1x13 "The Parting of the Ways"

The Daleks were all in a state of panic. The first Dalek turned to me. "YOU KNOW THE DOCTOR! YOU UNDERSTAND HIM! YOU WILL PREDICT HIS ACTIONS!"

I glared at the Dalek. "I don't know!" The Dalek glided towards me, clearly not happy with my answer. "No one can predict the Doctor. And even if I could I wouldn't tell Dalek scum like you." I bit my lip as soon as those words came from my mouth. Oh shit. I'm going to die, this Dalek is going to kill me for saying that it was anything less than a god.

"PREDICT! PREDICT! PREDICT!" it growled. I almost cried. So it seamed that it was more worried about the Doctor then about something a pathetic little human said.

The second Dalek spoke, distracting the first, "TARDIS DETECTED. IN FLIGHT."

"LAUNCH MISSILES! EXTERMINATE!" the first Dalek said.

My eyes widened. "No! The TARDIS defenses are down! You'll kill him!"

If Daleks had a face and lips this one would have smiled evilly as it said, "YOU HAVE PREDICTED CORRECTLY."

The space ship shook slightly as the Dalek's fired upon the TARDIS. I couldn't see what was happening, and I hoped to god the Doctor was able to avoid whatever they fired. I smiled when I heard the sound of the TARDIS materializing only moments later. I looked around, trying to see the TARDIS. A breeze tugged at my hair as the TARDIS began to materialize around a Dalek and myself.

The Doctor's outline became more and more distinct, standing beside the console. When the engines stopped the Doctor yelled at me, "Faline! Get down!" For a moment I didn't do anything but the Doctor yelled at me again, "Get down, Faline!" I threw myself onto the floor.

"EXTERMINATE!" the Dalek yelled firing at Jack. Jack held something in his hands so that when the ray hit it, it deflected back at the Dalek who exploded with a scream. Smoke billowed from the remains of the Dalek. I wasn't bothered like I was seeing the contestants from 'The Weakest Link' disintegrated.

I stood, smiling at the Doctor. I threw my arms into the air and shouted, "Whoo!" The TARDIS was silent for a long moment after all the action. The Doctor came forward and I ran at him, wrapping my arms around him, which he immediately returned. "I missed you," I whispered softly.

"Told you I'd come and get you," the Doctor said. I could practically hear the smile in his voice.

I pulled away from him and said, "I never doubted that."

"I did!" he said.

I frowned, "Ya, thanks that makes me feel so much better after facing off with Daleks and living to say I called one 'scum'."

"You all right?" he asked, worry etched on his face.

I smiled, "Fine. You?"

The Doctor shrugged, "Not bad. Been better." He walked over to the smoldering remains of the Dalek.

Jack made his way over to me, "Hey, don't I get a hug?" I laughed and opened my arms. Jack gestured to the Doctor. "I was talking to him." I pouted before the both of us laughed and Jack hugged me. He lifted me and spun me around. "Welcome home Kitten!"

As he placed me down again I said, "I was worried about you."

I felt Jack tighten his hug slightly before he pulled away. "Oh, you were lucky," he told me. "I was just a one-shot wonder. Drained the gun of all its power supply. Now it's just a piece of junk." We turned to the Doctor where he was carefully examining the Dalek with his sonic screwdriver. Jack and I slowly made our way over. The battle armor of the Dalek had been blasted away giving us a clear view of the mutant inside. It was quiet a long moment before Jack said, "One minute they're the greatest threat in the universe, the next minute they vanished out of time and space."

The Doctor didn't removed his eyes from the Dalek as he said, "They went off to fight a bigger war... the Time War..."

Jack's eyes widened, "I thought that was just a legend."

"I was there," the Doctor told us. "The war between the Daleks and the Time Lords. With the whole of creation at stake. My people were destroyed, but they took the Daleks with them." The Doctor's voice softened, "I almost thought it was worth it. Now it turns out they died for nothing."

I bit my lip and asked, "There's thousands of them and we could hardly stop one. How are we going to deal with all the rest?"

"No good stood round here chin-wagging! Human race, you'd gossip all day. The Daleks have got the answers - let's go and meet the neighbors." The Doctor headed down the ramp.

My eyes widened, "Doctor!" I raced after him almost running into him as he stopped right outside the TARDIS.

I grabbed the Doctor's hand as we came face to face with the Daleks from before. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" The Dalek's fired their death ray's, only to have the deflected off the TARDIS shield. After a few moments of firing the Daleks gave up, causing the sound of their guns to fade into silence.

The Doctor raised his hands mockingly, "Is that it? Useless! Nul points." The Doctor leaned against the TARDIS and turned to Jack who was peaking outside the TARDIS doors. I stood beside the Doctor, keeping his hand encased in mine. I was terrified to have the Daleks take me again. "It's all right, come on out. That force field can hold back anything."

"Almost anything," Jack corrected.

"... Yes, but I wasn't gonna tell them that. Thanks."

Jack smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."

The Daleks were silent, watching us. The Doctor then stepped forward, releasing my hand only to have it be taken by Jack. "D'you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek Homeworld? The Oncoming Storm." I shivered, the Doctor truly was the 'Oncoming Storm' that I had seen. "You might've removed all your emotions... but I reckon that right down deep in your DNA, there's one little spark left. And that's fear." The Dalek's eyepieces twitched nervously. "Doesn't it just BURN when you face me? So, tell me - how did you survive the Time War?"

"THEY SURVIVED THROUGH ME," a deep ominous voice called. We turned, not having see this large Dalek. The Doctor took a few steps towards the towering Dalek, staring at him in open-mouthed awe.

The Doctor then addressed us, "Faline... Captain... this is the Emperor of the Daleks."

"YOU DESTROYED US, DOCTOR. THE DALEK RACE DIED IN YOUR INFERNO, BUT MY SHIP SURVIVED, FALLING THROUGH TIME, CRIPPLED BUT ALIVE."

"I get it," the Doctor said.

"DO NOT INTERRUPT!" one Dalek cried, only to be repeated by two others.

I flinched and moved towards Jack. The Captain wrapped his arm around my waist, trying to keep me safe and secure; or to at least show me I was. The Doctor however didn't flinch away like I had. The Doctor looked mildly annoyed, still strong and unwavering. "I think you're forgetting something. I'm the Doctor. And if there's one thing I can do - it's talk. I've got five billion languages, and you haven't got one way of stopping me. So if anybody's gonna shut up, it's YOU!" He pronounced his last words with such fever, that the Daleks shuffled backwards slightly. The Doctor turned back to the Emperor Dalek, his voice softer, "Okey doke. So, where were we?"

"WE WAITED HERE IN THE DARK SPACE, DAMAGED BUT REBUILDING. CENTURIES PASSED, AND WE QUIETLY INFILTRATED THE SYSTEMS OF EARTH. HARVESTING THE WASTE OF HUMANITY. THE PRISONERS, THE REFUGEES, THE DISPOSSESSED - THEY ALL CAME TO US. THE BODIES WERE FILTERED, PULPED, SIFTED." I frowned. It was sickening to know that the Daleks actually felt this and that it wasn't an act like back home. "THE SEED OF THE HUMAN RACE IS PERVERTED. ONLY ONE CELL IN A BILLION WAS FIT TO BE NURTURED."

"So, you created an army of Daleks out of the dead," the Doctor said.

I bit my lip ring before saying, "That makes them half human."

The Emperor Dalek then almost screamed at me, "THOSE WORDS ARE BLASPHEMY!"

It was followed my lesser Daleks calling out one after another, "DO NOT BLASPHEME!"

The Emperor Dalek then spoke again. "EVERYTHING HUMAN HAS BEEN PURGED. I CULTIVATED PURE AND BLESSED DALEK."

The Doctor looked around at them all, clearly disturbed. "Since when did the Daleks have a concept of blasphemy?"

"I REACHED INTO THE DIRT AND MADE NEW LIFE. I AM THE GOD OF ALL DALEKS!"

Daleks all over the ship began to cry out, "WORSHIP HIM! WORSHIP HIM! WORSHIP HIM!"

The Doctor turned to Jack and I, "They're insane! A hundred years hiding in silence – that's enough to drive anyone mad." He stared at the Daleks, walking towards them. I could almost see the pity in the Doctor's eyes. "But its worse than that. Driven mad by your own flesh. The stink of humanity." He shook his head sadly. "You hate your own existence. And that makes them more deadly than ever." The Doctor turned to the Emperor Dalek. "We're going." The Doctor turned, taking my hand back and walking me to the TARDIS.

"YOU MAY NOTLEAVE MY PRESENCE!" the Emperor Dalek cried. However, the Doctor merely opened the door, letting Jack go in first before letting me in.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" one Dalek cried. The Doctor grinned at them mockingly before closing the door.

We could just barely hear them cry, "EXTERMINATE!" Followed by the sound of their weapons hitting the force field.

I watched as the Doctor leaned his head against the doors. I knew that no matter how confident the Doctor appeared and no matter how much belief I had in him; he never knew what to do. The Doctor went moment by moment.

-x-x-x-

The Doctor, Jack, and I stepped out of the TARDIS. I looked around only to see we were back on Satellite Five; I recognized the room as Floor 500. The Doctor made his way to the controls saying, "Turn everything up. All transmissions, wide open, full power. Now! Do it!"

A man nodded doing exactly as the Doctor told him, "What does that do?"

"Stops the Daleks from transmatting on board." The Doctor said. "How did you get on? Did you contact Earth?"

"Well, we tried to warn them," the man said, "but all they did was suspend our license because we stopped the programs."

"And the planet's just sitting there, defenseless." The Doctor then noticed the blonde girl with the crazy clothes, though I suppose in this year they would be considered normal but whatever. "Lynda, what're you still doing on board?" The Doctor turned to the man. "I told you to evacuate everyone."

"She wouldn't go," the man said.

Lynda smiled at the Doctor. "Didn't wanna leave ya." I looked away, remembering that the Doctor always liked blondes and clearly with my honey brown hair I didn't fit into that mold.

The woman, dressed very similar to the man, said, "There weren't enough shuttles anyway, or I wouldn't be here... we've got about a hundred people stranded on Floor Zero."

I wrapped my arms around myself and looked down. The Doctor turned and looked at me, "Faline?" he asked.

I couldn't look at him as I said, "This isn't a type of day that you wish for Doctor." I could tell without looking that he knew exactly what I was talking about. The people on Floor Zero were going to die.

It was silent for a long moment before the man said, "Oh, my God. The Fleet is moving. They're on their way."

The Doctor jumped to action, frantically ripping out armfuls of wires from desks. We watched as he worked, clearly not knowing exactly what the hell he was trying to do but knowing that we should stay out of his way. The Doctor spoke quickly, more to himself than anything. "Dalek plan - big mistake. Because what have they left me with? Anyone? Anyone? Oh, come on - it's obvious. A great big transmitter - this station." Jack stared at him, brow furrowed in concentration, trying to work out what the Doctor was talking about. "If I can change the signal, fold it back, sequence it – anyone?"

"You've gotta be kidding," Jack said.

The Doctor smiled, "Give the man a medal!"

"A Delta Wave?" Jack asked just to be sure.

"A Delta Wave!" the Doctor repeated excitedly.

I frowned and then asked, "What's a Delta Wave?"

"A wave of Van Cassadyne energy," Jack explained. "Fries your brain - stand in the way of a Delta Wave and your head gets barbequed!"

"Lovely image," I said rolling my eyes.

The Doctor ignored me, though Jack pushed my shoulder slightly, and continued on, "And this place can transmit a MASSIVE wave! Wipe out the Daleks!"

I opened my mouth to say something but was interrupted by Lynda. Well, get started and do it then!" I snapped my mouth shut.

"Trouble is," the Doctor said, "wave this size, building this big, brain as clever as mine, should take about - ooh - three days? How long till the Fleet arrive?"

The man looked at the computer before saying, "Twenty-two minutes." The Doctor frantically pulled another cable out from underneath the desk, stared at the end of it for a moment, looked up and smiled at us all.

While we let the Doctor work, none of us other than Jack knowing what he was doing, Jack told us … what the Doctor was doing and what the plan to protect ourselves was. "We've now got a force field so they can't blast us out of the sky. But that doesn't stop the Daleks from physically invading."

"Do they know about the Delta Wave?" the man asked.

Jack nodded, "They'll have worked it out at the same time. So, if they want to stop the Doctor, that means they've got to get to this level – 500." Jack indicated to the illustrative diagram on the screen. "Now, I can concentrate the extrapolator around the top six levels, 500 to 495. So, they'll penetrate the station below at level 494 and fight their way up."

"Who're they fighting?" the man asked.

"Us," Jack said simply.

"And … what're we fighting with?" the man asked.

"The guards had guns with bastic bullets – that's enough to blow a Dalek wide open," Jack explained.

The woman then skeptically said, "There's five of us."

The Doctor then called from where he was busing himself with the wires. "Faline, you can help me. I need all these wires stripped bare." I rolled my eyes as I made my way over. He was so listening in but I wasn't complaining. I was terrified at the idea of facing the Daleks again. It was bad enough on the ship and it's bad enough now.

I heard the woman say, "Right! Now there's four of us!"

Jack clapped his hands once and said, "Then let's move it! Into the lift! Isolate the lift controls!"

The man and woman hurried off to do as told while Lynda made her way to the Doctor. He stood up to meet her, "I - I just wanna say, um... thanks, I s'pose. And... I'll do my best!"

"Me too," the Doctor said. I looked away after a moment of them awkwardly trying to decide how to say goodbye. It hurt to watching, knowing that they only ones that would make it out alive were Jack, the Doctor, and myself. And that's if everything goes according to plan.

When I looked back Lynda left and Jack was making his way to us to say his goodbyes. I stood and watched Jack. He tried to keep it light by saying, "It's been fun!" The Doctor and I smiled. But his voice then turned serious, "But I guess this is goodbye."

I smiled and said, "Jack. You're going to make it out of this." Jack opened his mouth to argue but I quickly said, "Don't argue with me Jack."

Jack smiled, "Faline…" he cupped my face in both his hands, looking intensely into my eyes. "You are worth fighting for." There was something in his eyes when he said that, like he meant it with all his being. Jack killed my forehead before releasing me and turning to the Doctor grinning, "Wish I'd never met you, Doctor!" He then cupped the Doctor's face just like he had mine and said, "I was much better off as a coward." He then kissed the Doctor sqarely on the lips. Jack pulled away and placed a hand on each of our shoulders, pointing forward to the exit. "See ya in hell." He then ran off as we watching him in silence.

"I wasn't lying," I told the Doctor after a moment. "If the one thing I'm most worried about goes according to plan Jack is going to make it out of this."

"How can you be so sure?" the Doctor asked.

I smiled at him, "Because I know you Doctor."

-x-x-x-

The Doctor and I sat on the floor in the space between the middle row of desks, working busily in a companionable silence. We were the only two left on Floor 500. Finally, after another few minutes I couldn't take the silence any more. "You know what sucks?" I asked him.

The Doctor gave me a look before asking, "No, what?"

"We can't use the TARDIS to go back on our own timeline other than for cheap parlor tricks."

"Parlor tricks?" he asked.

I laughed, "I'm quoting you."

We were both silent for another few long moments before the Doctor said, "Where's another thing the TARDIS could do … it could take us away …" I gave him a small smile. I knew where he was getting at. "We could leave. Let history take its course. We got to Marbella in 1989."

I nodded, "Yes. But you would never do that."

The Doctor met my eyes, "No, but you could ask." I didn't say anything and the Doctor spoke with quiet affection. "Never even occurred to you, did it?"

"Even if it did," I said, "I would never ask you Doctor. Even though I'm terrified, paranoid, and worried there is no way I would ask you. I guess you bring out the best in me." I didn't try to understand the look that passed over the Doctor's face as he looked at me. The smile he was giving me meant more than anything and I didn't want to cause my paranoia to kick in by over thinking the smile that meant so much to me without its meaning.

The computer whirred in the background and the Doctor looked over at it, suddenly alert. "The Delta Wave's started building. How long does it need?" We both leapt to our feet and rushed over to the computers. The Doctor sat himself in one of the chairs and I leaned over his shoulder. He pressed a few buttons, staring that the monitor. I turned to look at him only to watch his face drop. "Doctor?" He didn't reply, his head sinking to his knees. "I guess that it's bad news."

The Doctor suddenly perked up. He leapt to his feet, eyes bright. "Faline Marks, you're a genius!" I gave him a smile, though I wasn't entirely sure why he was happy. He kissed me on the forehead before saying, "We can do it! If I use the TARDIS to cross my old timeline... yes!" He ran towards the TARDIS as I paused. I knew what the Doctor was doing but still I followed. The Doctor made his way over to the console and pointed to a lever, "Hold that down and keep position."

I bit my lip and asked, "What's it do?"

The Doctor was too busy looking at the computer to see my nervous tick, "Cancels the buffers. If I'm very clever – and I'm more than clever, I'm brilliant – I might just save the world. Or rip it apart…"

"Doctor," I said grabbed his arm when he moved to pass me with the hand not holding down the lever. "You should know that the only reason I'm holding down this lever is because I trust you." I gave him a weak smile, "You always seam to forget that I know what's going to happen." I dropped the lever and wrapped my arms around the Doctor. "All you had to do was tell me to get into the TARDIS so you could send me home."

The Doctor wrapped his arms around me, petting my hair. "You would have fought me."

"Damn right I would have," I told him. "But I would have listened either way. I trust you Doctor." I fisted his jacket and said, "More than anyone."

The Doctor was quiet for a long moment before saying, "Please Faline. Please, just go back to the Tylers. Stay with them."

I bit my lip ring, "I don't want to but I trust you." I pulled from him so he could see my face and said, "But I know I will see you again." I stepped away from him and said, "Now go before I start crying." The Doctor didn't say anything. He just kissed my forehead and left. Tears began to cascade down my cheeks as soon as the door close.

The TARDIS began to hum to life and I walked to the console. After a few moments a hologram of the Doctor appeared standing beside the console. "This is Emergency Program One. Faline, now listen, this is important. If this message is activated, then it can only mean one thing." I openly sobbed. "We must be in danger. And I mean fatal. I'm dead or about to die any second with no change of escape. And that's okay. Hope it's a good death. But I promised to look after you, and that's what I'm doing. The TARDIS is taking you home. And I bet you're fussing and moaning now – typical. But hold on and just listen a bit more. The TARDIS can never return for me. Emergency Program One means I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine. So this is what you should do: let the TARDIS die."

I slowly pet the console and said to the TARDIS, "I swear I wont let that happen."

The Doctor continued, the hologram not stopping when I spoke, "Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open it; no one will even notice it. Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years, the world will move on and the box will be buried. And if you want to remember me, then you can do one thing. That's all. One thing." He turned to face me, his eyes full of compassion as though the hologram knew I was there, and I wouldn't put it past him to have something like that on the TARDIS. The Doctor's voice was less distorted, "Have a good life. Do that for me, Faline. Have a fantastic life." The hologram Doctor flickered before fading altogether.

I sobbed and whispered, "I hate that I can't hate you Doctor." The TARDIS, seaming to hear me, slowly came to a stop. Her engines died down and grinded to a halt. I, however, didn't leave the TARDIS. I looked down at the controls and whispered, "Please. Open up the vent." I tapped said vent with my foot. "Please. I can save him, you, Jack." I sat down onto the vent, pulling my knees to my chest and crying into them.

Five minutes into my crying there was a knock at the TARDIS doors, I could hear Rose and Mickey calling out to me and calling out Jack and the Doctor's names thinking they were with me. After a few moments of my crying the doors opened. Mickey and Rose came in with smiles on their faces, however upon seeing me crying Rose's smile vanished. Mickey however, didn't seam to notice and talked as though nothing were wrong. "I knew it! I was all the way down Clifton's Parade, and I heard the engines and I thought 'there's only one thing that makes a noise like that'." He noticed then that Rose had rushed towards me and held me in her arms. "What is it?" he asked, joining Rose on my other side.

"He sent me home," I cried. "He sent me here so I wouldn't die."

"Come on," Rose said softly as she stood, helping me to my feet. Mickey stood off to the side, not sure what he should be doing. "Let's get you out of here."

I tugged my arm from Rose's grip. "I can't leave. I have to help the Doctor." I turned back to the control panel. "You two can just leave. You don't need to be here."

There was silence for a long moment before I heard Mickey say something that completely contradicted his character, "What can we do to help you get your Doctor back?" I turned to him with a smile.

I smiled, "All the TARDIS needs to do is get me back to the Doctor."

Mickey frowned, "And how can it do that?"

"SHE is telepathic." I ran my fingers over the control panel. "The TARDIS knows what I want, she just cant help me, not directly." I pointed to the grate I tried to open before. "But if we get this opened I can communicate with her, through her heart."

"Faline," Rose said softly. I turned to the blonde, "If you go back you'll die."

I smiled at her, "I wont. Rose, Mickey, I've never told you. But I'm not from this universe. I'm from another where all these events are the same except in one aspect."

"What aspect?" Mickey asked.

"Me," I said. "Everything I've done with the Doctor, Rose was supposed to do." I looked at the blonde, gaging her reaction. "I never thought I'd take your place, just come along for the ride. But when you didn't come when we offered I knew that I was going to have to do just about everything you did. While saving those that couldn't be saved before. Plus, I'm kind of glad that I took your place." I paused and looked between her and Mickey. "The Doctor, being a part of your life like he is mine, would have torn you two apart and I don't want that. I always thought that you two should be together." That was a lie; I actually thought that Mickey fit better with Martha Jones. The two of them fighting together when the Doctor said goodbye showed how well they fit, at least to me. But I wasn't going to tell them that.

"I would have never done that to Mickey," Rose said grabbed his hand.

"Now, but then? You would have." I looked at them both. "Please help me. The Doctor is the only thing left connecting me to my family. I have nothing about them, not even pictures." That was true, and I wasn't going to look them up like Rose did when I went missing because they weren't my family. "I need to the Doctor to keep myself sane."

Mickey nodded, "Let's get this thing open."

-x-x-x-

Mickey attached his Beetle car to a chain, revving the engine and slamming his foot on the gas pedal, trying to get it to go. The other end of the chain was attached to the vent grate by the TARDIS console, "FASTER!" I screamed at him, only to have it echoed by Rose who was outside to relay the messages to her boyfriend. The chain grew taunt as Mickey followed my orders, slamming his foot harder on the pedal. I glanced outside to see steam billow from underneath his car. I kind of felt bad about it but the Doctor's life is worth more than Mickey's car. I sucked on my lip ring, "Come on. Please work," I said softly. The chain suddenly snapped and I yelped in pain as one of the chain links hit me in calf. "DAMN IT!" I screamed. I leaned over the console and whispered, "Please. Let me save the Doctor. Let me keep you from dying. Without him neither of us are anything. Just please. Please."

-x-x-x-

I sat against the console in the TARDIS. Jackie had come to see me not too long ago, trying to convince me to give up the Doctor. I had snapped at her and said, 'If you were going through the same thing. If you could stop your husband from dying, there's no way in fucking hell that you would stop'. By me saying that Rose then told her mother that we had taken the blonde on a trip into the past and that she had been there when her father died. The Tyler woman had run from the TARDIS in tears, not wanting to believe her daughter. Rose left me not long after that, needing some time alone before she faced her mother again.

I frowned and crawled over to the vent, and began to try and pry it open. It was then that I was glad that I kept my fingernails insanely short because I was almost sure that I would have broken them.

"Faline!" I heard someone yell. There were loud footsteps and a pair of hands ripped mine from the vent. I looked up to see Mickey staring at me with wide eyes. "What the hell?" he demanded.

I frowned, "What?" My voice was scratchy making me realize that while I tried to pry the vent cover off I had been crying.

"Your hands!" he said. I looked down to my hands to see that my fingers and palms were covered in the beginning on black and blues and bleeding cuts, those only on my palms, from the vent pinching my skin. "Come on," Mickey said, his voice calmer. "I have a first aid in my car." I stood and followed him. I stared at the doors of the TARDIS as Mickey retrieved the elusive first aid kit from his dirty car. Mickey wrapped my palms in clean wrappings from inside the kit, that I'm sure was a few years too old for use of anything but the wrappings and Band-Aids.

"What happened?" Rose asked rushed up to the two of us.

"She tried to open it with her hands," Mickey explained as he dropped my right hand to work on my left.

"Faline!" Rose said shocked.

I kept my eyes on the TARDIS and said, "There had to be something we can do."

Rose sighed and leaned against Mickey's car. "Maybe my mum was right … maybe we should just lock the door and walk away."

Mickey turned to her, "I'm not having that. I'm not having you just—just give up now. No way. We just need something stronger than my car … something bigger … something like that!"

The three of us turned as we heard the roar of an engine. We saw a huge recovery truck drive around the corner, driven by none other than Jackie Tyler. For the first time since I saw the Doctor I smiled. The truck came to a halt and Jackie climbed out before making her way over to us. "Right. You've only got this until six o' clock, so get on with it."

Rose was the first to recover from the shock the tree of us were under, "Mum, where the hell did you get that from?"

Jackie smiled, "Rodrigo. He owes me a favor. Never mind why, but Rose, you were right about your dad. He was full of mad ideas, and this is exactly what he would've done." Jackie then turned to me. "Faline, your right. I would have done anything to keep Pete from dying. That's why I'm helping you." The Tyler woman came forward and kissed my forehead. "He would've liked you. Willing to do anything for those you care about." She wiped away tears as they fell from my cheeks. "I'm doing this because your Rose's best friend. Because your like my second daughter even though I don't know you well enough. Now, get on with it before I change my mind." Jackie chucked the keys to Mickey, who caught them with a nod of thanks and hurried to the door of the truck.

I kissed Jackie's cheek giving her a tight hug, "Thank you." I ran back into the TARDIS. I attached the chain back up to the vent under the console. "Get ready, this is probably gonna hurt." Jackie and Rose were by the TARDIS doors, ready to call out orders from me. The chain stretched itself almost to it's limit. "Keep going!" I yelled.

I could head Jackie tell Mickey to, "Put your foot down!"

"Faster!"

"Give it some more Mickey!"

The metal began to creak with its effort. "Keep going!"

"Come on! Come on!" the Tyler women yelled together.

The metal creaking grew louder, "Keep going!"

"Give it some more!"

There was a slight jerk as the panel flew open and a blinding while light poured out. I smiled and stepped forward to look into the light. A nonexistent breeze blew at my hair and the light flew into my eyes as two golden streams. It didn't hurt like it thought it would. It was actually close to that feeling you got when you kept your eyes closed for so long that when you opened them again it took a while for you to actually see, for all the darkness to recede.

I half heard someone cry out my name. The TARDIS door closed before I even through to get it to. I suppose that made sense the vortex was attached to me and I to it, just like with the TARDIS and the vortex. The TARDIS started up, while everything filled with light. I closed my glowing eyes, and pictured myself exiting the TARDIS on Floor 500 on Satellite Five. I opened them again, the stream that connected me to the vortex had yet to be cut. The breeze inside the TARDIS grew stronger.

The TARDIS landed and I felt the connection cut. I walked to the entrance as the doors flew open, the blinding golden light of the time vortex poured out. I watched the Doctor, my heart beating faster, as he stumbled backwards, falling to the ground. "What've you done?" he asked me, clearly terrified at what I had done.

I spoke, my voice sounding like I had an echo. "I looked into the TARDIS, and she looked into me."

"You looked into the Time Vortex," I nodded. I knew this. "Faline, no one's meant to see that."

"THIS IS THE ABOMINATION!" the Dalek Emperor cried.

"EXTERMINATE!" A Dalek fired at me. I turned to it, holding up my hand. The ray froze before reversing back into the gun it came from.

I tilted my head, well that was new. I turned back to the Doctor and spoke to him, "I am Bad Wolf. I will create myself. I take the words…" I waved my hand at the words 'BAD WOLF' written high on the wall. "I scatter them in time and space." The words 'Bad Wolf' rose from the wall and floated away. "A message to lead myself here, and to lead you where you need to be."

"Faline," the Doctor said, "you've got to stop this. You've got to stop this now." I turned from him slowly. But I didn't want to stop, why didn't I want to stop? "You've got the entire vortex running through your head. You're gonna burn."

I snapped my head to the Doctor, "I want you safe," I told him as tears began to slip down my cheeks. "My Doctor. Protected from the false God."

"YOU CANNOT HURT ME. I AM IMMORTAL." Emperor Dalek growled.

"You are tiny. I can see the whole of time and space. Ever single atom of your pathtic little existence," I glared, "and I divide them." I rose my hand. The Daleks, one by one, began to separate into golden, liquid-like particles. "Everything must come to dust… all things." Immediately my mind went to 'Impossible Astronaut'. The burning body over Lake Silencio, Utah. "Everything dies. The Time War ends."

I felt as every Dalek turned to dust, it didn't hurt. It felt like thousands of tingles covered my body. The Doctor slowly approached my saying, "Faline, you've done it. Now stop. Just let go."

I tilted my head and asked, "How can I let go? I can bring life…" In the back of my mind I watched as a dead Jack suddenly took a huge intake of breath, his eyes snapping open. The beginning of Jack's never ending life. I was done. I had done all I wanted to do, save the Doctor and bring Jack back to life. But what do I do now?

I heard the terror in his voice as the Doctor said, "But this is wrong! You can't control life and death!"

I tilted my head. I didn't understand why he was saying that when I could do that. "But I can. The sun and the moon… the day and night…" I sucked on my lip ring. Doctor, why can't I stop? "Why does it hurt?"

"The power's gonna kill you and it's my fault," he lowered his head.

Tears fell as I whispered, "It's not." I wrapped my arms around the Doctor, the pressure and pounding in my head growing. "I knew. I know. So much about you. About this. I chose this Doctor. It's not your fault. I want you safe Doctor." I paused before saying, not entirely in control of my words, "My Doctor."

The Doctor chuckled softly and said to me, "That's what I see. All the time. And doesn't it drive you mad?"

I hiccupped a sob and cried, "My head… it's killing me…"

The Doctor pulled away from me, taking my hands, "I think you need a Doctor."

"My Doctor?" I asked softly. My heart thundered in my chest, as though it were going to burst.

The Doctor gave me a soft smile, nodding his head. "Your Doctor." We stared into one another's eyes for a long moment. He then gently, carefully, leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. I willed myself to keep this moment, this kiss. Because even though I was sure he was just doing it to save my life, it meant the world to me. I felt the pressure and pain in my head slowly go away as the Time Vortex flew from my eyes into the Doctor's. We parted slowly and gazed at one another for a few more moments. I wanted to kiss him again. If he didn't like that from me, which of course he wouldn't because I was just some stupid human that got stuck in his world, then I could blame it on my headache. I leaned forward and gave the Doctor another kiss, the slight move forward draining me of my energy. I pulled back again, looking at the Doctor before my eyes rolled back and I fell into darkness.

-x-x-x-

I slowly opened my eyes. My head was pounding and my heart was throbbing. No wait … head was throbbing and heart was pounding. There that was better. I lifted myself from the floor by the console. I held my head as I asked, "What happened?"

The Doctor turned to me, clearly mildly surprised, "Don't you remember?"

I bit my lip. "Depends. Did I just take on the Time Vortex, kill a shitload of Daleks, almost go mad with power, almost die, kiss you, twice," I smiled at that one. "Have you take the vortex energy from me, and then have you carry me here?"

The Doctor nodded, "Yes."

"Okay, then I remember everything," I told him getting up.

I noticed the Doctor watching me. I tilted my head in confusion and he smiled, "Faline Marks." He gave a small laugh. "I was gonna take you to so many places. Barcelona – not the city Barcelona, the planet. You'd love it. Fantastic place – they've got dogs with no noses." He laughed at his own joke and I joined in. "Imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke, and it's still funny!"

"Then why do you make it seam like we … cant … go …" I hit me. The Doctor was regenerating. And it was my fault he was forced to change. Forced to be someone new, going through the process for the tenth time.

"Maybe you will," the Doctor said. "And maybe I will. But not like this."

I walked to the Doctor and wrapped my arms around him. "I'm so sorry Doctor. I don't want you to regenerate. God, its my fault."

"No its not Faline," he told me. "Its not your fault. I promise." I felt him kiss the top of my head. "I promised you I'd take care of you. I wouldn't be doing a very good job if you died on me when I could save you."

"Doctor," I said softly.

"Hmm?"

"Are you mad at me?" I asked.

"No, I'm not mad that I'm regenerating," he told me. "Don't worry about tha-"

"No," I shook my head and pulled away from him. "That I kissed you?" What the hell just came out my damn mouth? Why did I ask him that? I wanted to know of course, but I don't want the last thing the Ninth Doctor to tell me to be that he hated the kiss. That I was a horrible person and that I should crawl under a rock and die. Okay, so maybe the last part was how I would be feeling.

The Doctor grabbed my face and pulled it forward. He pecked my forehead and then kissed my lips. The Doctor pulled back, smirking at the shocked look that spread across my stupid face. "No. I'm not mad."

The Doctor was suddenly propelled backward with a blast of golden light. He clutched his stomach as though he had been punched. "Doctor!" I cried. I flinched toward him but knew that I shouldn't touch him.

"Stay away!" he cried, wincing in pain. The Doctor tried to keep his voice light through the pain as he spoke, "I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex, and no one's meant to do that!" He screwed up his eyes in pain. "Every cell in my body's dying." He locked eyes with me and said, "I'm not gonna see you again. Not like this. Not with this daft old face." He laughed, clearly not wanting to scare me. But he was too late, I was already terrified for him. "And before I go…"

"Don't say that," I pleaded. "You aren't leaving, not really."

"Faline…" I bit my lip, letting the Doctor say what he had to say. "Before I go, I just wanna tell you, you were fantastic." He smiled at me. "Absolutely fantastic. And d'you know what?" I shook my head. "So was I." I smiled nodding.

The Doctor smiled widely back at me for the last few moments before he suddenly convulsed. Orange energy exploded from his skin, blasting out of the neck of his sweater, the sleeves of his jacket, and the bottoms of his pants. I had to shield my eyes from the bright light, nothing like the Time Vortex. Yet, at the same time I couldn't look away. I watched as the Doctor's hair lengthened and face changed. The energy died away and before me stood a new man, a new Doctor, in the Ninth Doctor's clothes. He looked slightly surprised for a moment before turning to look at me. He smiled, "Hello! Okay—oo." He gulped and ran his tonged over his teeth with his brow furrowed. "New teeth. That's weird." I gave him a weak smile. This was still my Doctor, he had a new face and a few new quirks but he was still the same Time Lord. "So, where was I? Oh, that's right! First!" The Doctor, Ten, leaned forward and kissed me. This kiss was much different then the one I had shared with Nine but I wasn't complaining. The Doctor pulled back and said, "And Now! Barcelona."

END

A/N: The Doctor and Faline will be back in 'A Time Lord's Hearts'. 'A Time Lord's Hearts' will not be up until the first Friday of January. I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday no matter what you celebrate!