The Revenant (Doctor x OC)

Rings of Akhaten - 2

The three of them ran out towards the bike where I had been left standing, three deadly looking creatures following after them. The Doctor aimed his screwdriver at them like it were a weapon, but then they vanished.

"What's happening?" Clara asked.

"Grandfather's awake. They're of no function anymore," The Doctor said.

"Well, you could sound happier about it"

The ground shook slightly. "Actually, I think I may have made a bit of a tactical boo-boo. More of a semantics mix-up, really"

"What boo-boo?"

"I thought the Old God was Grandfather, but it wasn't, it was just Grandfather's alarm clock"

"Sorry, bit lost. Who's the Old God? Is there an Old God?"

"Unfortunately yes"

We looked up, past the pyramid, and saw the giant star start to glow.

"What do we do?" Clara asks

"Against that? I don't know! Do you know? I don't know! Any ideas?"

"You promised," Merry says. "You promised!"

"I did, I... I did promise," the Doctor started to pace.

"He'll spread across the system, consuming the seven world's, and when there's no more to eat, he'll embark on a new odyssey among the stars"

"I say leg it," Clara suggests.

"Leg it where, exactly?" The Doctor asks.

"Dunno, Lake District?"

"Oh, the Lake District's lovely. Let's definitely go there. We can get scones. They do great scones in 1927"

"You're going to fight it, aren't you"

"Regrettably, yes, I think I may be about to do that"

"It's really big"

"I've seen bigger"

"Really?"

"Are you joking? It's massive!"

"I'm staying with you"

"No, you're not"

"Yes, I am. I can assist"

"No you can't"

"What about the stuff you said? We don't walk away"

"No. We don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious, we run. We run and run, fast as we can, and we don't stop running until we are out from under the shadow. Now... off you pop. Take the moped. I'll walk"

The Doctor went over to an area where he would be face to face with the Old God. Clara left with Merry.

"Any ideas? No, didn't think so. Righty-ho then. Lordy," the Doctor said to himself.

I waited outside the area where the Doctor was, standing beside the door so I wouldn't distract him. He had probably thought I left with the other two.

"Okay then, that's what I'll do. I will tell you a story. Can you hear them? All these people who  lived in terror of you and your judgement. All these people who devoted their lives to you, sacrificed themselves to you. Can you hear them singing?"

He paused and I could faintly hear the singing of all the people waiting for what was supposed to be the ceremony.

"Oh, you like to think you're a god, but you're not a god. You're just a parasite, eaten out with jealousy and envy and longing for the lives of others. You feed on them, on the memory of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow, so... come on then. Take mine. Take my memories"

I nearly ran in and dragged him out of there. I didn't want the Doctor to do this, who knew what memories he would lose. I wanted to spend more time with him as he was, not lose him all over again.

"But I hope you've got a big appetite because I've lived a long life and I've seen a few things. I walked away from the last great Time War. I marked the passing of Time Lords. I saw the birth of the universe and watched as time ran out. Moment by moment. Until nothing remained. No time, no space. Just me!"

I sighed and stepped over to him silently, not interrupting his speech, and took hold of his hand. He glanced over at me, I smiled comfortingly, and he continued with a faint smile on his face, tears falling from his eyes.

"I walked in universes where laws of physics were devised by the mind of a madman! And I watched universes freeze and creation burn! I have seen things you wouldn't believe! I have lost things you will never understand! And I know things. Secrets that must never be told. Knowledge that must never be spoken! Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze! So come on then! Take it! Take it all, Baby! Have it! You have it all!"

He dropped his head, then fell to his knees weakly. I knelt beside him, my hand on his shoulder.

"What more could you need?"

Clara ran in, a book in her arms. "Still hungry? Well I brought something for you," she took out a leaf that had been placed inside the book. "This. The most important leaf in human history. It's full of stories, full of history. And full of a future that never got lived, days that should have been that never were, passed on to me. This leaf isn't just the past, it's a whole future that never happened. There are billions and millions of unlived days for every day we live. An infinity. All the days that never came. And these are all my mum's"

The Doctor stood up with me helping him for support, then we stood beside Clara, watching as the Old God started to feed on the history of the leaf.

"Well? Come on, then. Eat up," the Doctor said.  "Are you full? I expect so. Because there's quite a difference, isn't there, between what was and what should have been? There's an awful lot of one, but there's an infinity of the other," the leaf shrivelled up in Clara's hand. "And infinity's too much, even for your appetite"

The Doctor put his arm around my shoulders as the Old God disappeared, no longer giving us light. Clara went back to the bike but the Doctor and I remained where we were for a bit.

"You could've died," I whisper. "If it had wanted more, you would've died"

"But I didn't, did I?" He whispers, kissing the side of my head.