Chapter 10

Her hand flew to her staff and closed on nothing. The outline of the TARDIS grew dimmer and dimmer, and the sand behind clearer and clearer. For a long, stretched-out moment, she searched in the air behind her as if her lost weapon would materialize in her hand if she found the right spot. The Doctor's hand tightened on the door, and he opened his mouth to cry out, to call to the scavenger girl who stood frozen in a moment of time.

The dalek's laser sizzled.

Any moment now. Any moment now it would shoot.

The TARDIS pulsed.

If she jumped through that fading door, she might never see her universe again.

Pulse.

Blue light flared from the dalek's eye. Its blaster moved, corrected its aim, and the laser shot down its barrel.

And Rey leaped.

She flew forward across the desert with a cry, her feet kicking up sand in the dalek's face. She slammed into the Doctor and a shock jolted her to the bones as they slammed into the TARDIS floor. She tensed, jumped to her feet and grabbed for the doors. They crashed closed and a laser seared against the outside of the TARDIS like a bolt of lightning.

The Doctor leapt to the console and shoved a lever forward. The floor shook under Rey's feet, and the walls rattled. She steadied herself against the console. He reached his hand across the dizzying array of levers and buttons, and their fingers met as the TARDIS swayed and rattled. Blast after blast from the dalek's laser shook the doors, and its harsh voice blasted hatred and curses through every crack it could find.

The floor beneath them steadied, and it seemed the dalek's voice grew fuzzy, as if heard through a screen. The floor jolted, and everything was still.

Their eyes met and together they turned to the door. Stillness and silence settled heavily around the walls and rang in their ears.

The Doctor's laugh rang through the room. "Now that's the way to do it!" he cried. He sprinted to the doors and threw them open with a flourish. "Welcome to another universe!"

She just stood there for a moment. The white blur of sudden daylight flared in her eyes and she clenched the console. "So we just…left it behind," she said. "It's stuck there, in the void. Waiting. Forever."

He turned to hers, and his eyes were suddenly dark. "We did what we had to do."

"It would have killed everyone." Tears stung her eyes, unbidden. "Wouldn't it?"

Wordlessly, he stepped away from the door. His hand touched hers, and she raised her eyes to his. For a moment, she thought she saw the answer hovering in them, an answer so certain in its uncertainty that it made her reel.

Something bumped against her ankles, and she looked down to see the little droid at her feet, its head upturned. "BB8!" She reached down and patted the top of its head with a little laugh. "You followed us!"

It rolled toward the door and turned its head back toward her with a little beep. The Doctor grinned and raised an eyebrow.

"Well," he said, "BB8 said it first. Shall we?"

"Well…" She looked away, and a little smile twitched around her lips. "We could just…take a look, couldn't we?"

He winked. "Just a look," he said, and slipped his hand into hers. And together, they stepped out into the unknown.

The End.

Thanks so much to everyone who's followed me this long! And yes, there is going to be a sequel. In fact, there will be nine sequels. This started out as a single story idea, and turned into an entire "pseudo-season" of Doctor Who, with three "two-parters" (i.e. stories that are twice as long as the others) and a "season"-long story-arc, because I'm an overachiever, apparently. (Hint: the story arc was part of this story. In fact, two parts. One very tiny part and one somewhat bigger one. And no, it's not daleks or anything to do with them.) Anyway, I'll be posting the first chapter of the sequel next Monday, so be sure to check my page then!