The Time Lord's Hope [2] • Doctor Who

25 ~ Fear

We make our way towards the dining hall where Jimmy leads us and we walk in to see the other Doctor, Rory and Cleave's ganger. I don't pause before I let go of the Doctor's hand and go over and hug the other Doctor. He laughs hugging me back. I let go before going over to Rory and Amy who are hugging. I punch his shoulder before hugging him too. I then turn to watch Jimmy approach the hologram of his son whilst Amy and Rory talk.

"Daddy, it's me." The small boy says. Jimmy laughs, the name sending relief through him.
"Hey, sunshine. What are you up to?" He asks.
"Opening all my presents." He says and I walk over with the Doctor.
"Ha ha, good lad. You have fun today. And remember your dad, he loves you very, very much." Jimmy says to his son.
"When are you coming home?" Adam asks.
"Daddy's coming home today, Adam." The Doctor says to Adam and he starts jumping up and down excitedly. "Now we need to move." He adds before turning away.

We run through to the crypt to get out but as the Doctor and I turn a corner we meet with Jennifer's Ganger who is morphing into some terrifying beast.
"Run." The Doctor says, slightly in shock as everyone comes up behind him. No one makes a move. "Run." He says this time trying not to startle the growing monster, no one runs so I spin around.
"Run!" I yell and we all take off back down the hallway and turning down into a different wrong. We pass a door and race to the other one, no one thinking of shutting the far one as we go, too worried about getting away from Jennifer. The two Dickens go to close the door.
"We have to stop her." Dicken's ganger says, but as they slam it shut, they find no locking mechanism. "This door doesn't lock." They open the door again and I stand with them as we look out to the back of the hallway, seeing Jennifer approaching fast.
"No, but the far one does." Dicken says and before we can stop him, he goes racing to the other door, the two of us watch nervously as he struggles with the door, it looks to be jammed as he tries to yank at it. Jennifer was getting closer and closer and it took no time for her to reach him, but as she did he managed to shut the door, locking him on the wrong side, and it only takes a second for a scream to be heard.
"No!" Ganger Dicken yells and whilst my heart clenched at the loss I grabbed the door and slammed it shut, Dicken, the Doctor, Amy and I leaning up against the door, waiting for it to be slammed into. Suddenly the ceiling starts to rumble and we all look up.
"Here she comes." The G-Doctor grins as he waits for the Tardis to appear. After a minute the ceiling collapses and the Tardis makes her appearance.
"Oh, she does like to make an entrance." The G-Doctor states laughing. He runs over to her and unlocks the door and Rory goes in. "Everyone move." He says. That's when the banging starts and we all fight to hold it shut. Cleaves starts to approach us to help.
"Get on board. Go." Cleaves' Ganger says but Cleaves stands her ground.
"I'm not leaving." She says.
"Go." G-Cleaves says again, holding eye contact until she sighs and Cleaves runs into the Tardis.
"Hey, hey. Now's our chance." Amy says getting mine and the Doctor's attention.
"I have to stay. Hold this door closed. Give you time to dematerialise." The Doctor says and I look to him wide eyed.
"What! No! I'm not going to let you stay here and die!" I shout to him.
"Don't be crazy. Okay, what happens to you?" Amy asks him.
"Well, this place is just about to explode. But I can stop her." He tells us and I shake my head, looking to the other Doctor who's coming over.
"Both of you can survive this, okay? There has to be a way." I try to convince him.
"Or perhaps Pond thinks I should stay instead? Mister Smith." He says and I shake my head as Amy walks up to him, looking guilty.
"No, of course not. But look, this man, I've flown with him, you know? And you are amazing and yeah, I misjudged you, but you're not him. I'm sorry." She says to him.
"Mackenzie?" He asks and I stare at him, tearing up before looking to the Doctor and choking on my words as I can't find what to say.
"Don't make me say it." I say to him, feeling so guilty, not able to look at either of them.
"We swapped shoes." The Doctor says beside me, and I can feel his eyes on my turned head as I look back to him, as does Amy, both of us confused.
"I'm the Doctor." The Doctor in front of us says.
"And I'm the Flesh." The Doctor beside me says.
"You can't be. You're the real him." Amy says turning back to the Doctor beside me, who I find I can't look away from.
"No, I'm not, and I haven't been all along." He says and Amy looks to the Doctor.
"What?"
"I'm the original Doctor, Amy. We had to know if we were truly the same. It was important, vital we learn about The Flesh, and we could only do that through yours and Mackenzie's eyes." He tells us. She then turns to face the Doctor beside me and walks over to him hugging him. I look to the Doctor, not having done the entire time, because I felt guilty but when I do he smiles to me softly and I look back to the other Doctor who has let go of Amy. He then turns to me and straightens out his jacket. He didn't seem sure of what to do and so I reach up and pull him down to me and I kiss him, before pulling him into a tight hug.
"It's okay." He murmurs over and over as I bury my face into his neck. "Amy's going to be fine, you're going to be fine, we're going to find you." He whispers to me and I pull back and look at him shock before there's a bang on the door, separating us. I then step away from him and face the Doctor who pulls me to his side and kisses the top of my head. "Well, my death arrives, I suppose." The G-Doctor says as he and holds the door with Cleaves.
"But this one we're not invited to." The Doctor says, and my eyes go wide as I look up to him and he refuses to look back.
"Pardon?" The other Doctor asks.
"Nothing." The Doctor dismisses. "Your molecular memory can survive this, you know. It may not be the end." He throws the screwdriver to him, who nods.
"Yeah, well, if I turn up to nick all your biscuits, then you'll know you were right, won't you?" He replies and the Doctor and I go over to Rory and Amy who's holding back Amy.
"Doctor! No, please." She calls out, and we pause waiting for Cleaves.
"You too, Cleaves. Off you pop." The Doctor says and she shakes her head.
"I'm staying." She states.
"This is not the time for grand gestures." The other Doctor groans.
"Says the king of grand gestures. This is my factory. I'm not going anywhere." She tells him and he kisses her forehead.
"Foreman Miranda Cleaves, marvellous. Beware of imitations." He says and looks over to us and smiles to me weakly but lovingly.
"Clear off out of here, the lot of you." Cleaves instructs and we do, heading back to the Tardis and looking back once before shutting the door.