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legends-of-time · 10 months ago

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Thorn Bush (Doctor Who Story)

Chapter 9: The Day of the Doctor Part One

Masterlist

A/N: While this chapter is predominantly The Day of the Doctor episode, it will be covering part of The Power of Three 7x04 at the beginning.

——

Kathy keeps busy over the next century.

From messing about in the War of the roses to the renaissance era in Florence and meeting the Medici family in the late 15th to early 16th centuries as well as travelling to meet the Aztecs, who end up trying to sacrifice her when she mentions her on her life span. Thankfully she was able to get herself out of that situation.

——

1537 AD/CE

Kathy follows the chaos of Amy, Rory and the Eleventh Doctor as they flee the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court and into the Duke of Suffolk's bedroom.

Take a guess at what happened.

Kathy had been spending the last 11 years living in the Tudor court in England because how could she not? Plus, that date was the beginning of King Henry and Anne Boleyn's explosive relationship. She had been obsessed with the Tudor dynasty for years so of course, now she has the chance, she's going to try and meet them.

She had arrived at the English court at Hampton Palace, which was where they were currently stationed at the time, and introduced herself as a wealthy but widowed English woman known as Lady Joan Davazat from Venice, Italy and needing shelter and support from King Henry VIII and his then wife Catherine of Aragon. Kathy was given a position among the Queen's ladies and that is when she met Anne Boleyn. Now Kathy didn't exactly plan this but she may have gotten a bit closer to Anne than she meant to. She really didn't intend to be involved in an affair but things happen.

The King's next wedding, to Jane Seymour, was going well until someone, as the vows were being spoken, says "yes". It doesn't take Kathy long to realise that it was Amy and watches the three flee the room with Kathy barging through the crowd to chase after them.

Kathy gets distracted when she spots what appears to be a phone charger lying on the floor and picks it up before continuing on her quest. She sees the King ahead of her. She gets into the room as the King does. She knows that the three time travellers are under the bed. Suddenly there is a sneeze from that direction, the Doctor, and a whispered "Sorry", causing the King to pause.

"Your Majesty!" Kathy cries barging into the room. "There you are!"

"Yes Lady Joan?" The King asks irritably.

"The uh... the Queen is asking for you. I-I'm sure you can leave this mess for someone else to sort."

The King lets an irritated huff. "I suppose you are right." He leaves the room and Kathy turns to the bed.

She then dips down to face the three under the bed. "I think you dropped this." She holds up the phone charger that one of them, Rory most likely, had dropped while running.

"Kathy!" The Doctor cries happily.

Kathy rolls her eyes. "Come on we need to get you guys out."

Rory reaches out to take the phone charge from her hand. "Um... thanks that was mine."

"You should know better than to leave things like this around, you know." Kathy admonishes. "Why are you carrying it around in the 16th century anyway?" Kathy grabs a candle and guides them down the corridors that are out of view of the public.

"I thought I might need it." Rory defends.

His wife lets out a huff. "Yeah right."

"When was the last time you saw us?" The Doctor asks.

"Those two," Kathy points at the two humans, "when we left them on their honeymoon," she points at the Time Lord, "you I last saw was that thing with the Shansheeth."

"Oh, so you haven't been—"

Kathy rolls her eyes. "Spoilers!" She knows that these three are during season 7, nearing the end of Amy and Rory's time on the TARDIS and Kathy wonders what happened to her during their adventures.

"Right."

"Why here?" Amy asks later on.

"You are talking to the girl who, as a history nerd, was and is obsessed with the Tudors. Of course I'm here!" Kathy retorts.

"She's got a point." Rory tells his wife.

"Thank you, Rory." Kathy says. "Ah, the TARDIS should be down here if you've remembered rightly where you put her."

"When am I ever wrong?!" The Doctor whines. The other three just stare at him. He huffs and they continue.

It's only a few more moments before they find the TARDIS and with a quick goodbye, they leave and Kathy turns back to sorting out the mess left behind though she's planning on leaving soon anyway.

——

1562 AD/CE

Kathy sits on a hilltop on a chilly English day. The sound of the flag flapping in the wind behind her as she folds the skirts of her Tudor style dress. A large blanket and pillow get up with goblets of drinks, fruits, cheeses, and other such things are next to where she currently sits.

She glances over when hearing the galloping of a horse's feet going across the grass. Coming up the hill was the Tenth Docotor and Queen Elizabeth I, riding on a white horse and laughing together. Kathy raises an eyebrow at the two. She knows the Doctor is investigating the signs of Zygons present in this time period as he had asked her to help and she is in the area so she thought why not, but he seems to be enjoying himself a little too much. The Doctor's way of avoiding things as it is near the end of his run. It is weird seeing Ten again as she has not had much experience with him, not since the first time she met him.

She had left the Tudor court in 1537 and did not return until the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign in 1558. This is so no one is none the wiser over her not ageing and Elizabeth does not know as she had been young when Kathy had last been at court.

Kathy stands up, going over to the horse as they ride up to the hilltop. She smiles lightly at them, finding their laughter funny. It is nice seeing the Doctor enjoy himself so much. Even if it is with a suspected alien invading Zygon. Though it is funny to watch him being uncomfortable and fidgety as when he was forced to stand for a painting with Elizabeth. He had pouted and itched at the outfit Queen Elizabeth had practically ordered him to wear the whole time.

"Enjoy the TARDIS, your Majesty?" Kathy asks Elizabeth politely as they approach, holding out a hand to help the Queen down from the white horse.

"Oh, it was splendid!" Elizabeth laughs merrily once she has hopped down, smiling at Kathy gracefully as she adjusts her golden dress from all the horse riding. The ginger Queen then smiles slyly at the Doctor as he hops down from the horse. "That, and other things." The Doctor glances at Kathy when seeing her raise an interested brow at him. He clears his throat nervously.

"Uh... picnic time!" The Doctor suddenly exclaims, dashing over to the food.

——

Kathy sits awkwardly to the side as the Doctor spreads himself over the blanket, leaning against the cushions with the Queen slumped across his lap. She seriously feels like she's third wheeling. It's more Elizabeth that's been making her feel like this and not the Doctor though. Kathy keeps herself happy by stuffing her face with the food.

"Tell me, Doctor, why I'm wasting my time on you. I have wars to plan." Elizabeth says.

"You have a picnic to eat." The Doctor replies. "Though Kathy is eating most of it."

"Shut up." Kathy quips and stuffs a few more grapes into her mouth. She watches the horse from the corner of her eye, knowing that the creature is the real Zygon.

"You could help me." Elizabeth replies to the Doctor's statement after a quick laugh.

"Well, I'm helping you eat the picnic." The Doctor feeds her a grape. Kathy wrinkles her face at the adoring gaze on the Queen of England's face.

"But you have a stomach for war. This face has seen conflict, it's as clear as day." Elizabeth strokes his face.

"Oh, I've seen conflict like you wouldn't believe. But it wasn't this face. But never mind that, your Majesty." The Doctor leaps up. "Up on your feet. Up, up."

"Christ." Kathy mutters, she knows where this is going.

"How dare you? I'm the Queen of England." Elizabeth exclaims in disbelief.

"I'm not English."

"Funny cause you sound it." Kathy retorts as the Doctor drops to his knees.

"Sssh!" The Doctor hisses before turning to the royal. "Elizabeth, will you marry me?"

"Oh, my dear sweet love. Of course I will." Elizabeth replies happily.

"Oh Lord." Kathy hopes she is there when the fallout happens when he's with Martha and Shakespeare.

"Ah, gotcha!" The Doctor yells triumphantly, leaping to his feet again before she has the chance to grab him for another kiss.

"My love?" Elizabeth asks. She turns to Kathy in confusion but Kathy just shakes her head. She's really not explaining this one.

The Doctor ignores this. "One, the real Elizabeth would never have accepted my marriage proposal. Two, the real Elizabeth would notice when I just casually mentioned having a different face. But then the real Elizabeth isn't a shape-shifting alien from outer space. And," he holds out a clockwork gizmo, "ding."

"What's that?" Elizabeth questions now more bewildered.

"It's a machine that goes ding." The Doctor replies. "Made it myself. Lights up in the presence of shape-shifter DNA." He pulls out a very long, metal antenna from it. "Oooh. Also, it can microwave frozen dinners from up to twenty feet and download comics from the future. I never know when to stop."

"No, you don't." Kathy winces.

"My love, I do not understand." The Queen utters desperately.

"He's being an idiot, your Majesty." Kathy remarks.

The Doctor looks at her confused. "Why are you still calling her that? She's a Zygon, she doesn't need an explanation!"

"No, she isn't." Kathy replies. "My hint was that it isn't who you think."

"A Zygon?" Elizabeth questions, bringing their attention back to her.

"Oh, stop it. It's over." The Doctor shoves the gizmo into his pocket. "A Zygon, yes. Big red rubbery thing covered in suckers. Surprisingly good kisser. Think the real Queen of England would just decide to share her throne with any old handsome bloke in a tight suit," Kathy doesn't like the look on Elizabeth's face at that comment, "just cos he's got amazing hair and a nice horse? Oh." No more white horse. Instead, there's the Zygon. "It was the horse. I'm going to be King."

"Told you so. Run!" Kathy cries and the three of them bolt.

"What's happening?" Elizabeth cries.

"Zygomatic, shapeshifter, big suckers, angry alien from outer space, wants to kill us." Kathy replies.

"What does that mean?"

"It means we're going to need a new horse." The Doctor replies. They run into a ruined building, hiding behind the arched walls of what is left. The Doctor and Kathy on one side and Elizabeth on the other. They hold their breaths as the shapeshifter wonders about and then goes off into the woods instead.

"Where's it going?" Elizabeth asks fearfully.

"I'll hold it off. You run. Your people need you." The Doctor urges.

"And I need you alive for our wedding day." Elizabeth kisses him though it doesn't look like a comfortable feeling for the Doctor, then runs.

Kathy slow claps causing him to turn to her. "Great work Doctor. Not one for preserving history, are you?"

"Shut up." The Doctor mumbles and wipes his mouth. "Right, you go one way, I go another. That should corner it."

Kathy rolls her eyes and lets out a snort. "Yeah, cause splitting up always works.

"Just do it!"

——

Kathy runs through the woods and eventually finds Ten talking to a lop-eared rabbit.

"I am the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness, and..."

"An idiot as that's just a rabbit." Kathy calls causing him to look at her. "You're really bad at this."

"No, I'm not and I knew that! Just a general warning." The Doctor defends. "Though maybe I should have calibrated this with a few less side features." He whacks the device.

"Whatever." Kathy picks the rabbit up. "Oh, you're a lovely one, aren't you? Yes you are!"

"Kathy put the rabbit down."

Kathy clings to the rabbit. "No! I can't leave Franklin!"

"Franklin?" The Doctor echoes disbelievingly.

"Yep!"

"Doctor!" Elizabeth yells.

"And now let's save another Queen." Kathy mutters. They bolt and run to the noise.

"Elizabeth!" They find her lying on the ground in a clearing and the Doctor helps her up.

"That thing. Explain what it is. What does it want of us?" The Queen questions.

"Probably just your planet, your Majesty." Kathy tells her.

"Doctor." A voice calls. They turn to see another Elizabeth emerge from the woods.

"Jesus." Kathy mumbles, rubbing her forehead.

"Step away from her, Doctor. That's not me. That's the creature." Elizabeth 2 declares confidently.

"How is that possible? She's me." Elizabeth gasps looking astonished at what's in front of her. "Doctor, she's me!"

"I am indeed me. A compliment that cannot be extended to yourself." Elizabeth two remarks.

The Doctor tries to use his gizmo by extending the antenna and waving it around the two women. The thing merely whirled, just as bewildered. All the while the two Elizabeths circle one another, throwing retorts at each other. A time fissure then appears in the air.

"Finally!" Kathy exclaims.

"Back, all of you, now!" The Doctor tries to get the three women behind him but Kathy doesn't and steps forward as she knows what's going to happen and therefore doesn't worry. "Are you ever going to listen?"

"Nope!"

"Kathy that's a time fissure!" The Doctor contends. "A tear in the fabric of reality. Anything could happen!" A red fez drops out of it.

"A fez!!" Kathy cries happily and shoves it on her head. She honestly feels as if all her life goals have been completed. She makes sure there's a distance between her and the fissure so that the Eleventh Doctor doesn't land on her.

A cry of "Geronimo!" is heard and then Eleven flies through the fissure and lands face first, flat on the ground. "Oof!" Eleven then lifts himself back to his feet and blinks as if adjusting his eyesight for a moment before grinning. "Hello!"

"Hi!" Kathy waves.

"Who is this man?" Elizabeth one demands to know.

"That's just what I was wondering." Ten mutters.

Eleven observes his past self. "Oh, that is skinny. That is proper skinny," he looks his past self up and down. "I've never seen it from the outside. It's like a special effect." He looks down at his own body as if to do a comparison then charges toward Ten. "Ha! Matchstick man."

The two stare at each other. "You're not." Ten mutters.

They both get out their sonic screwdrivers, ready to do another comparison. Each held them in hand, making the devices pulse. Eleven flicked his out, extending it to full size. Ten frowns for a moment, sliding his up all the way. Eleven's is bigger and better.

"I wonder if I should whip mine out." Kathy mutters to the Elizabeths, who both give her a look of disgust.

"Compensating?" Ten remarks sarcastically.

"For what?"

"Regeneration. It's a lottery." Ten replies slickly, trying not to show his smirk.

Eleven takes offence. "Oh, he's cool. Isn't he cool?" The Doctors flip their sonics and put them back in their pockets. "I'm the Doctor and I'm all cool. Oops, I'm wearing sandshoes."

"Sandshoes?" Kathy had to laugh at that. "Is that really the best you can come up with?"

"Shut up."

"What are you doing here? I'm busy." Ten points behind him to the Elizabeths.

"Oh, busy. I see. Is that what we're calling it, eh? Eh?" The Doctor grabs the fez from Kathy's head, causing her to pout, puts it on his head and turns to the two Elizabeths. "Hello, ladies."

"Don't start." Ten grumbles at his future self.

"Listen, what you get up to in the privacy of your own regeneration is your business." Eleven remarks.

"One of them is a Zygon." Ten explains.

"Urgh. Kathy how could you allow this to happen?" Eleven accuses.

"Oi! Don't blame me! I tried to stop him!" Kathy defends.

The time fissure reappears and the three time travellers turn their full attention towards it as it swirls in the air. The two Doctors frown at it while Kathy just observes it as she knows she doesn't need to do anything right now. They both put on their glasses, then notice each other and go "Oh, lovely!" at each other. Kathy gives Franklin, who's still in her arms, a rub on the head.

"Your Majesties... probably a good time to run." Eleven suggests as he turns to them, placing his glasses in his inner pocket.

"But what about the creature?" Both ask in perfect sync.

Ten puts his own glasses away and turns to them. "Elizabeth, whichever one of you is the real one, turn and run in the opposite direction to the other one." Eleven mimics that with his hands.

"Of course, my love." Both say.

The first Elizabeth steps forward. "Stay alive, my love. I am not done with you yet." She pulls Ten down for a hard kiss. Once done, she takes off to their left. Kathy pulls a face at the scene.

"Thanks. Lovely." Ten mutters.

The next one comes up. "I understand. Live for me, my darling. We shall be together again." There's another kiss and a run to the right.

"Well, won't that be nice?" Ten grimaces.

"One of those was a Zygon and the other the Queen of England from 1562." Kathy remarks.

"You forgot the that a Zygon is a red rubbery thing covered in suckers." Eleven points out.

Kathy looks at him with a deadly straight face. "Oh yes, I forgot. I should also mention the venom sacs in the tongue."

"Yeah, I'm getting the point, thank you." Ten snaps irritably while the two next to him grin. "Kathy please put down that rabbit."

Kathy looks at him aghast. "He's not just a rabbit! This is Franklin!" Ten rolls his eyes while Eleven nods in approval.

Kathy then remembers that Clara and Kate Stewart are currently on the other side of the fisher. She turns away from the two Doctors and yells, "Hi Clara!"

"Kathy, is that you?" Comes Clara's voice.

"Ah, hello, Clara. Can you hear us?" Eleven asks.

"Yeah, it's me. We can hear you. Where are you? And how is Kathy there?" Clara calls.

"Where are we?" Eleven asks Ten.

"England, 1562." Ten calls.

"Who are you talking to?" Clara asks.

"Myself." The Doctors say in unison before grinning at each other.

"Can you come back through?" Kate asks.

"No, that'll be difficult but we do need to let them know we're here and ready for them." Kathy grabs the fez from Eleven's head, after having reluctantly put down Franklin to let him chew on the grass, and throws it into the fisher. "There that should do it."

"Who were you signalling?" Ten asks curiously.

"Was it Clara?" Eleven asks.

"Nothing here." Clara calls.

Kathy shakes her head. "No someone else but don't worry you'll see soon. Trust me."

Ten turns to his future self. "Okay, you used to be me, you've done all this before. What happens next?"

Eleven shakes his head. "I don't remember. Kathy?"

"Spoilers!"

"How can you forget this?" Ten gestures between them.

"Maybe it's the paradoxes at work?" Kathy suggests.

"Yeah!" Eleven violently points at Kathy. "And also, it's not my fault. You're obviously not paying enough attention. Reverse the polarity!"

They both aim their sonic screwdrivers at the fissure. Kathy doesn't bother to bring hers out as there'd be no point.

After a moment of nothing, Eleven leans towards Ten. "It's not working."

Ten lets go of the button in his sonic, frowning. "We're both reversing the polarity."

"Yes, I know that."

Kathy snickers as she watches before pulling herself together to speak, "There's two of you. He's reversing it, you're reversing it back again. You're confusing the polarity."

"Oh."

Suddenly the fissure makes a swooshing sound and out comes the War Doctor and in his hands is the fez that Kathy had thrown.

"Ah, hello." Kathy greets.

"Anyone lose a fez?" The War Doctor politely asks but Kathy can see he's curious as well. Her eyes flickering around him, wondering if the interface for the moment is nearby.

"Yes, thank you." Kathy cheerfully takes it from him and puts it on her head. She turns to the other two Doctors. She frowns when she realises Franklin had hopped off. Rude.

The two Doctors stare at their previous self with a mixture of awe and disbelief with their jaws slack and eyes wide but Kathy can see the anger growing. This is a man that the two of them have tried to forget.

"You." Ten breathes. His tone changes as his teeth grit together. "How can you be here? More to the point, why are you here?"

"Good afternoon. I'm looking for the Doctor." The youngest, which is funny as he physically appears the oldest, Doctor says politely. Kathy snorts while the two older Doctors glance at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Well, you've certainly come to the right place." Ten mutters.

"Good. Right. Well, who are you boys?" The War Doctor asks curiously. "Oh, of course. Are you his companions?" Kathy barks out a laugh at the looks on Ten and Eleven's faces.

"His companions?" Eleven mutters in disbelief.

"They get younger all the time. Well, if you could point me in the general direction of the Doctor." Ten and Eleven both demonstrate their sonic screwdrivers.

"Really?" The newcomer utters in surprise.

"Yeah."

"Really."

The War Doctor looks at Kathy. "Who's she?"

"Oh, I'm Kathy." She replies. "And these two next to me are you."

"Even that one?" The man gestures to Eleven.

"Yes!" Eleven exclaims offended.

"You're my future selves?"

"Yes!" The three in front of him cry.

"Am I having a midlife crisis?" He steps forward, but his future selves stumble back and pull out their sonics, pointing them at him so he doesn't move any further, and shove Kathy behind them. Kathy shakes her head at them but in a way she can't blame them, not with what they believe. "Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that? They're scientific instruments, not water pistols. Look like you've seen a ghost."

"Still, loving the posh gravelly thing. It's very convincing." Ten mumbles snidely.

"Brave words, Dick van Dyke." Eleven scoffs. A troop of soldiers run up from out of the woods shouting and clanking, led by a nobleman and surround them.

"Encircle them." The nobleman orders as the soldiers lower their pokes and swords at the group of four, forcing the two Doctors to lift their sonics once more in a defensive manoeuvre with Kathy pressed between them. "Which of you is the Doctor? The Queen of England is bewitched. I would have the Doctor's head."

"Well, this has all the makings of your lucky day." The War Doctor remarks.

"There's a precedent for that." Comes Kate's voice from the time fissure which still swirled above their heads. All the humans stare in shock and horror at the sight of it.

"What is that?" The nobleman asks fearfully.

The War Doctor glances back and sees what his future selves are doing and scoffs, "Oh, the pointing again. They're screwdrivers! What are you going to do, assemble a cabinet at them?"

"You heard the man." Kathy pipes up. "Put them down." Eleven and Ten glance at each other before reluctantly lowering their arms and slipping their sonics away.

"That thing, what witchcraft is it?" The man in charge of the Queen's men demands.

"Ah, yes. Now that you mention it." Eleven speaks rapidly, stepping away from the group, which Kathy takes as her chance to follow him, "that is witchcraft. Yes, yes, yes. Witchy witchcraft. Hello? Hello in there. Excuse me. Hello! Am I talking to the wicked witch of the well? Clara?"

"Hello?" Clara calls after some muttering.

"Ah, Clara there you are." Kathy remarks, having walked over. "Could you possibly tell these prattling mortals to get themselves begone?"

"What she said."

"Yes, tiny bit more colour." Eleven prompts.

"Right. Prattling mortals, off you... pop, or I'll turn you all into frogs," comes Clara's voice. The armed men flinch and take a step back, now seeming fearful as to them the weak threat feels very real.

"Oooh, frogs. Nice." Eleven mutters, turning to the men around them and pointing at them. "You heard her." Kathy nods with a completely straight face but on the inside, she's laughing at the whole situation.

"Doctor, what's going on?" Clara asks.

"It's a timey-wimey thing." Eleven answers offhandedly.

The War Doctor looks at his future self in disbelief, as if Eleven had lost his marbles. "Timey what? Timey-wimey?"

"I've no idea where he picks that stuff up." Ten tries to deflect with a shake of his head as if disapproving as well.

Kathy snorts. "You know full well where he got it."

"The Queen." A soldier cries and Kathy sees Elizabeth enter calmly as if she had just been on a walkabout. "The Queen." The soldiers fall to their knees, bowing while the time travellers continue standing. Kathy notices the odd behaviour, the smirk on the woman's face, but she knows that there's nothing to worry about as it's the real one and not a Zygon.

"You don't seem to be kneeling. How tremendously brave of you." Elizabeth remarks coolly.

"Which one are you?" Ten narrows his eyes as if trying to determine it. "What happened to the other one?"

The Queen smirks darkly. "Indisposed. Long live the Queen." She grins as the soldiers echo her words.

"Arrest these men and that woman." Elizabeth eyes Kathy in distaste, "Take them to the Tower."

"That is not the Queen of England." Ten declares, jabbing a harsh finger at Elizabeth, "that's an alien duplicate."

"And you can take it from him, cos he's really checked." Eleven mutters.

"Oh, shut up."

"Venom sacs in the tongue." Kathy adds.

"Seriously, stop it." Ten grumbles. Eleven and Kathy smirk and give each other an under-hand high five.

"No, hang on." Eleven calls, his eyes widening as he realises what Elizabeth had said and steps forward with a grin and immediately starts flapping his hands about as he speaks. "The Tower. Did you say the Tower? Ah, yes, brilliant. Love the Tower. Breakfast at eight, please. Will there be Wi-Fi?"

"Are you capable of speaking without flapping your hands about?" The youngest of the Doctors asks gruffly, probably still feeling baffled that he would become this.

"Yes."

"No." Kathy says easily, smiling slyly at him.

Eleven then proceeds to continue to flail his arms around as he speaks, spinning around to Elizabeth, "I demand to be incarcerated in the Tower immediately with my co-conspirators Jesus, Sandshoes and Granddad."

"Granddad?" The War Doctor exclaims, looking put out.

"Jesus?" Kathy murmurs to herself.

"They're not sandshoes." Ten sighs.

"Yes, they are." The youngest retorts.

"Silence. The Tower is not to be taken lightly." Elizabeth barks crossly, appearing annoyed that they all were not threatened in the slightest. "Very few emerge again."

——

"Come on, you lot, get in there." The Warder orders as he shoves the four of them into the cell.

"Ow." The War Doctor complains, straightening himself and tugging on his jacket.

The Warder leaves, shutting the door behind him though Kathy knows it hasn't been locked. Kathy, the only one that hadn't been manhandled, looks around the floor for a piece of a metal bar, finds it and hands it to Eleven, who starts scratching on a stone pillar. The War Doctor starts using his sonic screwdriver on the wooden door. Ten leans up against a wall with his hands in his pockets.

"Three of us in one cell? That's going to cause some nasty anomalies if we don't get out soon." Ten comments, he turns to his future self. "What are you doing?"

"Getting us out."

"The sonic won't work on that, it's too primitive." Ten calls to the War Doctor.

"In other words, it doesn't work on wood." Kathy smirks.

"Shall we ask for a better quality of door so we can escape?" Eleven tries to joke. He continues scratching.

"Okay," Ten shakes his head, "so the Queen of England is now a Zygon. But never mind that. Why are we all together? Why are we all here? Well, me and... Chinny," he waves a hand at Eleven, "we were surprised, but you," his eyes narrow, "you came looking for us. Kathy already knew, obviously, but you knew it was going to happen. Who told you?"

Kathy knows that the Moment Rose is holding a finger to her lips

Eleven saves his youngest self from answering when he realises what Ten had just called him, "Oi, Chinny?"

"Yeah, you do have a chin."

"Remember that you're the leggy one." Kathy warns Ten with a smile on her face. The man lets out a huff of annoyance. Eleven is still scratching his message.

The War Doctor is still scanning to get them out and while Kathy knows that it isn't locked and they could just leave, but the youngest Doctor needs to see this, needed to see this future.

"In theory, I can trigger an isolated sonic shift among the molecules, and the door should disintegrate." Said man says.

"We'd have to calculate the exact harmonic resonance of the entire structure down to a sub-atomic level." Ten disagrees. "Even the sonic would take years."

"No, no," the War Doctor shakes his head and lets out a long sigh, "the sonic would take centuries. Oh, we might as well get started." He sits on the bench beside the door. "Help to pass the timey-wimey. Do you have to talk like children?"

"Trust me, if you think this bad, just you wait." Kathy comments.

The War Doctor glances at them all with an odd look. "What is it that makes you so ashamed of being a grown up?" Kathy notices that while the other two Doctors had turned to look at him, both seem unable to actually hold his gaze and look away, returning to their scratching and fiddling with the sonic. "Oh, the way you both look at me. What is that? I'm trying to think of a better word than dread."

"It must be really recent for you." Ten finally manages to hold his past self's gaze for more than a few seconds. Eleven stops scratching.

The War Doctor seems confused about what he is speaking of. "Recent?"

"The Time War." Eleven clears his throat, tensing. "The last day. The day you killed them all."

Kathy feels sorrier for the War Doctor as he hadn't actually committed the atrocities that these two had believed he had done and hopefully he will not if everything continues as it should.

"The day we killed them all." Ten corrects.

Eleven winces as if having to actually remind himself that they are the same people is painful for him. "Same thing."

Elevens goes back to scratching and Ten paces while Kathy observes the third Doctor in the room. The War Doctor's expression grows harder as he hears that he did apparently kill them all. Kathy wishes she can tell him otherwise but not yet.

"I don't talk about it." The youngest Doctor suddenly says. Kathy's flicker to next to Ten and next to the War Doctor, knowing Moment Rose is in either place.

"You're not talking about it." Ten casts him an odd look. "There's no one else here other than Kathy and she either already knows or won't tell."

"Did you ever count?"

"Count what?" Eleven's voice is slightly muffled as his back is towards the rest of them.

"How many children there were on Gallifrey that day." Both men freeze in their workings. Kathy feels herself tense.

"I have absolutely no idea." Eleven remarks as if he doesn't know and the question hadn't affected him but Kathy can tell he's trying to force emotion out of his voice. She watches as Eleven resumes his scratching, putting more effort, force and concentration than is strictly needed.

The War Doctor frowns. "How old are you now?"

"Ah, I don't know. I lose track. Twelve hundred and something, I think, unless I'm lying. I can't remember if I'm lying about my age, that's how old I am." Eleven replies casually.

"Four hundred years older than me." The War Doctor muses, "and in all that time you've never even wondered how many there were? You never once counted?"

"Tell me, what would be the point?" Eleven spins round to angrily face him.

"Two point four seven billion." Ten says, contradicting his older self.

"You did count!" The War Doctor exclaims. Kathy hears a hint of an amused laugh, which makes her frown. Eleven lets out a disgusted noise at both of his past selves and turns back to the pillar to finish scratching.

"You forgot? Four hundred years, is that all it takes?" Ten snaps at Eleven.

"I moved on." Eleven says gruffly, glaring back.

"Where?" Ten barks. "Where can you be now that you can forget something like that?"

"Of course he hasn't forgotten!" Kathy snaps at Ten, honestly, he irritated her at this bit. "How could he? Just leave, him alone." She sees the misty look in Eleven's eyes.

Ten frowns contemplatively then shakes his head. "No, no, no, no. For once, I would like to know where I'm going."

"No, you really wouldn't." Eleven retorts.

"I don't know who you are, either of you." The War Doctor half throws his hands up in the air in surrender. "I haven't got the faintest idea."

After a few moments, the youngest Doctor murmurs, "No."

Kathy knows he's just talking to the Moment interface but Ten looks at him in confusion. "No?"

"Just... no." The War Doctor shakes his head. Eleven lets out a laugh, drawing their attention.

"Is something funny? Did I miss a funny thing?" Ten snidely quips.

"Sorry." Eleven turns around with a smile on his face causing Kathy to smile herself, happy to see him in a better mood. "It just occurred to me." He looks at Kathy and nods to the two men. "This is what I'm like when I'm alone."

Kathy lets out a slight chuckle. "Yeah, tell me about it."

"Four hundred years." The War Doctor suddenly says.

"I'm sorry?" Ten asks.

"At a software level," the War Doctor pulls out his sonic in demonstration, "they're all the same device, aren't they? Same software, different case."

"Yeah."

"So..."

The War Doctor beams and strides to the door. "So, it would take centuries for the screwdriver to calculate how to disintegrate the door." He quickly flicks his sonic on, moving it along the edges of the door, getting a full scan. "Scanning the door, implanting the calculation as a permanent subroutine in the software architecture and," he spins around and points at the men, "if you really are me, with your sandshoes and your dickie bow," Kathy snorts and he shoots a smile at her, "and that screwdriver is still mine, that calculation is still going on."

Kathy turns to Ten. "Go on. Check."

Ten blinks at that and quickly brings the sonic up to examine the readings, holding it to his ear to listen, "Yeah, still going."

Kathy looks at Eleven. "And you?"

"Calculation complete." Eleven cheers.

"Hey, four hundred years in four seconds. We may have had our differences, which is frankly odd in the circumstances, but I tell you what, boys. We are incredibly clever." As soon as Eleven finishes speaking, Clara opens the door and nearly falls in. Kathy tries not to laugh at the Doctors' shocked faces.

Eleven gapes at her, "How did you do that?"

"It wasn't locked." Clara explains.

"Right."

"Hi Kathy!" Clara waves.

Kathy smiles. "Hi Clara."

"So, they're both you, then, yeah?" Clara then asks Eleven in a mixture of curiosity and excitement.

"Yes. You've met them before. Don't you remember?"

"A bit." Clara glances at Ten. "Nice suit."

"Thanks." He frowns, staring at Clara intently. "Wait, she looks a lot like—"

Kathy's confused as Ten didn't have this reaction to Clara in the show, maybe he's noticed her echoes. Ten looks to Eleven who quickly shakes his head, glancing at Kathy.

"Hang on. Three of you in one cell, and none of you thought to try the door?" Clara questions.

"It should have been locked." The War Doctor defends near petulantly.

"Why did you assume that for?" Kathy asks smirking.

"You could've said." Ten complains.

Kathy shrugs. "You needed to chat."

"But why wasn't it locked?" Eleven realises.

"Because," a familiar voice begins and all of them look to see Elizabeth sauntering up to the door, "I was fascinated to see what you would do upon escaping. I understand you're rather fond of this world. It's time I think you saw what's going to happen to it." She crooks her finger and turns to walk away.

——

Kathy looks over a small balcony and down into a deeper part of the Tower's basement where the Zygons have set up some sort of base. There's a great quantity of machinery, 3D paintings and Zygons walking about in their own skin

"The Zygons lost their own world. It burnt in the first days of the Time War. A new home is required." Elizabeth explains as she walks along the balcony with them following her.

"So, they want this one." Clara concludes.

"Not yet. It's far too primitive. Zygons are used to a certain level of comfort." Elizabeth replies.

"Why do they always want the earth?" Kathy sighs.

They are interrupted by a hissing voice. "Commander, why are these creatures here?"

Kathy turns around with the others to see a line Zygon had joined them and is glaring at the five of them. She grimaces when she sees a sort of yellowish green slime coating the Zygon's mouth.

"Because I say they should be." Elizabeth lifts her chin, giving the Zygon a hard look, challenging it. Kathy has to give her credit for this performance. "It is time you too were translated." The creature growls but abruptly turns and stalks off down to where a glass cube is sitting on a small table before a 3D portrait. It places its hand on the cube and closed its eyes, waiting. "Observe this. I believe you will find it fascinating."

They, other Kathy who knows what's going to happen but follows along, move to the edge of the balcony to watch curiously. The cube begins to hum and rattle, the Zygon fades then vanishes as it is sucked into the painting and becomes a shadowy figure in the painting.

"That's him!" Clara exclaims stepping forward, closer to the picture. "That's the Zygon in the picture now."

"It's not a picture, it's a stasis cube." The War Doctor explains. "Time Lord art. Frozen instants in time, bigger on the inside, but could be deployed as..."

"...suspended animation." Ten realises, Eleven snaps his fingers at him then Ten steps closer to the painting. "Oh, that's very good. The Zygons all pop inside the pictures, wait a few centuries till the planet's a bit more interesting, and then out they come."

Eleven follows with the War Doctor and Kathy. "You see, Clara, they're stored in the paintings in the Under Gallery, like cup-a-soups. Except you add time, if you can picture that."

"I doubt you could, Doctor." Kathy says.

"Right." He agrees. "Forget I said cup-a-soups."

"And now the world is worth conquering. So, the Zygons are invading the future from the past." Clara concludes.

"Exactly."

"And!" Ten cheers, rounding on Elizabeth, spinning on his heel. "Do you know why I know that you're a fake?" He saunters over to her, grinning as though he's worked out some fantastic mystery but really he hasn't. "Because you're such a bad copy. It's not just the smell, or the unconvincing hair, or the atrocious teeth, or the eyes just a bit too close together, or the breath that could stun a horse. It's because my Elizabeth, the real Elizabeth, would never be stupid enough to reveal her own plan. Honestly, why would you do that?"

Elizabeth seems unimpressed, quite offended and a tad murderous when she responds, "Because it's not my plan. And I AM the real Elizabeth."

Kathy snorts. "You just insulted Queen Elizabeth I."

"Yeah, thanks, got that." Ten clears his throat and steps back from a displeased Elizabeth. "So... backtracking a moment just to lend context to my earlier remarks..."

"You should never insult a woman, no matter their species." Kathy chastises him. Ten winces.

"My twin is dead in the forest. I am accustomed to taking precautions." She produces a small bejewelled dagger from the garter beneath her skirts. "These Zygon creatures never even considered that it was me who survived rather than their own commander. The arrogance that typifies their kind."

"Zygons?" Clara guesses.

"Men." Elizabeth huffs.

"You killed one dressed like that?" Kathy knows she did but looking at Elizabeth in that big dress makes her feel doubtful.

"I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but at the time, so did the Zygon." Elizabeth smirks before turning serious. "The future of my kingdom is imperilled. Doctor, can I rely on your service?"

"Well, I'm going to need my TARDIS." Ten replies.

"It has been procured already." Elizabeth tells him, smiling.

"Ah."

"But first, my love, you have a promise to keep."

Kathy stifles her giggles at Ten's fearful look.

——

A/N: Living my life vicariously through Kathy during the Tudor stuff at the beginning 😅

Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.

#doctor who

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esonetwork · 4 years ago

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Timestamp #SJA22: Death of the Doctor

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Timestamp #SJA22: Death of the Doctor

Sarah Jane Adventures: Death of the Doctor (2 episodes, s04e03, 2010)

The Doctor is dead. Long live the Doctor.

Luke is talking to the Bannerman Road Gang over webcam when UNIT arrive at Sarah Jane’s home. Colonel Tia Karim bears bad news: The Doctor is dead.

The Shansheeth discovered the body of a Time Lord and, upon confirming the DNA, organized a funeral. The Shansheeth delivered a holographic epitaph via Colonel Karim and Sarah Jane doesn’t believe the news, but Rani helps her to cope. Later that night, Sarah Jane muses with Luke that the Doctor cannot be dead. After all, she believes that she’d know somehow as though a piece of her was missing.

The Bannerman Road Gang take a road trip with UNIT to the funeral location at Mount Snowden, a massive UNIT base. While getting into the private car, Clyde experiences a jolt of energy, but he chalks it up to simple static electricity. When they arrive, they find out that the Brigadier is stranded in Peru and Liz Shaw is unable to leave the moon base in time for the service. They also see a group of Groske – a blue and tame version of the Graske – who tell Clyde that he smells like time. Clyde notices the energy on his hand and the Groske simply says that “he’s coming.”

The gang attend the gathering of remembrance where Sarah Jane requests that Karim open the coffin. The colonel replies that the Doctor was injured and a viewing is impossible. Sarah Jane notes that the last time that she saw the Doctor he was preparing for regeneration. He could have a completely different face now.

As the Shansheeth officiating the ceremony asks everyone to recollect their memories, Clyde recognizes the static as artron energy and a newcomer arrives. Enter: Jo Jones, previously known as Jo Grant. Sarah Jane recognizes her from the way that UNIT described her and they hit it off right away. Rani and Clyde meet Jo’s grandson Santiago who talks about the family’s globetrotting activism.

Jo is upset to learn that the Doctor returned for Sarah Jane. He never stopped in for her. But they share the belief that they’d feel it if the Doctor died (even on Metebilis III), so they start brainstorming his faked death. They also bond over their shared experiences on Peladon with the great beast Aggedor.

Meanwhile, Clyde pursues the mystery of the artron energy and we learn that the Shansheeth are trying to harvest the mourner’s memories of the Doctor using a memory weave that will kill the former companions. Clyde, Rani, and Santiago overhear the Shansheeth plot. They run back to Sarah Jane and Jo just in time for the Doctor to make contact through (and then exchange places with) Clyde.

Clyde’s on a red planet somewhere, but the Doctor is here. The companions catch up with the Doctor’s new face and the Time Lord confronts the Shansheeth. The Shanseeth reply with an energy beam and the sincerest wish that he rest in peace.

In the energy beam, the Doctor and Clyde swap places a couple of times. Once released, the Doctor runs with the assembled allies to safety behind a locked door. The Doctor grabs hands with Jo and Sarah Jane, spiriting “Smith and Jones” away to the red planet, the Crimson Heart. Clyde is left behind with Rani and Santiago in the locked room. They are soon rescued by the Groske and taken to his hiding spot in the ventilation system.

The Shansheeth, meanwhile, reveal that they have the TARDIS and are building a method to break in.

Sarah Jane and the Doctor work on the gadget that he used to swap places with Clyde while Jo muses about why the Doctor left her behind. After all, he did promise that he’d see her again. The Doctor reveals that, just before his regeneration, he visited every one of his former companions and is very proud of what Jo has done with her life.

Colonel Karim discovers where Rani, Clyde, and Santiago are hiding and locks them inside while turning up the heat. Luckily, the Doctor and his companions have fixed the device so they can return to Earth without leaving Clyde on the Crimson Heart. The Doctor saves the teenagers but Sarah Jane and Jo are captured by Karim and the Shansheeth.

The Shansheeth plan to use the memory weave to conjure a physical TARDIS key from the memories of the companions. They want to use the TARDIS to stop death on a universal scale and put an end to pain and suffering. Karim, on the other hand, merely wants to leave the planet and travel the stars.

The Doctor stops the memory weave’s operation by calling to the companions through the locked door and asking them to remember every adventure that he shared with them. Clyde and Rani also tell Sarah Jane to remember all of their adventures on Bannerman Road and Santiago prompts Jo’s memories of their Earthbound travels.

The memory weave overloads and begins a self-destruct sequence. Jo and Sarah Jane are trapped, but the Doctor reminds them of the lead-lined coffin. It provides just enough protection to shield the companions from the blast. The Shansheeth and Karim are destroyed and the Groske is amused by the smell of roast chicken.

Everyone hitches a ride home with the Doctor in the TARDIS. The companions say their farewells – Jo has no idea about the Time War, but why would she? – and the Doctor hies off to his next adventure. Rani and Clyde help Santiago figure out how to reunite with his parents, then Jo and Santiago say goodbye as they move on to Norway.

Sarah Jane tells her friends about the echoes of the Doctor around the globe: Tegan is fighting for aboriginal rights in Australia; Ian and Barbara Chesterton are Cambridge professors who are rumored not to have aged since the 1960s; Harry Sullivan is a doctor working on vaccines; Ben and Polly run an orphanage in India; and Dorothy McShane has raised millions through her company “A Charitable Earth”.

All of that from a simple Google search for “TARDIS”.

Long live the Doctor.

What a powerhouse story! Russell T Davies provided a story reflective of his years on Doctor Who, right down to the pacing and well-crafted prose. It’s also saturated with Doctor Who lore, including scenes from 36 adventures which I am not going to list here. Believe me, it’s tempting…

The attention to detail about regeneration – Jo knows about it since she met the First and Second Doctors – and the Last Great Time War is amazing. It’s also fun to watch the Doctor toying with Clyde about regeneration. The idea of 507 possible regenerations was a jest by this incarnation, but we know for a fact that regeneration can indeed result in changing into a form other than a white male.

I was amused by the Doctor musing about ventilation shafts, particularly in light of The Ark in Space, The Hand of Fear, and Planet of the Daleks. I also laughed about Amy and Rory’s marital adventures on the honeymoon planet. Ah, sentient planets.

Last but not least, the memory weave has a distinctive sound in science fiction history. It is unmistakably the activation sound for the proton packs in the Ghostbusters franchise. That takes me back.

Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

UP NEXT – Sarah Jane Adventures: The Empty Planet

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

#Eleventh Doctor #Jo Grant #Sarah Jane Smith #The Sarah Jane Adventures #Timestamps Project

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