Midnight ⋆ Doctor Who²

35. Their Goodbye

AURORA HATES THIS. She hates everything about this. She hates how she got up so quickly, and how the Doctor immediately dropped to his knees. She hates how he did for her. She hates how powerless she is.

"Okay, what do we do?" Rory asks the Doctor, helping him up with Amy. "How do we help you?"

"Take this." He hands Aurora the sonic but she doesn't move. "The TARDIS can home in on it. Now, go. Get after her."

She scoffs, still too shocked to properly process her emotions. "Why are you looking at me?" she lets out. "This is my fault, I'm not leaving."

He groans. "Aurora."

"I'm not leaving you, you idiot!" How can he even think that she will? She is not letting him out of her sight.

The Doctor ends up giving Amy the screwdriver. He then latches onto Aurora for support, and she tries her best to help him up, despite the height difference. Amy helps too, which makes it a whole lot easier.

"You said the smoke was deadly," she reminds her, voice strained.

"No, no, the smoke's fine," the Doctor says. "The poison will kill me first. Now, get after River!"

"I don't understand, okay?" she cries out. "One minute she's planning you two's wedding and then she's going to kill you."

"Ah, well, she's been brainwashed. It all makes sense to her. Plus, she is a woman." They make a face at him. "Oh, shut up. I'm dying."

"More to the point," Aurora says, helping him to stand up straight. "Amy, we've got to help the Doctor to not die, but River is our second main concern, I promise." The Doctor tries to lock Aurora out, but she steps inside. "And I'm coming."

He groans, holding onto the railing for support. "No!"

"You didn't give me a choice, so now I'm not giving you one," she counters, stepping inside, coughing. "I have a Time Lady's composition, I'll be fine! And besides — Extractor fans on!"

As he locks the door, there's a soft whirring and the smoke starts to dissipate. "Oh, that works," he breathes out.

The Doctor drops to his knees. And perhaps that's where Aurora really starts panicking. That's when everything clicks into place and she realizes what's happening.

The Doctor is going to die, again. "No, no." She falls to the ground next to him, holding his face, forcing him to look at her. "Hey, stay with me, a little while longer, please."

"I'm shutting down," he shakily exhales, falling on her shoulder.

"I can see that!" she cries out. She grunts as she manages to get him to the staircase, and helps him down. "Why would you do it?" she presses, because it's not fair and she's panicking. "Why did you have to do it?"

"I had a debt," he blurts out as best as he can. "I owed it to you."

"What?" Then, she understands, and she wants to scream. "Oh. My regenerations." She feels tears gathering in her eyes as she strokes his hair, her hearts hammering in her chest. "Doctor..."

"No, no," he barely pronounces. "Don't get emotional. I need you sharp." He taps her nose with a forced smile. "Eh? Do that for me, please."

"I can't," she says, shaking her head. "Not like that." She can't concentrate on anything other than the fact that he's dying and she can't do anything.

"It's okay, it's okay." He groans in pain, understanding that she won't be able to help. "I need an interface. Voice interface. Come on, emergency."