Hope (Doctor Who)

***Hope*** is the second special of *Doctor Who* produced by *The 56Studios*, as well as part of the second series. The story features the return of River Song, as well as Missy, and follows from the conclusion of *Light*.

## Story

### Part 1

The Doctor sat up in the snow. It was cold. Very cold. He shivered as the wind cut through him. He was in the middle of a snowstorm. The sky above him was dark. All that surrounded him for miles was the snowy landscape, with mountains and ridges lining the horizon and fields down below.

In other words, he didn’t know where he was.

“What happened?” he held his head.

He was clearly no longer in London. Or on Earth at all, for that matter. The energy in the air was different, and he wondered whether he was even in Mutter’s Spiral anymore. What had happened? How did he get here? The last thing the Doctor could remember was the Darkness descending upon him and the blast of light from the Light Shard as he grabbed it. After that he couldn’t remember anything other than waking up now.

As he sat there contemplating his situation, a glittering caught his eye. Turning, he saw the Light Shard and a strange, dark shard that had a slight purple glow to it laying in the snow. Quickly, he went over to them and picked them up. The Light Shard was warm in his hand, while the dark shard felt like nothing, but he did feel a tingling in his fingers as he held it.

Slipping the Light Shard into the pocket of his velvet coat, he then dug through his other pockets for the sonic screwdriver. Finding it, he scanned the new shard. The readings were the same as the others, yet still distinct. Another sharp gust of wind made the Doctor realize that it was far too cold for him to remain stationary. He had to get moving. Pocketing the other shard, he then scanned the area with the screwdriver, but there was something interfering with his device.

“Of course,” he muttered to himself.

Returning the screwdriver to the inside of his coat, he looked into the storm. His only way was forward. So, he buttoned his jacket, crossed his arms, and taking a deep breath, walked into the snowstorm. He didn’t know where he was going, but he was going to freeze out here if he didn’t get moving. The Time Lord nearly slipped in the snow, but quickly recovered himself. Growling, he continued on.

The wind was worse as he walked into it, completely cutting through his coat. He shivered, and pulled up his collar further. It was hard to see with the snow rushing in his face and cold hitting his eyes. There was nowhere to go, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to find shelter from the storm. Still, he pressed on. He had to find shelter, because he wasn’t sure if he would be able to regenerate if he succumbed to the cold. Plus, he didn’t fancy the idea of regeneration anyway.

As he walked, he tried to think of other things to distract himself from the bitter cold. It was difficult, but the thought of what happened to him pushed him through.

Why hadn’t the Darkness killed him when it consumed him? Why was he able to find the Light Shard within the entity’s body? How had he activated it, and why was he now here, across the universe, abandoned to die? What had happened to the Darkness? Was it dead? Or, had he simply been banished here while it wreaked havoc on the Earth?

He was going to assumed the former, but the latter hung in his mind. The Earth wouldn’t be able to defeat the Darkness without the Light Shard, and it was sitting in his pocket. He hoped for Clara and April’s sake that the Darkness was gone, and that the Earth was safe.

The Doctor set his foot down and immediately slipped on ice that had been concealed by the snow. He lost his footing and fell. Hitting the ground, he rolled down an incline deeper into the wasteland. The Time Lord’s head spun as he rolled on and on, eventually reaching the bottom and sliding to a stop. He was disoriented and simply laid in the cold for several moments, unable to move.

*Is this it?* he thought. *Is this death?*

The cold was consuming him. He couldn’t feel anything but the cold. The darkness was closing in, and he felt the overwhelming desire to sleep. He had to sleep…

His fatigue was quickly relieved a second later, however, as he was abruptly thrown into the air. Looking around in surprise, he hit the ground a second later. Now filled with adrenaline, the Doctor got to his feet and turned to see a large being apparently made entirely of ice and snow standing before him. It had no face or other distinguishing features. Its hulking form stood in the snow, apparently watching him.

“What are you?” he asked.

It didn’t answer. Instead, it charged at him with surprising speed. With almost no time to react, the Doctor dove to his right. He landed in the snow and rolled, quickly getting back to his feet. As soon as he did, however, the creature swung at him. He ducked underneath it, feeling the cold air that trailed from its icy appendage.

Reaching into his pocket, the Doctor produced the sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the creature. He was going to try and use it to disrupt the structural integrity of the beast, if it was truly a composite of snow and ice. He needed to make sure that the frequency was just right. Then, he could shatter it.

When he was about to activate the screwdriver, however, he was struck from behind. He was launched into the air and into the snow. Hitting it, he bounced and landed sprawled on his back. Looking up, he saw that two more of the snow creatures had appeared. They were now forming a triangle around him, moving to strike.

He had lost his grip on River’s sonic screwdriver and it had fallen into the snow several paces away, outside the circle that his adversaries had formed. It was out of his reach, and he had no way of defending himself. The Time Lord looked up in shock as the monsters raised their fists.

“This can’t be how it ends…” he muttered under his breath.

As they were about to strike, he braced for impact. However, one of them suddenly exploded, becoming nothing but snow. The two creatures and the Doctor looked in surprise. Turning, the brutes tried to see what had happened to their comrade when both of them exploded into snow as well. The Doctor’s ears were ringing as he dusted himself off and looked around. There was a figure standing in the snow several paces away. They were covered by gear suited for this weather, and had what appeared to be a strange glowing device in hand. Lowering it, they holstered the device and began approaching him.

Quickly, the Doctor got to his feet. He scooped up the sonic screwdriver and faced the stranger.

“Who are you?” he demanded over the howling wind.

They laughed, which was strangely familiar to him. “What? Don’t you recognize me?” she asked, obviously flirtatiously.

He watched as she removed off her face covering and pulled off her hood to reveal a wealth of wavy brown and gold hair. His eyes widened as she smiled broadly at him.

“Hello sweetie,” River Song said.

Across the universe, several weeks had passed since the Darkness had attacked the Earth. The world was shocked and terrified by the shadow that had descended over them. After the brilliant blast of light, the Darkness was gone, and all who it had taken over fell to the ground, dead. Olivia was in custody, awaiting trial, and her militia was dismantled. During the crisis, her broadcast had been interrupted and corrupted, meaning that it had been contained. World leaders were beginning to ask questions, however, but it was being handled.

The Earth was safe, but the cost may have been much greater than they could afford.

The Doctor was gone. He had disappeared along with the Darkness. Only his sonic screwdriver remained, and there was no sign of what happened to him. They didn’t know if the Darkness was destroyed, or had simply been vanquished for a time, in which case they would need the Doctor again.

Clara and April had immediately begun looking for him. Martha, Mickey, Sarah Jane, Osgood, and Jack were aiding them in trying to get the TARDIS working. April was still recovering from her injury, but she was in better shape everyday. Finding the Doctor was a strong motivator, also. Unfortunately, despite all their efforts, even the Doctor’s magic box was unable to locate him. He was a ghost.

But they would find him.

And that was what April Leigh-Morgan and Clara Oswald were doing in the TARDIS. Notes, open books, scraps of paper, and food and drink containers lay scattered around the console room as the two women tried to find the Doctor. The others would filter in and out as they found time between their other U.N.I.T. responsibilities.

Clara took a drink from her thermos, set it down, and leaned on the console. She thought she understood how the TARDIS worked, but she hadn’t even scratched the surface of this ancient ship’s capabilities. She had tried to reason with it to help them, but apparently the Doctor was even beyond this machine’s reach.

April was sitting on the steps to the upper deck looking through a book, which was written in Gallifreyan, meaning that the TARDIS wouldn’t translate it. Instead, she was trying to decipher the illustrations within it, as it was seemingly an instruction manual of sorts. What it was supposed to be instructing, however, was a mystery to her.

“How are we supposed to do this?” Clara was finally fed with their lack of program, throwing down the book she had been looking through and sinking to the floor. “There’s nothing in here that helps us find the Doctor.”

“I can’t find anything here either,” April closed her book and set it aside. She winced as she pushed herself up and grabbed her crutch. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“Maybe we should’ve paid attention more when the Doctor was showing us the controls,” Clara said as April limped over and sat down next to her.

“I doubt that would’ve helped,” April replied. “Plus, it’s not like he was making sense when he was explaining things.”

Clara chuckled. “You’re probably right.”

They sat on the floor of the main deck for several moments, looking around the vast console room. The two women could hear the hum of the engines around them. The lights are the room pulsated almost at random. It was oddly comforting, as if the TARDIS were telling them that it would be okay, even if they didn’t believe it.

A moment later the doors to the TARDIS opened and Jack Harkness and Sarah Jane Smith entered. Clara and April rose at their arrival, with Clara helping April up. Jack and Sarah Jane carefully navigated the mess that the two women had made and joined them.

“Any progress?” Jack asked, leaning on the console.

Clara shook her head. “No. We can’t figure out how to find the Doctor, let alone pilot this thing.”

“I never could figure out how to fly it either,” Sarah Jane stepped around the console. “No matter how many times the Doctor showed me.”

“It’s been a while since I flew this thing,” Jack pressed a button, which caused a sharp, loud noise. He quickly pressed it again. “Obviously I don’t remember how to. And even then, I doubt I could come close to finding the Doctor.”

“Five weeks have passed since he disappeared,” April said. “I don’t know if we’ll ever find him.”

“We have to find him,” a new voice said. They turned to see Kate Stewart and Petronella Osgood standing in the doorway.

“The world needs him. The universe needs him,” Kate stepped into the TARDIS.

“That’s easier said than done,” Clara muttered.

“Which is why we’re here,” Kate nodded and glanced at Osgood. “Osgood here has an… unorthodox, and potentially, dangerous, proposition for you.”

The four exchanged glances. “What do you mean ‘dangerous proposition?’” Jack asked.

Kate turned to Osgood. “Do you want to explain?”

“It’s my idea, so yes,” she replied, stepping forward. Clearing her throat and adjusting her glasses, Osgood looked up at the four of them.

“None of us can pilot the TARDIS, correct?”

They nodded their agreement, as this was an obvious fact.

“That’s kind of our whole problem here, Petronella,” April said, more rude than she obviously meant to be. She was irritated with their severe lack of progress.

“Well,” Osgood swallowed. She realized that April was just frustrated. “We do have someone here who *can* fly the TARDIS.”

This statement them took them by surprise. They all exchanged glances of confusion.

“Who?” Jack asked.

“The Rani.”

None of them had been expecting this. They all gasped. Clara stepped forward.

“Are you crazy? We can’t trust her, can we?”

“We don’t have any other options,” Osgood argued. “We need to find the Doctor. We can’t pilot the TARDIS. Only a Time Lord can. And we have one in the basement.”

“She’s too dangerous, isn’t she?” April looked from her to Clara and back. “I mean, she almost destroyed the world, didn’t she?”

“That she did,” Jack stepped forward. “Trusting her would be like trusting the Master.”

“Missy is actually how we captured the Rani in the first place,” Kate interjected.

“Regardless,” Jack waved his hand. “We can’t trust her with the TARDIS. She could escape.”

“I agree,” Sarah Jane replied. She paused. “But if she can help us find the Doctor; it’s worth the risk.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Osgood nodded. “Even if the Rani manages to escape, if we find the Doctor with her help, then the universe is still far safer than without him.”

They thought about this for a moment. Osgood was right, but the thought of allying themselves with the Rani, who had tried to destroy the world and capture the Doctor, did not sit well with them. Surely, they could not trust her. But they had no other options.

“Alright,” Clara crossed her arms. “Let’s go see the Rani.”

Far below the Tower of London, the group exited the elevator, escorted by heavily armored soldiers. As one, they walked along the long hallway towards the Time Lord’s containment unit. Their footsteps echoed loudly with them. Despite their confident strides, they were all unsure about what they were doing. The same thoughts as before echoed around inside their heads.

At the end of the corridor was the large metal door to the Rani’s cell. Six more heavily armored soldiers stood against the walls beside it, weapons at the ready. One of them turned and stepped towards them as they approached. The group stopped and met him several feet from the door.

“Identification, ma’am,” he said, holding out his hand.

Reaching into her pocket, she produced a small glass rectangle with her image and credentials glowing across it. Handing it to the soldier, he took it and checked it over before walking to a panel on the wall and holding it up. There was a beep as the panel scanned it. Satisfied, the soldier handed it back to Kate, who promptly returned it to her pocket.

She nodded as the soldier stepped back. A moment later, there was a loud noise before the large metal door began to slide away, revealing the containment unit inside. They stood before the entryway for several moments before Kate crossed the threshold, being followed by the others.

Inside, eight soldiers stood sentry around the room. The cell stood in the center of the room, illuminated by a bright white light above. A woman with one missing arm, messy brown hair, and dark eyes sat on the stone floor. As they approached the containment unit, the woman inside looked up at them.

“Oh wow,” the Rani surveyed the group. “All of you to see me. Something must be wrong.”

Kate cut to the chase. “The Doctor is missing, and we need your help to find him.”

The Time Lord raised her eyebrow. “Oh? What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter what happened,” the chief scientific officer shook her head. “All that matters is that you’re the only one who can help us use the TARDIS to find him.”

“You want me to pilot the TARDIS? I’m honored,” she said sarcastically. “But, I must say, it is enjoyable to see you at the end of your rope.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Jack stepped forward. He looked down at the woman sitting in the cell. “You *have* to help us as a condition of us keeping you alive. If you don’t cooperate, you will be executed.”

The Rani seemed to consider this for a moment. “I could do for another regeneration…” she glanced at where her arm had been. “But, I’m guessing you’d just kill me in a way to prevent me from regenerating.”

“So,” Kate put her hands behind her back. “What do you say?”

“I’m assuming that I don’t really have a choice, do I?” her tone was one of defeat.

“Yes,” Kate nodded, the corners of her mouth twitching as she suppressed a smile. “That would be an accurate assumption.”

The Doctor stared in shock at River Song. He couldn’t believe that she was here. Why was she here? How was she here?

“River?” he gasped.

“Were you expecting somebody else?” she asked, a broad smile still on her face.

“I wasn’t expecting anyone. Not out here,” he glanced at their surroundings.

“You should keep an open mind, Doctor.”

“What are you doing here?” he stepped towards her. “It’s way more than coincidence that both of us are here on this god-forsaken planet at the exact same time and happen to run into each other.”

“Ah yes,” she chuckled. “You don’t believe in destiny, do you? It’s called marriage.”

“From what I’ve seen it’s a pretty grounded belief.”

River sighed. “Well, I’m not here for you, if that’s what you’re wondering. I was asked here by a research team. Special request, all very official and all that. But, when I got to their research base, the entire team had been massacred. Then I was attacked by those snowman things.”

“What are they?”

“No clue,” she said. “Just that my sonic trowel does a really good job of killing them.”

“Your *what*?”

“My sonic trowel,” she replied. “It’s a trowel, but sonic. It’s really quite useful.”

“Sure,” he said unconvincingly.

“Anyway,” River sighed. “What are *you* doing here?”

“The Darkness attacked Earth. I stopped it, but I ended up here,” the Doctor explained. “I don’t know how, but I’m here now, and so are you, which is still too much of a coincidence for me to ignore.”

“Really? The Darkness is real?” she seemed shocked. “I thought it was just a legend. How did you defeat it?”

The Doctor reached into his jacket pocket and produced the white shard. It glowed brightly in the dark, and its light glistened in River’s eyes.

“That’s incredible,” she said as he returned it to his pocket.

“I know,” he nodded. “I need to get it back to the TARDIS.”

River thought for a moment. “Well, I was returning to my shuttle when I came across you. I could give you a lift.”

“Well, unless you were planning on leaving me here otherwise.”

“The thought may have crossed my mind,” she said, turning around and beginning to walk into the storm. “Come on,” she called over her shoulder.

Watching her for a moment, the Doctor ran after her. He caught up to her and walked beside her.

“So,” River broke the brief silence between them. “Aside from battling mythical entities and getting stranded on ice worlds, what else have you been up to the last time I saw you?”

He shrugged. “Oh, you know. The same old same old. Fighting Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, Ice Warriors, trying to prevent a civil war between the humans and Zygons, stopping a multiversal invasion, and meeting myself.”

“That does sound same old same old,” she agreed.

“And what about you?”

“Lots of excitement. Robots, conspiracies, crime, all the good stuff,” River nodded. “Being a professor certainly ups the ante.”

The Doctor was taken aback. “You’re a professor now?”

“Of course,” she replied, looking at him with a quizzical expression. “I thought you already knew that?”

“I did, yes,” he said quickly. “I guess I wasn’t sure where we were in the timeline.”

“You once called me professor prematurely. I’m guessing you’re probably happy to have to avoid that particular spoiler. I always wondered which version of you first met me as a professor.”

He didn’t respond. Instead, he was looking ahead of him, despite the snow rushing into his eyes. It wouldn’t be too long now until she went to the Library, meaning that their final date would be coming soon, and he wasn’t keen on having this conversation, and she picked up on the fact that he was being evasive.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he deflected. “I just want to get back to the TARDIS.”

She wasn’t going to let him get off that easily. “Something obviously bothering you. You can tell me. You know that.”

He didn’t answer for a moment. “Spoilers,” he muttered.

River’s eyes widened. “What do you mea-.”

She was interrupted as six of the strange snow creatures burst up from the ground. They quickly surrounded the two as they prepared to defend themselves. River readied her sonic trowel while the Doctor pulled out her sonic screwdriver. They aimed their tools at their adversaries.

Pressing the button on her device, River was about to fire a sonic blast when she was struck by the icy clawed hand of one of the creatures. She was thrown into the air and crashed into the snow, the tool being lost in the storm.

“River!” the Doctor yelled.

He raised the sonic screwdriver at one of them when he was abruptly hit from behind. He was launched face-first into the snow. The Time Lord’s head spun as he tried to get to his feet. The ice creatures gathered around them. Raising their clawed fists, ready to deliver the final blow. The Doctor looked up at their towering forms, and he didn’t have a plan for escape. This time, they were truly cornered.

An explosion of light immediately proved him wrong. It was blinding, and he shielded his eyes from the glare. There were cries – screams? – of agony all around him before there was silence. Slowly, the light faded, and the Doctor raised his head.

The snow creatures were gone. It was as if they hadn’t been there at all. Getting to his feet, he looked around for some explanation, but there was none. What had caused the explosion? He quickly went over to River and helped her up, pocketing the screwdriver as he again grabbed it from the snow.

“Did you save me this time?” she asked, obviously dazed.

“No,” he shook his head, “it wasn’t me.”

“Then what was that light?”

As they stood there, they heard a faint groan that cut through the roaring wind. It was a groaning all too familiar to them, and it caused their three heartbeats to accelerate. The two turned to see a glowing light fading in and out of view. It grew brighter with each appearance, and the shape of a large object began to take form.

Their excitement, however, quickly turned to confusion as he realized that the shape was cylindrical rather than a box. There was a loud *thump* as the cylinder materialized and the light faded.

“That’s… not possible,” the Doctor said.

“Is that-?”

He nodded. “A TARDIS? Yes. Yes it is.”

They stood staring at the newly materialized TARDIS for several moments before the door hissed open and a woman in a long purple dress and coat stepped out. She had a broach under her chin. Her dark hair was held in an up-do. Stepping out into the snow, the Doctor saw her piercing blue eyes flash as her teeth glinted through her smile.

“Hello, Doctor,” she said cheerfully, shouldering an umbrella.

“Missy,” the Doctor replied.

“You? How are you here?” River was able to support her own weight now.

“What? You two have met?” the Doctor looked between them.

Missy laughed. “Of course we do! Don’t you know that all time ladies know each other? I should really get that book club going.” She flashed a smile at River. “Good to see you again, River Song.”

The Time Lord paused for a moment before continuing.

“Anyway, there I was, just traveling through the vortex in my rickety old TARDIS like a certain someone, and she picked up a powerful energy signature coming from this planet. It also came from the Earth, but the Earth is boring, so I decided to check out the one here. Thought it might fun,” she explained. “I’m guessing that was you?”

“It was, yes. Long story that I don’t really have time for.”

“We’re Time Lords, Doctor,” Missy placed a hand on her hip. “We have time for everything.”

“Not always,” he muttered under his breath.

The three stood staring at each other as the harsh wind cut through them. Finally, Missy rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Well, I suppose you want a lift.”

“A lift? You’re offering?” the Doctor said in disbelief.

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously.”

“But why?” he insisted. “You still won’t tell me why you’re always helping me.”

“It doesn’t matter why she’s helping,” River interjected, beginning to shiver. “She’s offering us a way out if here, and we need to take it.”

“Listen to your lady friend, Doctor,” Missy grinned.

The Doctor looked at his fellow Time Lord for a long moment before sighing. Pocketing River’s sonic screwdriver, he ran a hand through his hair and strode forward towards the TARDIS. River followed him as they stopped in the doorway to the TARDIS. The Doctor was face-to-face with Missy, the two staring at each other. She smiled before retreating into the ship, and looking after her, the Doctor followed her, joined by River.

The console room of Missy’s TARDIS had not changed much since the last time the Doctor had been in it. It still bore similarities to his own console room, yet coated in blank and gray colors with purple lights glowing all around.

Missy walked over to the control console and began flipping switches and turning knobs. There was a *thump* as the engines began to wheeze and groan. The time rotor rose and fell as they faded into the vortex. The Doctor and River stood against the outer railing of the deck, watching the Time Lord pilot the ship.

River leaned over to the Doctor. “Can we trust her?” she whispered.

“That remains to be seen,” he muttered back.

“You *can* trust me, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Missy replied, seemingly having heard them.

“But why can we trust you?” he stepped towards her. “You’ve never really explained why you’ve been helping me as long as I’ve known this version of you. The last time I saw your previous incarnation you were being drawn back into the Time War, but we certainly weren’t allies then.”

“I told you that I wanted to try something different,” she answered.

“That doesn’t cut it,” he shook his head. “Something more is going on here. Tell me.”

She stopped and looked up at him. “Spoilers.”

His eyes widened. The Doctor was about to respond when the console abruptly lit up with an array of alerts and flashing lights. Turning to it, the two Time Lords tried to figure out what was going on. River joined them, beginning to press buttons and turn knobs.

“If these readings are right…” River trailed off. “Something is chasing us through the vortex! But that’s not possible, is it?”

“There are only a few civilizations with the advancement to follow someone through the vortex,” the Doctor replied.

“And I think I know which one,” Missy said, looking at one of her monitors.

“Who?” the Doctor and River said in unison.

She looked up from the console. “Gallifrey.”

River was shocked. “But Gallifrey was destroyed during the Time War, wasn’t it?”

“It worked, then,” the Doctor said quietly, a smile growing on his face. “I saved Gallifrey…”

“Well, now they’re trying to capture us,” Missy began moving quickly around the console. They began picking up speed as she handled the controls.

The Doctor and River joined her, pressing buttons and pulling levers. They sped up, but the thing that was chasing them sped up accordingly. It was closing in. The three experienced TARDIS pilots danced furiously around the console, desperately trying to outrun their pursuer. Sparks jumped from the console. But it was no use.

A second later the mysterious object crashed into the ship. The console exploded with sparks as everything shook around them. The TARDIS was spiraling out of control as it hurtled through the vortex. Missy attempted to save them from the spin. The ship jerked abruptly, as if it had been at the end of a rope that had suddenly been pulled tight.

They were all thrown through the air and to the ground, where they were knocked unconscious.

Across space and across time, several figures stood in a bright white room. Three stood at a large terminal in the middle of the room, with hundreds of switches, buttons, levers, and displays adorning it. More equipment lined the walls of the room. The three were slowly adjusting the controls. The rest of the figures were soldiers, clad in heavy arm and carrying rifles.

“Time scoop… tethered,” one, a man, said, pulling a slider down.

“Time scoop… locked,” another, a woman, replied, turning a knob.

“Time scoop… pulling in,” the last one, a man, pressed a series of buttons.

On the far side of the room was a rounded carve out in the wall which stretched from the floor to the ceiling. The ceiling had a large metallic apparatus hanging from it. A moment later, the apparatus began to spin and glow. It spun continually faster and glowed brighter before a beam of colorful energy shot from it and hit a receptacle on the floor.

The energy grew more intense as the light grew more blinding. The three were unfazed, as they had seen this display dozens of times before.

The light grew brighter before it exploded in a brilliant flash. The light faded and revealed the cylindrical form of Missy’s TARDIS in the carve out, with purple energy glittering around it. It slowly faded. The three at the controls deactivated the device and the machinery shut down.

As soon as the light was gone, the soldiers, who had been on standby, rushed forward towards the TARDIS. Reaching the door, one of them attached a circular device to it. Immediately, it flashed with a red light, followed by a clicking noise, and the door slid open. Moving inside, they found the three travelers lying unconscious on the ground.

“We’ve got them,” one of the soldiers said. “We’ve the Doctor and the Master.”

### Part 2

On Earth, the Rani stood looking at the TARDIS console. Four U.N.I.T. soldiers stood close by her, weapons at the ready. The Doctor’s associates and U.N.I.T.’s top brass stood across from the Time Lord, watching her as she stood there. The Rani cast a glance at her guards and sighed.

“I’m not stupid enough to try anything here.”

“Your record doesn’t speak favorably of you,” Kate crossed her arms. “Even in your previous incarnation.”

“Well, if I tried anything, you’d shoot me on the spot,” she replied. “And as much as I’d like to die, I’d just regenerate, so there’s really no point.”

“Well then,” Kate said. “I recommend you’d get to work.”

Reluctantly, the Time Lord stepped forward to the console. Her hand traced over the controls. Striding around, she looked at one of the monitors. Reaching to one of the keypads, she began typing. After several moments she stopped and sighed.

“I need to trace his artron energy,” she explained. “But to do that, I need something with his trace on it.”

“Well, look around you,” Jack gestured to the various objects of the Doctor that were lying around the console room.

The Rani shook her head. “For something like this, I need as recent as a sample as possible. Artron energy fades pretty quickly.”

“I have his sonic screwdriver,” Clara said, reaching into her coat. After a moment she pulled out the sonic screwdriver.

“That’ll do,” the Rani held out her hand.

Clara watched it with uncertainty, which made the Time Lord groan.

“Do you want to find the Doctor or not?”

The two stared at each other for a long moment before Clara broke their gaze. She looked at the screwdriver in her hand. Reluctantly, she held it out for the Rani, who promptly took it. Turning it over between her fingers, she inspected it before inserting it into the console. A new display appeared on the monitors with what appeared to be a number of strands rotating around each other, as if it were a strand of DNA. Several Gallifreyan symbols flickered onto the screen beside it.

The Rani began typing as fast she could with her disability. After several moments, she stopped, and there was a noise from the console that indicated that it had completed its task. As she read it, her eyes widened in shock. Intrigued, the Doctor’s associates gathered around to see what she was looking at. On the screen was a dark orange and red planet, and one word next to it, written in Gallifreyan. Clara and Sarah Jane seemed to recognize it.

“What is that?” April asked, looking at the three women.

“My home,” the Rani said. “Gallifrey.”

The Doctor awoke with a start. He was lying on a smooth marble floor in what seemed to be a great hall. Ornate pillars led up to a ceiling, decorated with hundreds, if not thousands, of illustrations. He was too fazed to make out what they were. His vision was blurred as he looked around, but he could see River and Missy lying beside him, still unconscious.

Managing to look around further, he saw that they were not alone here. Several figures stood around them. Many of them appeared to be guards, but there were a number he recognized.

“No…” he pushed himself up. “It can’t be…”

“Doctor,” Rassilon, Lord President of Gallifrey, stepped forward. “Welcome home.”

The Lord President was standing with the High Council. The General was also present, and the Doctor could sense that he was uneasy about what was happening here.

“How… what…?” the Doctor murmured, staggering to his feet. “Why am I…?”

“My oh my,” Rassilon chuckled, stroking his bearded chin. “You must have hit the floor very hard.”

“That’s what happens when you time scoop a TARDIS from the vortex,” he was able to regain his balance.

“So you’re aware of what happened to you?”

“I’ve been time scooped before,” the Doctor replied. “Usually not for good reasons. I suppose a formal request for my presence was out of the question, with you lot being in hiding and all.”

“We’ve been forced to be in hiding,” Rassilon stepped forward, his staff striking the marble floor. “After you took us out of the Time War, we had to make sure that the Daleks wouldn’t come for us again.”

“Well, you’ve left the pocket dimension, that’s for sure,” he swung his arm out, seemingly testing something.

“We’re four billion years in the future from where you were scooped in the vortex,” the General chimed in.

The Doctor thought for a moment. “So. Why am I here?”

Rassilon paused, biting his lip, as if he wasn’t ready to respond. “We need your help.”

He was shocked. “You need *my* help? You must really be desperate,” he held back a laugh.

“You will not mock us, Doctor!” Rassilon snapped, spit flying from his mouth.

The Doctor could barely contain his glee. “What was so important that you grabbed me from the vortex for, then?”

Rassilon was about to answer when River and Missy stirred on the floor. Pushing themselves up, they took in the scene whilst attempting to regain their senses. Missy smirked when she saw the Lord President standing there.

“Oh. I guess it makes sense that we’re on Gallifrey,” she said. “Good to see you again, Lord President sir,” she said, a sarcastic tone in her voice.

“Master,” Rassilon scowled. “Good of you to join us.”

“Mistress, please,” she corrected, “and you’re looking better than when I last saw you. You know, when you were writhing on the floor.”

“You may have killed that body, but I have been reborn. And now, *you* are the one at *my* mercy.”

Missy was about to respond when the Doctor interrupted. He stepped between the two, his eyes glinting.

“Sorry to break up this happy reunion, but I need to know what you need me for.”

Rassilon looked at him for a few moments before he turned to one of the members of the High Council, who had her hands hidden by the sleeves of her robes, and nodded. The Time Lord returned it and stepped forward. Pulling apart her robes, she revealed the Light and Dark shards in her hands. Immediately, the Doctor checked his pockets for the shards, but they were not there. River’s sonic screwdriver was also missing.

“What do you want with those?” River said abruptly.

Everyone turned to look at her, as if the Time Lords had forgotten that she was there. The High Council seemed disgusted by her presence. Rassilon’s grip on his staff tightened. The General, seeing the Lord President’s anger, decided to intervene.

“Outsiders will not address the Lord President without permission,” he explained to her. “Especially not ones of your… origin.”

“*Excuse me*?”

“An anomaly such as yourself is not pure enough to address the Lord President Eternal,” one of the members of the High Council said, disdain in his voice. “You will close your mouth.”

The Doctor immediately stepped forward, rage boiling in his eyes. The soldiers around the room raised their weapons at him, but he was unfazed by them. “Talk to her that way again, and your *purity* will be the least of your worries.”

The High Council member was about to respond when Rassilon slammed his staff into the ground. Sparks flew out in all directions from the marble floor.

“***Silence!***” he roared. Everyone immediately fell silent. He paused for a moment, shaking, before continuing. “We do have greater concerns than purity. These stones…” he glanced at the shards. “Where did you get them, Doctor?”

“What’s it to you?”

“These are pieces of the Orb,” Rassilon explained. “You may know it as the First Stone, but its true name is the Orb.”

“Tell me more about the Orb,” the Doctor asked, his intrigue taking hold.

“Tell me where you acquired these shards first,” the Lord President returned.

The traveler stared at him for a long moment before sighing. He was cornered. “Fine. I acquired these two fighting the Darkness.”

Rassilon’s eyes widened in surprise. “The Darkness? You fought it?”

“And vanquished it, yes,” the Doctor replied. “I acquired the Light Shard from the Cybermen, and I used it to destroy the Darkness during its attack on Earth, but it consumed me as well. When I came around, I found myself on a frozen planet across the universe, and the Dark Shard was with me.”

“*Fascinating,*” he seemed genuinely impressed, which the Doctor found to be unsettling.

“So,” the Doctor held his hands behind his back. “What are they? What is ‘the Orb?’”

“The Orb is an ancient and powerful object. It is said to be as old as time and space itself, if not even older. It is even said to have caused the spark that lit the universe into existence. No one knows for sure, and as far as we can tell, those claims may as well be true. It is the culmination of six elemental forces crucial to the universe. It was discovered by the ancients of Gallifrey, long before they gained the ability to regenerate. It helped them shape the early universe, and is said to have given rise to Time Lord society. We were the guardians and protectors during the Dark Times.

“However, one of the ancient Time Lords did not share the same benevolent nature as the rest of the ancients. She wanted to assert their dominance over all reality, as she saw them as the superior species. She wanted to use the Orb to do it.”

“Sounds like every dictator throughout history,” the Doctor muttered. “How… predictable.”

“You should realize, more than anyone, Doctor,” the General said. “That history repeats itself.”

The Doctor cast a sideways glance at him. He returned his gaze to Rassilon. “What happened to her?”

“She was found out while trying to steal the Orb. She was tried and executed for her crimes. Peace was restored, but the ancients knew that she wouldn’t be the last to try and use the Orb for immoral purposes, so taking the stone, they used all the power they could muster to split the Orb into six shards – six elemental stones wielding a power of the universe. They then scattered them across the universe, hoping that the Orb could never be reassembled.”

“Well, they’ve done a right ol’ job of that,” Missy remarked, rolling her eyes. “Since we’ve got two of them right here.”

“Yes,” Rassilon said, his tone hardening. “And that is why I want to find more.”

The atmosphere in the room changed dramatically. Tension filled the air as the three captives looked in shock at the Lord President.

“You want to find more?” River asked. “Why would you possibly want to-?”

“You want to assemble the Orb to do what she couldn’t,” the Doctor cut across her, stepping between her and Rassilon. “You want to use it to assert Time Lord dominance over the entire universe.”

“She was right. The Time Lords are the superior species, and I need your help. The universe is in disarray, and with the Orb, we can bring lasting peace, with the Time Lords at the head, watching over a grateful universe. A universe without monsters. A universe without death. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted, Doctor?”

“I’ve wanted peace, yes, but without playing god. I’ve learned that the hard way,” he replied, shaking slightly.

“You don’t want a universe without death? After everything you’ve lost? After *everyone* you’ve lost?”

He glanced at River. “I will not give you power over the universe,” the Doctor’s eyes flashed. “No matter how much you try to bribe me into. I will not help you!”

Rassilon stared at him for a long moment before looking to the ground. Everyone was silent as they watched him. The Doctor stood his ground, fists clenched and eyes piercing. This continued for several moments before Rassilon abruptly roared. Thrusting his arm forward, his gauntlet glowed with energy. That same energy glowed around River’s neck as she was dragged towards him. He grabbed her when she was close enough and held her with a tight grip, where she struggled to get free.

“Let. Me. ***Go***!” she exclaimed.

“You let her go!” the Doctor growled.

“Don’t think I’m stupid, Doctor!” Rassilon replied, his grip firm. “I know you have more than just these shards! You will give them to me, or your precious River dies!”

“I’m not giving them to you,” he knew better than to play dumb at this point. “So let River go. Now.”

“I will not let her go until you give me what I want. If you do not… she will die. And her blood will be on your hands. You have no leverage here.”

“If the Doctor is on Gallifrey,” Clara said. “Then we have to go.”

The Rani shook her head in objection. “No. No, I will not go to Gallifrey. I will not go there.”

“You don’t really have a choice here,” Osgood crossed her arms. “You have to do what we tell you.”

“Hang on,” Martha interrupted. “I thought Gallifrey was destroyed?”

“The Doctor tried to save it at the end of the Time War,” Clara explained. “I guess he did actually save it.”

“I can’t go back there,” she took a step back. “I can’t go back. They’ll kill me.”

The humans were closing in around the Time Lord. She receded further, her shoulders tightening up and her head tucking itself between them. They all exchanged glances of unease.

“I don’t know,” Kate shook her head. “We don’t know why the Doctor’s on Gallifrey. He could’ve been captured, and we could be running head first into a trap. There’s too many unknowns and too many risks.”

“The Doctor spoke of Gallifrey a lot,” Sarah Jane said. “He was never very excited by the prospect of going back there.”

“Yeah, I can’t really blame him,” Jack crossed his arms, glancing at the Rani and remembering the Master.

“How bad could it be, though?” Gwen asked. “I mean, aren’t there worse things out there?”

“There sure are,” Mickey nodded, leaning against the console.

“It shouldn’t matter how good or bad Gallifrey is. Hell, it doesn’t even matter whether or not this is a trap,” Clara said, looking around at those assembled in the TARDIS. “We brought the Rani out to find the Doctor, and we have, and we can’t stop until he’s back here, in this ship. He’s too important to the universe to lose, and we have to save him.”

“Clara, we can’t know what waits us on Gallif-,” Kate was saying when Elizabeth Walsh cut across her.

“With all due respect, ma’am,” the Colonel said, “I agree with miss Oswald.”

“What? Why?” Kate looked surprised. She hadn’t expected this kind of dissent from her new lieutenant this soon after her ascension to the post. Even Darren James had not been this bold.

“She’s right. We need the Doctor, and we’re doing all of this because we *said* we needed the Doctor,” she replied. “So I don’t know why we’re suddenly going back on that because there *might* be some kind of danger.”

Kate looked at her for a moment before chuckling. “Always good to have someone who’s not afraid to tell me when I’m wrong. Fine. We go to Gallifrey, but we’re bringing a team of soldiers as backup.”

“Yes ma’am,” Elizabeth nodded in agreement.

“Alright,” Kate put her hands on her hips. She looked at the Rani. “So. I guess we’re going to Gallifrey.”

“I’m not going,” she growled. “I will not go back there.”

“You’re at our mercy,” U.N.I.T.’s chief scientific officer smiled.

The Time Lord’s eyes burned brightly as she glared at her. Finally, seeing that she was unnumbered and outwitted, she hung her head and sighed.

“Time to go home,” she grabbed the handle. Kate smirked before pulling out her phone and dialing someone.

As Kate called for reinforcements, Clara and April looked at each other before looking at the monitor with the image of Gallifrey displayed on it.

“Hang on, Doctor,” Clara muttered. “We’re coming for you.”

“Let her go!” the Doctor roared, taking another step forward. The soldiers tensed further.

Rassilon’s face was stony. “Not until you hand over the shards.”

River continued to struggle in the Lord President’s grip, but it was no use. He was using his gauntlet to keep her restrained. Despite this, she continued to try and escape, but he simply held tighter.

“It’s not like I travel with pieces of an ancient powerful orb in my pockets. Today was just out of necessity. The others are safe, and you’re not going to get them.”

“Then I guess this abomination will die,” Rassilon’s grip tightened further, causing River to exclaim in pain.

The Doctor knew he was running out of time, and he needed more to figure out a plan. Missy was standing on the sidelines, watching the scene unfold before her. Perhaps she thought it was some kind of entertainment. He could never tell with her. Finally, he decided that he needed to improvise.

“Of all the things you could use to control the universe, why would you pick the Orb?” he asked quickly. “Why go after six shards of a mythical object that has been scattered across time and space? Surely there are more straightforward ways to achieve that end?”

“The Orb shaped the universe as we know it. It is the single most powerful object to have ever existed in history. If it was responsible for the beginning of the universe, I believe that it can shape the next age of the universe,” he smiled, one that radiated with evil. “An age where the Time Lords are the supreme race.”

The Doctor’s expression darkened. “You sound like a Dalek.”

“You abandoned us in the Time War, Doctor,” Rassilon replied. “We have changed. We have evolved. We are the Time Lords, and nothing can stop us from taking our rightful place as rulers of the universe.”

“And here I was thinking that the Time War was the lowest you could go. The horrors and atrocities you committed…” the Doctor said, a look of disgust on his face. “Hello again.”

“You committed a number of them yourself, my dear Doctor,” the Lord President responded coyly.

“And I’ve made amends for that,” he took a step forward. “You are trying to commit new atrocities right now, and I can’t allow that.”

“Well, as we’ve already established; you have no leverage here,” the gauntlet holding the back of River’s neck began to glitter. “And since you’ve made it clear that you won’t cooperate, I’m going to kill her. And then, if you still refuse, I’m going to take away that brand new regeneration cycle we granted you.”

Time was up. “No! Please!” he begged.

“How many lives did we give you?” Rassilon pondered to himself.

Finally, Missy stepped in. “My *god* are you being irrational right now. You’re going to kill his lady friend to motivate him and take away his regenerations? What good does that do you? Are you insane?”

“It’s very likely,” River strained to say.

The Lord President seemed surprised by Missy’s presence. “Oh? You’re still here?”

“You brought me here,” she replied, obviously insulted. “My my, you’re getting old. Might be time to get you in a home.”

Rassilon watched her for a moment before looking to the General. “Take the Master away. If she tries to flee, do not hesitate to execute her.”

The General swallowed before nodding. Signaling to a few of the soldiers, they approached the Time Lord. She took a defensive step back, which spurred them to draw their weapons on her. The General strode past them to face Missy.

“Please. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be,” he said, his voice soaked with a tone of pleading.

“That’s what she said,” Missy quipped, smacking her lips.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go.”

Missy watched him for several moments before sighing. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”

At the General’s direction, the soldiers moved in around her and restrained her. The Doctor caught her eye as they began to lead her towards the large, ornate entryway. A thin smile lined her lips before she turned away as they led her out of the room.

While they were walking to the door, the Doctor turned back to Rassilon. The two stood off, with River caught between them. Fire burned in both of their eyes, and they both were standing firm. The Doctor’s fists were clenched, and Rassilon’s knuckles were white as he gripped his staff.

“Doctor,” Rassilon seemed to struggle with suppressing his boiling rage. “I am giving you *one* last chance to hand over the shards. I know you have them.”

“I don’t!” the Doctor said exasperatedly. “I do not have them with me! That’s what I’m telling you!”

“Then you will lead me to where you have them stored,” he replied. “Are they in your TARDIS, perhaps? Or on some planet across the universe? Wherever they are, I’m giving you your last chance to give me what I desire.”

“You know, the more you threaten me, the more I think that you’re just bluffing. The Rassilon I knew would’ve killed me by now,” the Doctor stepped forward. “You’re weak.”

Rassilon trembled with rage. “How dare you speak to your Lord President that way!”

Abruptly, the Time Lord threw River aside and she crashed to the ground. Everyone was surprised by this action. Even the General, Missy, and the soldiers escorting her stopped in the doorway to look. The only one who was unmoved was the Doctor. He stood firm, his gaze piercing. The corner of his mouth did twitch, however.

The Lord President then leveled his gauntlet at his fellow Time Lord. Blue energy glittered around it. His eyes blazed just as brightly. Still, the Doctor was unfazed by this. Rassilon saw this, and it only fueled his wrath.

“If you will not hand over the shards, then I will find them myself. Your services are no longer required,” a smile flickered across his face. “I guess we’ll be finding out the hard way how many lives we granted you.”

“You’ll never assemble the Orb. That I will make sure of. As long as I’m breathing,” he said defiantly.

“Then breathe no more.”

At that very moment, however, just as Rassilon was about to unleash the power that had been building, a faint groaning noise began to fill the room. Everyone stopped and looked around for the source of the sound as it continued to grow louder. A gentle breeze began to blow through the great hall.

“Is that?” River pushed herself up off the smooth floor.

A ball of light appeared in the middle of the hall, pulsating to the rhythm of the groaning, and expanding quickly. The light began to form a large rectangular box. It then took on the shape the TARDIS. The Doctor smiled as his ship materialized, with a resounding *thump* echoing through the large chamber. The blue box radiated with light, like a beacon.

Rassilon lowered his gauntlet, and the energy dissipated from it. He was in shock of the sudden appearance of the ship. His shock was quickly replaced by rage. The Lord President looked again to the Doctor.

“What is this? What have you done?” he demanded.

The Doctor was giddy. “Me? I haven’t done anything. This is something else entirely,” he nearly giggled.

Rassilon’s face screwed up in anger. Clenching his armored fist, the Lord President marched quickly forward towards the TARDIS. His footsteps echoed as he stormed to the doors. As he approached, the doors opened and several armored men and women came pouring out. They had their weapons at the ready and trained them on the Gallifreyan soldiers who were moving to fire. An instant later, Clara, April, Martha, Sarah Jane, Jack, Mickey, Gwen, Osgood, Elizabeth, and Kate emerged from the blue box.

“Doctor!” they exclaimed when they saw him standing there. Clara, April, Martha, and Sarah Jane moved to run to him, but Jack stopped them.

“What are you doing here?” the Doctor was uncharacteristically overjoyed.

The Lord President of Gallifrey stepped between them. “What is the meaning of this?! Humans are forbidden on Gallifrey!”

“Well,” Kate stepped to the front of the group. “We’re making an exception.”

“Who are you to speak to me this way?” Rassilon growled. “I am the Lord President Eternal of Gallifrey, Rassilon the Immortal!”

“I am Kate Stewart. Chief Scientific Officer of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. These are my colleagues,” she gestured to her entourage.

“You are intruders here. You are standing in the great Citadel of Gallifrey before the Time Lord High Council!”

Kate shrugged, unimpressed. “I don’t really care.”

“I thought the same,” River interjected.

“Oh, hello, River,” Kate nodded to her. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“The same, Kate,” River returned.

Rassilon abruptly slammed his staff into the ground, creating a piercing noise. “Enough with this!” You will all be executed!

“No,” Kate shook her head. “We’re here to save the Doctor, and we’re not leaving without him.”

“The Doctor will not be leaving this planet,” he replied. “And now neither will you.”

Around them, the soldiers primed their weapons. The Doctor’s associates looked around as their own soldiers readied in response. Jack, Gwen, and Elizabeth each had a pistol in hand, while Kate’s hand drifted over her right side. The Doctor quickly stepped forward.

“Please! You don’t need to do this!”

“Doctor, I’ve been far more gracious with you than I should be. I’ve given you chance after chance to give me the shards, and now that your TARDIS is here, I’m giving you last chance to hand them over, or your friends, who so willingly came here, die.”

“I can’t,” the Doctor shook his head. “I can’t give you the help you complete the Orb.”

“Then you leave me no choice, Doctor,” Rassilon raised his fist to signal to the soldiers. They readied to fire.

“No!” the Doctor stretched out his hand.

### Part 3

Inside the TARDIS, the Rani was watching the scene unfolding outside on one of the screens. Two soldiers were standing behind her, keeping guard. They saw the Gallifreyan soldiers surrounding their allies, ready to execute them.

“They’re going to kill them!” one of the soldiers gasped.

“We have to help them!” the other replied.

“No,” the Rani shook her head. “We have to leave.”

“We can’t leave,” the first soldier responded. “They’re going to die out there.”

“And so will we if we don’t leave,” the Time Lord’s voice was hard. “Rassilon is ruthless, and he’s only become more so since the start of the war. Whole planets and species were destroyed, and some were even wiped from existence under his command. He is far too dangerous, and we have to run.”

“It’s our duty to protect them,” the second said. “We’re not going.”

The Rani sighed. “Fools.”

Abruptly the Rani spun around and, impossibly fast, grabbed the second soldier’s pistol that was strapped to his side. In a blur of motion she brought it up and struck him in the side of the head. The force knocked him to the ground, where he fell unconscious.

His partner moved to fire her own weapon when the Rani brought the weapon around and struck her with the same force, knocking her out, where she landed next to her fellow soldier.

Sticking the gun in the waistband of her prison uniform, the Rani turned back towards the controls and began operating them. Just as she pulled down the lever, however, a loud beeping sounded from the TARDIS. Looking around in confusion, she reset the lever and slammed it down again. The same noise rang from the console. Several more attempts yielded the same result.

Growling in anger, she struck the console with her fist.

“Why won’t you work?” she yelled at it.

It was like the TARDIS was rejecting her. This wasn’t a natural malfunction. This was deliberate. The ship was keeping her here, perhaps because it would not leave without the Doctor.

Stepping back, she ran her hand through her hair. She had to get out of here, and the TARDIS wasn’t an option anymore. She had to find something.

Going to the monitor again, she remembered seeing a vortex manipulator on that Jack Harkness. He must be a former Time Agent, or at least killed one and stole their equipment. Regardless, if she could get hold of that manipulator, she could could escape.

Reaching down, she took one of the high-caliber weapons from the felled soldiers. Somewhat clumsily, she held it with her one hand. Seeing that it was ready, she turned her attention to the doors of the ship. Taking a deep breath, she strode forward.

“Rassilon-!” the Doctor yelled as the soldiers were about to open fire.

At that moment, the double doors of the TARDIS swung inwards. As everyone looked towards it, they saw the Rani stepping out from it, and the Doctor, Missy, and the Time Lords were surprised to see her emerging. And they saw that she had a large weapon in her hand.

The Doctor realized what she was about to do. “Everybody down!”

A split second later, she opened fire. The Doctor and his associates were able to dive to the ground as bullets flew overhead. The soldiers on both sides were not as quick, and were struck by the Rani’s fire. They cried in pain as they fell the marble floor. Most the High Council was able to avoid the gunfire, but several were shot.

Rassilon was not able to react in time and was filled with bullets. He croaked and gagged as his lungs filled with blood. Clutching his staff in a desperate attempt to keep himself standing, the Lord President was losing strength and fell to the ground, blood pooling around him on the smooth floor. One of the soldiers tried to get to him, but was shot down.

Jack had ducked behind a pillar as the Rani was firing on them. Taking his pistol in hand, Jack moved to take a shot at her. She saw it, however, and quickly opened fire. Jack was struck several times, and gagging, hit the ground hard.

Ceasing her fire, the Rani ran over to him in the wake of the chaos. Tossing her weapon aside, she grabbed the vortex manipulator off his wrist and held it up. She readied to press it, and before she did, she looked to the Doctor, who was looking at her with pleading pale blue eyes.

“Please,” he said.

She looked at him. Swallowing, she replied. “Goodbye, Doctor.”

Pressing the button, she glowed with energy, and a second later, the Rani disappeared. She was gone.

Everything was quiet for several moments before the Doctor got to his feet. He helped River up before going over and helping Clara and April up as well. The others got to their feet. Gwen ran over to Jack, who was beginning to recover. Missy brushed her hair while the General rushed over to Rassilon, who was bleeding out on the ground.

The Doctor stood with his associates. Clara abruptly hugged him, followed by April, then Martha, Sarah Jane, and Osgood. He struggled to embrace them all. Mickey and Kate stood on the outside, watching them. Elizabeth went over to Jack and Gwen as the latter helped him to his feet.

Finally, after several moments, the women let the Time Lord go.

“I didn’t know if I was going to see you again!” Clara said.

“I thought I was going to have to live in the 21st century forever,” April brushed her hair. “Which wouldn’t be too bad, admittedly. Staying with Clara’s been fun.” The two women exchanged a glance.

“You’ve really got to stop abandoning your friends, Doctor,” Sarah Jane remarked, smiling.

“Yeah, and just when we got you back,” Martha put her hands on her hips.

“Well, forgive me for sacrificing myself to save the world,” the Doctor replied, sighing slightly. “Again.”

“You don’t need to keep doing that, you know,” Osgood adjusted her glasses.

“It’s pretty self-destructive, boss,” Mickey smirked. “You haven’t changed at all.”

He shrugged. “Well, I can’t help it.”

Jack, Gwen, Kate, and Elizabeth then joined them. The Doctor turned towards them as they did.

“Doctor,” Jack nodded, wincing slightly from his wounds which were still healing.

“Captain,” he returned.

“Good to have you back, Doctor,” Kate put her hands in her pockets.

“Good to be back,” he replied. “You used the Rani to get here?”

“Yes. Yes we did,” she answered, somewhat uneasily.

He thought for a moment. “Good thinking. Risky, and it obviously backfired, but very clever. You wouldn’t have been able to pilot the TARDIS otherwise.”

River walked over to them. She shook hands with Kate.

“Good to see you,” River smiled.

“What are you doing here?” Kate asked. “This is a little out of place, even for you.”

“It’s a long story,” River glanced at the Doctor.

“Hopefully I can hear it someday,” Kate smiled.

River returned it. A moment later April walked over to them, joined by Clara, Martha, Mickey, and Sarah Jane. April put her hands on her hips and looked between the Doctor and River. She bit her lip, apparently trying to think of what to say.

“So, um,” she began, turning to River. “Who are you, exactly?”

“Oh yes,” she said, realizing that they didn’t actually know her. “I’m Professor River Song. Archaeologist. I’m… an old friend of the Doctor.”

“The Doctor hates archaeologists, doesn’t he?” Sarah Jane asked, chuckling.

River smiled mischievously. “Yes. Yes he does.”

“It’s good to meet you, River,” Clara said, somewhat unconvincingly.

River cast her a quizzical glance, which Clara tried to avoid. April then stepped back in.

“So, Doctor,” April walked over to him. “What do we do now?”

The General spoke up. “You have to go. Now.”

They all looked to him. He was kneeling beside Rassilon’s body. The Time Lord would be regenerating soon, they figured. The General knew it as well. Reaching into his pocket, he produced River’s sonic screwdriver. He took it and tossed it to the Doctor, who caught it and looked at it. He then grabbed the two shards lying beside Rassilon and threw them to his fellow Time Lord as well.

“You’ll need these. Get the shards as far away from here as possible.”

“Why are you doing this?” the Doctor asked.

“Rassilon cannot be allowed to complete the Orb,” the General said quickly. “He will use it to wipe out any race that does not submit to his rule. It will be genocide on a scale never seen before. He must be stopped at all costs.”

“But this is treason, General,” the Doctor stepped forward. “If Rassilon were to find out, he’ll kill you.”

“You are the only ones who will know. I will tell Rassilon once he has recovered from his regeneration that I was knocked out in the Rani’s attack and you took the shards in the chaos. He will be none the wiser.”

Rassilon’s hands and neck began to glitter with gold energy. They all observed it with widening eyes. The General frowned.

“It’s started. You have to leave. Right now.”

“You don’t have to do this,” the Doctor said. “I can help you.”

“You can help me by getting out of here. You may want to do more, but getting the shards as far away from Gallifrey as possible is the most you can do. So please, go.”

The Doctor looked at the General for a long moment before nodding. “Thank you.”

A thin smile traced his lips. “Go.”

He nodded again and turned on his heel to his associates. They were all standing before him, ready for whatever was coming next. He looked at them for several seconds.

“Time to go home,” he finally said.

They all nodded and smiled. At long last, they had the Doctor, and they were returning to Earth. Together, the group moved towards the TARDIS when Missy’s voice echoed through the hall.

“No.”

They stopped and turned to see Missy standing with a device in her hand. Her expression was dark, and her eyes glinted with a look the Doctor knew all-too-well. It was a look that could only be described as… evil. She held the device with her thumb on the red button.

“Missy,” the Doctor said. “What are you doing?”

“This device will ignite the heart of your TARDIS, and then the heart of the next closest TARDIS, and on and on. It will be a chain reaction across the planet of Gallifrey, with the force ripping this wretched rock apart and scattering it through the vortex, and wiping out the Time Lords. Once and for all.”

“Why?” the Doctor asked. “Why would you do this?”

“You heard it yourself,” Missy said. “Gallifrey is plotting to take over the universe by mass genocide. They have to be wiped out.”

“You can’t do that!” Clara objected.

“Why not? The Time Lords have committed genocide hundreds of times over. They must be stopped, and this will ensure that Rassilon can never complete the Orb.”

The General got to his feet. He drew his firearm and aimed it at her. “You will not use that device.”

“Oh? What are you going to do? Shoot me?” Missy said defiantly. “This device has a dead man switch enabled. Kill me, and the device goes off.”

She smiled. “There’s no escaping this. I win.”

River stood watching the scene for a moment. Then her eyes moved to the sonic screwdriver resting in the Doctor’s hand. Abruptly, she grabbed the device from her hand and aimed it at Missy. Missy quickly turned to her, as did everyone else. The Time Lord’s grip tightened on her device while her eyes narrowed.

Clara, looking back and forth between the Doctor, River, and Missy. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver. Stealthily as she could, she stepped over to the Doctor and slipped it into his hand.

“Here,” she whispered.

He looked down at her and then to his hand and saw the device there. Looking into her large brown eyes, he nodded.

Missy’s eyes flashed as she stared at River. “You really think that’s a threat? A sonic screwdriver will set it off also, idiot. You’re so much like the Doctor. I guess that’s why you’re so… infatuated with him.”

“You’re the one who tracked him down in the middle of the snowstorm,” River replied. “Maybe you’re a little jealous.”

Missy was about to respond when the Doctor stepped out and leveled his sonic screwdriver at his fellow Time Lord. He stood beside River, and Missy looked at them with disdain.

“Of course you’d side with her,” she said. “Even after everything you’ve seen the Time Lords do, you’re going to protect them. You shouldn’t’ve saved Gallifrey. You should’ve let it burn. It was better when we were the last of the Time Lords. The universe was safer then, and I’m going to make it safe again.”

She adjusted her grip on the device and held it higher. “By wiping out the Time Lords.”

“But wouldn’t you die also?” April asked.

“Yeah,” Martha added. “If you ignite Gallifrey, you’ll be igniting yourself also.”

“Very good,” Missy chuckled. “This device will transport back to my own TARDIS just before the signal detonates the first TARDIS and causes the chain reaction,” she glanced at the Doctor’s ship. “All of you will die.”

“And here I was,” the Doctor said, his voice dripping with disappointment, “thinking that you had finally changed.”

“This is for the greater good, Doctor,” she replied. “I’ve been planning this for a long time. I’ve been waiting to return to Gallifrey and wipe it out, and they’ve given me the perfect opportunity for it, and I’m not going to waste it.”

“You cannot-,” the General was saying when Rassilon ignited with fire. The screeching of the energy filled the room and stung their ears. The glare was blinding. They could hear the Lord President screaming as his body was changed and his cells regenerated.

Jack was blocking the glare with his when he saw one of the Gallifreyan soldiers’ guns lying on the ground a few feet away. Missy had her back to him, watching the regeneration. Taking a deep breath, he reached down for it.

In an explosion of light and a loud noise, the process stopped and the light faded. Rassilon sat up, gasping for breath, looking around, eyes wide. He was an old man now, with short white hair and a large bald spot. He took in the scene and saw Missy standing there with the device.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

“Oh good. You’ve regenerated just in time for me to wipe the Time Lords.”

“You will not do this,” Rassilon got to his feet, using his staff to do so. He flexed his fingers, his gauntlet flickering with energy.

“It’s too late,” Missy said, adjusting her grip one final time. “Goodbye. Rassilon. Goodbye General. Goodbye Clara. Goodbye April. Goodbye River,” she looked to the Doctor. “Goodbye, Doctor. It’s been a pleasure.”

She moved to press the button. Everyone gasped, their hearts leapt in their chests. The Doctor and River were about to activate their screwdrivers while the General moved to fire when a gunshot rang out. Missy cried in pain as she was hit in the back by a blast of blue energy. She gagged as she tried to keep her balance before falling forward to the floor. The Time Lord hit the ground, unconscious.

The device fell out of her hand and slide across the floor, where it stopped at the Doctor’s feet. Behind where Missy had been standing, Jack stood with the Gallifreyan weapon, where the energy within the barrel was fading away.

They all stood in silence for several moments.

“It didn’t go off,” Sarah Jane looked around. “Why didn’t it go off?”

The Doctor crouched down and picked it up. Examining it, he frowned. “The dead man switch was a bluff. She would have destroyed Gallifrey, but she must have known that no one would try to shoot her.”

“That’s quite the gamble,” Gwen observed.

“It doesn’t matter,” Rassilon growled. He hobbled forward, still uneasy from the regeneration. “She attempted to destroy Gallifrey, and she will be tried for that.”

As if on cue, the doors to the hall opened and over a dozen soldiers came flooding into the room. Quickly, they surrounded the Doctor and his associates. Two of them grabbed and restrained Missy, who was still unconscious. The rest readied their weapons and aimed at them.

“Good,” Rassilon said. “Now that the Master is subdued, and you are once again surrounded. Rather than demand that you hand over the shards, since that obviously doesn’t work. I’m just going to execute you and find the shards for myself. You could’ve made this much easier for me and kept yourself alive, Doctor, but this is the path that you have chosen, and you must suffer the consequences.”

The Gallifreyan soldiers’ weapons clicked as they were primed. The Doctor and his associates looked around as they were about to be fired upon. The Doctor, out of options, looked at the device in his hand, and his eyes lit up. Quickly, he used the sonic screwdriver on it and held it up, finger on the button.

“No! If you fire, this device will go off and obliterate Gallifrey!”

“You yourself just said that it had no dead man switch,” Rassilon replied. “That bluff will not work.”

“Yes, but I just programmed a dead man switch,” the Doctor answered, holding it higher. “If you kill me, Gallifrey dies.”

“You wouldn’t,” the Lord President spat. “You saved Gallifrey before. Why destroy it now?”

“Maybe Missy’s right. Maybe Gallifrey shouldn’t even have the possibility of taking the Orb,” he said, his voice shaking slightly. His companions exchanged glances. “But I’d rather not. So, we’re getting in the TARDIS and going, and you’re never getting your hands on the Orb.”

“Even if you escape, we will come for you, Doctor,” Rassilon stepped forward. “You will never truly escape until I have all six pieces of the Orb and it is restored to its true power.”

The Doctor nodded. “Well, when that happens, I’ll be there to stop you.”

He then began walking slowly backwards towards the TARDIS, still holding the device at the ready. His associates followed him. The soldiers continued aiming their weapons at them. Rassilon and the General stood watching them retreat with stony looks, but the General seemed somewhat relieved.

April opened the door to the TARDIS and quickly ushered everyone in. Only she, Clara, River, and the Doctor remained standing outside. The four stood looking at the Time Lords for a moment before April went in, followed by Clara. The Doctor and River stood outside the box, and she saw that his eyes filled with sadness.

“I thought you were better than this,” he said quietly, looking at Missy.

And with that, the Doctor and River stepped into the TARDIS. A moment later, there was a thump as the engines started and the ship began to fade out of existence and into the vortex. They watched as it disappeared, the residual energy flickering in the air.

“This isn’t over, Doctor,” Rassilon said to himself. “This is far from over.”

“What now, Lord President?” the General asked.

He looked at his lieutenant for a long moment before turning his gaze to Missy, who was still unconscious and restrained by the soldiers.

“We put her to use,” Rassilon said, his eyes glinting.

### Part 4

Across space and time, the TARDIS had appeared outside the Tower of London, standing along the Thames. Its passengers were gathered outside it. The two soldiers who the Rani had escaped from were also there, talking with Kate and Elizabeth. The rest were standing around the Doctor, all taking turns to hugging him, which he was clearly not very excited about.

“Didn’t you get all this out on Gallifrey?” the Doctor struggled in Clara’s embrace.

“You’ve been gone for weeks,” Clara replied. “So no.”

She continued hugging him for several moments before she finally released him, but she was quickly replaced by April. He groaned as she squeezed him tightly also. Eventually, everyone had hugged the Doctor, save for Kate and Elizabeth, and much to his relief, it was over. He brushed off his jacket when Martha stepped forward.

“So what now, Doctor?” she crossed her arms, a smile on her face. “Where’re you off to?”

“Oh you know,” he held his hands behind his back. “Everywhere.”

“What are you going to do about those shards,” Osgood asked. “What Rassilon wants to do is pretty serious. What’re you going to do to stop him?”

He shrugged. “Keep the four stones I do have on the TARDIS, find the other two, and do what I’ve always done: keep running.”

“And what about Missy?” Clara asked. “What are they going to do her?”

The Doctor thought for a moment. “I don’t know. For threatening to destroy Gallifrey, Rassilon might just execute her. Or… he might find a use for her. Who knows. I may never know her. Not really.”

Silence for a moment. Finally, the Doctor cleared his throat.

“Anyway,” he rubbed his nose. “We should get going,” he gestured to his companions.

“Do you really have to go soon?” Sarah Jane was disappointed. “We did just get you back.”

“There’s never a dull moment, Sarah Jane,” he smiled. “Not ever.”

“Well, if you’re going to go,” Kate pocketed her hands. “Make sure you don’t abandon us again.”

He nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

The Doctor was about to turn and leave when Jack came up to him. He held out his hand for him, which he promptly took. The two men shook hands.

“Doctor,” Jack nodded.

“Captain,” he returned.

The two finished shaking hands. Mickey then came over and extended his fist. The Doctor looked at it for a moment before bumping it with his.

“Goodbye, Mickey,” the Doctor said.

“See you, boss,” Mickey replied.

“Goodbye, Doctor,” Martha hugged him again, much to his dismay. She was followed by Sarah Jane and Osgood.

Finally, he was able to break away, and waving goodbye, walked to the TARDIS. Clara and April quickly said their goodbyes, and River shook hands with Kate, Osgood, and Jack before following the Doctor into the TARDIS. The three women waved one last farewell before entering the blue box.

As soon as the door closed, the engine started, and the TARDIS began to wheeze and groan as it dematerialized, fading into the vortex. The Doctor’s allies stood watching it as it slowly disappeared, the breeze rustling their clothes. Moments later, it was gone, and together, they turned and walked away.

“Alright, everyone,” Kate looked around at them. “Back to work.”

The waters of the Thames rushed on long after they were gone.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor moved around the console. The three women stood around the outside of the deck, watching him pilot the ship. He didn’t look up at them as he worked. Something was bothering him, despite the fact that he had been reunited with his ship and rescued from the Time Lords. Perhaps it was what he learned about the shards that they had found, and what Rassilon wanted to do with them.

“Where now, Doctor?” Clara asked.

He looked up from the controls. “We’re taking River home. I thought I mentioned that?”

“Oh,” River said, her voice saturated with disappointment.

“What?” he asked.

“I just thought that we might… be able to have dinner?” she replied. “It’s been so long since we have. I know we’ve been planning on Darillium and you keep canceling.”

The Time Lord took a long moment before answering. “I’m not up for it right now, River. I’m sorry.”

River looked down and sighed. Eventually, she nodded. “Alright. Well,” she pulled her sonic screwdriver from her pocket and held it out for him. “This belongs to you.”

He watched it for a moment before taking it and placing it in his pocket. She turned away and walked down the stairs towards the door leading deeper into the TARDIS. River stopped at it and looked over her shoulder.

“Tell me when we get there, okay?”

The Doctor nodded. “Of course.”

She acknowledged him before leaving the console room. The Doctor returned to the console and continued working. The women looked back and forth between him and where River had gone. The Doctor was clearly, upset about something.

“Doctor,” April asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said dismissively.

“Doctor-,” Clara began.

“It’s nothing,” he snapped.

Knowing that pressing the issue further was unwise, April and Clara turned and walked down the steps and out of the console room, leaving the Doctor alone. He looked after them and sighed, before moving to another part of the controls, and listening to the rhythmic groaning of the engines and the lights pulsating around him.

Dozens of ships and vehicles flew overhead in the light of the setting suns. The sky was a mixture of orange, purple, and blue. All around, the tall skyscrapers glittered in the glow of the evening. The vast city spread out for miles and miles, filling even the horizon. The entire planet was city, and only one of many in this solar system. It was an incredible sight.

One of the buildings was a large balcony with a lush garden. Alien plants grew in the fast-vanishing sunlight. For several moments, they stood there, swaying gently in the breeze. Finally, the wheezing of the TARDIS began to fill the garden, before the large blue box materialized under a large tree growing near the edge of the balcony.

After a moment, the door opened and the Doctor, River, Clara, and April emerged. The Doctor’s companions looked around in awe at the sight around them, while River and the Doctor stopped under another tree.

“Right,” the Doctor said. “Home sweet home.”

“Thanks,” River managed a smile. “But I do want to know…”

“Hm?” he leaned forward slightly.

“When am I going to see you again?” she asked. “I still want to have that date. It doesn’t even have to be on Darillium.”

He didn’t answer, instead looking away towards the city and rubbing his hands together. “I don’t know,” he said finally, shrugging. “I’ll come around one of these days. I know that.”

“Okay,” River said. “I’ve got a lot to do, anyway. We’ll take a rain check on that. But we have to do it someday, okay?”

He nodded. “Yes. Certainly.”

River smiled. She stepped up to the Doctor and hugged him, which he surprisingly returned. They embraced for several moments before breaking apart. The two looked at each other before the Doctor nodded and stepped away from her. He turned and began walking to the TARDIS. River watched him go before Clara and April came over and each gave her a hug.

“Take care of yourself,” Clara told her.

“I’m not to one who needs taking care of,” she glanced at the Doctor.

April smiled. “We’ll take good care of him.”

River smiled. “Thank you. The Doctor’s lucky to have you both with him.”

“We’re lucky to be with him,” Clara nodded.

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” River said, choking slightly. “No one can run with the Doctor forever. Not even me.”

Clara and April didn’t know how to respond to this. Instead, they nodded and turned back towards the TARDIS. The Doctor was still standing at the door as they stepped past him into the blue box. The Doctor caught River’s eye again one last time before disappearing inside the TARDIS as well.

River stood watching the ship for several moments before it began to wheeze and groan, fading away into the vortex. She watched it until it was nothing more than streaks of energy hanging in the air, before those dissolved into nothingness also.

Sighing, River turned and walked into her home.

In the TARIDS, the Doctor stood at the console. He looked dejected, and he wasn’t making an attempt to hide it. His two companions worriedly walked over to him.

“Doctor?” Clara asked. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” he said quickly, but not convincingly. “Why do you ask?”

“You look really sad,” April replied. “I’ve never seen you this sad before. What’s wrong?”

He looked at them, apparently trying to think of an explanation, but he sighed, looking down. After a few moments, he stood up and began pacing around the console.

“River and I have a… complicated relationship. We keep meeting each other in the wrong order. Sometimes, we’re in sync, and other times one of us is at the beginning of our relationship, and the other is at the end. Sometimes we both know who the other is, and sometimes we’re a complete stranger to the other. Time is… cruel this way.”

“What are you saying, Doctor?” April asked.

“I’m saying that the first time I met River was at the Library, and that was when she died. I had no idea who she was, but she knew everything about me. She said that the last time she had seen me was when I had taken her to Darillium. So…” he stopped abruptly, apparently unable to continue.

Clara and April exchanged glances.

“…Darillium is your last date.”

He nodded. “I don’t want to lose her. I can’t lose her.”

“Doctor,” Clara said. “When you love someone, you shouldn’t focus on not losing them, but spending as much time with them as you can. If you spend all your time worrying about losing them, you don’t use the time that you’re trying to save. I know that’s how I felt when I lost my mother. You’ve got to be with her, even if it is the last time.”

“Yeah,” April agreed. “If I had met my soulmate, I would want to spend every moment that I could with them, even if it were for a day. Love isn’t about not wanting to lose; it’s about holding on as long as you can.”

The Doctor smiled weakly. “Maybe you’re right.”

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out River’s sonic screwdriver and held it in his hands. He turned it over, looking at its old and damaged form. Finally, he exhaled.

“Alright. Time to get you two home. I’ve got a date to get to.”

He pocketed the sonic screwdriver again and began dancing around the console, operating the controls. The two women smiled at each other before watching the Doctor work. The panels above the console spun while the lights pulsated around them. Beneath their feet and in the walls, they could hear the engines wheezing and groaning as they shot through the vortex.

Snow was falling on the District of Columbia when the TARDIS materialized outside April’s apartment building. It stood there for several moments before the door opened and three figures emerged from the box. They pulled their coats tighter around themselves against the cold. The trio looked around at the snow falling on the city. Stepping away from the ship, April looked up at her building before turning back to the Doctor.

“Thank you, Doctor,” she said. “It was great living in the 21st century, but I do miss this old place,” she glanced upwards.

“It was great having you there,” Clara smiled.

“Thanks for having me,” April smirked before stepping forward and hugging Clara, which she returned. “It was great staying with you.”

“Let’s do it again sometime,” she replied.

They broke apart, and April promptly hugged the Doctor again. He squirmed in her embrace.

“Haven’t you done this enough?” he protested.

“Never,” she squeezed tighter.

After several more moments, she let him go and stepped away, putting her hands in her pockets. She had a broad, shining smile on her face.

“Goodbye. I look forward to the next time. And Doctor,” April paused. “Good luck.”

He nodded. Together, he and Clara stepped into the TARDIS. Clara exchanged one last glance with April before disappearing inside the box. The doors closed, and immediately a wheezing began to fill the air. She braced against the breeze as she watched it fade into the vortex, and a second later, it was gone.

Taking a deep breath, she stood there before turning on her heel and walking towards her apartment building.

Thirty five years later, Clara and the Doctor were standing outside her apartment building. Snow was falling here also. They stood in the field outside the building, up to their ankles in snow. Several moments of silence passed, only broken by the rushing wind. Finally, Clara exhaled, her breath streaking from her lips, and she turned to the Doctor.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“I’m always okay,” he replied.

“You sure?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

A smile flickered across her face. “Alright. Good luck, Doctor. And thank you, for everything.”

“We’ll see each other again, Clara,” he said.

“Oh, I know,” she nodded. “But I don’t say it. Not enough.”

“And thank you, miss Oswald,” the Doctor smiled. “For everything.”

Clara hugged the Doctor. Finally, the Doctor relented in his objections, because he knew that this would be his last hug for a while. They stood, with the snow falling around them. Finally, the human and the Time Lord broke apart and took a step back from each other. They looked at each other.

“Goodbye, Clara Oswald,” the Doctor said.

“Goodbye, Doctor,” Clara replied.

He smiled one last time before turning and stepping into the TARDIS. After a few moments, there was a noise before the engines began wheezing and groaning, slowly fading away into time and space. Clara watched as the last flickers of energy dissipated before turning and walking away, a smile on her face.

Across time and space, River Song was packing for her next expedition. A small planet six thousand years in the past where ghost robots were terrorizing a small mining village, so the legends said. Sounded exciting, and she wanted to know what had happened there. She finished packing her tools into the bag and zipped it shut.

River was about to sling it over her shoulder when she heard a faint groaning coming from outside on her balcony. Her heart skipping a beat and her breathing quickening, she dropped the bag and rushed forward. Pushing the door open and stepping outside, she found the TARDIS standing there. She looked on, her heart pounding in her chest.

She was about to step up to the door when it opened and the Doctor emerged. He was wearing a brand new suit and seemed to have had his hair cut. He leaned against the door frame. There was a rectangular wooden box in his hands.

“Doctor?” she asked.

“Hello, sweetie,” he smiled.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for our date,” he said.

“What date?” she asked.

“Darillium, of course,” he replied, his tone indicating that he thought this had been obvious. “To see the Singing Towers.”

“You’ve always canceled that,” River’s voice dripped with doubt. “Why now?”

The Doctor shrugged. “Why not?”

“Well, for starters, I’m getting ready to head out on an expedition. I am a professor of archaeology, after all.”

“You may have heard that I have a time machine?” he asked. “You could go on a dozen expeditions before you’re due for that one.”

He was right, of course, and she knew it. She rolled her eyes. Sighing, she looked back at him and stood with her hand on her hip. A smile crept across her face.

“Fine. Let’s go,” she grinned.

The TARDIS materialized in the lobby of a very upscale restaurant. After a few moments, the Doctor and River stepped out. River had changed out of her archaeology clothes and into something more appropriate – a long black dress with deep red shoes. The Doctor closed the TARDIS door, rectangular box still in hand.

The restaurant was a marvelous sight. Lights hung from the ceiling and dark, shining wood adorned various parts of the building, accompanied by rustic brass. Many pieces of fine art decorated the walls. Precisely trimmed and manicured plants stood around the room.

The couple walked to the front desk. The hostess looked up at them with a smile.

“Welcome to the Singing Towers. I am Rosetta, your host for this evening,” her eyes glittered. “Do you have a reservation?”

“Ah, yes,” the Doctor nodded. “The Doctor and River Song.”

“Oh yes,” she found it in the terminal at the desk. “It’s good to have you here, and our apologies for the long wait.”

“It’s no problem,” the Doctor assured her, winking at River. River smirked.

“Well, it looks like you two have the balcony reserved. Best seat in the house,” the hostess said. “I’ll show you to your table.”

Stepping out from behind the desk, Rosetta walked further into the restaurant. The Doctor and River quickly followed. They were led through the dining room, where many other people were sitting at tables and enjoying themselves. Some were humanoid, others were completely alien. River recognized most of the species she saw, but several of them were new to her.

Approaching the far wall, which was lined with windows, they saw that there was a set of ornate glass double doors that led out onto a balcony. Rosetta pushed open the doors and stepped aside to let them through. Together, they stepped out outside into the golden light of the setting sun.

The balcony overlooked a rocky valley with a city surrounding it. Two tall and identical stone towers in the middle. There was a melody echoing through the air, apparently coming from the natural structures. The music was elegant and comforting as the Doctor and River looked over from the railing.

“A waiter will be out with your menus shortly,” Rosetta said before walking away.

River stood there for a few moments, her hair rustled by the wind, before turning to the Doctor.

“Why did you change your mind about this?” she asked. “All those months ago, you didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with this. And you’ve always canceled this. I didn’t think we’d ever come here. So why now?”

The Doctor inhaled deeply before responding. “I just thought it was time. I’d been putting this off for too long…”

“I don’t know why. It’s just the Singing Towers,” she replied, looking back at the stone pillars.

“They’re fantastic,” he said simply.

“How so? They’re just two stone pillars with a cave network that takes the wind blowing through it which produces a sound that many interpret to be music. I’ve seen the birth of the universe and the end of the universe and everything in between. What’s so special about this compared to that?”

“Because we’re together.”

“We could be together out there,” River answered, looking at the stars that were beginning to speckle the sky.

“I wish we were,” he quietly said, looking away. A tear formed in his eye, and River saw it, despite his best efforts to hide it.

“Doctor? What’s wrong?” she stepped towards him.

“It’s nothing,” he wiped the tear away quickly.

He then pulled out the wooden box and held it out for River. She looked at it for several moments.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Open it and you’ll see.”

Taking the box, she held it before sliding the cover upwards. It revealed a plush interior with what she recognized as the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver resting on top of it. She was surprised to see, however, that damage and visible aging had been repaired, and it seemed almost good as new.

“Why…” she stammered, taking it in hand. “Why are you giving me this?”

“Because you should have it,” he replied. “Don’t worry, I’ve fully repaired it so it should last you a long time. And frankly, it’s less embarrassing than a sonic trowel,” a smile flickered across his face.

“My sonic trowel was very useful to me, thank you very much,” River said, slightly annoyed.

“And this will be much more useful to you,” the Doctor pointed at the screwdriver. “I promise.”

She turned it over and pressed the button. The tip ignited with a deep blue light. It buzzed distinctly. She smiled at it before meeting the Doctor’s gaze again.

“Thank you.”

“Thank you for putting up with me all these years,” he answered. “All my lives.”

She gasped. “You remember?”

“Memory wiping is pretty effective, but eventually everything comes back – if you live along enough.”

“We’re both old, Doctor,” she replied.

“I’m two thousand yeas old and somehow I fell in love with you,” the Doctor grabbed her hand. She was surprised.

“Somehow I fell in love with the man I was born to kill,” River smiled. “’The Lonely God.’ But I never thought that was true.”

“It was true until I met you.”

The two stood looking at each other for a long moment before the towers in the distance began singing a new melody. They stopped and turned to look at it. It was a soft song, a kind of song they could feel in the air. The sun was close to setting now, shining behind the pillars.

As they watched and listened, River stepped closer to the Doctor and took his hand. They stood together for a long time, just listening to the music.

“You know,” River said slowly. “I know that we can’t run forever.”

“Spoilers,” the Doctor replied.

As the sun set over Darillium, a tear fell from the Time Lord’s eye.

### Epilogue

In a room across time and across space, a ball of blue energy appeared in the air, shining its flickering light in the darkness. It hung there for a moment before exploding outwards, consuming everything in light.

A second later the light faded, and the Rani fell to the ground. The vortex manipulator on her wrist sparked, apparently damaged. She was breathing heavily, and sweat dripped from her face.

The Time Lords had returned, but she had escaped. But they were back, and Rassilon was still alive. They would be coming for her. She knew that they would. It didn’t matter, though. She was free of them, free of U.N.I.T., and free of the Doctor.

The Rani wiped the sweat from her brow and stood up. She didn’t know where she was. The manipulator had just sent her to a random location. This place could be anywhere and any when.

Just as the Time Lord was about to take a step forward when she heard a pair of footsteps echoing around her. She immediately tensed at the sound. They were accompanied by a rhythmic tapping, as if someone were tapping their fingers against the back of their hand.

As she searched for the source, she heard someone stop in the doorway behind her. Immediately, she spun around to face them and drew the gun that she had tucked in the waistband of her uniform. She gasped as she saw the person standing there. His smile was wide and his gaze was piercing.

“You,” she said, taking a step back.

“Hello, Rani,” the Master said. “It’s been a while. A whole human lifetime, in fact,” he began laughing wildly as she looked on in horror.

He gathered himself and took a step forward into the room. He had his laser screwdriver in hand. “We’re going to do a lot of great things together, old friend.”

## Characters

* Twelfth Doctor
* Clara Oswald
* April Leigh-Morgan
* River Song
* Missy
* Kate Stewart
* Petronella Osgood
* Jack Harkness
* Gwen Cooper
* Martha Jones
* Mickey Smith
* Sarah Jane Smith
* Elizabeth Walsh
* The Rani II
* Rassilon
* The General
* Time Lord High Council
* Time Lords
* U.N.I.T.
* Rosetta
* The Master

## Gallery

Promotional cover for the story.Textless version.
## Trivia

* *Hope* is the longest episode of *Doctor Who* written, and the longest episodic installment of any story that Invader39 has written.
* This episode features of the return of River Song as well as the Time Lords.
* The first Rassilon that appears in this story is not Timothy Dalton, but the second is Donald Sumpter.
* This episode uses elements from *Hell Bent* and *The Husbands of River Song*.
* The Doctor and River's last date is based on Invader39's interpretation of it when watching *Forest of the Dead* in 2008.
* The Master that appears at the end is the John Simm incarnation of the character.
* This episode was originally intended as a Christmas special but was delayed repeatedly.