by Cour M.
“No, I don’t know.”
“Jack, if I continue to remember them, then I shall mess with my own timeline in catastrophic ways.”
“But we haven’t found them yet.”
“Because it’s clear that I’m not meant to,” Ten said. “Just as it’s clear that they are my future and I can’t take that away from…”
“From who?”
“From myself,” Ten responded simply. “I don’t have that right.”
“I know how regeneration works, you know. When you regenerate, you can choose to forget certain things.”
“And what happens if a part of me does not want to forget,” Ten argued, “and I cling too hard and latch on too strong? What if a part of me remembers? And I will have altered my future self’s entire timeline. He deserves better than that… he deserves me to think about him now.”
“But this way, your subconscious might still be affected by all that’s happened.”
“I hope it does,” Ten wished, “it will make carrying on easier.”
“No, Doctor,” Jack moved the jar that had the worm in it away from Ten.
“Look, you don’t understand,” He urged, “you are better now. Doctor, in the times that I have met you, this is the best you have ever been.”
“I know, Jack.”
“And what happens if you forget it? Huh? All this enhancement, this ability to be the man you once were can be erased. You forget the Ponds, and you might forget all that you’ve grown into.”
“I have to rely upon Martha’s leaving me and Astrid’s departure, won’t I? I can do that. it’s all the incentive I need.”
“And what if it’s not enough? Yes, you could keep on improving and becoming the timelord you once were, or you can get worse again. You can fall completely. You could… become heartless.”
“That is a risk I must take,” Ten replied, “look at me, Jack. This is me being utterly selfless. And now you’re asking me to be selfish. By being that, I may save myself now, but I don’t save the timelord I will turn into. I must do this! I must risk being lost again if I give him a chance. I can say, at this moment, that I was fully the Doctor again.”
“I suppose that you can.”
“Jack.”
“Yes?”
“I am sorry. I should not have left you. When you were brought back to life. I never should have run from you.”
In that moment, Jack was flabbergasted. All those years, and he never thought he would see this day—the day the Doctor apologized to him. The Day of the Doctor beginning to understand him at last.
“And I am supposed to let you forget all this,” Jack whispered, emotional.
“No, I know you won’t. Therefore, it’s time that you leave, Jack. Because your face can’t be here when I wake up, now can it?”
“No, I don’t suppose that it can. It’s always going to be this way for you, isn’t it? Where there is always something that you need to say, that you never will. Something you never will get the chance to achieve.”
“Jack, please, remember me as I was now.”
In a burst of emotion, the Doctor walked up to Jack and embraced him. Jack, feeling fully accepted at last, welcomed the hug.
“You’ll be great again, Doctor,” Jack assured him, “if you just remember one scrap of this all.”
“But I can’t. Yet, it doesn’t matter. My last great sacrifice. A sacrifice any Doctor ought to do. My future self is my patient, like any other person. And in this moment, I will always remember, how the Doctor was me—as I always ought to have been.”
Jack and Ten released each other, Jack took a few steps away and put on his coat.
“I get the picture that I can’t be here now,” Jack said, “as I always get the picture.”
“Jack,” Ten said at last.
“What?” Jack groaned.
“You were one of the last faces that my previous self ever saw,” Ten explained, “and with this face, you were one of my best friends. Now isn’t that funny?”
“No,” Jack replied warmly, “it’s not that funny.”
“One thing I want to ask you.”
“What? You know that I love questions.”
“Why did you forgive me? All those times when I let you down. Why did you forgive me?”
“The same reason that Martha forgave you always, I suppose,” Jack answered thoughtfully. “Because you are the Doctor, and you just deserve it.”
“Back when we reached the end of the universe,” Ten replied, “and the people were looking for Utopia.”
“During the return of the Master,” Jack chuckled, “Ah yes, those were the good ole’ days.”
“They were recent past for me. Well, I never said it, but…”
“If it’s thanks, then don’t worry. You don’t have to say it.”
“It’s not thanks. It’s just… when there—you and Martha were all that was best in me.”
“Doctor…” Jack gasped, grateful beyond measure.
Both men grinned at each other.
“And it’s time for you to go, Jack.”
“Yes. I suppose that it is time that I do.” Jack opened his mouth, closed it, and then he came to a decision. “You will see me again.”
“Will I?”
“Of course you will,” Jack chuckled, “when the time comes when you have to look to the sky. Doctor, everything else you will forget, but try and remember this, despite it all. Remember. The most important woman in all of creation.”
“What?”
“The most important woman in all of creation.”
Ten did not understand, but he only nodded.
“Very well.”
“Good luck, Doctor.”
With one last gentle look, Jack pressed his vortex manipulator and disappeared.
Now being fully alone, the Doctor picked up the bottle that had the memory worm in it and lifted the lid—soon to forget everything that occurred since losing Astrid on the Titanic.
The Five Doctors
This is a small bit where I thought of what Eleven, Eight, Seven, Six and Five would have said to each other after River Song retrieved them to save the Doctor. At first, I didn’t want it in the story because I thought it was too lighthearted for the moment, but here it is. This is after Martha saved Eleven, Marinus is being destroyed, and all the victims are being looked after. She and Riley are just sitting there, looking at the Doctors and talking. And yes, Reader, I am also aware that there was a special episode called the Five Doctors. Don’t worry, that was not lost on me.
Eleven looked at Eight and recognized the man he was, but enjoyed seeing that he exchanged his classical look for a leather coat.
“I forgot that when I was Nine, that leather jacket look had been long in the works since before then,” Eleven chuckled.
“Oh, too right,” Eight chuckled, gesturing to his coat, “While I feel like I did justice to the whole waistcoat and cravat look, I decided that I was due for an upgrade. Besides,” and here he looked at Six and Five, “I felt that all of the colors were taken by my previous selves.”
“Yes, well I don’t apologize,” Six boasted.
“Yes, you never do,” Seven croaked.
“You don’t either,” Eleven countered.
“I bet you don’t either!” He declared, brandishing his question-marked umbrella.
On the other side of the circle, Five placed his hands in his pockets proudly.
“I had no problem apologizing for things,” Five grinned.
“And I didn’t as well,” Eight echoed. “And I get the feeling that there is a great weight off my conscience because of that.”
“I see no reason for why we should have to apologize for what we do,” Seven insisted, “if you want to save the day, you have to crack some moments in between.”
“I forgot how I used to roll my letters,” Eight noted, listening to Seven, “truly, why did we do that?”
“Because we thought it sounded cool,” El
even explained.
“Oh yes, that was it.”
“Cool?” Seven groaned, “oh, that infernal word! I can’t believe I actually use that word much in the future.”
“It’s a brilliant word,” Eleven argued.
“Tell me that we at least say ‘brave heart’ still?” Five inquired.
“Sorry,” Six shook his head, “but that phrase died out very soon after you regenerated. Just to warn you, so did your peaceful ways.”
“Should I ask of the things you did?”
“No, you very much shouldn’t,” Six grinned, “but personally, I think I am doing the job most credibly.”
“But something I can’t help but notice,” Eight pointed out, “Can I ask why my three previous selves look a great deal older than they were—and some look as if you swallowed a supernova.”
Five, Six and Seven looked in between each other sheepishly.
“Well,” Six extrapolated, “it’s complicated.”
“Complicated?” Eleven repeated, “sometimes I wonder if we use that word a little too much.”
Eight squinted and then he realized.
“Oh!” Eight cried, tapping his head, “Come on, you three didn’t!”
“What?” Eleven asked and then he got the idea a second later, “Oh!” And then the idea sunk in. “Oh,” he groaned, “no, you all didn’t.”
“Well, I’m not sure what they did!” Five said.
“But it was probably what you did too,” Six asserted, “and you know it, so don’t even try and sound superior.”
“Metebelis 3!” Eight laughed, “you three just had to go back to Metebelis 3 and tried to reach the third level again. Seriously, you know what happens!”[13]
“You’ve seen the proof of what happens!” Eleven laughed, “if you let any of the plant-life touch you on that level, it zaps the life force out of you and makes you old for two weeks.”
“One week,” Seven corrected, “it’s shorter on us Timelords.”
Eight and Eleven just stared at their earlier selves.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Five explained. “No one has ever made it past the third level of that planet. If the crystals on the first level can work such miracles, imagine what the crystals on the third level would do. Besides, it’s not as if we graduated from the Academy by not being brave, did we? Truly, what’s life without a little risk?”
“My three previous selves went to Metebelis 3,” Eight summed up, “three different times, and each of me got zapped. I swear, I never learn!”
“No, I don’t,” Eleven confirmed, amazed that all his previous selves failed to make it past the third level of the planet, but were still insistent to try again. But then again… the third level of the planet—what a tempting concept!
He turned to see Eight eyeing him curiously.
“What?” Eleven scoffed.
“You want to go there too now, don’t you?” Eight groaned.
“Yes, I do,” Eleven replied giddily.
“No, Doctor!” Martha cried from sitting nearby with Riley, “you are most expressly NOT going to Metebelis 3!”
All five Doctors turned to her.
“Forgive me, but which of us are you talking to?” Five asked.
“Sorry, I meant Eleven, I think.” Martha turned to Eleven, “You are Eleven, right?”
Eleven gave her the thumbs up as confirmation.
“Well,” Six smiled nicely, “I’m Six, and yes, I am wearing a technicolor dream coat, as you put it.”
“Oh, you heard that,” Martha smiled bashfully.
“Just like I heard that I am wearing a celery stick,” Five added, looking at Riley.
“Sorry, but I am right, right?” Riley asked. “It is a celery stick, right?”
“My good man, of course it is a celery stick. What else could it be?”
“I don’t know… how about not a celery stick?”
Five’s eyes widened in shock.
“My boy, if you want me to like you, it is very important to your future to not say such blasphemous things again.”
“Right, sorry.”
“And I love the coat,” Martha complimented.
“You had better,” Six scoffed, “or you and your husband would be lacking in all good fashion preferences.”
Riley and Martha did a double take at each other.
“Oh, we are not together,” they both replied.
“Oh,” Five said.
“Her husband is somewhere else,” Eleven explained, “wait, Martha, where is your husband again?”
“Wow!” Seven exclaimed, “just wow. Didn’t even think to have her bring the husband along, Doctor?”
“There were shenanigans,” Eleven explained defensively.
“Lots of shenanigans,” Martha confirmed, shrugging.
“Shenanigans everywhere!”
“Like every five minutes.”
“Like every two minutes.”
“But it’s fine,” Martha assured them, “because shenanigans are cool.”
Eleven laughed and pointed to her encouragingly.
“Well, my dear,” Six said to Martha, “I hope I am treating you well.”
“You are, thank you,” Martha blushed.
“That reminds me,” Eleven asked, “how is Peri?”
“Oh, she is still doing well!” Six confirmed.
“Oh, you’ve still got Peri!” Five grinned.
“Yes, I do. I know that we all shall forget this moment, so I know I can tell you that we have just visited the planet of Varos. Those were… fun times.”
“Good, I know I got lucky when I found her.”
“It’s amazing though,” Six noted, “after all the hardship I put her through, it’s only seeing me look like this that frightens her. Curious what scares people. But truly,” he gestured to Martha, “Don’t treat her badly, Doctor, or you’ll spend the rest of your regeneration trying to live it down and failing.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Eleven assured them, “it was my previous self that put her through hell, not me. Those days are over.”
They noticed that Five was looking at Six cautiously.
“Wait,” Five began, “what hardship did you put her through? What did you do to Peri?”
There was an awkward silence as Six, Seven, Eight and Eleven recalled the infamous moment, when suffering from post-regeneration traumatic shock, Six had gone mad and had temporarily strangled Peri. Not in the mood to suffer under the weight of his mistakes, Six looked boldly at Five and pat his shoulder.
“My dear chap… I forgot how when I was you, I asked way too many questions. Now good day!”
With a swish of his coat, Six rushed to his TARDIS.
“I’ll tell Peri that you said hello!” He closed the doors before Five could reach it.
“Wait!” Five cried, but too late. Six’s TARDIS dematerialized.
Five turned to Seven, Eight and Eleven urgently.
“What did he do to Peri?”
All three other Doctors placed their hands in their pockets, awkward.
“This is a scary silence,” Five noted. “And I hate scary silence. I mean, silence can be good, but not the scary spooky kind. Oh, by the light of Gallifrey! I kill Peri!”
“Oh no!” Eight assured him.
“Definitely not!” Eleven confirmed.
“Yes, definitely not,” Seven finalized, “well, ish.”
“Oh, way to go, Seven!” Eight sighed.
“What? I thought I was being perfectly unclear.”
Five rubbed his chin, nervous.
“He had better treat her well,” Five said just as much to him as to his future selves, “Peri was one of my best. She was… I mean, I didn’t have favorites but…”
“Yes, we know,” Eight assented softly.
“Yes, she was. I wonder if I ever told her how great she was.” Five looked pensive for a moment. “I wonder if I ever told any of them how great they all
were.”
Eight noticed how Eleven looked soberly at Martha while she was speaking with Riley.
“Yes,” Eleven admitted, “That’s the problem with us always.”
“Do we tell them,” Eight voiced, “yes, the problem… do we ever tell them.”
“Ace knows,” Seven announced forcefully, trying to convince herself, “yes, I believe she knows. She does.”
They weren’t all convinced.
“Now, onto the matter of our wife,” Eight said, turning to Eleven. This drew Eleven from his thoughts and he now had to face the reality. He knew where River’s journey ended—and how he could not follow. And what he must do next.
It was time for him to leave this moment of peace, because there was still a job to be done.
“Gentlemen,” Eleven said, “I am quite certain we shall forget all of this, now you must excuse me.”
“Why?” Seven asked.
“Oh, Doctor,” Eleven sighed, “I thought you would have known why. Because with us, is it ever over?”
“Good luck, Doctor,” Eight said, and he was echoed by Five.
“And good luck to you all as well,” Eleven whispered sadly, not ready to leave this moment of happiness. Then he rushed over to Martha and tore her away from Riley in the rudest of ways.
The Soldiers and the Weeping Angels
The twelfth Doctor’s story.
This is a brief bit where the soldiers and generals have agreed to let the Weeping Angels take them when they are preparing for the battle. When the Angel tells Kate Stewart that they need humans to give them power, she uses her connections to get the British, American and Australian armies to agree to allow themselves to be used as subjects for the Angels to take. This one, admittedly, is a rough outline of it, because I have not been able to fully decide how I want to phrase it. But I felt that I wished to spend more time on it.
The word of UNIT became the word that would launch a thousand decisions being made. Once the Doctor had taken down a Prime Minister just by hinting that she looked tired and ill, but now Kate Stewart raised up international faith with the one simple question: I don’t ask you to save our country, no—I’m asking you to save our universe, and guess what? We’re all in it.