A/N
I'm sorry it's taken me this long, but I only managed to write 1,5 chapter instead of two, and today marks the one year anniversary for this story so I thought I might as well wait a few extra days so I could update today instead. So, happy one year anniversary everyone =) I hope you'll like the chapter.
Beta Tarree87
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Chapter 17 Goodbye my lover
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Goodbye my lover.
Goodbye my friend.
You have been the one.
You have been the one for me.
~James Blunt
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"How can you act so natural with him?" Amy went to stand beside Rose, who was still sitting on the empty barrel, looking at the door with a vacant expression. "He's not the Doctor."
"He is." Rose looked up at her, her brow furrowed with what could only be concern. Concern for her, Amy wagered. "But you really don't believe that." It wasn't a question.
"It's just..." She trailed off, a feeling of unease washing over her when she thought of the Doctor's ganger, especially after he attacked her earlier. "He was grown from a vat of... of... mucus, Rose." Amy grimaced. "How can you tell me that that is normal?" She crossed her arms and looked over at the real Doctor. "The doctor is much more... alive."
"Have the doctor told you about regeneration?" Rose asked and Amy returned her eyes on the blonde woman.
"He told me the first time I met him that he had a new body," She began. "I was only seven at the time, didn't think more of it. But when he returned twelve years later looking exactly the same, it got me thinking." She paused, thinking back to her first night in the TARDIS after they had saved the star whale. "I decided to ask him about it and he told me everything, saying he didn't want to repeat a past mistake." Never thought I would have to witness it though, she thought as she remembered that awful day, almost nine months ago, in Utah.
"So you're okay with keep calling him the Doctor if he regenerates and a new man walks away with his memories?" Rose looked up at her.
"I..." She didn't know how to respond.
"The Doctor gains an entire new personality when he changes." Rose stood up and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, steering her so she was looking directly at the Doctor, who was busy doing something to the monitor. "At least this Doctor still looks the same and acts the same."
"I don't understand." Amy frowned, glancing at Rose who met her gaze.
"They changed shoes, Amy." Rose said, and returned her eyes on the Doctor. "He's the ganger."
"What?" Amy snorted, disbelief clear in her voice. "Of course he isn't." She shook her head. "I would know."
"Are you sure?" Rose raised her eyebrows as she looked at her again.
"Yes." She paused. "I think... yes of course." She nodded. "Right?" She looked at Rose for answers.
"Think about it, will ya?" Rose let go of her. "And try to be open minded." She patted her once on the arm before she walked away to stand beside the Doctor.
He couldn't be the ganger, she would know the difference. Wouldn't she?
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"These temperature gauges are rising." Cleaves said as Rose approached. "Jennifer and Rory must have shut off the underground cooling vents."
"Why do that?" Dicken said. "They'll kill us."
"There's a million gallons of boiling acid under out feet..." Cleaves trailed off.
"And now it's heating up the whole island." The ganger doctor finished. "How long till it blows?
Just as he said it, an explosion went off and the whole island seemed to rock with it.
"Gangers or no gangers," Dicken began. "We need to get the hell out of here."
"Shuttle!" Cleaves called into the intercom. "We need evac. Where are you? Can you...?" She winced and put down the com, placing a hand on her forehead as she scrunched her eyes in pain.
"Are you alright?" Rose asked, feeling concern for the older woman.
"Cleaves?" The ganger Doctor asked as he walked up to her. "Cleaves, sit down." He helped her sit down on a chair.
"I'm fine." Cleaves waved them off with her free hand. "I'm waiting for results, so let it go."
"It's a very deep parietal clot." The ganger Doctor told her.
"Inoperable?" Cleaves looked up at him.
"On Earth, yes." He nodded.
"Well, seeing as Earth is all that's on..." She trailed off, looking between him and Rose. "Offer... hmm. I'm no healthy spring chicken, and you're no weatherman. Right?"
"Not exactly." Rose began, sharing a smile with the Doctor, when another quake hit them.
"Something just cracked!" Amy called out. "I heard it."
"Yeah," The Doctor shared a quick look with Rose. "We can't stay here, let's go."
"Let's shift!" Jimmy called out and they all began moving towards the door except for Cleaves, who had picked up the com again.
"Cleaves to shuttle." She spoke into it. "We need to move, and we can't be collected from the evac tower."
"Give us the codeword." The man over the radio responded.
"The codeword is..." Cleaves began but another quake hit and the console went up in sparks. She threw the com down and run around the monitor to type in the codeword instead but it was dead.
"Cleaves?" The Doctor called before running over to her. "Cleaves, it's dead, it's dead." He grabbed hold on her and started to drag her towards the door. "We need to get out of here. We need to get back downstairs and get those vents back on, come on."
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They headed down a hallway, the Doctor kept just behind Cleaves with Amy and Rose just behind him. Jimmy and Dicken were supporting Jennifer in the back.
There were eyes following their every move, placed there not by mistake, the Doctor concluded.
"Ah." He said and stopped. "The eyes have it."
"Who put them here?" Rose asked while Amy just stared silently back at them.
"One of the gangers, I suppose." He responded, reaching his hand out to take hold of hers.
"But... why?" She gripped his hand tighter.
"To accuse... us," He answered slowly.
"Ignore them." Cleaves' voice broke through. "It's not far."
They walked in silence the last bit until they reached the thermostatic chamber. The Doctor let go of Rose so he could look at and try to change the settings.
"It's a chemical chain reaction now." He said after five minutes. "I can't stop it." He looked over at the others. "This place is going to blow sky high."
"Exactly how long have we got?" Cleaves asked.
"An hour?" He grimaced. "Five seconds? Err, somewhere in between."
Another explosion went off and the machinery began to hiss.
"Out!" He yelled, grabbing Rose's hand again as they exited the room.
"Always with the running, yeah?" Rose joked, smiling up at him.
"Always with the running." He repeated, squeezing her hand.
They ran out into the tunnel where they were greeted with the sight of Rory.
"Alright?" He asked, his brow furrowed with concern.
"Oh, Rory!" Amy exclaimed, leaping forward to hug him. "Oh, Rory."
"There's a way out," Rory said when Amy had released him. "Jennifer found it. A secret tunnel under the crypt"
"From the crypt?" Cleaves asked. "It's not on the schematics."
"It runs right out of the monastery." Rory explained. "Maybe even under the TARDIS, Doctor." Rory looked at him for the first time.
"Rory..." He began, taking a step towards the Roman. "Jennifer is here with us."
"What?" He shook his head. "What are you talk..." He stopped dead when Rose moved so Jennifer came into view.
"I found her, Rory." Rose explained. "You've been running around with her ganger."
"Does it matter?" Rory asked. "They're both still Jennifer."
"I suppose not." Rose glanced over at him, fixing her hold on his hand better so she was gripping it tighter, before her expression became more set and she looked at Rory again. "Did you see the Doctor? Did he find you?"
"Yeah..." He said slowly. "He's standing right beside you. You're holding his hand."
"Not this Doctor." Rose shook her head. "The other Doctor."
"There are two of them?" Rory's eyebrows went up.
"Not this again." The Doctor muttered. "We don't have time for this." He pointed at Rory. "You. Lead the way."
"Right." Rory nodded. "Follow me."
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The Doctor woke up with a searing pain at the back of his head, and as he turned around on the floor so he was lying on his back instead, he found himself surrounded by three gangers.
"Got anything for a sore head?" He joked, sitting up so he was leaning against the tunnel wall, feeling just the tiny bit of resentment against Buzzer who had hit him when his back was turned. Wouldn't even give him a chance to find Rory first.
"This is how they'll always treat us." Ganger Cleaves said. "Do you see now? After all, you're one of us... Doctor."
The Doctor accepted the help from Jimmy to get back on his feet and then pocketed his sonic before turning to Cleaves.
"Call me Smith." He said. "John Smith."
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They reached the acid room without any incidents though the Doctor had a nagging feeling in the back of his head that something wasn't right with Rory, a feeling that soon got confirmed when the Roman stopped just before the threshold into the room.
"Doctor, look..." He began, and the Doctor could smell the chemicals in his blood, released by his anxiety. "I'd better tell you," He met his eyes. "I haven't been quite straight with you..."
Whatever he was about to say to explain his dishonesty was interrupted when Jennifer's ganger reached out from behind him and closed the door with a bang, locking them all inside except for Rory.
"Rory!" The Doctor roared, feeling his anger rise inside of him as he tried to open the door with Cleaves by his side.
"C'mon Jennifer," He heard Rory say from the other side of the door. "We don't need to lock them up. We should just show them what we've found."
"I don't think so." Ganger Jennifer answered.
"Rory Pond!" He yelled again. "Roranicus Pondicus!"
"Rory!" Amy stepped forward. "What the hell are you playing at?"
"They've been throwing away old Flesh and leaving it to rot, alive!" Rory answered. "I think the world should see that."
"Rory, there is no time." The Doctor tried to reason with him. "This factory's about to explode!"
He could see Rory turning to talk to Jennifer, but the thick door and Amy's continuing banging made their voices too hard to distinguish.
He could only watch as it dawned on Rory's that perhaps Jennifer wasn't as innocent as he had thought, but there was nothing he could do when she dragged him away and out of sight.
Leaving Cleaves alone to talk with her own ganger, he walked over to the acid tank where Rose was standing.
"It's not over yet, yeah." She smiled at him as he approached. "We've been in tighter spots. Remember the ghosts?"
"You're right." He took her hand in his. "And at least we're not in Cardiff."
She bumped his shoulder with her own and smiled her tongue touched smile at him before it faded as her eyes settled on Amy who had now glided down beside the door and was just looking at nothing with vacant eyes.
"I better go talk to her." She said and let go of his hand.
To keep himself occupied and trying not to look at his two companions when they talked, he took out his sonic and started scanning the acid. He did not like what he found.
"This is going to overheat and fill the room with acid," He said to anyone that was listening. "Just as a point of interest." He added as an afterthought when he saw their gloom looks.
"And we can't stop it?" Cleaves asked.
"Just as a point of interest, no." He answered honestly.
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The Doctor watched as Jennifer dragged Rory through the door and inside the dining hall.
"You created another ganger just to trick me." Rory yelled at her. "You tricked me. When I found you, you were both Flesh and you tricked me into trusting you! And all this time she was with them."
"Is Rose okay?" The Doctor asked.
"She's with the other you." Rory answered, and the Doctor couldn't help but notice that he hadn't exactly answered the question.
"Shuttle, we're dropping down on our approach. Stand by for evac." The man over the radio said.
"Who cares about one human, Doctor." Jennifer began her propaganda again and the Doctor did his best not to show his anger at her blatant disinterest about Rose's wellbeing. "The humans will be melted, as they deserve. And then the factory will be destroyed. Once we get to the mainland, the real battle begins. The humans won't stand a chance. You're one of us, Doctor. Join the revolution."
"I've got to get them out." Rory shook his head and tried to made his way over to the door, but the Doctor had to keep up appearance so he stood up from the where he was sitting on the table and pushed Rory back and stood by Jennifer's side. His hearts broke by the look of utter betrayal on Rory's face.
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"We need to contain the acid somehow." Dicken said when smoke started to come out of the tank. Not waiting for a response, he quickly began lowering the cap over the vat.
"It'll never hold her." Jimmy said.
"If you have a better plan, I'm all ears." The Doctor snapped. "In fact, if you have a better plan, I'll take you to a planet where EVERYONE is all ears."
That seemed to shut him up and the Doctor tweaked his bowtie once as the lid slammed shut behind him.
He pushed past Jimmy and made his way over to Rose and Amy and sat down beside them without any of them uttering a word. All Rose did was take his hand and he squeezed it back for reassurance.
"The acid's eating through." Cleaves said and the Doctor quickly stood up again as the building shook.
Jimmy began holding down the vat with pure force but the pressure inside the vat was too strong and before the Doctor had a chance to get over and help him the vat flew open and acid splashed him over the chest and he fell backwards onto the floor just as the door opened and ganger Jimmy and Dicken rushed inside.
"Let me through!" Ganger Jimmy ran over to his double.
"There's nothing we can do." The Doctor put the sonic back into his pocket. "The acid's reached his heart."
"Hang in there, mate." Ganger Jimmy said, doing his best to appear brave.
"I'm quite handsome from this angle." Jimmy joked.
"I'm... sorry." Ganger Jimmy's voice broke. "I'm the fake. Adam deserves his real dad."
"Shut up." Jimmy tried to shake his head but the Doctor could see it was too painful for him.
"What do you want me to do?" Ganger Jimmy did his best to hold back his tears. "Anything, just say."
"The way things are, mate..." Jimmy took in a breath. "It's up to you now." He pulled the necklace containing his late wedding ring from his neck and placed it in his doubles hand. "Be a dad. You remember how." He took one last breath before his eyes fell shut and the steady rhythm of his heart faded from the Doctor's ears and he knew Jimmy had passed away.
"Jimmy Wicks..." He said to the ganger. "You're a dad."
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Rose ran just behind the Doctor, the real Doctor. Whether that made any difference at all, she wasn't entirely sure. It made a difference to Amy though, Rose thought, as she glanced sideways at the person in question who was running beside her, dragging Rory along with her.
The two had reunited while Jimmy had talked to his son and Rose had looked on with sadness at the two lovers. She knew they had to tell them as soon as they got out of here and were back safe in the TARDIS.
The real Amy was having the baby right now and she figured the Doctor had found out enough about the Flesh to be able to send Amy's consciousness back into her real body. Rose just wished it never had to happen like this in the first place, nobody deserved to go through what they were about to go through.
She snapped back to the situation in front of her when the misshapen form of Jennifer's ganger blocked their way. She managed to stop just in time, avoiding hitting the Doctor with just the bare minimum. The other Doctor on the other hand, wasn't as successful and ran smack into her.
How they both managed to stay upright was beyond her, but as the Doctor yelled at them to keep running down another narrow hallway, she grabbed the ganger Doctor's hand and sprinted after him with Jennifer close behind on all fours.
The roof groaned as they reached another room and both Doctor's and Rose looked up at the sound, her hand still firmly clasped in the ganger's as both Dickens closed the door behind them.
"Ooh," The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "Roof's going to give."
"How long do we have?" Rose asked both of them, glancing at Amy again.
"Till the acid blows up?" The Doctor checked his watch. "I'd say about twenty minutes. The other..." He trailed off and Rose saw him glancing at Amy as well. "One hour, maybe two at the most."
"We need to find the TAR..."
"No!" Rose was interrupted when ganger Dicken cried out and it didn't take long for her to figure out why as Dicken's scream could still be heard on the other side of the door.
The Ganger Doctor let go of her hand and hurried over to the door to help keep it closed together with ganger Cleaves.
"Here she comes." The Doctor said and she followed his gaze up to the roof where a giant crack had appeared. Not a second later, the TARDIS came falling down and with a thud, landed just in front of her and the Doctor.
"Oh," Ganger Doctor laughed. "She does like to make an entrance!"
"Move!" The Doctor yelled as he opened the door but Rose stood still.
She knew what was about to happen, and even though she understood why, it didn't mean she liked it.
"Go, go, go, go!" The ganger Doctor yelled from the door and Rose watched as Ganger Dicken helped Jennifer inside the TARDIS.
"Get on board!" Ganger Cleaves told her double. "Go!"
"I'm not leaving." Cleaves shook her head and Rose could see she was afraid.
On the other side of the door, Jennifer had managed to break through the other door that Dicken had closed and was now banging furiously on the one the ganger Doctor and ganger Cleaves was trying to keep closed.
"Go." Ganger Cleaves said one more time and this time Cleaves did as she was told and ran inside the TARDIS.
"You to, Rose." Rose looked over at the ganger and another wave of sadness washed over her.
"I can't..." She felt hot tears running down her cheeks. "I can't leave you like this."
"You have to." He looked just as sad as she felt.
She ignored the muffled conversation Amy and the Doctor had behind her back and didn't notice when Amy and Rory disappeared inside the TARDIS with one final look at the ganger who was willing to give his own life to save theirs.
Jennifer started to bang even more intensely, and looking back at the Doctor quickly, Rose ran towards his ganger and gave him a bone-crushing hug before neither of them could protest.
"I'm gonna miss you, Doctor." She whispered into his ear.
"You still got me," He whispered back. "Remember that. And don't let him get away with being rude, he needs someone to keep him in check."
"I promise." She sniffed into his neck, pulling back so she could wipe at her eyes before looking up at his.
"We had some great times, didn't we?" Leaning his back against the door, his hands were free to reach up to her face. "My Rose." He leaned forward just the bit and placed a kiss on her forehead, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears as he leaned back.
"Goodbye, my Doctor." She stood up on tiptoes so she could reach him, closing her eyes as their lips met. All of her feelings came flooding to the surface and it took all her willpower to break the kiss before it turned into something more than just a chaste press of lips, especially when she heard the small sound of displeasure the Doctor gave when she broke away.
She backed away with a small gasp, meeting his eyes for the last time. They were just as tear-filled as hers. Had her real Doctor not been standing more than a few metres away she would have flung herself at him again, evil gangers be damned.
"You don't have to..." Her voice broke. "We can find another way. It doesn't have to end like this."
"It was always meant to be like this." The ganger Doctor replied, looking over her shoulder at his duplicate who refused to raise his eyes from the ground. "It's for the best." His eyes returned to hers.
"No." She shook her head, tears falling down from her eyes.
"Rose," He grabbed her face between his hands and looked deep into her eyes. "For me. Please." He pleaded. "Don't make this harder for me."
She didn't answer. She just gave him a short nod and when he removed his hands she quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned towards the TARDIS.
Ignoring the unreadable look the Doctor was giving her as she walked away; she stepped inside the TARDIS where the whole console room was filled with voices from the surviving crew who all marvelled at the incredibility of the spaceship she called home.
"I'm going to the galley to get a cuppa." She told Amy and Rory who was sitting on her favourite stair. "Tell the Doctor..." She broke off with a sigh and ran a hand over her face. "Tell him I'll be back in a mo."
Amy nodded up at her, shifting so she could walk past them and up the stairs, a look of understanding flashing in both of their eyes.
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"You know what needs to be done." The Doctor told his double and threw him his sonic screwdriver.
"Just promise me you'll take care of her." His ganger responded. "You're all she has."
"I will." The Doctor gave him a nod and with a final word to Cleaves, he retreated into the TARDIS.
He started the dematerialising sequence as well as programmed the TARDIS to make him a new screwdriver. When that was taken care of, he proceeded to fix up the loose ends he had created by saving almost the entire crew in one way or another.
It had been a good day, considering as from the start, only Cleaves would have been the one to survive and tell the story. Hopefully this time history would learn that the Flesh was full of more potential than they could've ever imagined.
Rose had come back sometime before dropping off Jimmy with his son but she had stayed by the staircase, cradling a mug of steaming tea in her hands.
She was still there when he and the Ponds returned to the TARDIS for the last time, but now the empty mug was placed beside her.
He knew he needed to talk to her about what had happened but now really wasn't the time. Amy was in labour and it was crucial that they get her back before whoever had taken her could enact their plan.
What happened?" Rose asked when she noticed that Amy was doubled over in pain as Rory supported her inside.
"Doctor!" Rory's voice was lined with worry for his wife. "What is happening to her?"
Picking up his brand new screwdriver from the console, the Doctor twirled it in his hand a few times before turning to face his beloved Amelia.
"Contractions." He said simply.
"Contractions?" Rory furrowed his brow.
"She's going into labour." He shared a look with Rose, who seemed to be debating between staying out of the way or going down to comfort her friend.
"Did he say...?" Amy trailed off, disbelief marring her voice. "No, of course he didn't. Rory," She looked at her husband. "I don't like this. Ow!" She gripped her stomach in pain as she bended over.
"You'll have to start explaining this to me, Doctor." Rory warned, doing his best to keep Amy upright.
"What, the birds and the bees?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood, but the Ponds wouldn't have it. "She's having a baby." All humour was gone from his voice. "I needed to see the Flesh in its early days. That's why I scanned it. That's why we were there in the first place. I was going to drop you off for fish and chips first, but things happened and there was stuff and shenanigans. Beautiful word, shenanigans." He mused.
"It hurts." Amy cried out.
"But you're OK?" Rory was confused and the Doctor couldn't blame him.
"Breathe." He told her. "I needed enough information to block the signal to the Flesh."
"What signal?" Amy asked.
"The signal to you." He explained.
"Doctor?" It broke his hearts hearing his Pond so scared, but he needed to do this, no matter how much it hurt.
"Stand away from her, Rory." He took a few steps closer to them.
"Why? No!" Rory protested. "And why?" He furrowed his brow in anger and confusion.
"Given what we've learned, I'll be as humane as I can, but I need to do this and you need to stand away!" Rory seemed to detect the warning in his voice because after looking between him and Amy and over to Rose, he slowly backed away from his wife.
"No. No!" Amy cried out, reaching out for her husband before turning her frightened eyes to the Doctor. "Doctor, I am frightened. I'm properly, properly scared."
"Don't be." He wanted so much to run over to her and hold her tight to him but he kept his emotions in check and the mask on his face secured. "Hold on. We're coming for you, I swear it. Whatever happens, however hard, however far, we will find you." He reached out his arm and touched her cheek.
"I'm right here!" She pleaded, grabbing hold of his arm.
"No, you're not." He shook his head. "You haven't been here for a long, long time." He backed away from her and held up his screwdriver.
"Oh, no!" Realisation hit her eyes and it took all his willpower to activate the sonic and watch her melt away in front of his eyes.
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A/N
So... did you like it?
It wasn't the Doctor and Rose, but close enough yeah? =D
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and walpurgis celebration.
Today's question is: If you could be any animal, what would you be and why? It can be for one day, rest of your life, or just like an animagus kind of deal. I would either like to be a cat so I can get into small spaces and sleep whenever I want, or a bird so that I can fly.
Have a good week and month and I will see you at the end of May =)