
Doctor Who: Time Lords Don't Cry, by N. (Playwrite27)
CHAPTER 11: The Unraveling
The Doctor looked down at his clothing, disapproval on his face. “Why in the universe am I dressed like this? Where’s my nice suit? I love that suit. Got it from Top Shop, on sale--half price! And," he groused, running his fingers through is hair, "where did I leave my sonic screwdriver?” Frowning deeply he patted his pockets, pulled out the compass, the Tardis key, a Galefreyan Army knife, his glasses, the stub of a number two pencil, a lint covered jelly baby and an old parking ticket. He’d found it stuck to the Tardis, the last time he was on the planet Markt. He stared at it. “I could have sworn I paid that.” Shrugging, he stuffed it back into his pocket. “Better not go back there, then. They’re really strict about their parking tickets. You don’t pay the fine on time, you and your vehicle are instantly disintegrated. And you should see what they do to people who don't clean up after their dogs..." he winced, "oh, not pretty.”
Marie had fetched a heavy denim jacket from her room, and gave the sweater back to the Doctor. He stared at it, in momentary disbelief. Then, shrugging and removing his hat, he slipped in on over his head. The Doctor hesitated a moment, holding the hat in his hand, staring at it indecisively. Marie just looked at him. "What's wrong now?" She asked. The Doctor looked at her askance. "I was wearing this as well?" He put in on and walked over to the fireplace, which had large antique mirror hanging over it. Standing on a chair so he could see better, The Doctor put on his glasses, and checked out his new wardrobe. “Ugh--“ he cried, as his face registered almost genuine horror,“ Oh bloody hell! I look like John Denver!” He adjusted the hat to a rakish angle, sizing himself up. "Then again, as I recall," he murmured, "I was rather fond of hats in some of my previous regenerations." He was about to readjust the angle, when his hand froze.
Body suddenly stiff, the Doctor's gaze dropped to an old black and white photo on the mantelpiece. His eyes widened in horror, unable to tear themselves away from the picture. Seated on the sofa, Marie heard the Doctor take a sharp intake of breath--then it seemed he had almost stopped breathing altogether, for a moment The Doctor stood there, hands trembling slightly, blinking in profound astonishment.
Without warning, the Doctor leaped off the chair, and snatched up the photo from the mantel. Striding over to Marie, he angrily held the photo up to her. “What is this?” He demanded harshly. “Why do you have this photo? Where’d you get it?” He was nearly shouting. Marie looked at the Doctor, a confused and suddenly very scared little girl. She scrunched herself up on the sofa and stayed silent.
The Doctor saw this and realized what he'd just done. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Kneeling in front of her, he gently placed a hand on her arm. "I'm sorry, Marie. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you." Marie just cowered a little more, whispering, "Please, Doctor, please--don't hurt me. I don't know what I did, but I didn't mean it, honest."
The Doctor winced at her words, and his face fell. He felt deeply ashamed. Getting up, the Doctor sat down next to her, and just held her. "I'm sorry, Marie, honest. I wouldn't hurt you for the worlds, I swear, my word as a Time Lord. I'm really, really sorry." Marie leaned her head into his shoulder. Her voice muffled by his sweater, she asked, "Will you still be my friend, Doctor?“ The Doctor leaned back and looked her in the eye, saying in a surprised tone, "Still be your friend? I never stopped! Of course we're still friends," he said with a wink, and hugged her. Standing, he said, "We're partners, you and me, aren't we?" Marie looked at the Doctor's smiling face and nodded, giving a faint smile in return.
The Doctor paced over to the window, hands jammed in his pockets, looking out at the moon. Sighing, he turned at sat down next to her, his face quietly serious. "Now then, Marie," He said calmly, "I really need to to tell me where you got that photograph. It's very important to me. Please." He added.
Marie looked at the photo a long time, before glancing at the Doctor. He gave her an encouraging smile and said gently, "It's alright. Take your time." Marie looked into his face with troubled eyes, "It’s my great-grandparents, on my mom's side. They came here to this farm a long time ago, before mom was even born. They came from someplace faraway. Her name was Joan, and his name was Owega--funny name. Anyway, that's all I know. That's all mom would ever tell me. She said that it would be best if I didn't talk much about great grandad. Dad and the rest of his family, didn't like him much--like Uncle Tobias, they all used to call him a 'crazy foreigner.' But mom said that she liked him, and I knda' liked him too--and I think he liked me. When I was little, Owega used sit by my bed, and tell me the best stories. He was real old. Then, after gran died, he went away. I never saw him again."
Just then, Marie noticed that the Doctor wasn't looking at her. He was staring off into space, his face registering shock and disbelief. Marie yanked on his shirt to get his attention. "What’s wrong, Doctor? What is it?” At first the Doctor couldn’t answer her, couldn’t find his voice. Without answering, he jumped up and stared down at the faded phtotograph, muttering, "No! It can't be...it just can't be! Impossible. I...no. It must be some mistake, some odd genetic mutation..." His voice trailed off, for he knew he was just kidding himself. He knew that face. Knew it well.
"What is it Doctor?" Marie cried, Are you okay? Why are you so upset? It's just my great-granparent's wedding picture. I don't understand." The Doctor stared at Marie with a queer expression on his face. "This may be a photograph of your great-grandfather," he whispered hoarsely, "but it just so happens that he's the spitting image of the greatest Time Lord that ever existed--Rassillon!"
AUTHORS NOTES:
As with the previous chapters, I edited this chapter, making a few changes from the original, which had a few typos and grammatical errors that needed correcting--but what is different about this chapter, is this is where the story is deviating from the original version ( http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=7193&chapter=11 ).