Untold Knowledge (Doctor Who x Genius Fem! Oc) [Book 1]

Chapter 15: The Right Moment

"Delay is the deadliest form of denial."
-- C. Northcote Parkinson

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Before Echo's conflicted, worried and even ashamed emotions could suffacatingly consume her, she suddenly felt his hand gently grip her own. With brow furrowed, she slowly looked up and met his kind and ancient gaze. "I understand." he reassured softly. "I, too, have taken lives, made many mistakes. I've been to war; just as you have." When she remained silent, he knew it acceptable to continue. To bare his soul to someone he considered a true  equal. "I fought on the front lines in the greatest battle this universe has ever and will ever know. The Last Great Time War." He then shook his head with a sigh of remembered torment. "Those five words still haunt me." he muttered as he tried to keep his inner darkness at bay, just as he had done before she had stumbled into his life. "It was before I had met Rose. It was undoubtedly a universe-shattering conflict."

She nodded with a somber expression. "I remember that fight. It was fought by two sides, both with access to time travel and the ability to alter and erase outcomes at their very whim. It lasted for a second... and an eternity..." Her unseeing eyes glared at the dancing flames as she continued. "Realistically, it started thousands of years ago; but also last Tuesday. It was six minutes from now, as well as millions of years in this future." she accurately described with nothing but sorrow from the impossible to comprehend tragedy.

The Doctor nodded, glad to know she understood but also hated that she did. "It tore a scar across the entirety of this reality. Millions upon millions of lives and worlds altered, erased, revived, over and over, as the two almighty factions tried to play God." he finished with pure hatred for the horrendous outcome the war had caused. "I had to stop it. I was the only one who could in the end. I--... I used the Moment. I killed both in the name of peace and sanity. Genocide of the two highest species in a single second..." He felt so relieved to have finally found someone to talk to of such occurrences and have them completely understand what they were talking of; someone that felt the true weight of the war, someone who could truly give him advice on how to cope with reliable knowledge at hand. "Why didn't you fight?" he suddenly asked; glad that she had stayed away but was still curious. "I heard you had been asked, more like begged, by both sides to join forces."

Echo released a heavy sigh. "I was. I almost did... But I couldn't let either side have access to such absolute means of interdimensional travel. The Time Lords were close to cracking the secret, make no mistake. I just... I didn't want to be the cause for any outcome; whether it was a loss or a victory mattered not. I only kill when necessary or if it's irrefutably deserved. But in war? Every soldier has the same goal for victory; by any means possible. To which makes them equal. I couldn't be a part of that. Not again..."

He then closed his eyes with a shake of his head, "I'm so sorry..."

A half-smile appeared as if in amusement. "It wasn't your fault in the slightest. Never think it was. You did what others didn't have the capacity carry out. No matter how regrettable such actions are, some times they're all that keep life running, allowing others to continue before they became collateral damage like those before them." She then gathered all of her courage and moved to sit directly next to the suddenly overwhelmed Time Lord, so as to rest her head on his shoulder as they turned back to look at the comforting fire. "Thank you..." she spoke softly. Echo felt the strangest of all sensations in that very moment that she had forgotten it even existed in the first place. Serenity. Euphoria. Genuine peace. An effortless sense of oneness that could be felt by them both.

Unable to hold back his smile, the Doctor then wrapped his arm around her shoulders; successfully holding her more snuggly against him as he rested his cheek against her head. "Always." he promised just as quietly. He knew the risks he was taking; the possibility of heartbreak looming around every supposed corner. But the possibility of being with Echo, no matter how intimate, was far too desirable to pass up.

Just as the C. S. Lewis quote states, "There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket-- safe, dark, motionless, airless -- it will change. It will not be broken. It will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."

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Eventuating their conversation in the library, both Echo and the Doctor became extremely aware of the other's presence. It didn't take long for the sir to set up a way they all could enjoy a Jimi Hendrix concert from back stage. The clever Time Lord was even able to get a chance for them to hang out with the Great Jimi afterwards. What he didn't anticipate was Echo pulling him into a dance whenever her favorite songs would begin. The sight of her with pure joy fueling her actions was more than enough as reimbursement. Her enchanting smile was cemented into his mind and immediately became something he could never see enough of.

After their enthralling concert experience, Echo then came up with the exciting suggestion of going to play a round of paint ball. For a full forty-five minutes, they all ran around a designated obstacle course with a bag of bean-bag sized pouches of personally chosen colored paint. Echo had chosen maroon, Mickey green, Rose yellow, and the Doctor orange. By the end of their colorful battle, the group walked into the Tardis with large grins on their faces and paint coating their clothes. Though the most paint covered was the joyous Time Lord. Him being him, he silently suspected they had ganged up on him in secret.

Such an exciting and enjoyable experience prompted Mickey to come up with the idea of playing with bumper cars. To which made Echo offer to take them to a dimension so they could race Indy cars without worry of possible injury. For the entire "arcade" was protected with an immortality field, making it impossible for anyone to get any level of hurt when within the massive "arcade"-like location. Seeing as the Doctor was more than nervous to be in control of such a vehicle, he asked Echo to drive for him. Or so he told the unsuspecting woman. All he really wanted was to see her effortless joy once again.

When they decided to go ice skating somewhere in Norway within the year 1274, the Time Lord just couldn't hold himself back any longer. He and Echo had been skating hand in hand for a long while, simply enjoying the cold atmosphere and the peaceful silence that surrounded them all. When they had found a frozen waterfall that demanded their attention, they both stopped to admire the uniquely created ice formation. As she gazed up with amazed wonder shining brightly from her entrancing eyes, the Doctor was mesmerizing the details of her face. As she met his adoring gaze, Echo couldn't stop her own smile from growing. "I've been wondering... for quite some time now; b-but not immediately... And you don't have to accept by any means... And I understand if you wouldn't want to--" he began to ramble as his nervousness took hold of his racing mind.

Anticipating his unintentional mental breakdown, she gently placed her finger on his lips to kindly silence him without having to utter a single word. She then moved her hand to rest lovingly on his cheek. In that moment, his mind ceased to function and his eyes could only see her. With no way of understanding, time seemed to just stop. Slowly moving closer with eyes closing, their lives took a path they'd never be able to return from. Though, without even a grain of regret, they eagerly made their decision.