The TARDIS was dark and silent as the first of the gentle flakes spiralled downwards. It had been for months. The Doctor watched it from out the doors windows above the TARDIS doors with dark, unblinking eyes. He sat, almost perched bird-like on the railing beside the double doors of the room. A mournful sigh escaped from between his lips. He loved the snow. He knew it was just crystallised water, but there was something magical about the way it floated and twinkled in the bright sunlight. Once upon a time, he wouldn't have even thought about it. He would have snatched up his coat and sprinted out the door, eager for new adventure, new challenges and to meet new people. But once upon a time was a long time ago.

His coat still rung from the place he'd left it all those months ago. It lay draped over the piece of coral closest to the door. The sunlight coming through the window pooled onto the brown material which now lay covered in a film of dust. Dust motes hung in the air, flashing in the golden glow. He didn't fear the Vashata Narada any more. In fact, he wished they would hurry up and end his miserable existence. The Doctor allowed his eyes to linger on the trench-coat. That coat had seen a lot of memories. Martha, Donna, Jack, Sarah-Jane. His lips twitched upwards at the mere memory of them all when the crushing sadness weighed at his hearts again. He knew it would happen. Every time he thought he could comfort himself with the past it happened again. Those flashes of blonde would flicker across his mind's eye and he would be left feeling worse than before.

You want to meet new people? The voice which had been plaguing him, for an age it seemed, whispered to him. Look at what happened everyone you met. Rose is gone, Donna almost burned up in front of you, Martha's family broke down as you took her gallivanting around the universe. Even Jack's not right and he only travelled with you twice. The voice had a way of getting under his skin and past his self delusions. The Doctor hadn't breathed fresh air since he dropped Donna off for the last time. Every time he had thought about stepping outside the TARDIS, Darvos appeared in his mind's eye. Darvos had been right. He might have been insane, delusional, vindictive and power-hungry, but he had been right about one thing. Wherever the Doctor went, death, destruction, despair and disasters seemed to follow him. He was the Destroyer of the Worlds. He poisoned everything he came into contact with. He was a greater monster than the things he was fighting. His thoughts turned back to those who had travelled with him.

But... but I changed them. I made them brilliant. I made them wonderful, selfless, amazing, brilliant people. The Doctors 'self delusions' kicked in.

Yes, you changed them, the snide voice echoed through the empty halls of his mind, you made them better, and then you watched them crash and burn. Even Jack said it, he was "better off a coward" than he was after meeting you.

The Doctor's shoulders sagged once more. As always the voice was right.