The Orphan in the TARDIS

Chapter Twenty

Sophie follows the War Doctor into his TARDIS, whose interior is much nicer than the exterior. She runs her hand over the stark white console, the ship humming in happiness. "To Gallifrey then?"

"To Gallifrey," he agrees. The ship starts to violently shake, nearly knocking Sophie off her feet.

The signature elephantine wheezing spreads through the room, as the time/space machine stops shaking. Sophie doesn't hesitate to walk to the doors, flinging them open in front of her.

"It's a desert."

"It's the Gallifreyan desert. Come on," he urges, marching out of the TARDIS.

"Uh, okay. I mean, I really don't want to trek through a desert, but as long as you know where we're going, I guess it's fine."

"Of course I know. It would be foolish to forget where one puts a world ending device. This way." The Gallifreyan sets off, Sophie following close behind in his boot prints.

The two walk in companionable silence for nearly twenty minutes, crossing the hot, dry desert. "Could you have landed any further away, Doc? If you had mentioned we'd be walking for hours I'd have brought some water."

The Time Lord reaches into his coat, pulling a small canteen from it's inside pocket. He hands it over to her, Sophie smiling gratefully, quickly grabbing it. "Thank you." She immediately opens it, downing nearly a quarter of the canteen. Wiping her sleeve across her mouth, she adds, "Why did you land so far away?"

"I don't want her to see."

"Y'know she wouldn't care, Doc." The Gallifreyan turns, his eyebrow raising. Sophie smiles, removing her jacket, tying it quickly round her waist. "Okay, but how much further? My feet hurt, and I'm tired."

"You're tired? I'm far older than you, young lady. I'm not complaining."

"Yeah, sorry. Guess you don't want to get back to that barn all that quickly anyway. No one wants to speed up their entire planet's destruction."

***

Nearly an hour and a half later, a dilapidated barn comes into view in front of them. "Well, this is nice. Scenic. Almost poetic if you think about it. You lived in a barn on Gallifrey when you were younger, and now you're going to end it all from a barn as well." The Gallifreyan turns, shooting her a glare. "Yeah, alright, shutting up now."

The War Doctor nods in thanks, opening the barn door. He ushers her inside, shutting the doors firmly behind him. The girl turns, spying an ornate box in the middle of the room, completely out of place in such a dingy barn. "That's the Moment," the Time Lord says, coming to stand beside her, his eyes also fixated on the box.

"Not quite as impressive as I thought it'd be."

"That unimpressive box is the most dangerous weapon in the universe. A technological and mechanical feat. Don't judge it so quickly."

"It's still kind of unimpressive," she mutters, as the Gallifreyan steps further into the barn, walking toward the Moment. It's still clear that he hears her, as he once again turns to raise an eyebrow.

She smiles somewhat sadly, walking over to stand beside him. He reaches into his coat, grasping his sonic from within the confines of his jacket, aiming it at the Moment. Sophie grasps his hand, squeezing it in a friendly manner, as from within the confines of the small box a big red button rises.

"This feels wrong. Almost like more should be happening. This isn't the send off Gallifrey deserves," she says. "Do you want to say a few words?"

"What I do today is not out of fear, or hatred. I do it because there is no other way. And I do it in the name of the many lives I am unable to save." He reaches with the hand not clasped within his friends, but she stops him.

"No, we do this together. We share the burden." The girl moves their interlocked hands upward, moving them both to the big red button. "For the universe!" she states, as the Time Lord and herself place their hands on the button.

Time seems to freeze all around them, the Doctor's shoulders dropping with the wait of their actions, Sophie feeling the pressure all around her as well. Visions dance across her eyes. She sees young children, old women, old men, Time Lords and Ladies of all shape and size, all around the planet crying out in terror.

From every section of the planet fire sprouts. Deep within the planet's core the explosion spreads outward, flames licking every space of the planet, sparing only the barn where Time Lord and human still stand, hand in hand. The terrified screams of a million voices all calling out for help echo through the abandoned barn.

The collective pain of the planet spreads through the two, knocking Sophie down to her knees, her free hand moving to cover her mouth, as she tries not to let the Doctor see just how much pain she feels.

Just beside her, the Time Lord feels the same things the human experiences. The pain of his people, the suffering he has put them through. He can't stop the tears from falling from his own eyes, as he joins her on the dusty floor.

Their interlocked hands are the only things grounding them, not just to the planet, but to each other. Once she's able to, Sophie opens her eyes, to find the TARDIS surrounding the two of them. She barely nudges the Doctor, and he looks up as well, confusion filling his face.

The girl shakes off her shock, helping the last Gallifreyan to his feet. "We share this burden, Doc. Together. You're not alone in this."

"Thank you, Sophia McCoy," he smiles at her, lightly squeezing her hand.

"What are friends for, eh Doc?" she asks, smiling slightly, wiping the tears from her eyes.