A Man Named John Smith (10th Doctor x OC)

Chapter Twenty one

"Stay for me," Willow sobbed in his shoulder, though she knew what the reply would be. 

After heaving a great sigh, John gently pushed her away. He looked down at the silver disc in his palm with pursed lips. 

"I can't..." he whispered. His brown eyes met her hazel one's. "I don't want to see you like this when I go. Say goodbye. For me."

Willow shook her head rubbed her eyes, breaking the contact. "Goodbye, John," she mustered out, her voice breaking halfway. 

"That's my girl," John said with a sorrowful smile, pressing the small knob on the top of the watch. He lifted his chin as bravely as he could. "Goodbye, Willow..."

Willow let out a sob as the watch flipped open. A faint yellow fog flew from the face of the watch and into John's eyes. Willow could do nothing but watch as she witnessed his eyes fill with stars and knowledge beyond anything imaginable. He staggered over to the chair and slumped onto the side of it. After the fog completely dissipated, it was clear that there was no trace of John left. Willow let out a final cry and fell to her knees weakly. Her eyes were bloodshot from the tears and her face was red and puffy.

She stayed on the floor even as the Doctor stood from where John had fallen. Willow slowly looked up, and in a twisted way, looking at him humored her. It was like John had never been in charge of that body. With newfound confidence, the Doctor bounded to the doors of the TARDIS, not even batting an eye at her. He snatched his trench coat from the coat hanger nestled by the entrance and slipped it on, covering the perfectly average clothes John had worn.

Willow watched as he whipped out the sonic screwdriver and immediately pressed it the moment he flung the door open. Scott stood five feet away from the door trying to fire, but nothing happened. The sonic had already disabled it.

"So you're the bloke who's been chasing me across space and back," the Doctor said, walking out of the TARDIS like he was reprimanding a child. In all actuality, Scott towered over his lean figure.

He stuffed his gun in his pocket while keeping his eye on the Doctor. "They opened the watch," he said aloud. His fingers twitched like he wanted to tackle the Time Lord on the spot.

"Genocide, ay?" the Doctor said, tossing his screwdriver in the air and catching it. "Never thought you'd be so desperate to go through great lengths to kill me Mister..."
He waved his free hand in the air, waiting for a name.

"Scott. It's part of the hunting job," Scott shot back. "I've done it before and I'll do it again."

The Doctor stopped playing with his screwdriver and his face grew taut. "What you do isn't called 'hunting,' you're a murderer. You've killed thousands of precious lives for a couple of bloody coins and you feel no kind of sympathy for it."

Scott tilted his head and crossed his large arms. "But so have you, Doctor."

The Doctor tightened his jaw. "What?"

"You see, before I started my search for you, I did a little bit of digging. You've let people that trusted you die, Doctor. They poured their whole lives into you and you broke them. You've ruined lives and families. You let them burn. Out of anything, I'm doing the world a favor by terminating you from it."

Just by the Doctor's demeanor, Willow could easily tell that Scott had pushed the Doctor way too far. Big mistake.

"Yes, I've lost people I've loved. Yes, people have died in my care," the Doctor started, his voice raising. "I carry that burden every single day and I will for the rest of my life. But remember this. I've fought gods and monsters, demons and spirits, and every single one has succumbed to me. While you, sir, you are just a tiny speck in time and space compared to them. I would ask you to question those creatures of who I am, but they've all been destroyed by the man you're looking at. I hid myself not out of fear. Oh no, I hid to give you a chance to run away, so you could be spared. But now you will know who I can be. I am the oncoming storm. I am fire, ice and rage..."

At this point, Scott had backed up nearly five feet from the seething Time Lord he was cowarding in front of.

The Doctor took one final step before lifting his whirring sonic screwdriver to the skies. "I am the Doctor... and you just got on my bad side."