joan!" Katy snapped, causing the older woman's jaw to drop open at her vulgarity.
"If I could bring your attention back to the matter at hand...give us the watch...or you die" Baines announced, raising his gun toward John.
"I think we'll have to decline" Katy stated, her eyes flickering to movement behind the Family.
"You are outgunned, outnumbered and have no means of escape. How do you think you can refuse?" Baines scoffed, as Katy gave a slight shrug.
"I think you're forgetting one thing" Katy informed him.
"And what would that be?" Baines muttered, growing impatient.
"...My sister's standing behind you" Katy announced.
A smug grin grew on her face as she watched Martha reach out and wrestle an unsuspecting Baines for his gun. With a hard tug, she was able to pull the weapon from his grip and pressed it to the back of his head, her other hand coiled tightly on his blazer jacket, keeping him in place. The rest of the Family all but snarled as they realised that Martha had gained the upper hand, but none of them dared to move.
"Alright! One more move and I shoot!" Martha warned, tugging Baines away from the Family, in case one of them tried to lunge at her.
"Oh, the maid is full of fire" Baines mocked, as Martha grit her teeth.
"And you can shut up!" Martha yelled, firing the gun at the ceiling, which left a scorch mark on the surface.
"Careful, Son of Mine. This is all for you so that you can live forever" Father of Mine, in the body of Mr Clark, warned.
"Would you really pull the trigger? You sound too scared" Baines goaded, trying to wiggle out of her hold.
"Scared and holding a gun's a good combination. Do you want to risk it?" Martha murmured, pressing the gun back to his head, as the Family slowly lowered their own weapons.
"Doctor, get everyone out. There's a door at the side. It's over there. Go on. Do it, Mister Smith. I mean you!" Martha ordered, when she noticed no one seemed to be moving.
"Well, don't just stand there gawking! Go, go!" Katy cried, ushering people out of the hall.
"Do what she said. Everybody out, now. Don't argue, Mister Jackson. They're mad. That's all we need to know. Susan, Miss Cooper, outside, all of you" Joan insisted, grabbing an elderly woman's arm and dragging her out of the hall.
"John, go. Get as far away from here as you can" Katy advised, as the teacher started shaking his head.
"What about you both?" John pointed out.
"Mr Smith, I think you should escort your lady friend to safety, don't you?" Martha said, in a cold tone, alluding to Joan who he had invited along to the dance.
"Go! We can handle this" Katy told him, as John hesitantly turned on his heel and raced out of the room.
"And how do you plan to...handle us? I must confess, I've never met a Krillitane in the flesh. We're quite alike, don't you think?" Baines suggested.
"What are you suggesting, some sort of alliance?" Katy huffed, as she approached Martha, who still had the gun raised to Baines head.
"I'm sure we could come to an arrangement. Give us the Time Lord, and we could use his essence to obliterate this entire solar system" Mr Clark explained.
Katy nodded slowly, almost looking as if she was considering his offer, before tapping Martha on her shoulder, gesturing to the gun. Martha gladly handed the weapon to her, glad to have the gun in someone else's hands.
"How about I just kill you instead?" Katy exclaimed, no hint of a bluff in her voice.
"You humans are too—" Mr Clark began, as Katy pulled the trigger on the ray-gun, causing a blast of energy to surge past him, burning the sleeve of his jacket.
"Well, I've just found out I'm not human, so best not to test me, eh?" Katy muttered, as Mr Clark placed his hand over his singed sleeve, hiding the burn that would scar the body.
She hoped the Family hadn't noticed how her hands had begun to shake out of fear. She had no doubt she would be able to pull the trigger and kill at least one of them, but where would that get her? Mr Clark was just itching to shoot her and Martha if anything happened to his son.
"We're leaving. And you're gonna' let us, unless you want me to pull the trigger again" Katy warned, as Mr Clark gave a curt nod.
"You won't get far" Jenny sneered, as Martha shoved Baines forward, before rushing to Katy's side.
"What happened to Jenny? Is she gone?" Martha asked, hopeful there was still a way to save her friend.
"She is consumed. Her body's mine" Mother of Mine informed them, taking a step forward.
"You mean she's dead" Martha retorted.
"Yes. And she went with precious little dignity. All that...ah...screaming" She mocked, causing Martha to flinch.
"You're gonna' regret killing her. I'll make sure of it" Katy spat out, reaching down to grab Martha's hand and pulling her away from the killers.
Katy had hoped retreating to the school would buy them some time, but her plan had backfired. Mr Smith had enlisted the boys in a fight to the death against the Family, a battle that he should have known they couldn't win. Katy stopped outside one of the windows to the courtyard, grimacing as she watched boys piling up sandbags and clutching at rifles in their tiny hands. A child as young as eight kneeled down in the mud, barely able to hold his weapon up as he raised it toward the courtyard entrance.
"This is madness" Katy muttered.
"The headmaster won't listen. Not to us at least" Martha sighed, as she pushed open another door to the dormitories.
"Tim's smart. He might have already made a run for it" Katy suggested, as Martha glanced around the darkened room for the boy with the fob watch.
"Let's hope not...or we have no chance of defeating those things" Martha pointed out.
"And remind me, in this fantasy of yours, what is the use of this watch?" Matron inquired, in a disbelieving tone.
Katy pushed down the urge to roll her eyes, as the group walked onto the next room in their search. She didn't understand why Joan was still trailing after them, but guessed it had something to do with the discomfort she surely felt around John now. Finding out that she had kissed an alien earlier that evening must have sent her head spinning—
"Oh God, so did I" Katy mumbled to herself, not sure how to feel about the realisation.
"I know it sounds mad, but when the Doctor became human, he took the alien part of himself and stored it inside the watch. It's not really a watch, it just looks like a watch" Martha explained.
"And alien means not from abroad, I take it" Joan suggested.
"The man you call John Smith, he was born on another world. So, was Katy" Martha stated, making Katy wince.
"Yeah, still trying to digest that bit of information, thanks" Katy muttered, a sick feeling growing in her stomach.
It didn't make sense to her. She still felt human. Everything that Martha had told her, all the events of the day, she still hoped it was just an awful dream. But she didn't appear to be waking up anytime soon.
"Then tell me. In this fairy tale, who are you?" Joan questioned.
"Just a friend. I'm not...I mean, you haven't got a rival, as much as I might...just his friend" Martha stuttered, causing Katy's forehead to wrinkle.
She knew that Martha had a crush on John, it was clear as day, but the way she talked about the Doctor made it seem more than just a fleeting fancy. It almost sounded like she was...in love with him.
"And human, I take it?" Joan pushed.
"Human. Don't worry. And more than that, I just don't follow him around. I'm training to be a doctor. Not an alien doctor, a proper doctor. A doctor of medicine" Martha went on.
"Well, that certainly is nonsense. Women might train to be doctors, but hardly a skivvy and hardly one of your colour" Joan said, in a haughty tone.
"Oh, that is it. I'm hitting her" Katy announced, raising her hand up in the air, as Martha lunged forward to grab her arm.
"Even without your memories, you're still reverting back to your old ways" Martha snorted, as Katy reluctantly dropped her hand.
"You think I can't be a doctor? Then listen to this...Bones of the hand. Carpal bones, proximal row. Scaphoid, lunate, triquetal, pisiform. Distal row. Trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, hamate. Then the metacarpal bones extending in three distinct phalanges. Proximal, middle, distal" Martha reeled off, pointing to all the different bones in her hand.
"You read that in a book" Joan stated, as Katy ran a hand over her face.
"Look, arguing about this is just wasting time, so if you haven't got anything useful to say...just go away" Katy insisted, as Joan clenched her jaw.
"Fine. Those boys are going to fight. I might not be a doctor, but I'm still their nurse. They need me" Joan suggested, picking up her skirts and rushing down the corridor, as Katy noticed Martha giving her an odd look.
"What?" Katy frowned.
"When you held the watch earlier...did anything come out of it?" Martha inquired.
"There was a light. Just a flicker, it...I don't know, disappeared into the air" Katy confessed.
"I don't think it did, Katy. I think it went back into you. I mean, listen to yourself, you're not talking like a woman from 1913 anymore. Maybe...maybe it's time to open the watch" Martha advised, as Katy's face contorted.
"I believe you. About all of this, even if it is absolutely insane...how can you ask me to open that watch? To become a monster?" Katy accused, as Martha reached out to take her hands.
"The Doctor said the chameleon circuit, it was meant for Time Lords. It doesn't work properly for you; your body is rejecting the change. It won't last. The seizures, the blackouts...it's all gonna' get worse. You have to open the watch...or you'll die" Martha explained, in a soft tone.
"...So?" Katy retorted, causing Martha's eyes to widen.
"What?" She gaped, dropping Katy's hands.
"Some of my memories have come back, not many but...they're bad, Martha. The things I saw before the Doctor found me...I don't want them back. I don't want to remember what my people did, my family...maybe it's time for the Krillitanes to die out" Katy exclaimed, watching as horror grew on Martha's face.
"No. I'm finding the Doctor's watch and I'm opening it whether he likes it or not. Maybe he can talk some sense into you" Martha muttered, before she stormed away down the corridor.
John had to a double take when he marched through the corridors of the school to find Katy handling a rifle, attempting to advance the ammunition casings within the weapon. It appeared to jam, causing Katy to let out a groan, wondering what she was doing wrong. She had handled weapons before, but an earth rifle wasn't one of them.
"What do you think you're doing?" John called out to her.
"Arming myself. Like the little boys are outside. That's what you want, isn't it?" Katy muttered, as John placed his hand on the rifle, tugging the weapon out of her grip.
"None of this is what I want" John retorted.
"You're putting these children in danger, and for what? They can't stop the Family! Those creatures Baines made will tear them apart" Katy hissed.
"What do you suggest then?" John asked, desperately.
"...I go out there and distract them whilst you get the boys to safety" Katy suggested, as John shook his head, vehemently.
"Run away? That's your plan?" John huffed.
"Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war. And those kids...those kids aren't soldiers and you know it!" Katy snapped.
"And neither are you! Why must you insist on putting yourself in danger again?" John pointed out, as Katy gave him a half shrug.
"Because the Doctor isn't here" Katy blurted out, the words falling from her mouth before her mind had caught up.
She might not have remembered him well, but she knew the Doctor always turned up in the nick of time to save the day. But he wasn't there. They were on their own this time.
"Instead, we have an amnesic teacher, an epileptic nurse and a maid from the twenty-first century. In other words...we're pretty fucked, to be honest. But if I'm gonna' die, I plan to take those bastards down with me. What about you, John?" Katy exclaimed, looking up at him.
"Are you always like this?" John inquired, his lips pulling back into a smile.
"I think I am. Guess that's why you like me so much" Katy said, giving him a lopsided grin, as they heard footsteps rushing over to them.
"I hate to break up the moment, but the headmaster just went outside to speak to the Cartright girl!" Martha interjected as Katy's eyes widened.
"Moment of truth, what's it gonna' be? Stay or run?" Katy questioned, turning back to John.
"...Run. Every time" John replied, before grabbing the large bell by his side.
"Retreat! Cadets, retreat!" John yelled, ringing the bell as he started running through the halls.
"Help him. I'll get the headmaster if he hasn't got himself killed already" Katy murmured, gesturing for Martha to follow John.
"Be careful!" Martha insisted, earning a quick nod in response.
Katy looked back down at the weapons laid out on the table, including the green ray gun she had stolen from the family, her hand hovering above it. That was until she found a different weapon lying haphazardly on the edge of the table, causing a smirk to grow on her lips.
"Yeah, that'll work" She mumbled to herself.
Katy burst through the courtyard doors just in time to see the headmaster walking out past the sandbag defences to the sinister Cartright girl, still clutching her red balloon. Katy's eyes dropped to the bump hidden under the little girl's coat, likely owning a weapon of her own. She rushed toward a few boys who were still straggling behind, grabbing them by the collars of their blazers and dragging them back toward the school.
"Come here. Come to me" The headmaster exclaimed, holding his hand out to the murderous girl.
"Don't go near her! Headmaster, she's one of them!" Katy called out to him.
"I've seen many strange sights this night, but there is no cause on God's Earth that would allow me to see this child in the field of battle" The headmaster retorted, as Katy let out a groan.
"And I wasn't exactly asking" Katy hissed, racing over to him, and grabbing his arm before he could get any closer to the girl.
"You're funny" Daughter of Mine stated, her hand going into her jacket.
"Yeah, I'm a real catch" Katy scoffed, pulling out the ray gun she had stolen, just as the little girl raised her weapon.
"Are you going to shoot me, Krillitane? Really?" Daughter of Mine questioned, as Katy threw the headmaster behind her.
She surprised herself with her own strength, able to hear the thud as the headmaster fell to the ground from the force of her pushing him. She moved her other hand to steady the hold she had on her gun, her eyes flickering behind the girl to see Baines and Jenny marching through the courtyard gates, broad grins on their faces.
"...Nope!" Katy exclaimed, chucking the gun away from her.
In the blink of an eye, she had pulled out the real weapon she had planned on using, and heard the headmaster racing to his feet when he saw what was in her hands. Pulling the pin out of the device, she threw it toward the little girl's feet, who tilted her head, confused by the circular object now inches away from her.
"Grenade!" Baines cried, rushing forward to grab his little sister and Katy spun on her feet to flee.
She made it back to the sandbag defences just in time as the grenade exploded behind her, and she was thrown to the floor. Dust and flames littered the courtyard, as Katy rolled onto her side, her ears ringing when she felt someone's hand reaching for her shoulder. Her eyes snapped up to find John looming over her, holding his hand out to her.
"I thought I told you to get the boys out" Katy murmured.
"I wasn't going to leave without you" John replied, causing a genuine smile to spread over Katy's lips as she took his hand and allowed him to pull her up.
"Did you kill them?" The headmaster asked, shakily from where he was kneeling on the ground.
Katy looked toward the courtyard, finding the Family on their backs, singed and injured but their chests still rose and fell. Katy's gaze landed on the gun she had discarded, debating racing forward to grab the weapon and put an end to the events of the night. Baines stirred a moment later, as they saw shadows growing on the gate, realising the scarecrows were approaching.
"No. Reckon I pissed them off though" Katy grimaced, as John squeezed her hand and pulled her back toward the school.
"Those creatures...what are they?" The headmaster gaped, turning back to see the first of the scarecrows walking over to their masters.
"Molecular fringe animation, I expect. Background radiation reflected from Baines through a cerebral impulse and transmitted to the scarecrows—" Katy began, when she felt a searing pain in her skull.
She doubled over instantly, clutching at her head, realising that she must have unlocked another memory. The way she had thrown the headmaster, the knowledge she had...it was all started to come back, but into a human body. One that couldn't contain a Krillitane. Looking down at the floor, Katy noticed blood spilling down from her face, as she raised her hand to wipe away what was dripping down from her nose.
"Katy? Katy, what's wrong?" John said, reaching out for her in an instant.
"I'm...I'm dying. That's all" Katy murmured, as another wave of dizziness threatened to overwhelm her.
"Come. We must hurry. We can go through the school and out..." The headmaster trailed off, as he opened the front doors to the building only to find three scarecrows waiting in the doorway.
"Perhaps not" John exclaimed, slamming the door shut before the scarecrows could get through.
"We can...can go through the maid's entrance. Go on" Katy stated, ushering the headmaster to make a run for it.
The man wasted no time in doing as she suggested, disappearing into the black of night. Katy tried to follow him, but her knees threatened to buckle underneath her. Her whole body felt like it was on fire.
"Katy, please. We must go" John insisted, noticing from across the courtyard that Baines had started to push himself to his feet.
"I...I can't" Katy stuttered, finding her vision had begun to blur.
"I hope you will not strike me for this" John sighed, before placing his hand behind her back and under her legs.
In the next moment, he was picking her off her feet, inciting a sharp yelp from Katy's lips. John manoeuvred her in his arms, holding her close to his chest before he set off running after the headmaster. Katy cursed under her breath, having no energy left to push him away.
"I'm so gonna' kill you for this later" Katy muttered, as her head lolled against his chest.
Katy awoke with a gasp, her eyes snapping open as she looked around the darkened room she found herself in. She felt a hand touch her shoulder, as she looked above her to find her head was resting on John's knees, where they both lay on a leather sofa. Her head pounded, even worse than before, but for a blissful moment she forgot the horrors of the day.
"Doctor..." The words left her lips before her mind had a chance to catch up, as she felt John stiffen underneath her.
His brown eyes filled with sadness as she pushed herself into a sitting position, her hand flying to her mouth. She hadn't meant to say the words, they didn't even make sense to her, it was almost as if...
It was the other her. The Katy who was still stuck inside the fob watch.
"Oh, thank God. You're awake" Martha cried, rushing over to her.
Martha's arms were wrapped around Katy's shoulders in an instant, holding onto her tightly. Katy's eyes dropped to the fob watch that lay on a wooden table close by, a small burn visible on the back of the device.
"Where are we?" Katy asked, in a daze, as Martha pulled away from the embrace.
"The Cartwrights. That little girl at the school, she's Lucy Cartwright, or she's taken Lucy Cartwright's form. If she came home this afternoon and if the parents tried to stop their little girl, then they were vanished...how easily I accept these ideas" Matron announced, as Katy realised she was in the room.
"Welcome to my world" Katy sighed.
"I must go to them before anyone else dies" John suggested.
"You can't. Martha, there must be something we can do" Matron exclaimed, in a desperate tone.
"Not without the Doctor's watch" Martha confessed
"You're this Doctor's companion. Can't you help? What exactly do you do for him? Why does he need you?!" John snapped, cruelly.
"Don't talk to her like that" Katy scolded.
"And still you defend her? If this is true, if we are these creatures from another word...then every word out of her mouth has been a lie. She's not your sister!" John hissed, watching as hurt flashed over Katy's face.
"...Maybe not. But she is my friend. No matter what...that doesn't change" Katy insisted.
"And you and I? If you open your watch, what will become of us?" John pointed out, as Katy's brow furrowed.
Her memories were so jumbled when it came to the Doctor. He had taken her in, like a stray off the streets and they had become...friends? But she could remember a kiss they had shared not so long ago in a forest. And then there was Rose. The Doctor loved her, she was sure of that. So, where did that leave her?
Before Katy could spiral too much, a sharp knock on the wooden door to the cottage echoed through the room. Martha rushed to open the door, only to find Tim Latimer standing outside, his palm held out with the Doctor's fob watch on display.
"I brought you this" Tim smiled, as Katy's jaw dropped open.
"Oh, Tim for the win!" Katy exclaimed, as Martha twisted around to face her, quirking an eyebrow.
"Okay, that sounded better in my head" Katy murmured, as John stood to his feet, watching as Martha reached out to take the fob watch.
"Hold it" Martha announced, ushering for John to take the device.
"I won't" John shook his head.
"Please, just hold it" Martha pleaded.
"I don't think this is something you can run from, John. Neither of us can" Katy sighed, her eyes finding her own watch.
"You've had this watch all this time? Why didn't you return it?" Joan questioned.
"Because it was waiting...and because I was so scared of the Doctor" Tim confessed, in a quiet voice.
"Why?" Joan frowned.
"Because I've seen him. He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun—" Tim started, as John cut him off.
"Stop it" John snapped, looking sick to his stomach.
"He's ancient and forever. He burns at the centre of time, and he can see the turn of the universe" Tim continued.
"Stop it! I said stop it" John begged, his eyes swimming with pain.
"And...he's wonderful" Tim stated, causing a smile to grow on Katy's face, for a reason not known to her.
"And you are too. He showed me all the people you've saved. That you will save" Tim said, turning to face a startled Katy.
"Then he must have shown you the wrong girl, Tim. That's not me" Katy retorted, with a clenched jaw.
Suddenly, an explosion from nearby caused the cottage to shake, as the dark room was filled with light from the fires growing outside. Katy staggered toward the window to find bombs raining down on the village, a sigh escaping from her lips. They were running out of time.
"The watch..." John trailed off, as he reached out to grab the fob watch.
"John, don't" Matron cried, scared of what would happen if he opened the device.
"Can you hear it?" Tim questioned.
"I think he's asleep. Waiting to awaken" John frowned, holding the watch up to listen closer.
"Why did he speak to me?" Tim inquired.
"Oh, low level telepathic field. You were born with it. Just an extra synaptic engram causing—" John started, cutting himself off when he realised what he was saying.
"That's him!" Katy gasped, feeling her chest tighten with a sense of nostalgia.
"All you have to do is open it and he's back" Martha added, in a pleading tone.
"You knew this all along and yet you watched while Katy and I..." John trailed off, with a shake of his head.
"I didn't know how to stop you. I...I didn't even know if I should. You two have always been complicated, to say the least" Martha admitted.
"People are dying out there. They need him and I need him. Because you've got no idea of what he's like. I've only just met him. It wasn't even that long ago. But he is everything. He's just everything to me and he doesn't even look at me, but I don't care, because I love him to bits. And I hope to God he won't remember me saying this" Martha confessed, as Katy gave her a look of sympathy.
The cottage shook again as another fireball whizzed above their heads, getting closer to their location every minute. If they weren't blown to smithereens, then Baines' scarecrows would soon find them. Whatever they were going to do, it was now or never.
I can help you.
Katy's head snapped up as she heard an all too familiar voice coming from her fob watch. Her voice. It was calling out to her. She stumbled toward the device, feeling as though an invisible tether was willing her to hold it.
I have a plan.
"I should have thought of it before. I can give them this. Just the watch. Then they can leave and I can stay as I am!" John suggested, not noticing the trance Katy had fallen into.
"You can't do that!" Martha gaped, in a panic.
"If they want the Doctor, they can have him" John spat out, as Katy lifted up her fob watch, her decision already made.
"No" She announced, as all eyes in the room turned to her.
"The Family have a ship not far from here. That's where they'll be right now. I saw the ship they use when we were running from them. If I use an energy feedback link through the retro-stabilisers and into the primary heat converters...the ship blows up" Katy explained, as Martha's face lit up.
"Katy?" Martha gaped, in a hopeful tone.
"Not quite. I can hear her, though. She can talk me through it. I go to the Family; pretend I'll give them my watch and lock us all inside" Katy went on.
"You'll die with them" John realised, in a horrified tone.
"...I'd rather live a few more minutes as a human than go back to what I was" Katy confessed.
Her face was illuminated by the fires growing from the village, and they could hear screams echoing down the hillside. Every minute they waited; another person was closer to death. And there had already been enough bloodshed that night. Katy took a step forward, ready to leave when John reached out to grab her arm, holding her in place.
"We need a moment alone. If you would all leave" John announced, holding Katy's gaze.
Martha opened her mouth to argue but was quickly ushered out of the door by Tim and Matron. She noticed how John was still clutching his own fob watch in his hand, his shoulders slumped in defeat. As the door closed behind her, Martha had a feeling she knew what he was about to do.
"People are dying. And I can save them, John. Let me. It's what..." Katy trailed off, with a sigh.
"What the Doctor would do?" John guessed.
"We don't have time for this—" Katy began, when John cut her off.
"You said you were dying. What did you mean?" John insisted, still clutching her arm.
"This process...what made me human, it was only meant for your people. The Time Lords. It's killing me" Katy admitted, as John felt his heart seize.
"Then open the watch! You have to open it!" John exclaimed, as Katy shook her head.
"She doesn't want me to, don't you get it? Your doctor is calling out to you, isn't he? The girl inside this watch...she doesn't want to be let out. That's why she's told me what to do" Katy informed him.
"Let me go" Katy mumbled, pulling free from his hold, unable to meet his eyes.
John's hand fell to his side, as he lifted up his own fob watch, hearing the Doctor calling to him once more. Sucking in a deep breath, Katy went to walk past him, her mind already made up.
"...She needs something to come back to" John realised, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
"What do you—" Katy's words were cut off, as John suddenly opened his watch and a golden light flooded out.
She stood frozen to the spot, watching as tendrils of golden energy seeped out and were absorbed into John's body. He staggered back a pace as he took in the last of the Doctor's consciousness, causing Katy to rush forward, grabbing one of his arms to steady himself. His fob watch clattered to the ground, now completely empty.
"Doctor?" Katy exclaimed, as he blinked rapidly, as if coming out of a trance.
"Why did he do it? Why did he open the watch?" Katy frowned, as the Doctor slowly moved his hand to place over hers, a solemn expression on his face.
"To save you" The Doctor replied, causing her frown to deepen.
"No. No, don't you dare. I've made my decision. I want to die a human. I...I deserve that choice, don't I?" Katy insisted, ripping her hand away from his arm, and turning away from him.
"I've started to remember it, you know? What happened the day my planet was destroyed. My mother, she gave me the teleport device, we were...we were going to go together, but she couldn't leave my father behind. She went back for him. She told me to take it and not look back. She told me to go...so, I did. I ran. I...I should have waited. I could have waited..." Katy trailed off, as tears welled in her eyes.
"I'm sorry" The Doctor said, not sure what else he could say.
"They used a warp star. Do you know what that does? It's not just an explosion. Every atom in your body, folds in on itself. And you feel it. You die in agony. They're all fucking dead! I don't...I don't want to remember. I just want to forget. Why can't you let me forget?" Katy sobbed, as her tears started to roll down her cheeks.
She felt his hand on her shoulder a moment later, as she tried to shrug him off, but he wouldn't let her. His arms wrapped around her, and she felt all her fight seep out of her, as she all but collapsed into his arms. She let out a pained sob, hiding her face against his chest, as his arms tightened around her.
"I still need you" He exclaimed, in a soft tone.
In the end, that was all it took. After everything they had been through, how could she leave him now? Pulling away from their embrace, she wiped away the stray tears that had stained her cheeks and held up the fob watch she was still clinging to.
"I know you have bad memories. Too many. But you have good as well. And we'll make more. I promise. Every day, we'll make more" The Doctor told her, as she let out a shaky breath.
"And one day it won't hurt like this?" She asked, as the Doctor's eyes softened.
"It's always going to hurt. But we'll share it. I'm not...I won't leave you" The Doctor promised, as a new tear rolled down her cheek.
"...You better bloody not" She said, with a slight smile, before she opened the watch, and the light overwhelmed her.
The sun had begun to rise in the sky as Katy let herself into the Cartright's cottage, finding Joan sitting at the wooden table, lost in thought. She flinched when she turned around to find Katy had silently snuck inside, an unreadable expression on her face.
"Strange. I thought you'd look...different somehow. You still seem so human" Joan frowned.
"Don't worry, I'm not about to sprout another head" Katy stated, taking a step forward, noticing how Joan tensed.
"What did you do to them? The Family?" Joan inquired.
"We wrapped the father in unbreakable chains, forged in the heart of a dwarf star. Tricked the mother into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy to be imprisoned there forever. As for the girl? She's trapped inside a mirror, every mirror. If ever you look at your reflection and see something move behind you, just for a second, that's her. That's always her. And Baines? Suspended in time. The Doctor put him to work standing over the fields of England, as their protector" Katy informed her, as Joan's eyes widened with every word she spoke.
"They wanted to live forever, so we made sure that they did" Katy explained, in a cold tone.
"Maybe I was wrong. When you talk like that...well, I don't believe there's anything human at all inside you" Joan muttered, turning away from her.
"Yeah, you're probably right" Katy murmured, leaning back against the door.
"I just...I suppose I wanted to say, I'm sorry that you ended up in this mess because of us" Katy admitted, as a harsh scoff left Joan's lips.
"He never truly cared for me. I see that now. John, I mean. He never looked away from you for long enough to see me" Joan continued.
"He wasn't real, Joan. Not really. He was just a story" Katy insisted.
"If that is what you must tell yourself" Joan retorted.
"...Answer me this. Just one question, that's all. If the Doctor had never visited us, if he'd never chosen this place on a whim, would anybody here have died?" Joan questioned, as Katy walked over to her, leaning down so that they were face to face.
"No" Katy replied, not willing to shy away from the fact.
"Then I think you and him deserve each other" Joan stated, as Katy nodded, slowly.
"Keep the journal. Who knows, maybe one day you'll understand who the Doctor is" Katy told her, pushing herself up and walking out of the cottage without another word.
Katy trudged up the grassy hills toward the TARDIS, as rain pelted down against her from the sky. She noticed Tim walking in her direction, having already said his goodbyes to the Doctor and Martha. She gave him a warm smile as they met on the hill, having been through a great deal together.
"I've got a feeling you're gonna' do some great things, Tim. I mean it. You've already helped save the world, at what, fourteen years old?" Katy grinned at him.
"I think I'll have to do it again next year too" Tim replied.
"You've seen it then? The war?" Katy asked.
"I'm not scared. Not anymore" Tim stated, as she stepped forward to pull him into a quick hug.
"Good luck, Tim" Katy sighed, praying the boy would survive the next few years.
He gave her a bright smile as she pulled away, looking past his shoulder to find Martha waiting outside the TARDIS for her. After what had happened the last few months, they had a lot to talk about—
"I'm sorry" Tim exclaimed, his words bringing her out of her thoughts.
"For what?" She frowned.
"What you have to do. To stop him" Tim said, in a hushed tone.
Katy's brow furrowed at his odd words, as she opened her mouth to ask him what he meant when Martha's voice called over to her. She looked away to find her friend walking down the hill toward them, her arms crossed over her chest as the rain continued pouring down on them. By the time she turned back to Tim, he was already halfway down the hill, and something told her finding out what he said wouldn't make things any easier.
"Martha, I'm so sorry for everything you've had to go through these past months. It can't have been—" Katy began, when Martha jumped forward to pull her into a tight hug.
"I'm so happy you're back" Martha mumbled.
"Was human me that bad?" Katy teased, as Martha pulled away, shaking her head, vehemently.
"You're right. These months have probably been the hardest of my life but...I'm glad. Cause it's finally made me realise something. I am good. I mean, really good. And if the Doctor can't see that then...I don't need him. But you know what? I think he needs me" Martha explained, as Katy gave her a smile.
"I think you might be right there" Katy replied.
"C'mon, let's get out of this rain. It's bloody freezing" Katy exclaimed, nudging her with her elbow.
"Wait, I uh, I have something else to say" Martha told her.
"You know, I'm not really great with all this touchy-feely stuff, Martha" Katy groaned, ducking her head.
"I know, I know. It's just...I was wrong. When I said we weren't sisters. Because after all this, everything we've been through? If that doesn't make us family, I don't know what does" Martha insisted, as Katy bit her inner cheek.
"...Are you crying?" Martha gaped, noticing how Katy's eyes had become bloodshot.
"No! No, it's just this stupid rain. Allergies and shit. C'mon, you" Katy huffed, wrapping her arm around Martha's shoulder and pushing her toward the TARDIS.
"So. Important question" Katy announced, a few hours later, as the TARDIS spun through the vortex.
"Yeah?" The Doctor hummed, from where he was pressing buttons on the console.
"Did you keep teachers cap?" Katy asked, with a teasing smile.
"Don't start" The Doctor groaned, as Katy wandered over to him, leaning against the console.
"I'm serious. It's a good look on you. And the posh accent? Cherry on the top" Katy grinned.
"This is because I carried you, isn't it?" The Doctor mumbled, running a hand over his face.
"Oh, don't even get me started on that! Wandering hands, that's all I'm saying. Wandering hands!" She went on, watching with glee as the Doctor's face reddened.
"And you were right" Katy exclaimed, as the Doctor gave her a confused look.
"To give the Family a chance. I know, it didn't end well, and...and people got hurt. But they always would have. There was a fight that had to happen, and you tried your best to avoid it so...don't blame yourself or whatever" Katy shrugged, looking to the metal flooring below them.
"You said you wanted to die" The Doctor pointed out, as she nodded, slowly.
"You still feel that way?" He asked, as she mulled over it for a moment, before turning to him.
"Not today" She answered.
"...Do you?" She inquired, in a quiet voice.
She noticed how the Doctor froze for a moment, his eyes widening as if he was scared she could see right through him. He then leant forward, and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, allowing his lips to linger for a moment. Katy cocked her head to one side as he pulled away, a little taken aback by the gesture but found it felt...nice. It felt right.
"Not today" He smiled.