A/N: So this thing called life got in the way and it was horrible. So sorry for such a long wait on the update! You are all wonderful people for sticking around and reading and reviewing and favoriting and following! I love you all! Sooooo this is the FINAL chapter. Thanks sooooo much for coming along on this adventure with me and I really hope this chapter doesn't disappoint anyone.
Again, thank you! Enjoy!
Chapter 11- Sacrifice
"Sir, we've got a fix. Hundred and five thousand miles in orbit." One of the Master minions informed, glancing at the monitor. A small green line was moving in towards the middle of the monitor at a ferocious speed. "He's moving sir. He's moving very fast." The minion said, looking up to the Master with a slightly worried glance.
The Master waved his hand and kept his eyes on the nuclear bolt. "I don't need him. Any second now I'll have Time Lords to spare. Take him out! Launch the missiles!" The Master ordered without a care.
Clara gathered as much energy she could and pushed the goons off of her. Bolting for the controls as one of the Master's minions was about to push the launch button. She slammed her shoulder into him, knocking him off balance. A few of the minions were a bit stunned that she had managed to move so fast and were only now grasping the fact of what was going on. They started to advance towards her as she grabbed the fallen minions gun and aimed it at the controls. Clara emptied the rounds onto the controls, destroying its functions and the screen began to flicker.
Out of all this, the Master was still focused on what was about to come. He stood close to the nuclear bolt, defending it with his life as he waited, pure joy overtaking him. Noticing the minions advancing on Clara, he stuck his hand out and shot electrical energy at them. "Leave her be!" He yelled; all of the minions seemed to take a few steps back and simply stared at the Master.
The minion Clara had knocked over got to his feet and took a glance at the flickering screen. "He's headed straight for you sir."
"It matters not!" The Master yelled. "It's too late. They are coming." His tone was menacing as an all too familiar smile spread across his face, and Clara realized he was lost to his madness at the moment.
But she had to help him somehow. Had to save him. Because if she didn't, then she couldn't save the Doctor. Everything was coming together in her mind. Clara walked over to stand beside the Master, unafraid of him or whatever was oncoming. Looking to her, the Master smiled warmly and took her hand. "Closer and closer and closer, they are coming." The Master said, squeezing her hand slightly.
Taking a deep breath, Clara looked at the nuclear bolt and noticed the whitepoint star sitting in it's chamber. If she could get it out of there, whatever was trying to breakthrough the created path would be stuck. Just as she was about to make a move, the glass dome above them shattered and the Doctor fell to the floor. Clara clamped a hand over her mouth to suppress her shock and absolute worry. Just as he lifted the revolver in his hand and dropped it back down to the floor, a bright white light shined behind him and a rumbling sound started. Five bodies appeared in what Clara thought to be the strangest outfits she had ever seen; and she had seen the Doctor himself in some funny clothes. Two of them were covering their faces which Clara didn't understand.
The man in the middle looked at them all with a grin that might have made Clara a bit nervous. "My Lord Doctor. My Lord Master. We are gathered for the end." He said, then looked to Clara, his features unfazed as if he seemed to recognize her. "I know all you have done, Clara."
Clara couldn't help but shift from one leg to the other uncomfortably and kept her hand in the Master's. Then it hit her; memories of her different lives crashing into her head. It hurt, but Clara did her best to pick out the right ones. The Doctor and her on his home planet, Gallifrey. This man was Rassilon. And her other life's memory of him wasn't exactly a pleasant one.
The Doctor struggled to sit up from his current position, looking at the Time Lords. "Listen to me, you can't!" He tried to reason.
Rassilon looked back down at the Doctor, that grin never leaving his face. "It is a fitting paradox that our salvation comes at the hands of our most infamous child." Rassilon said.
Shaking his head, the Doctor sat up further, getting onto one knee. "Oh, he's not saving you. Don't you realize what he's doing?" At this, Rassilon seemed to lose an edge to his grin.
The Master tensed up slightly and took a quick step forward. "Hey, no, hey! That's mine. Hush." The Master said to the Doctor and then looked at Rassilon with a smile. "Look around you. I've transplanted myself into every single human being. But who wants a mongrel little species like them, because now I can transplant myself into every single Time Lord. Oh, yes, Mister President, sir, standing there all noble and resplendent and decrepit. Think how much better you're going to look as me."
But Rassilon simply rose up his metal gauntlet and as it started to glow, everyone of the Master's minions started turning back into their regular human selves. The Master and Clara looked around in shock, the Master cursing as his plan had come to fail in a matter of seconds. Rassilon lowered his gauntlet and looked around at the people who were coming to. "On your knees mankind." He said and the people complied.
"No, that's fine. That's good." The Master said, turning back to Rassilon. "Because you said salvation. I still saved you, don't forget that."
Rassilon ignored the Master as he looked up to the broken glass dome and at the sky. "The approach begins."
"Approach of what?" The Master asked as Clara looked up to the sky as well.
"Something is returning. Don't you ever listen? That was the prophecy. Not someone, something." The Doctor mentioned as he sighed. "They're not just bringing back the species. It's Gallifrey. Right here, right now!"
Clara could see the red planet breaking through the clouds. The tidal forces of the arriving planet caused the Earth to start shaking as it broke through it's atmosphere. Things around them started to fall; the humans started running around and screaming. The room was clear within seconds, but Clara found herself glued to the sight above and stood with the other Time Lords in the room.
Looking from the sky, the Master looked to Rassilon with a smile. "But I did this! I get the credit. I'm on your side!" He yelled. "But this is fantastic isn't it?! The Time Lords restored."
The Doctor shook his head angrily. "You weren't there in the final days of the War. You never saw what was born. But if the Timelock's broken, then everything's coming through. Not just the Daleks, but the Skaro Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-have-been King with his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres. The War turned into hell. And that's what you've opened, right above the Earth. Hell is descending." The Doctor said angrily.
"Someone explain to me please, how is it possible that a whole planet is coming through on a simple link from a tiny shiny rock?" Clara asked, finally pulling her gaze away from the red planet of Gallifrey.
Rassilon looked to her which immediately made Clara wish she hadn't spoken at all. He lifted his metal gauntlet and brought it down to the floor quickly four times, paused for a moment, and then did it again. Clara recognized the beat quickly and couldn't help but pity him as she looked at the Master. He seemed out of it. Unable to believe it. Rassilon's smile looked even more evil than before. "We will initiate the Final Sanction. The end of time will come at my hand. The rupture will continue until it rips the Time Vortex apart."
"That's suicide." The Master noted, his expression unreadable.
"We will ascend to become creatures of consciousness alone. Free of these bodies, free of time, and cause and effect, while creation itself ceases to be." Rassilon preached proudly.
The Doctor was gathering his energy, still trying to stand. "You see now? That's what they were planning in the final days of the War. I had to stop them."
"Take me with you then, Lord President! Let ascend into glory!" The Master pleaded.
Turning to look at him, Rassilon frowned and seemed to look angry. "You are diseased, albeit a disease of our own making. Lord Master, all those years ago when we had to chose a child." Rassilon paused, that grin creeping back onto his face. "What if I told you Clara there was the Time Lord in training who chose you."
Everyone seemed to freeze. The Doctor didn't try to get up anymore as he turned to look at Clara. She was just as stunned as everyone else listening to this madman's words. The Master turned to look at her as well, his eyes filled with hurt and betrayal. "No, Master, I-" But Clara didn't know what else to day. That past life, if she had done it then it must have been because she knew this moment would happen. That is was a fixed point and couldn't be undone. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.
Shaking his head, the Master gave her a small smile and noticed the Doctor had finally gotten to his feet, pointing the revolver at Rassilon. The Time Lord seemed unphased by the weapon being pointed at him and seemed to raise his chin even higher. "Choose your enemy well Lord Doctor. We are many but the Master is only one."
"But he's the president! Kill him and Gallifrey could be yours! He's to blame, not me!" The Master yelled, but shut up quickly when the Doctor turned to point to gun at him. "Oh, the link is inside my head. Kill me, the link gets broken, they go back. You never would, you coward. Go on then. Do it." He taunted.
Clara shook her head and pointed to Rassilon. "He's connected to the bridge as well, it's his whitepoint star!"
With that, the Doctor turned back to point the revolver at Rassilon. The Master looked from Clara to Rassilon quickly and then to the Doctor. "Exactly, it's not just me. It's him too! Kill him!" The Master urged.
Still seeming unphased, Rassilon stood his ground as he smirked at the Doctor. "The final act of your life is murder. But which one of us?" He asked.
The Doctor stared at the Time Lords for a moment. Clara noticed one of the Time Lords covering their face lowered their hands and looked right at the Doctor. He seemed to slightly shake for a second as someone does when they are about to burst into tears. Suddenly the Doctor turned back to the Master and readied the revolver. "Get out of the way." He said, and when the Master moved himself and Clara, the Doctor shot the diamond in its gizmo. "The link is broken. Back into the Time War, Rassilon! Back into hell!"
With the link destroyed, the Time Lords were being sucked back to which they came. Rassilon's cool demeanor was finally gone and he was in a fit of rage. "You will die with me Doctor!" Rassilon yelled, pointing his metal gauntlet at the Doctor.
"I know." The Doctor whispered.
Clara was about to rush forward but was stopped by the Master who seemed angry and distraught. She tried to get past him but he refused to let her. "We have to help him!" She pleaded.
"I know." The Master said, his voice low. Looking at Clara, he stroked her cheek lightly and gave her a small smirk. "Spare me a thought every now and again Clara. And thank you. You helped me realize why I'm here. You saved me."
"What?" Clara said, but the Master had moved away from her and stood behind the Doctor.
Rubbing his hands together, the Master gathered the energy of his failing body. The electric energy started to spark on his hands and he took a deep breath. "Get out of the way." He told the Doctor, who quickly dropped to the floor just as the Master fired his energy bolt at Rassilon, hitting him. "You did this to me! All my life! You made me! One! Two! Three! Four!" With each count, he moved closer and shot a new bolt at Rassilon who had fallen to his knees.
"Master!" Clara yelled as the white light engulfed the five Time Lords and the Master, sending them back into the Timelock. She stood there for a moment shocked before looking at the Doctor who looked just as shocked as she was. "Doctor, are you alright?" She asked, kneeling beside him.
The Doctor looked up and gave her a small smile. "I'm alive, Clara. I've...there was...I'm alive." The Doctor stumbled over his words, smiling in relief.
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
His smile faded quickly as another four knocks sounded. The Doctor and Clara turned to look at Wilfred who was still stuck behind the glass door. "They gone then?" He asked, swallowing nervously as they both looked at him. "Yeah, good-o! If you could let me out? Only this thing seems to be making a bit of noise." Wilfred said.
Getting to his feet, the Doctor looked at Wilfred with an emotionless expression. "The Master left the nuclear bolt running. It's gone into overload." He said with a sigh.
"And that's bad, is it?" Wilfred asked.
"No, because all the excess radiation gets vented inside there. Vinvocci glass contains it. All five hundred thousand rads, about to flood that thing." The Doctor paced slowly around the area, Clara watching as his emotions started to give way and he looked sad and furious.
Wilfred seemed just as nervous as Clara was getting. "Well, better let me out then." He said to the both of them.
The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver and showed it to Wilfred. "Except it's gone critical. Touch one control and it floods. Even this would set it off."
They mumbled to each other for a moment longer as Clara wrapped her head around what was going on. If the Doctor stepped in there, he would die. And there was no way they were going to leave Wilfred in there. She heard him suggest it and the Doctor was starting to have a moment, downing Wilfred. Blaming him even. But Wilfred let it slip off and demanded he'd be left in there.
"I could do so much more. So much more! But this is what I get. My reward. And it's not fair!" the Doctor yelled, tossing the items off of the closet desk to him simply to let out his rage, the sonic screwdriver falling out of his hands as he did so. "Oh. Oh. I've lived too long."
"So have I." Clara said, picking up the dropped sonic screwdriver and walking over to the door. She turned to the Doctor who was raising a hand at her to try and get her to move away from the other glass door. "Doctor, it's been an honor. And don't worry, this song is ending, but the story never ends. You're going to like the next you."
Wilfred took a deep breath and shook his head. "Don't! Please!" He yelled.
The Doctor looked as though he was on the verge of tears. "Clara, step away, please. They said I was to die. Let me do it." He spoke softly and took a step forward.
But Clara shook her head and gave him a smile. "No Doctor, you don't die here today. I do." She turned and nodded to Wilfred. "Better be quick." And she pressed the sonics button.
The door opened and Clara dropped the sonic, went inside and locked herself in, letting Wilfred out. Suddenly the nuclear energy was causing her so much pain. Clara dropped onto her knees and covered her head. Vaguely, she could hear the Doctor banging on the door and screaming her name. But his cried faded and so did the pain. Clara saw his face one last time before she exited that time of his life.
I don't know where I am. I don't know where I'm going or where I've been. I was born to save the Doctor, but the Doctor is safe now. I'm the Impossible Girl, and my story is done.
Landing a bit roughly on the ground, Clara sat up and looked around the gloomy place. The fog moved around her, the light giving off a soft glow. She looked around with nothing either way. "Doctor?" She called, but there was nothing. "Doctor?! Please, please, I don't know where I am." She leaned forward and sobbed slightly. Now that her task was done, was she going to spend the rest of her time lost here?
"Clara. You can hear me, I know you can." The Doctor's voice rang out from the fog and shadows.
Clara looked around, trying to find the source of his voice. "I can't see you."
"I'm everywhere." The Doctor said. "You're inside my time stream. Everything around you is me."
At that moment, Clara saw his many faces walking and running past her. All the faces she had seen him have before. "I can see you. All your different faces, they're here." She said smiling. But still her Doctor didn't come into view, causing her smile to fad.
"Those are my ghost. My past." The Doctor's voice echoed as the last of his ghost rushed past Clara. "Every good day, every bad day."
The ground rocked harshly, causing Clara to be knocked to the ground. She got onto her knees quickly, resting her palms on the ground to keep herself steady. "What's wrong?! What's happening?" Clara yelled to the Doctor.
"I'm inside my own time stream, it's collapsing on itself." The Doctor answered.
Clara sniffed slightly as her brows furrowed neatly. "Well, get out then!" She yelled.
"Not until I've got you." The Doctor half yelled back.
Sniffing again, Clara couldn't help the tears that escaped her eyes. "I don't even know who I am." She cried.
"You're my 'impossible girl' Clara." His voice paused for a moment. "I'm sending you something. It's not from my past, but from yours. Look up, look." Looking up, Clara saw the familiar dead leaf falling its way down to her. "This is you, Clara. Everything you were or will be. Take it. You blew into the world on this leaf. Hold it tight, it will take you home."
Clara held the leaf in her hand, looking at it as she took a few steps forward, stumbling slightly. "Doctor?" She whispered, hearing something behind her, she turned around slowly to see.
"Clara! Clara, come on! Come to me, now!" The Doctor called, the usual face Clara knows coming into focus. "You can do it, I know you can."
"How?" Clara asked as she took a step toward his forming self, stumbling a bit as her head spun.
The Doctor held out his arms to her as his time stream flashed to his side, bring him through to her fully. "Because it's impossible, and you are my impossible girl! How many times have you saved me, Clara? I can remember them all. Just this once, just for the hell of it, let me save you!" He saw the small disbelief in her face, her worry that he might just be another ghost, another echo in his time stream. "You have to trust me, Clara! I'm real, just one more step."
Clara stumbled into the Doctor's arms, hugging him and holding him tightly just as he did to her. The embrace felt like a relief. She was saved, she was finally saved. What must have only been moments for him was many lifetimes for her. The exhaustion of it all was finally catching up to her and she struggled to keep herself upright. The Doctor sighed in his own relief, kissing her cheek and running his hand over her hair as he didn't let go.
When his hold softened a bit, Clara looked up at him to see him looking down at her, his eyes a bit glassy. Had he been crying, feeling just as relieved as she did? But then his gaze looked away from her and stared at something behind her. She turned to see someone standing there, confusion running through her mind. "Who's that?" She asked, staring at the man standing there.
The Doctor shook his head and slightly tugged her towards him. "Never mind, let's go back."
"But who is he?" She asked, unable to take her eyes off the unfamiliar person.
Realizing he had to give her some type of answer, the Doctor rushed out his words. "He's me. There's only me here, that's the point. Now let's get back."
Clara stood her ground and finally tore her gaze away. "But I never saw that one. I saw all of you, eleven faces. You're the eleventh Doctor." Clara said, her words rushing out.
"I said he was me; I never said he was the Doctor." He said, looking away from the figure and trying to reassure her.
Shaking her head slightly, Clara looked back at the man. "I don't understand."
"Look, my name, my real name, that is not the point. The name I chose is the Doctor. The name you choose, it's like, it's like a promise you make. He's the one who broke the promise." The Doctor looked back at his other self as well.
Unable to hold herself up any longer, Clara fainted, the Doctor catching her quickly and picking her up. "Clara? Clara?!" He sighed softly when he felt her still breathing. "He is my secret." The Doctor whispered to her.
The other Doctor seemed to have known they were there and spoke. "What I did, I did without choice. In the name of peace and sanity."
Growing a bit angry, the Doctor held Clara tightly in his arms and frowned. "But not in the name of the Doctor." He said harshly before turning and making his way out of his time stream. The Doctor had saved many people in his whole of time and space traveling. Some he didn't get to. He'd lost so many. But this time he'd realized that all those times he'd ever saved others, there had been an angel there to save him. His Impossible Girl. His Clara. The Doctor smiled as he cradled her closer to himself. "Thank you, Clara." He whispered, placing a small kiss on her forehead and kept his back turned to his biggest secret.
END A/N: