We ran into the TARDIS, laughing. "You held the Daleks off with a Jammy Dodger!" I giggled, "You just became attractive as hell."
He quirked his eyebrow. "You think I'm attractive?" The Doctor nodded proudly. "Was it only because of the Jammy Dodger?"
"The Jammy Dodger is the definition of sexiness. Of course it was the biscuit."
Colin called in again, "Anything you can do, sir? Over."
"The Doctor to Colin. The Doctor to Colin," he continued, "I can disrupt the Dalek shields, but not for long. Over."
"Good show, Doctor. Go to it. Over." A little bit later, Colin returned, "Colin to the Doctor. Going in for another attack."
"The Doctor to Colin. The Doctor to Colin," the Doctor ordered, "Destroy this ship. Over."
"What about you, Doctor?"
I reassured, "We'll be okay."
Supreme appeared on the screen. "Doctor, call off your attack."
"Ah ha. What, and let you scuttle off back to the future?" He questioned, "No fear. This is the end for you. The final end."
"Call off the attack, or we will destroy the Earth."
"I'm not stupid, mate," I taunted, "You've just played your last card."
"Bracewell is a bomb," it informed.
"You're bluffing. Deception's second nature to you," he dismissed, "There isn't a sincere bone in your body.
I pointed out, "There isn't a bone in your body."
"His power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum," it insisted, "Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android." I chewed my lip until I tasted blood.
"No. This is my best chance ever. The last of the Daleks," the Doctor stated furiously, "I can rid the Universe of you, once and for all."
"Then do it. But we will shatter the planet below. The Earth will die screaming."
"Yeah, and if we let you go, you'll be stronger than ever," I sneered, "A new race of Daleks."
"Then choose, Celeste," Supreme provoked, "Destroy the Daleks or save the Earth. Begin countdown of Oblivion Continuum. Choose, Celeste. Choose. Choose."
I looked quickly at the Doctor who seemed just as conflicted as me. One thought stuck out: Amy is down there. "Celeste to Colin, Celeste to Colin," I said stolidly, "Withdraw."
"Say again, ma'am. Over."
"Withdraw," I repeated, "Return to Earth. Over and out."
"But ma'am-"
"There's no time," the Doctor agreed, "You have to return to Earth now. Over." He set the TARDIS to Earth
We landed in the map room. The Doctor ran out and punched Bracewell in the jaw. He fell down.
"That hurt your hand, didn't it?" I smirked.
The Doctor shook his hand and ignored me. "Ow. Sorry, Professor, you're a bomb. An inconceivably massive Dalek bomb."
"What?" Bracewell gaped.
"There's an Oblivion Continuum inside you. A captured wormhole that provides perpetual power," I explained hurriedly, "Detonate that, and the Earth will bleed through into another dimension. Now keep down." I used my sonic to open his torso.
Well, that sounded weirder than I meant. The Doctor knelt next to me. One of the five blue segments of a circle on Bracewell's torso turned yellow.
"Well?" Amy asked.
"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know," he admitted, "Never seen one up close before."
She struggled to understand, "So what, they've wired him up to detonate?"
"Oh no, not wired him up. He is a bomb," I corrected, "Walking, talking, pow, exploding, the moment that flashes red."
"There's a blue wire or something you have to cut, isn't there? There's always a blue wire. Or a red one."
The Doctor and I said in unison, "You're not helping."
"It's incredible," Winny remarked, "He talked to us about his memories. The Great War."
"Someone else's stolen thoughts, implanted in a positronic brain." His face lit up. "Tell me about it. Bracewell. Tell me about your life."
Bracewell looked confused. "Doctor, I really don't think this is the time."
"Tell me, and prove you're human," I caught on, "Tell me everything."
"My family ran the Post Office. It's a little place just near the abbey, just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but there was a storm," he got into detail strongly.
"And your parents? Come on, tell me," the Doctor urged.
"Good people. Kind people. They died. Scarlet fever."
"What was that like? How did it feel?" I asked urgently, "How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell me. Tell me now."
"It hurt. It hurt, Doctor, it hurt so badly. It was like a wound. I though it was worse than a wound," he whimpered, "Like I'd been emptied out. There was nothing left." I looked at the segments. Two red, one yellow and two blue.
"Good. Remember it now, Edwin. The ash trees by the Post Office and your mum and dad, and losing them, and men in the trenches you saw die," I said firmly, "Remember it. Feel it. You feel it because you're human. You're not like them. You're not like the Daleks."
"It hurts, Celeste. It hurts so much."
"Good. Good, good, brilliant. Embrace it. That means you're alive," I stated, "They cannot explode that bomb because you're a human being. You are flesh and blood. They cannot explode that bomb. Believe it. You are Professor Edwin Bracewell, and you, my friend, are a human being." Four red, one yellow.
"It's not working," the Doctor groaned, "We can't stop it."
"Hey, Paisley," Amy cut in, "Ever fancied someone you know you shouldn't?" She looked at the Doctor and me for some reason.
"What?"
"It hurts, doesn't it? But kind of a good hurt," she continued.
"I really shouldn't talk about her," Bracewell insisted.
"Oh. There's a her." I waggled my eyebrows. The yellow turned back to blue. "What was her name?"
"Dorabella."
"Dorabella?" The Doctor smiled. "It's a lovely name. It's a beautiful name."
"What was she like, Edwin?" Amy asked.
He smiled just thinking of her. "Oh, such a smile. And her eyes. Her eyes were so blue. Almost violet, like the last touch of sunset on the edge of the world. Dorabella." All the segments returned to blue.
I helped him up. "Welcome to the human race."
The Doctor pointed to Winny. "You're brilliant." Then he pointed to Bracewell. "You're brilliant." The Doctor kissed Amy's forehead. He turned to me and quickly pecked my lips.
"Now. Got to stop them. Stop the Daleks."
"Wait, Doctor," Bracewell interjected, "Wait, wait. It's too late. Gone. They've gone."
My smile dropped, but I regained my composure, "I'll make sure to give them hell when I see them." I smiled sadly at the Doctor.
When I came back, I was in proper clothes. Winny found me and told me, "They're in the laboratory." I nodded.
"What happened to Colin?" I blurted, "The pilot? I haven't seen him."
He answered, "Probably somewhere around here. He was just in space."
"So, Winny," I started, "Good bye."
Winny smiled. "I'd wish you stop calling me that."
"Nah, never gonna happen." We hugged, but I kept a tight hold on my key.
My TARDIS was in the Doctor's because he wanted to 'talk'. They came back, deep in conversation. "So, you two have enemies then?" Amy looked at us.
The Doctor pointed out, "Everyone's got enemies."
"Yeah, but mine's the woman outside Budgens with the mental Jack Russell," she said, "You've got, like, you know, arch-enemies."
"Suppose so," I agreed.
"And here's me thinking we'd just be running through time, being daft and fixing stuff," Amy paused. "But no, it's dangerous."
"Yep. Very. Is that a problem?" He asked.
"I'm still here, aren't I? You're worried about the Daleks."
"We're always worried about the Daleks," I muttered.
"It'll take time though, won't it? I mean, there's still not many of them. They'll need a while to build themselves up." I nodded.
That's not the problem. I'll die at the Dalek's hands. I chewed my lip again and walked into his TARDIS. When they joined me, Amy excused herself with a glint in her eyes.
We stood around the counsel in silence. The Doctor finally spoke up, "So, about-"
"Shut up." I walked over to him and kissed him. Our lips moved in sync and I played with his hair. "Aren't you mad at me?" The Doctor panted between kissing.
"I'm mad at past you." I fiddled with his bow tie and smiled.
He looked at me and his eyes darkened. "Can't argue with that logic." The Doctor kissed me and I continued trying to get his stupid bow tie off. It fell to the ground and he slid off his jacket.
I pulled away and smiled. Leaving him shocked, I waved my hand in his face. "I have to go," I announced.
"What?" He asked, "Why?"
"I just realized how messed up my logic is." I shrugged. "So I have to know when I run into past you."
"I hate it when you're responsible. It's not fun."
I laughed, "One of us has to be."