TOHF Chapter 19

AN: and we have reached the end.

i had doomsday on replay the entire time i wrote this. nothing good can come from that.

It's been a pleasure. I'll discuss important stuff in endnotes.

The TARDIS Jalen had stolen was a type 60, and still on it's factory settings: designed for three pilots, which was an advancement over his father's archaic type 40. It was a deep purple, and shaped like an obelisk that had been slightly crushed so its sides bowed out a bit. Along the corners of the outside ran strips of aluminum covered in words in Gallifreyan, a liscense registration of sorts. The inside was supported by cold iron in the shapes of trees, much like the Doctor's old coral structures, and the time engine was an actual hourglass that bobbed and weaved to the brakes.

She- it was definitely a she- didn't talk to him like Idris did, but she was good enough.

When they sprung their friends from the cages, they found Romana missing.

"She was talking with Rassilon." said Abilene. "I don't know about what."

Mouse was busy overriding the prison controls- she was one of only a few who could actually read them- and paused.

"What is it?" asked Abilene.

"It's here."

"What? How did it follow us?"

"Ladies, that's not important, it must be why Rassilon wanted Romana. We should-I-" said the Doctor.

"The time engine." said Mouse like a whip.

"Brilliant! We can stall it for the time being."

The Doctor ran back to the new TARDIS and set it, muttering about how he liked his better before they flew off.

"Where are we? And what's this 'time engine'?" asked Luke.

"Center of the planet! As deep as you'll ever get in Gallifrey." answered Mouse.

"This entire planet is a walking paradox." continued the Doctor. "People traveling back and forth every day, contradicting their own timelines without even realizing it. The interior of the planet is hollow, and inside it runs a massive time engine, a TARDIS engine big as a moon. It acts a paradox machine for the whole planet, keeping things in shape, /but/, it's capable of other deeds. We could use it."

"Is it strong enough to move a planet?" An idea was forming in Jalen's head.

"Theoretically, yes. It can handle all that. We can use it to throw up some timeloops, distract it for an hour or so."

"Mmkay. And what about your friends? How long before we got the cops on our tail 'gain?"

"Maybe twenty minutes."

"Alright then!"

Every wall in the center buzzed with panels of light, a thousand code streams running down the tunnels leading away from the door in every direction. It was like being inside a massive circuit, and they had been compressed into a string of numbers themselves.

"We're going to have split up, it operates in two parts." said the Doctor. "This changes things a bit- okay a lot- we need people who actually know what they're doing-"

"I'll stay here with River, you go with the rest." said Jalen. "We can handle it."

So they went left and Jalen stayed where they were. River still wasn't sure what was going on.

"What's our end of this?" quipped River. "I swear, it's like you and your father can read each other's minds, except you don't share anything with me."

"We're not actually talking, if that's what you're thinking. We just have a very predictable goal."

"For geniuses."

"Shut up. You want me to share stuff? Here we go. Their end is setting coordinates for the time portals, we're creating the type."

"Can't they just stick it all in one room?"

Jalen shook his head. "Thing's too big." I could pull remote access...but not right now.

"Alright..."he started to talk to himself while he worked, sonic balanced between his fingers."Let's give this thing the runaround."

He threw open the doors of where his- he supposed it was his, now, or at least he would like it to be- TARDIS was parked, disconnecting the cables from the floor and adding them into the computer station. He didn't say why. River watched over his shoulder and occasionally followed his instructions, although she did most of it without a word from him. She was smarter than he gave her credit for.

Jalen pulled something up on the screen and shiftily stared at River before hitting a few things. He looked so...guilty.

"If we get out of this, what do you think happens next?" River asked.

"Yeah, right."

"Surely you have to have some hope?"

"River, I don't see a version of this where we end up on top. But humor me. What would you do?"

"Live. Travel. Screw around in the universe."

"Basically what you do?"

River nodded.

You are a conundrum. she thought. Just when I think I know everything, it turns around and slaps me in the face. I watched you die. I watched you break. And then...you fixed yourself. At least I think you did. There's still something not right with you.

Jalen sighed and tapped his fingers against the hard surface of the screen nervously. "River, can you do something for me?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"I need you to go find the Doctor and tell him to go and transfer control of the left temporal arc to me. Got it?"

River was confused, she had thought Jalen had said he couldn't control both sides of the machine, but he knew what he was doing better than she did.

"Back in five." she said.

River turned and ran out, but as soon as she had crossed the threshold she heard the buzz of Jalen's sonic and the door clicked behind her.

"Jalen?!"

No amount of wiggling would open it.

He had locked her out.

"Jalen, open up!" River cried.

There was no reply.

Only one thing to do then- what he had asked her to do.

River took off down the hallway, praying there was a good reason for all this.

The other room contained three very busy timelords, a struggling-yet-trying-to-keep-up quartet of Jack, Rose, Jenny, and Luke, and Sarah Jane just sort of standing there and not even trying what she knew she wouldn't get.

The Doctor detected River approaching without even turning around. "You wanna tell me what's happening?" he snarled.

"What?"

"Jalen just took control of my end. I can't do a thing."

River's heart nearly burst. "He locked me out." she said quickly.

"Jalen, what the hell are you doing." growled Jack to himself. There was a flicker, and River whipped around.

"Jalen! How did you get in here, what's going on?"

He waved his hand. "I'm not really here. It's just a hologram."

"You still only answered-"

"Half the question? I'm doing what I should have done as soon as I had the chance. I'm fixing the universe, fixing everything I've screwed up."

"No- don't go nuts on me now-"

"I'm perfectly in control, River. That's why I can see it."

"See what?"

"What I have to do."

He paused, tossed his sonic in his hand, a grim smile accenting his face. There was an insanity there, but it was that of a mad scientist,not one of a crazed warrior. He thought-he /knew/-whatever he was doing was good, that idiot. He didn't know a thing, for all his so-called genius.

"I'm restarting the universe. Minus me."

"Don't you dare." Rose protested.

"He's bluffing, you can't even do that!" The Doctor was unsuccessfully trying to comfort Rose; he obviously doubted his own words.

"It never had me controlling it before, did it? And you say that like it's going to be a bad thing! I am the root of all your problems! I am the only reason this universe is so fucked up! Think of how much better it'll be! Amy and Rory and Martha, they'll all still be here, all those people who died at my hand, because of me. Mum- you even said it yourself. The only reason you and the Doctor ever got separated in the first place was because of me, because you had to use the transmat to get me out of the way instead of her. That won't happen anymore, you'll be together, and everything will be so much better. All those bright and shining people, brought back of someone who should never existed, and what matters most, you won't be chased across the universe by a creature you can't hope to defeat. The damn thing will never come out of his hole because I never will have been there to attract it!"

Rose was struck speechless by the unnerving truth. It's one of those things you don't want to be true, because it's terrible, but there's no denying it.

Only River had the courage to speak.

"It won't work. Haven't you done your research? This universe's other idiot tried it before. And Amy remembered, she brought him back. You can't abandon something forever, someone will eventually remember you!" she snapped desperately.

She hadn't realized, dammit. She hadn't realized quite how much she cared about him, how much- how much she needed him.

"And you think I haven't thought of that?"

He was so cold, yet so sad.

"I set up a condition," Jalen continued, "to ensure it never happens. The only person who can open the crack, to unite this timeline and whatever comes next, is someone close to my blood, like a sibling. Because they'll never exist, I've got nothing to worry about. Besides, even if they did, they never would have met me and would have nothing to remember. I can never come back."

"And this is it?!" River was torn between fury and sorrow, and somewhere, tears got thrown in there too. "Do you think you're being some kind of hero, by giving yourself up like this?"

She knows she's giving up other people's chances to talk to him, their chances to say goodbye, and that she should stop.

She can't.

She cares too much.

Jalen laughed sadly. "I'm no hero, River. I'm just a monster who should never have been born. And I'm doing the only thing I could ever be born to do."

He pointed his sonic at what must have been his screen, and his voice was barely a whisper, like he didn't want to let go either.

"Goodbye."

"Jalen!"

A hand scooped down to help her up, and Rose Tyler blinked open her eyes.

"You okay? I know that transmat's a little rough." asks the Doctor.

She smiles and takes his hand. "Hello." she giggles.

"Hello."

The only words for the past two hours are 'emotional trainwreck.' Mickey and her parents are gone, and they aren't coming back. Ever.

But she's got her Doctor. Her goofy, fantastic Doctor, with his lovely spiky hair and the 3D glasses that are still perched on his head.

That's all she needs.

Rose falls into his arms, just taking her time. Breathe in, breathe out. This is real.

She's still here.

"The ghosts are gone, yeah?"

"Every last one."

Something is nagging her, something terrible, but for the life of her she can't place it. Something so horribly important, but...what?

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"Do you ever get the feeling you're forgetting something?"

TO BE CONTINUED...

End Notes:

Ok, so I know I orginally promised 20 chapters, and this one started as two, but they were just too short and fit too well together. So 19 it became.

Thanks for sticking with this, guys.

I really mean that.

Thank especially to Marg, the real PMB, for putting up with all my late night excursions. You people don't know fear until you know me plus caffeine. And yet she keeps doing it. Four for you, moirail.

The sequel will be called The Ghosts of Tommorow, and I'll post the first chapter on April 8 . We'll be keeping to the Tuesday update schedule. Hopefully.

okayyy i love the title

love love love love

considering it took me forever to come up with isn't it great

So yeah, you guys probs want to kill me after that ending. Raise your hand if you saw it coming, I'm legitimately curious.

And while the storyline may have looked to be laid out here, you also know me, and you know it's never that simple. These are just the parameters. It's gonna get a lot more messed up along the way.

Finally, we'll be welcoming a new canon character as a main ( I won't say who, since it won't be for a while), but go ahead and guess. I enjoy watching you guess.

Allons-y!